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

Chapter 154

The third layer introduces the real killer move – the rockfall trough.

Once activated, the entire ring of boulders will cascade down the ramp, smashing through everything in the well's center.

The Dark Abyss was prepared; their stealthy monsters slipped into the mechanism room through the outer edge gaps and removed all the wooden wedges securing the slots beforehand.

The defenders pulled the noose, and the boulder got stuck halfway before being blown apart by the explosive sac.

As the passage deepened, hot air began to rise from the bottom of the well, carrying with it the damp, foul smell of the Blackwater Lake.

Ron looked down from the shadows of the well wall. The middle entrance at the bottom of the well was a heavy iron gate, and the platform in front of the gate was full of guards with long spears.

He raised his hand, and the Abyss Throat and the Dark Sea Abyss descended from both wings simultaneously, like two biting jaws of a beast, trapping everyone on the platform in the middle.

As the Ironback charged, its bone shield slammed against the iron gate, which groaned low before being forcefully lifted open.

A wave of heat hit us, and the air in the middle layer was mixed with rust and sulfur.

Ron stepped through the iron gate, turning back to say only, "The heart of the ring city is down there."

The passage in the middle level is narrower than that in the upper level, and the rock walls have been baked by years of heat waves, giving them a dark red glow.

The stone slabs underfoot were covered with cracks, and steam occasionally spewed out from the cracks, carrying a pungent metallic smell.

Ron did not rush to advance with his entire army. He sent the people of the Dark Sea Abyss to scout ahead, sneaking down along the shadows on both sides of the passage.

Before they had gone fifty steps, they discovered the first trap—a array of rune stones embedded in the surface. If they stepped on it, the entire passage would be filled with scorching steam.

The stealthy monster used its bone hook to shatter the runestones, completely disabling the mechanism.

The Abyss's Maw was responsible for clearing the high platforms on both sides. These platforms had oil troughs mixed with fine sand; once ignited, the flames would stick to the armor plates and shields along with the sand.

The wall-climbing beasts scaled up from the outside of the passage, while the Shadowscale Puppet rushed to the oil trough and kicked the embers directly into the ranks of the defenders, causing them to tumble and crawl as they were burned.

The stone gate at the end of the passage is five zhang high, with a circle of incantations carved on it, and a black crystal that looks like an eye in the center.

Claudia walked up with the molten flame pouch, pressed the opening against the crystal, and as soon as the runes were hit by the high temperature, the entire door immediately cracked with spiderweb-like patterns.

The iron-backed beast lowered its head and rammed into the door, causing it to collapse with a crash, and a wave of heat mixed with moisture rushed out.

The Blackwater Lake was fully revealed before our eyes—its diameter was hundreds of feet, its water was jet black and shiny, and bubbles were constantly rising from its surface, each bursting to spray out a mist of water carrying sparks.

The lake shore is a circular stone platform covered with railway tracks and ore carts, clearly the final processing area of ​​Huancheng Energy.

The defenders' last line of defense was set up next to the stone platform, with dozens of crossbows and javelins all aimed at the entrance.

Ron raised his hand, and the Bone Thrower threw the first round of exploding bottles into the lake. The bottles exploded into high columns of water, and the heat and mist instantly blocked the view.

"rush."

The Abyss's Throat charged in from the left flank, skimming along the lake shore. The Wall Climbers used their barbed chains to hook onto the crossbows, dragging them entirely into the lake.

The Dark Abyss then submerged into the water from the right, circled around the lakebed to the feet of the guards, and with a sweep of its tail, overturned the entire row of people into the black water.

The main force pressed forward head-on, with the Ironback Beast pushing hard against the bone shield, the Heavy Armor Beast smashing through the defenses with its shoulder, and the swarm of slimes following closely behind, turning the stone platform into a slippery surface.

In less than fifteen minutes, the lakeshore defenses were completely overwhelmed. Ron stood by the lake, gazing at the churning black water in the center, and said in a low voice, "Beneath the center of the lake lies its lifeline."

After the lake shore was cleared, the Blackwater Lake surged even more violently, as if it had sensed an external threat.

The lake surface swelled up in bursts, and the hot mist that spewed out when it broke, mixed with tiny sparks, would scorch the stone surface when it landed on it.

Ron didn't hesitate; what he wanted was to dive down before the lake center fully erupted and destroy the energy core directly.

The lurking monsters of the Dark Abyss are clad in specially made bone armor, with heat-resistant sand oil applied between the bone pieces.

The Throat of the Abyss is responsible for setting up traction chains and winches on the lake shore, so that they can quickly pull back anyone who has dived down should the lakebed explode.

The moment I descended, the lake water was like a boiling pot, slapping the armor with a loud crackling sound.

Besides the heat, there was a sticky force pulling them along in the water, as if something at the bottom of the lake was consciously preventing them from getting closer.

The Dark Sea Abyss team gritted their teeth, lowered their posture, and moved along the bottom of the lake, following the undercurrent beneath the center of the lake.

After diving a hundred feet, the scene at the bottom of the lake was revealed—a circular altar made of black iron and huge stones. At the center of the altar was a black core that was constantly pulsating. Countless fist-sized orbs of light floated around it. With each pulsation, the orbs of light were drawn into the core and then emitted an even stronger heat flow.

The rock walls at the bottom of the lake are covered with chain pillars, each engraved with suppression runes that continuously channel the heat and energy of the lake water to all parts of the surrounding city.

With a wave of his hand, the squad leader sent two stealthy monsters rushing toward the nearest chain pillar, driving the sealing nails hard into the rune nodes.

The runes immediately emitted a sharp hiss, like animal hide being torn apart.

Meanwhile, another team sneaked beneath the core and inserted the burst capsules into the grooves at the bottom of the altar.

The first roar shook the lake water violently outwards, and the waves surged straight towards the shore.

The winch of the Abyss's Throat immediately started turning, the traction chain tightened, and the team members who had dived down were pulled up in one go.

A second explosion, accompanied by a blinding white light, erupted from the bottom of the lake. The black core in the center of the lake split in two, and the light scattered out of control, turning into scalding liquid that churned in the lake water.

Ron stood on the lake shore, feeling the stone platform beneath his feet tremble.

The lake level began to drop rapidly, completely exposing the altar at the bottom of the lake, whose remains continued to collapse in the heat.

One by one, the city lights went out, the hot air dissipated, and a bone-chilling cold replaced them.

"Evacuate the lake area and seal off the passage." Ron's order was cold and decisive.

When the last soldier withdrew to the outside of the middle iron gate, the center of the lake completely collapsed into a huge black hole, and the remaining lake water fell into the abyss as if it had been drained.

The heart of the city was uprooted.

After the collapse of Blackwater Lake, the city was like a giant beast with its internal organs ripped out. The outer and middle layers of defense were completely destroyed, and the defending troops either died or fled.

Ron did not rush to flood in on a large scale. He first ordered the Dark Sea Abyss and the Abyss Throat to block the seven passes in two separate routes, locking down all exits and preventing anyone from leaving the city.

The main force took over the middle-level vertical passage, with Ironback Beasts and Heavy Armored Beasts guarding the iron gate, turning this only passage to the surface into a trap.

Claudia led a restoration team to the lakeside stone platform, where they reinforced the damaged tracks with sand vein dragon bone sections and runestones, converting the original ore carts into a city-dedicated line for transporting military equipment and supplies.

The outer streets surrounding the city were divided into four defense zones: the Abyss Throat occupied the east, the Dark Sea Abyss occupied the west, the north was the main battleground, and the south was reserved as a rallying area and supply depot.

Each main street intersection was sealed off with bone towers, each topped with a heavy crossbow that could cover the entire intersection at any time.

After the initial panic, the residents were moved in batches to the outer airspace for centralized management.

Those who were capable were incorporated into ragtag units, while those who resisted were thrown into mine prisons.

The mercenaries' bodies were dragged to an abandoned cave outside the city and buried. All weapons and armor were put into the armory and re-engraved with the Black Code.

Ron stood on the stone platform on the lake shore, looking down at the dried-up black hole in the center of the lake.

This place is no longer an energy source, but its location is superb—the abyss in the center of the lake serves as a natural defensive barrier, and the surrounding stone platforms can accommodate an entire legion's garrison.

He drew a new structure on the map: the center of the lake was transformed into a command hub, and the four defense zones led to the outer ring of the city and the outlet of the underground river, forming a closed-loop defense.

Three days later, the lights around the city were turned on again, but instead of the warm yellow of oil lamps, they were the cold white light of runes, forming a circle from the outer ring to the lake shore, like a new bone armor being put on the behemoth beneath the city.

The Black Language flags hung on the seven passes, their shadows swaying slightly in the cold light.

Ron put away the shape-measuring disc, his gaze crossing the city's perimeter and landing on the deeper underground river—where perhaps an even larger underworld awaits to be conquered.

On the fifth day after the city was stabilized, the reconnaissance team from the Dark Sea Abyss brought back news—three waterways extended deeper into the lower underground river exposed after the collapse of Blackwater Lake, one of which had the fastest current and carried a strange, metallic sweet smell.

Ron deduced that the smell might be an energy flow leaking from some kind of underground mine or ancient array.

The Dark Abyss received a mission and sent its most stealthy monsters to explore the rapids.

The stealthy monster is clad in armor made of sand dragon bone plates, with rune stones embedded between the plates, which are both pressure-resistant and heat-conducting.

They followed the rapids downstream, passing through several narrow crevices and dark caves, before finally disappearing into a wide, open bay.

In the middle of the bay stands a half-submerged giant stone arch bridge, the water beneath which shimmers with a pale golden light, as if it were filled with gold dust.

The Abyss Throat advanced along the banks of the dark river by land. They discovered ancient runes on the broken walls of the riverbank, with extinguished light stones embedded in the center of the runes and covered with a thick layer of ash.

What's even stranger is that there are many traces of artificial cutting on the rock strata along the shore, as if someone had once quarried here.

On the sixth day of their exploration, the Dark Sea Abyss discovered a sealed stone door at the end of the arched bridge. The door was decorated with a bas-relief of a twisted beast with limbs encircling a vortex-shaped hole.

The water was gushing out from that hole, carrying gold dust and heat.

As they tried to approach, a deep pulsating sound suddenly came from inside the stone gate, and the water flow suddenly intensified, almost sweeping away the approaching stealthy monster.

The intelligence was relayed back to the city, and Ron marked the locations of the arch bridge and stone gate in red on the map: "Behind that, it's not just a mineral vein, but possibly a much larger bottom hub."

He ordered three armies to assemble at the southern entrance of the city and commanded Claudia to lead an engineering team to build a bone section wharf along the underground river to facilitate the transport of weapons and supplies.

At night, the cold white light from the lakeside illuminated the dark river mouth, where heavy crossbow towers and bone shield beasts stood in rows.

Ron stood on the dock, looking at the black, swift current leading to the unknown, and said in a low, steady voice: "Tomorrow, we'll follow this river and uncover the deeper parts."

At dawn, the Bone Section Wharf at the southern entrance of the city was filled with the sounds of military equipment and animal hooves.

The lurking monsters of the Dark Abyss went into the water first, their bone armor gleaming coldly on the surface.

The armored beasts and ironback beasts were secured to specially designed floating platforms and pulled by chains to prevent them from being swept away by the rapids.

Ron personally boarded the first bone ship, where a shaped plate was placed in the center of the deck, marking the locations of the red arch bridge and stone gate.

As soon as the water entered the rapids, the bone boat seemed to be pushed by a giant hand, and its speed increased dramatically.

The rock walls on both sides grew narrower and narrower, and the white foam splashing from the water exploded around our ears like countless tiny bursting sacs.

The lurking monsters of the Dark Abyss conduct reconnaissance underwater, occasionally surfacing to report the situation ahead using hand gestures.

Less than half an hour into their journey, the first danger appeared—a dense cluster of black wooden stakes floated in the middle of the river, their heads sharpened and their surfaces coated with shiny grease.

The lurking monster severed the chains connecting the piles underwater, and the black wooden piles were washed towards both banks, revealing a gap in the center through which one could pass.

As soon as the bone boat passed, a roar came from the shore, and dozens of rounded boulders poured down the chute, crashing and churning the water.

The Ironback Beast stood at the forefront, using its bone shield to block several boulders, thus protecting the fleet behind it.

As you continue downstream, the water gradually turns golden, and the sand at the bottom glitters.

Ron looked down and saw the gold dust being swirled into eddies in the rapids, moving forward along the riverbed.

The scouts from the Dark Sea swam back from ahead and reported that the waterway ahead had suddenly widened and a huge whirlpool had appeared, with the center of the whirlpool directly facing the half-submerged arch bridge.

As the bone boat entered the bay, the force of the whirlpool immediately pulled at its hull.

The armored beasts and ironbacks growled as they resisted the pull, the chains stretched taut.

The water beneath the arched bridge was churning, and the stone gate with its bas-relief animal shape could be vaguely seen. The swirling holes on the gate constantly sucked in gold dust and spewed out waves of heat.

Ron stared at the door, his voice barely audible: "There's something breathing behind that door."