You promised to wreak havoc on the dungeon, but instead you've got Dragon Slime!

Before they could even react, the old blind murloc's foul-smelling shockwave blasted over them, causing both of them to stumble. The hunter, who had raised his crossbow, immediately fired an arrow at his teammate's waist.

Chaos erupted instantly.

The captain yelled for everyone to stay calm, but that was just the appetizer. Slimes and fishmen closed in from the left and right, forcing them into a corner where the slime was as thick as a carpet; once you stepped in, you couldn't pull your foot out.

In less than five minutes, the slime unleashed a slime tail whip, completely encasing the warrior charging at the front like a dumpling. The murloc, meanwhile, was stabbing wildly from behind.

Ron saw everything clearly from above and secretly calculated: This is just the first wave; there's more to come.

The priest in the group tried to save the person, but as soon as he raised his hand, the slime flicked his wrist and splashed another blob of acid at him, burning the armor until it started smoking.

Soon, the first adventurer collapsed completely, disappearing as a teleportation beam. The remaining adventurers panicked, stepping into more slime zones as they retreated, and were relentlessly attacked by the slimes.

Ron mentally gave the plan a high score. To be able to crush a team so quickly on the first try—this change is truly amazing.

He was too lazy to continue watching the finishing touches, so he turned to Claudia and said, "Let's go check out the middle section of the Sand Snake and see how the relay harvesting went."

The two slipped along the path at the top towards the middle, and along the way they could hear the screams of adventurers being hit by slime acid in the distance.

Ron knew that this first batch was just a warm-up. Once the new plan spread, the Black Language Cave would only become more and more popular, and then Bakus's people would come again, and that would be the real opportunity.

Ron led Claudia around to the middle section of the Sand Snake area, but instead of looking at the Sand Snakes, they stopped halfway there.

He wanted to see if any of the people at the entrance had made it this far.

The following events quickly confirmed his guess—the slime and the old blind fishman were a perfect match.

The adventurers were being chased by the slime like dogs, their feet covered in thick slime. This slime wasn't ordinary mud; it was the kind of sticky substance that clung tightly to the soles of shoes, pulling you back half a step for every step you took. If you were too slow, a single slime tentacle would lash out and stick to your body with a slap.

An archer tried to leap onto the nearby stone platform, but before his feet even left the ground, the slime's translucent tentacle coiled around him, slamming him against the wall like a piece of clothing. He was stuck there with a snap, unable to move.

The merman seized the opportunity to rush forward and plunged his blade into the archer's back. The archer twitched twice against the wall before vanishing in a flash of light.

The remaining few tried to run, but when they reached the entrance of a passage, they discovered it was a dead end deliberately blocked by slimes. Ahead was a wall of slime half a person's height, while slimes and fishmen were slowly approaching from behind.

"Now they can't escape." Ron was very satisfied.

The warrior at the front, gritting his teeth, charged towards the slime wall, only to sink to his thighs with each step, unable to lift himself. The slime, waiting for this moment, dripped a large glob of acid from the ceiling.

As soon as the acid hit the ground, white smoke billowed out. The warrior let out a scream like a crab whose pot lid had been opened, his armor creaking and his flesh instantly charred. Before he could even break free, another tentacle of the slime had already pulled him out of the acid pit and tossed him back into the middle of the group.

Acid splashed out, and the priest next to him was splashed in the face. His skin blistered instantly, and his screams echoed in the passage.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the merman pulled out his barbed spear and stabbed it into the priest's knee. With a snap, the leg bone broke, and the priest collapsed into the slime.

Once the slime sticks to the skin, it's like glue; you can't pull it off. The priest thrashed about, but the more he struggled, the more stuck he became. The slime gently rolled over and dragged him back into the acid pit for a "bath."

At this point, only the hunter and the thief remained in the group, barely putting up a fight. The hunter fired arrows desperately, but the arrows sank into the slime as easily as if they were stuck in a water bag, without making a sound.

Chapter 112

The thief was agile and could have easily run around the slime area, but the passage was too narrow. He turned around and stepped into a fish scale trap thrown by the murloc. The edges of the fish scales were full of barbs, and his foot got stuck between his toes, impossible to pull out.

Seeing this, the merman charged forward, thrusting his spear upwards and sending the thief flying through the air. In mid-air, the slime flicked its tentacles, slamming the thief into an acid pit in the corner.

In less than ten seconds, the thieves in the acid pit fell completely silent and disappeared as they turned into particles of light.

Seeing his companions fall one by one, the hunter lost his mind and tried to run away, only to walk right into a trap that the slime had laid. Thick slime surrounded him on three sides, with the only exit blocked by the old blind merman.

The murloc emitted a deep, eerie sound, then swung its long, fish-spiny spear, piercing the hunter's heart. The hunter didn't even have time to scream before being thrown into the acid pit for a final, fatal blow.

At this point, the entire team was wiped out; they hadn't even seen the middle section.

Ron watched as the lights from the entrance flashed back to the teleportation array one by one, and couldn't help but let out a cold smile.

This is only the first day of the new setup, and the slimes and fishmen have already pulled off such a brilliant move.

He already had a plan in mind—this combination could reliably take down 80% of the teams, and the Sand Snakes and the three Kobold brothers would be enough to finish off the remaining 20%.

“Let’s go, there’s still a Sand Snake reaping scene in the middle section, let’s see if we can break the record for a total wipeout today.” Ron started walking, and Claudia followed closely behind.

The two disappeared down the path at the top, and the entrance to the Black Language Cave returned to silence, but white smoke was still rising from the acid pit, as if reminding those behind them—welcome.

Ron and Claudia walked along the high path, following the clean spectator route towards the middle.

The area around the sand snake is a natural canyon with a highly undulating terrain, and the rock walls on both sides are densely covered with sharp rock spikes. Sand snakes love to hunt in places like this, where there's nowhere to hide; they charge in and either bite or whip their tails.

As soon as Ron reached the mouth of the canyon, he saw a new adventure team stepping into the middle section.

This team was clearly a veteran group, with much better equipment than the previous one. When they entered, their formation was tight, with two shield-wielding warriors in the front, a priest and an archer in the middle, and a spearman at the back.

At first, they moved steadily, shields at the front, clearly intending to withstand the monster's initial onslaught. But the sand serpents didn't rush forward; instead, they lurked beneath the rocks, slowly inching forward.

This kind of waiting has worked countless times against ordinary adventurers—the further you go in, the more enclosed the terrain becomes, and when the sand snakes charge in, there's simply no space for you to dodge.

Suddenly, a sand snake darted out from a crevice in the rocks on the left, coiled around the waist of a soldier in the front row like a whip, and with a sharp pull, sent the man flying sideways, crashing into the opposite rock wall with a dull thud as his armor slammed against it.

Before the warrior could even stand up, a second sand snake pounced from the front, biting him on the neck, venom seeping into the wound. The man froze instantly, and the shield in his hand clattered to the ground.

The priest hurriedly raised his hand to prepare to heal, but just then, a low, strange cry came from the other side of the canyon.

The old blind merman leaped out from the shadows.

With a flick of its barbed harpoon, it unleashed a cloud of foul-smelling water. The moment the water touched you, it felt like being submerged in ice water; your whole body went numb, and you instantly lost half your strength.

The priest's healing light had just begun to ignite in his hand when it was abruptly extinguished by the chill.

The merman seized the opportunity to charge into the middle of the group, sweeping his harpoon horizontally and cleaving the archer's bow in two. The archer tried to draw his dagger, but the merman was incredibly fast, closing in on him in an instant. The harpoon flicked downwards—with a "thud," sending him flying into the air.

Before the archer could even land, the sand serpent's tail lashed out like a steel whip, hurling him into a pile of boulders at the edge of the canyon. Half of the boulders collapsed, burying the man completely.

Seeing this, the spearman roared and rushed over to help, but the old blind merman seemed to have anticipated it. He stabbed the spear into the man's shoulder with his backhand and pulled it out, drawing a spray of blood.

The spearman tried to struggle, but the sand snake pounced from behind, coiling itself tightly around him and suspending him in mid-air like a pig tied up. The venom quickly seeped into his neck, and he soon lost all strength.

The remaining warrior was still desperately holding on, raising his shield to withstand the sand serpent's tail, but he didn't notice—the murloc had already circled behind him. The harpoon pierced his ribs, penetrating his armor and protruding from his chest.

The warrior was frozen in place, the light in his eyes quickly dimmed, and his whole body went limp. The sand snake casually tossed the corpse into the depths of the canyon.

The priest was the last one, and he was already terrified. He turned to run, but the sand snakes and murlocs caught him from both sides. The priest slipped and fell directly into the sand pit that the sand snakes had prepared.

This pit is the sand snake's specialty for hunting. Once you fall in, you're surrounded by soft sand, and it's like sinking into quicksand; the more you struggle, the deeper you go. The priest tried desperately to climb out, but the sand snake had already coiled around him, tightening its grip until he was completely still.

The canyon fell silent, with only the damp smell of water vapor from the rock walls and the fishy stench of venom lingering in the air.

Ron, standing on high ground, saw everything and became even more certain—the cooperation between the old blind fishman and the sand snake was even more ferocious than he had imagined.

The slime and murloc combo at the entrance can wipe out 80% of the teams. Those who make it this far should be tough, but they still die wave after wave in this canyon.

Claudia said softly, "I'm afraid no one will be able to get to the kobolds' gate today."

Ron grunted and turned to walk away. Today's harvest from the Black Language Cave was enough to keep Bakus angry for three days.

That night, the Adventurers' Guild in Emerald Town was unusually lively.

In the center of the hall, a huge magical water screen was playing a loop of clips showing the teams that had been wiped out in the Black Whisper Cave earlier that day. The scene of white smoke billowing from the acid pit, the sand snakes strangling people, and the moment the old blind merman dragged people into the pile of rocks were all captured clearly.

The people surrounding the water curtain were talking amongst themselves.

"Those teams seemed to have pretty good gear, so how come they're all gone?"

"Weren't they saying the monsters inside were all mutated weaklings? This looks even more lethal than an A-rank dungeon!"

"Has something been tampered with inside?"

Some people have already started targeting the guild. After all, Black Whisper Caves only recently reached D-rank, and this situation where the clear rate drops to zero easily leads people to suspect unfair means.

Guild leader Amata sat in his second-floor office, glancing down through the window a few times, his brows furrowing slightly.

Chapter 113

The secretary handed over today's challenge log, a thick stack of names, all indicating total annihilation. Scanning through the names one by one, it was clear that almost none of them made it to the latter half of the Black Whisper Caves. Even those who reached the middle section were all killed by the Sand Snakes and the Old Blind-Eyed Murloc.

In a normal dungeon, such a record would have been reported and investigated for violations long ago.

Amata flipped through the notebook, pondering to herself—she knew Ron's dungeon design skills well; normally, it could hold off most people, but today's complete wipeout was likely to cause a lot of trouble.

Even worse, the guild headquarters sent a confidential letter that morning, saying that there had been anonymous reports that there might be illegal high-level monster drops in the Black Whisper Caves, and specifically asked the guild to investigate.

He knew that this was most likely the work of Bacchus's side.

Bacchus's people always like to do this—first, they secretly cause trouble for you, and then they openly create public opinion and put pressure on you to distract you.

As expected, later that evening, Amata received a second order from headquarters:

"The issuance of Black Language Cave Challenge Tokens will be temporarily suspended until the investigation team arrives and confirms the situation."

This letter is deadly. Once the token is stopped, the Black Language Cave's traffic will drop completely, and it won't be a matter of just one or two days to regain its popularity.

Amata didn't act immediately, but instead sent a message to Ron.

Inside the Black Language Cave, Ron had just finished checking the day's trap log when he received a letter from Claudia. A few lines of text on the letter made him smile slightly.

“Bacchus’s hand is outstretched,” Ron whispered.

This was the very first day after the monster layout was changed, and the effects had already been achieved. If it were forced to shut down at this point, it would be tantamount to destroying the entire plan that had been laid out by oneself.

He won't let that happen.

Ron turned and walked to the control panel, gently touching the crystal core embedded within. The energy network of the entire Black Language Cavern rapidly appeared in his mind.

He began to adjust the monster spawn locations little by little, temporarily breaking up several particularly high-damage combinations and replacing them with formations that appeared "milder".

This wasn't out of kindness, but to prevent the investigators outside from seeing anything too horrifying.

Once the investigation team leaves, these monsters can be switched back at any time.

At the same time, he added a "loophole" to the entrance traps—teams with high enough levels and quick reflexes could potentially get through the first wave of attacks and at least reach the middle section. This would allow for statistical data showing that "not everyone was wiped out."

This move was aimed at the guild headquarters staff who were reviewing the reports.

Claudia stood to the side, watching him rearrange the layout while sneering, "So you're planning to fool them first?"

Ron didn't reply, but simply lengthened the respawn interval of the last group of monsters.

"Once they finish their investigation, the Black Language Cave will still be the same Black Language Cave it is today."

He knew perfectly well that Bakus's real purpose wasn't to shut down the Black Language Cave, but rather to use this opportunity to figure out its mechanisms. As long as the other side didn't obtain the core intelligence, this territory would be considered secure.

Ron withdrew his hand and sat back down on the high stone platform.

The more intense the storm outside, the more the Black Language Cave maintains its outward "docility," waiting for the storm to pass before revealing its fangs.

Meanwhile, at the other end of Emerald Town, Bacchus was leisurely listening to his subordinates' reports while holding a wine glass in front of the fireplace.