I love time travel the most!

"No wonder this person..."

Before long, the monsters were all defeated, leaving only a mess. Apart from being a little tired, neither of them was injured.

"Well, that's it."

Xiaolin rubbed his shoulders.

Fortunately, he can regenerate mana and health during battle; otherwise, it would be quite difficult for him, who is only level 2, to keep up with Fiora's rhythm.

"Fiora!"

With shouts, members of the Hermes Familia approached.

Lulune exclaimed excitedly, "Wow, you two are amazing! You took down such a huge group of monsters!"

With two strong individuals by her side, she truly felt at ease.

Asphie also asked, "I heard you were LV5 before, did you advance to the next level?"

"Ah."

"No wonder. Your senses were a little dull after the upgrade. Kobayashi was just helping you adjust them through actual combat, wasn't he?"

"is that so……"

The naive girl was completely unaware; she only felt that her condition was improving rapidly and had no idea whether it had anything to do with Kobayashi.

Her questioning gaze shifted to the man beside her who had just fought alongside her, while Kobayashi shrugged without denying it; it was just another application of the "Five Perspectives" technique.

"Alright, it looks like we'll be there soon."

"Yes, the food storage is just ahead."

An unusual aura emanated from a distant cave, causing everyone to instinctively become alert without needing to be ordered to.

Chapter 243 Reunion Deep in the Trap

The ceiling and walls were covered with the bark of a large tree.

From a certain moment on, a rock-like, uneven structure gradually appeared, and the color turned light red. The road was arched by the tree trunks like a cave.

This proves that they are getting closer to the grain depot.

Thirsty monsters gathered here. Deep within the great void, a pillar inserted into the labyrinth's ceiling continuously oozes a highly nutritious liquid. The labyrinth's environment near the food storehouse changed shape to suit the environment of the great void where the pillar stands.

Xiaolin took out a small bottle and poured the leaked liquid into it.

"Xiao Lin?"

"Ah, I'm collecting this to investigate the reason for the sudden increase in monsters."

"reason?"

"After all, food is essential to increasing numbers, but it doesn't seem like the dungeon is increasing on its own. Don't you find that strange? What exactly is waiting for us here?"

Lulune and the others became even more tense, and their grip on their weapons tightened.

It wasn't that I was trying to scare them, but these people were just too unguarded, no different from lazy donkeys that would only move when given a whip. Every time, I had to scold them to get them even slightly alert.

Especially after witnessing Ais's strength at level 6, he inexplicably gained confidence.

This kind of thinking is dangerous.

What follows is bound to be a fierce battle, so let's give them a warning first.

The group walked step by step along the passageway. Kobayashi closed his eyes and activated his [Perception] and [Five Visions] to the fullest extent.

Unbeknownst to them, the demonic aura vanished, and a chilling silence pierced their ears.

"this is……"

"W-what?"

Xiaolin's sudden words startled Lulune, and the dog-woman shrank her shoulders, trembling with fear.

He didn't answer, but instead strode forward.

They moved forward for a while longer.

Led by Kobayashi, the group witnessed the enormous wall firsthand.

"How disgusting!"

"what is this?"

"plant?"

Enormous walls, large enough to block the passage, with a creepy luster and swollen surface, and walls made of densely packed tumors came into view.

Compared to the surrounding stone walls, it is completely different in both structure and nature.

It looks like a living organism and a plant, or you could say it's a tumor afflicting the underground city, and it's even beating slightly like a heart.

A treat for those with trypophobia!

Kobayashi kept probing the wall, asking curiously, "I've never been to the lower level before. Is this kind of physiologically uncomfortable phenomenon normal?"

"How can it be!"

Needless to say, Asphie and the others had never seen it, not even Ais, who had been to the deepest levels countless times.

This strange phenomenon made everyone anxious and uneasy.

"Could we have led you astray?"

Lulune chuckled as she took out a map to check it, but her expression quickly turned sour.

Because she discovered that Kobayashi had been leading them along the most correct and shortest route, and they hadn't even gone halfway down the road leading to the large hollow of the grain depot.

Without needing to be explicitly told, Asif knew that something was wrong and immediately and decisively issued an order.

"Falgar, Sean, you two take the others and investigate separately. Don't go too deep. If you encounter anything unusual, turn back immediately."

"Received." X2

"Xiao Lin, please also look for other ways out."

"no problem."

The Hermes Familia members, including Kobayashi and Ryuu, began to take action.

First of all, the ordinary stone wall that was laid out on the side did not have any abnormalities, so it seemed that it was not that something was wrong with the underground city, but that the wall itself was a special existence.

Secondly, using the abilities of "far-seeing" and "X-ray vision," it was discovered that the wall blocking the huge passage on the 24th floor should be 10 meters long and wide, and at least 100 meters deep.

Finally, this wall had a real warmth, and a slight, heart-beat-like rhythm came from my palm; it must be alive.

"It stinks!"

Lulune, a member of the dog-human race, covered her nose.

With her keen sense of smell, she could detect the pungent odor emanating from the wall surface.

To be precise, it smelled like decay.

Asifi came forward and asked, "Kobayashi, how is it?"

Kobayashi shook his head and said, "No. Putting aside the length and width, the depth is at least 100 meters. It's probably impossible to force our way through."

After all, it's unclear whether there's an ambush inside.

[X-ray vision] It has strong abilities, but there are always areas it can't cover. Moreover, the interior is covered by tree trunks and vines, so once trapped, it is quite difficult to break free.

Asphie nodded, not discouraged by this.

This was probably within her expectations.

He then ordered that people be kept at a distance from the wall.

Before long, the two squads that had gone to the other routes returned. However, according to them, the other paths were also blocked by the same kind of human wall.

This would likely close all roads leading to the grain depots.

Kobayashi spoke first: "Without a doubt, someone is causing trouble in secret."

“It seems that the large group of monsters didn’t suddenly increase in number,” Asifi adjusted her glasses and agreed with Kobayashi.

"It's more accurate to say they were forced into it."

"It's all for the purpose of gathering them together."

"The target was adventurers... no, they were just caught in the crossfire."

"After all, the routes are repeated."

Kobayashi and Asif started making a ruckus, and the conversation jumped around so much that the Sword Princess Ais and Lulune, who couldn't keep up with the flow of thought, were already looking confused.

"Wait, wait, Commander, what do you mean? What are you talking about?"

"What we mean is that the monster army did not arise suddenly from the dungeon."

This is a food depot, its purpose being to supply the monsters. However, when the hungry monsters discovered that they couldn't enter this food depot, the long-traveled monsters had no choice but to go to other food depots.

"In other words, what has been causing adventurers so much suffering these past few days is not the surge in monsters, but the massive movement of monsters."

"That's right, because it unfortunately overlaps with the adventurers' routes."

Kobayashi drew a conclusion, which Asif agreed with.

Everyone suddenly realized.

Lulu couldn't help but complain, "The fact that they were able to find out the truth so quickly is truly astounding, the captain and Mr. Kobayashi are really brilliant."

Asphie also glanced at Kobayashi secretly.

She couldn't compare to the top-tier Familias in either clan strength or personal ability, so her sharp mind was something she was proud of. It was quite intriguing that this unremarkable man beside her could also come up with such ideas.

Moreover, judging from the conversation just now, it seems that the other party discovered it a little earlier than I did?

As expected of the Sky God who took the initiative to break the neutrality agreement to acquire the followers.

Asif adjusted her glasses again.

"But, Commander."

"how?"