The Fourth Calamity: Starting with Dungeon Slimes

Chapter 144 Exploiting Others

Indeed, war has all sorts of advantages, everything imaginable.

The problem is, how do you fight with this thing? Who do you fight with? That's the key question, and we also have to consider whether there's a chance of failure.

"So, Salty Fish, what's the situation on your end? Tell me in detail."

Hearing everyone's questions, Salty Fish didn't keep them in suspense and shared his opinion.

"First of all, resource extraction is definitely not a viable option, right?"

Everyone nodded in agreement upon hearing what the salted fish said.

"Although it's not time to go to war yet, we can't just give up all our income."

"So after thinking it over, I came up with a solution."

"That means we should take the initiative to start a war. Since those monsters are all on the 55th floor, I think we can still make a move on this."

"Since they're gathered over there, we might as well go over and take advantage of them."

"As long as we don't launch a large-scale campaign, small-scale, slow invasions shouldn't be a big problem. And even if a large-scale campaign does occur, given our current situation, we can still hold it off."

Upon hearing what the salted fish said, everyone hesitated for a moment, but after thinking about it carefully, they felt that this was indeed a feasible idea.

After some discussion, the group gathered a number of veteran players and set off in a grand procession.

Although it seems like there's no problem, quite a few players still have some concerns.

After all, if something really goes wrong with this thing, they'll be the ones to blame.

"Are we really sure this is okay? What if our relationship with the NPCs ends up in the negative? That would be awkward."

.

As they walked towards that place, one player said with some concern.

Upon hearing his words, everyone couldn't help but purse their lips.

"Haven't you heard the saying 'the bold get rich, the timid starve'? How can you be so timid every day? How will you make a living?"

"It's not a matter of whether I'm timid or not. What I'm afraid of is that with the way we do things, we won't make any money, but instead we'll damage our relationship with the NPCs, and then it'll be a huge mess."

"What's there to be afraid of? Did the NPC say we shouldn't start a war? Obviously he didn't, so isn't it perfectly reasonable for us to start a war? And since it's perfectly reasonable for us to start a war, the question is, why are we still worried about these things?"

Despite being somewhat apprehensive after hearing everyone's advice, the player eventually made a decision after much deliberation.

"It's all over. The bold get rich, the timid starve. That's absolutely true."

"It's better than nothing. Let's take the risk. Besides, the NPCs don't seem to have mentioned this."

"That's right, that's how it should be." Salty Fish said, adding as he spoke.

"Being timid and submissive in the real world isn't enough, so why are you being so timid and submissive in the game world? What are you trying to achieve?"

Is that right?

"And even if we take a step back, how could we possibly lose favorability? Don't you guys think about it? Let's sort this out properly, and let me analyze it for you."

"What can be confirmed first?"

"Whether it's dark elves or succubi, no matter where they hide or whether they're hostile to us, if they are hostile, it's not wrong for us to go and cause them trouble, is it?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"That makes perfect sense."

"That's right, we're going to fight the enemy. There's nothing wrong with that. The NPCs have set up a gathering point at the entrance between floors 55 and 56. It's just a place to hold off the enemy. We don't need to wait for the enemy to come. We can take the initiative and attack."

Hearing the discussion, Salty Fish also agreed.

"That's right, this is called taking the initiative, and the NPC didn't mention the battle plan here, nor did they mention 5..."

Can we go to the 5th floor?

"His task was for us to send people over to keep watch every day, and we did that every day, so there's nothing wrong with it. Therefore, we don't need to worry at all about us going there to freeload."

"As for what to do if those monsters attack because of us? That has nothing to do with us. Think about it, these monsters will attack whether we are here or not, so we can't blame them for the monsters attacking us."

And so, with the salted fish's patient persuasion, the more everyone thought about it, the more they realized it made perfect sense.

That's not a problem.

That's how it's supposed to be.

The more they thought about it, the more they felt it should be like this.

In this way, while proving that their operation was flawless, they quickly reached level 55.

At the entrance of the floor.

The guards were somewhat bewildered to see such a large group of players arrive.

"Hey guys, what are you doing here?"

"What else can we do? Let's go check it out over there. Didn't some of our brothers discover the gathering place of the Dark Elves and Nightmares over there? We're thinking of going over there to scout it out and see what they're up to, so we can be prepared if they decide to attack."

Hearing what Salty Fish said, the player on lookout was even more confused.

"Wait, did you guys send so many people to scout this place? Is this what scouting is all about?"

However, as soon as he finished speaking, all the players looked at him with hostility, which startled him and made him take a few steps back.

"You have nothing better to do all day, don't you? We don't need to report to you what we're doing. You just keep making a fuss about all this nonsense."

As they spoke, Salty Fish and his companions left the place under the player's watchful gaze.

Although the player also felt a bit confused, he was too lazy to care. Let them do whatever they want, and if they die, it's none of his business.

After passing through the passage, Salty Fish led everyone into the 55th floor.

The terrain on the 55th floor of the dungeon is completely different from that on the upper floors.

The enormous dome is low and oppressive.

The dome and most of the ground are no longer composed of loose sedimentary rock or fertile humus, but of a dense mineral called black steel rock.

The rock surface is a deep, matte black, harder than iron, and sharply angular.

The air is perpetually filled with a smell of rust, sulfur, and some indescribable pungent odor.

Although it looks very similar to the layer above, there are far fewer resources here compared to the layer above.

This area is divided into several zones. The first zone is where this type of black granite is located, between the 55th and 56th floors.

This area at the entrance to the floor.

Compared to other levels, light is a scarce resource here.

The only source of light here is the large patches of moss that stubbornly grow in the crevices of the rock walls.

This moss emits an extremely unstable, flickering, cold blue light that barely outlines the jagged, bizarre contours of the rocks.

Occasionally, one or two deep fissures would appear at the very top of the dome, from which viscous lava flows down from an unknown upper space, as thick as liquid amber.

Like slowly flowing wounds, they emit a dark red glow and terrifying heat, emanating sulfurous mists, eventually solidifying at the bottom of massive rock pillars or ravines, forming grotesque lava waterfalls and columns.

This is also the only stable and persistent light source for the 55th floor.

Upon entering, players felt the entire world darken.

The light source here is a huge problem.

Whether it's glowing moss or these special lava pillars, the light they provide is always limited, and the range of illumination is not far.

Fortunately, the players were very familiar with the situation here, so they had brought their own light sources before they arrived.

As the players turned on their headlamps, everything gradually became clear.

What's most impressive is the treacherous terrain.

The massive black steel rock slabs are not flat, forming countless jagged, steep fault cliffs.

These natural paths formed along the cliff edges are so narrow that only one person can pass at a time.

If you go deeper, you will enter a huge labyrinth made of these rocks.

Unlike the previous levels, which were maze-like maps in themselves, the maze here is naturally formed.

It is composed of countless enormous rock pillars that are unbelievably thick.

These densely packed cylinders are covered with a special kind of mushroom, which players call Armor Mushroom.

These mushrooms are enormous; even the smallest is as tall as two people.

This mushroom has a stem as hard as iron, covered with dark brown, scale-like patterns.

The canopy is a deep, dark purple or dark green, with a tough, leather-like texture and edges that curl downwards to form a natural curve.

The spores of these *Gnaphalium affine* mushrooms have strong hallucinogenic properties, creating a psychedelic mist that is difficult to see with the naked eye when dispersed in the air.

Therefore, there are many special monsters here that look like walking corpses.

Basically, these monsters wandered into this place by mistake and inhaled a lot of this hallucinogenic powder, which is why they are like this.

Sometimes players will wander over here to pick up these bargains.

After all, compared to going through the trouble of killing powerful magical beasts, it's naturally the best to just come here and pick up the ready-made ones.

Of course, this is mainly because those few players who run food processing plants often send people over, while other players rarely come here.

Thus, Salty Fish led the group forward with practiced ease.

They hadn't gone far before they entered the next area.

If the area we just saw could be understood as a rocky region, then this area has become a sea of ​​forest.

The environmental change on this level is so abrupt: a huge ravine separates the two areas.

However, this ravine did not pose a challenge to the players, because the players who were in charge of the exploration had built a suspension bridge here.

Salty Fish and the others crossed the suspension bridge to the other side.

Upon arriving here, the feeling is completely different from that of the other areas.

The air is noticeably fresher.

And so, led by the salted fish, the group continued on their journey.

"Once you get here, you may encounter patrol teams of Nightmare Clan and Dark Elf Clan."

"On the 55th floor, the bases of both races are also located on this side of the forest, near the entrance to the 54th floor."

"And this area is probably their usual activity range."

"So we need to be careful once we get here. However, this forest is relatively rich in resources, such as various kinds of herbs. There are quite a few of them here."

"When we go out to scavenge, we can also pick some of these herbs, which can be considered as extra income for us. Remember, our main strategy is to hit and run, don't linger here, our main target is these patrol squads."

"Based on my observations over the past period, these patrol teams also collect some valuable medicinal herbs. This means that after we kill them, we can not only take their equipment, but more importantly, we can also loot the spoils they have just collected."

Clearly, a large part of the reason why Salty Fish called Jie and the others over was that he had already been keeping an eye on the characteristics of these monsters.

He had been eyeing these monsters for a while, since he was very envious of how many medicinal herbs they brought back each time. These wild monsters were clearly much better at finding medicinal herbs than the players, and they could usually get quite a lot every time.

However, these monsters are of a certain level, so it's simply unrealistic to try and solo them.

Even with teammates involved, there's still no way to solve it.

However, if you add teammates and other players, then dealing with these small monsters won't be a big problem.

After all, each team has quite a few members among these monsters, ranging from a minimum of 20 to a maximum of 30.

There were only a few people here back then. If they went over, they would most likely have been killed for nothing. Even if they weren't killed for nothing, they would have alerted the enemy or suffered heavy losses. But now it's different.

This wave has wiped out at least several dozen players on our side.

"Brothers, when we start fighting, we have one principle: after we kill someone, we'll divide the equipment and loot immediately."

"Anyway, it all boils down to one principle: fairness, fairness, and more fairness."

"As for how much you can pack and carry, that's entirely up to you."

To get here, Salty Fish had emptied his backpack thoroughly; now he could fit plenty of things in.

Hearing what the salted fish said, everyone nodded in agreement.

They naturally had no objection to this proposal. This method of distributing supplies immediately after the battle was their favorite way of allocating resources, since they could see the results right away.

Compared to the old system of communal meals where there was a waiting period before distribution, they clearly preferred the distribution model that Salty Fish had described.

"Let's do it this way, make money right away and share it immediately."

"This is the effect we wanted. So, brothers, let's get started."

And so, the players, shouting and clamoring, entered the forest.

Of course, Salty Fish was still leading the way; he had already figured out the locations with several patrol teams.

Naturally, the priority was to take them out and eliminate these patrol teams, because everyone needed to have some meat first, so they would be more motivated to work harder.