Surviving the Maze of National Destiny: Hints from the Chinese Characters I Understand

This upgrade is very powerful. Kabu has already reached level 11. The strongest creature he encounters in the second-level maze is only level 8. What's there to be afraid of?

Moreover, I've reached level 10, so now I'm completely dominating.

See, choosing hard mode was the right decision! Who said it was hard? Where was it hard? It's so easy to do whatever you don't know how to do!

All of this is thanks to the hints; by maximizing the benefits of every terrain feature, you can achieve the necessary level and equipment to completely overwhelm the current dungeon creatures.

The Moonlit Slash has also become stronger. At level 10, Lin Mo can unleash a crescent-shaped blade of light with a radius of 3 meters, reaching a maximum distance of 50 meters, with an interval of 6.3 seconds.

Lin Mo thought for a moment, wondering if he could use this move as a basic attack once his life level and swordsmanship level were high enough.

When the sky is filled with flashing blades, which family can withstand that? Let's get started, it'll be instant kills!

[The path directly in front of you leads to a terrifying cellar inhabited by six level 8 centipedes. They enjoy killing each other and cutting off the skin to make socks.]

However, it is unhappy that it still doesn't have socks on all its feet, lamenting the hardships of life and that it can't even afford socks anymore.

There are 5 high-quality potatoes and 1 "Protecting the Nation Scroll" in the cellar.

Huh? New items again? What does that mean?

Lin Mo quickly opened the Guardian Scroll to see what was going on.

[Guardian Scroll: Once a dungeon monster of level 20 or higher kills an explorer, it gains the ability to detect the explorer's presence and trace it back to the explorer's original location. (They will follow the explorer wherever they came from.]]

Monster appearances also follow a return multiplier (one ten-thousandth of the population; for nations with less than ten thousand, the default is ten thousand) and are affected by the nation's fortune coefficient (actual return amount divided by the nation's fortune index). This scroll gives explorers from the affected nation another chance to challenge the monster.

Holy crap! Lin Mo was stunned. In other words, if you encounter monsters of level 20 or higher in the maze and fail to defeat them, it's not just a simple matter of the explorer dying. Instead, the monster will descend upon the country you're in according to a certain ratio.

Lin Mo checked the specific rules, taking a country with a population of 100 million and a national fortune index of 0.5 as an example.

After a level 20 monster kills its explorer, it will descend at a ratio of one ten-thousandth of the population, which is 100 monsters.

Then divide by the national fortune index of 0.5, and that's 200 heads. At this point, the importance of national fortune points becomes apparent again. If your national fortune points reach 200, the national fortune index is 2.0, and the number of heads that will descend is 50.

"System, isn't that just one mistake that could wipe out an entire country?" Lin Mo felt that if things continued like this, Blue Star would be doomed sooner or later.

【Have you been reading too many novels? What do you think of human firearms? At your current level 10, do you think your sword strike can slice through a multi-ton armored tank or a military fortress tens of meters thick? Do you think your crescent slash is more powerful than the Dongfeng Express? Yours only reaches 50 meters; theirs delivers globally.】

Lin Mo was jolted awake by the scolding. "Yeah, yeah! I've been influenced by so many novels. In reality, ordinary monsters are nothing but trash in front of human firearms."

[But don't be too happy. If the nation's fortune is too low and the number of creatures that descend increases, or if the nation's population is too high and its military is weak, then an attack by hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of agile labyrinth creatures would still pose a threat. Moreover, the human world is already short of food, so it's hard to say how much fighting power they have left, or how much willpower they have to resist. Therefore, it's best not to make a mistake.]

Lin Mo did the math. If it were a large country like the Dragon Kingdom or the Indian Kingdom with a population of 14 billion, a return rate of one ten-thousandth would amount to 14 monsters. Dividing that by the national fortune index, the number would be even greater.

Even though the Dragon Kingdom currently has the highest national fortune point, its national fortune index is only 0.66, while that of the Indian Kingdom is 0.41.

Hundreds of thousands of level 20 monsters are still terrifying.

Damn it, is this maze determined to destroy Earth?

Lin Mo didn't know what level the top explorers in the Dragon Kingdom were, but this scroll was too rare, and he had to get it.

Regardless of whether I'm confident or not, I'll just get it first. What if I'm level 20 by then?

Lin Mo glanced at the remaining three directions. Although there were more supplies, he still chose the passage ahead.

Six level 8 centipedes were no threat, so Lin Mo took Kabu directly into the area. "Kabu, come on, let me show you some beautiful legs."

Kabu: "Yay!"

You have 2 new transaction requests, please check them!

As soon as Lin Mo entered the cellar, he saw a transaction message.

It turns out that I had put the "Perfect Blade of Calamity" that I was helping people craft for free on the trading channel, and someone made a trading request.

The other party had prepared all the materials. The two traders were Wang Guozheng, a level 15 Dragon Kingdom Explorer, and Moria, a level 14 Indian Kingdom Explorer.

What kind of trash dares to apply? Don't they have any self-awareness? Lin Mo directly rejected the Indian Kingdom's application and then approved the Chinese Kingdom's application.

The system automatically crafts the materials and then hands them over to the other party. Even a shady merchant can't profit from this unless you explicitly request an extra fee in your transaction.

On the other side, the kingdom that had obtained the Blade of Calamity was filled with excitement.

"Fellow countrymen are fellow countrymen, I didn't take a single extra penny. Don't worry, little brother Lin Mo, I will protect your fellow countrymen in the Dragon Kingdom!"

With a determined look in his eyes, Wang Guozheng plunged into the 14th floor of the maze, full of energy at that moment.

Chinese netizens enjoyed watching Wang Guozheng's live stream.

[A netizen from China commented: Although Brother Wang's intentions are good, Brother Lin is incredibly strong now, and he's already level 10.]

[Chinese netizens: Haha, Brother Wang is now solely focused on protecting his "best" little brother, Lin Mo.]

[Chinese netizens: How wonderful it would be if they could meet then!]

[A netizen from China commented: "They might be in the same region for the competition in 6 days."]

[A netizen from China commented: That makes sense. When they see Lin Mo with an evolved battle pet and full of divine gear, Brother Wang will probably be devastated, hahaha!]

When Lin Mo and Kabu entered the depths of the cellar and saw the six centipedes, both of them were stunned.

The millipede is 10 meters long, with each leg over a meter long, and it wears all kinds of stockings, including black, white, and pink ones.

Kabu looked at the innermost lane and snapped, "Why aren't you wearing it? Don't you like it? Answer me!"

Lin Mo: ...

The millipede was dumbfounded. Were these two crazy?

A disagreement arose, a fight broke out, and ended a minute later!

Completely outmatched, Kabu even forced the other person to the ground, touched them several times, and finally complained that the other person's body didn't feel good, so he dislocated the other person's legs, leaving the cellar full of scattered beautiful legs.

Lin Mo has seen living bodhisattvas before, but this is the first time he's seen a living devil. The little guy is starting to become abnormal. Who does he take after? It's so hard to guess.

(I'm writing like crazy, and the comments section is so relatable! They said I've finally stood up for myself and now my family will be making all sorts of demands of me. You guys were right! As the saying goes, "Those who don't listen to their elders will be happy for years to come." I want to write a book, I want to be independent, I want to move out! Go for it!)