I love time travel the most!

Reed shouted the order.

The monsters hurriedly dragged out the magic stone lamp hidden in the shadows of the rocks and skillfully lit it with their mouths and claws.

"Monsters use magic stone lamps..."

Seeing how cleverly they used human-made objects, Bell and the others began to doubt their own eyes.

The biggest difference between humans and animals is the ability to use tools. Since the monsters here can also use tools, does this mean they've already entered the realm of humanity?

Without giving them a chance to think, the monsters swarmed around them.

A red-hatted figure with a gentlemanly demeanor, a half-human, half-bird figure with rich emotions, a half-human, half-snake figure with a non-standard speech, and a silent shadow warrior... It doesn't matter whether they can speak or not, or whether they are human or alien.

All the monsters reached out to shake hands with Kobayashi using eyes that held a rationality, as if they were trying to touch a human, so cautious and careful.

Does this mean that they actually have expectations of humans?

Chapter 320 The calm before the storm

The clanging of chains echoed in the darkness.

Intertwined with the resounding clang of metal colliding and shaking the space were roars burning with rage, or low moans tinged with sorrow.

Terrifying roars echoed here.

In the center of this space, a man, oblivious to the surrounding noise, lazily asked, "You're saying the Dragon Girl ran away?"

"Y-yes... I'm sorry, Dix, I saw it on the 19th floor, but I lost it..."

The person reporting below looked dejected.

The man named Dix was a black-haired human. He was very tall, with bulging muscles beneath his rather shabby clothes. He wore a peculiar pair of goggles, through which crimson eyes could be vaguely seen.

He also held a long spear with a twisted and crooked head, as if his purpose was not to kill the enemy efficiently, but to inflict intense pain.

Sitting on the empty subway cage, swinging his legs freely, his tone and manner gave a rude impression.

He is the leader of the Ikeros Familia, and the mastermind behind all of this.

The man in goggles spat near the feet of his subordinates who had messed things up.

"We haven't found the lair of those monsters yet. It should be in the Great Tree Maze, no doubt, but those few pieces of trash just won't budge... It's infuriating!"

He flung the spear in his hand, its twisted and crooked blade piercing through the gaps in the fence and viciously stabbing into the shadow in the black cage behind him.

It let out a weak groan as if trying to say something, but it instantly turned into a deafening scream! The chains rattled, and then a spray of bright red blood gushed out!

Facing the figure struggling in pain inside the cage, Dix expressionlessly drew his spear, tapped his shoulder, and squinted behind his goggles.

"You said you met him on the 19th floor?"

"Yes Yes……"

"Explain the situation in detail."

"Uh...ok."

Pressed for answers by the man wielding a blood-stained spear, the adventurer began to speak in a disheveled manner.

After listening to the whole story, Dix pondered for a moment and said, "Those stupid guys argued for so long but not one of them said they solved the monster. In other words, some idiot from who-knows-where hid it?"

It's not impossible.

Humans have free desires, and some even have a fetish for monsters.

If an adventurer had defeated the talking dragon girl, it should have become a topic of conversation. The fact that it hasn't been mentioned yet means they've definitely hidden the dragon girl away.

"You guys go and find out who was on the 19th floor at the time. The rest of you, come with me and investigate further."

"Understood!"

Upon hearing this instruction, the adventurers quickly nodded and began to act.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The banquet with the monsters greatly shocked Bell and the others.

Surrounded by enemies whose lives are threatened, the trembling etched deep into their souls and the natural reactions of their bodies made them appear stiff and unusually reserved from beginning to end.

However, as time went by, and after feeling the friendliness of the monsters, Bell and the others gradually relaxed and took the initiative to respond.

This brings us to Kobayashi.

The first man to shake hands with the monsters was very relaxed throughout and quickly became friends with them.

It's not about deliberately trying to please them or being condescending; it's about treating them like friends.

The monsters, whose senses were already sharp, became even more enthusiastic towards Kobayashi after realizing this.

Why is he so adept at it?

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the banquet ended, and it was almost time for them to leave.

The lizardman Reed asked the question that had been on the minds of the other monsters: "Kirin-chan, it sounds strange, but why... why are you so kind to us? Generally speaking, humans should be very afraid of us."

After saying that, it looked at Bell and the others.

Bell and the others gave an awkward twitch of their lips.

Kobayashi then repeated what he had said to Bell and the others.

“I don’t categorize people by race, but by good and evil. Reed, you may be monsters, but you haven’t harmed any humans, have you? That’s why I haven’t shown any hostility. Besides, there are evil people among humans, so don’t let your guard down.”

"That's right."

Reed scratched his head, seemingly understanding but not quite.

It is indeed a monster, and the equipment it carries was stolen; it has never actually harmed any humans.

But does that make someone kind?

As a magical beast, it doesn't quite understand the boundaries between good and evil, but at least it won't kill humans or its companions (talking monsters).

After that, Kobayashi left the monster's lair.

Walking along the main path of the 19th floor, Bell and the others visibly breathed a sigh of relief. Their expressions seemed to suggest they'd rather venture into the dungeon than associate with Reed and his group.

It was probably because the pressure was too intense.

After the shocking encounter, they returned to the proper route to leave the floor. Because everyone was in a state of confusion, they were unable to concentrate on fighting the monsters several times, which almost led to accidents.

They haven't calmed down yet.

There wasn't much conversation on the way, as if afraid that talking would disrupt some kind of balance.

Just as they were about to reach the upper passage, a five-person adventurer team came from the front, with the human adventurer in the lead, carrying a strange red gun and wearing goggles, being particularly eye-catching.

He had a strange yet strangely familiar scent emanating from him, as if I had smelled it somewhere before.

Bell stared intently at the group, then widened his eyes as if he had just remembered something, before quickly turning his head away from their faces.

Zolf, who was beside him, seemed to sense something and moved over naturally, acting as a wall to prevent the oncoming adventurers from seeing Bell.

Kobayashi continued to lead the way with a blank expression, but as they passed each other, the man wearing goggles stopped and turned to look at... Bell.

His companions behind him also looked over.

"【Hestia Familia】...A rising star, is that right?"

"Ah, it's him... Right! I remember now, that brat also accepted the adventurer's quest from the town, he was on the 19th floor too!"

"Oh ho~"

Dix watched the group disappear on the 18th floor, a meaningful smile appearing on his face.

His companions were astonished when they saw this and tried to dissuade him, saying, "Hey, Dix, you don't mean to... Please don't do that, there's [Burst] in that squad!"

The conflict between Kobayashi and the Ishtar Familia was dug up by some people with ulterior motives, but the Freya Familia took the blame and no one dared to say anything more.

But the opponent's nickname was indeed "Explosive," as he destroyed an entire clan without saying a word.

It's incredibly popular.

If you upset the other party...

"What are you afraid of?" Dix glared at him with his crimson eyes behind his goggles and sneered, "Don't forget I'm LV5, and I've already reached the threshold of LV6, unlike that toad, Frini!"

In fact, Dix concealed his social class.

In order to do bad things, he was marked as LV4 in the guild's records, with the purpose of doing some shady things.

"Even so, we can't just ask rashly. It seems we'll have to ask the High God to investigate them carefully."

Dix didn't want to admit he was afraid; he was simply being cautious. Besides, the people of the lower realm couldn't lie to the gods, so he was merely using them effectively.

Leaving the Tower of Babel.

Kobayashi parted ways with Bell and the others.

Bell needs to go back and process the fact that he met monsters in the dungeon and had a banquet, and Kobayashi also has many questions to discuss with Uranus.

In underground spaces.

Why weren't you told the truth beforehand?

"Because of unforeseen circumstances, we didn't originally plan to let you contact them so soon. Or rather, we are still considering whether or not we should let you contact them."

The answer came not from a god, but from Fels.

With the monsters... no, they should be called "heretics" now.

She is the main person in charge of communicating and connecting with them.

"But there are actually tests, to see if I have any malice or resistance towards the 'heretics'."

Xiaolin exposes her lie.

Fels remained silent, without denying it.

After all, only a minority of people can accept the existence of heretics. Humans naturally have a sense of disgust towards monsters, while Kobayashi is from another world, so perhaps he would be more tolerant of "heretics," which is why he wanted to give it a try.

"I don't care."

Whatever happens to the world has nothing to do with Kobayashi. Even if he causes trouble, he can just turn around and run away; in the end, no one will be able to trace it back to him.

“But is this really okay?”