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Realizing something was terribly wrong, Hua Zhen sprinted towards Karula at top speed.

"No, no...!!"

"Ouch!"

At the same time, I heard the tense pulling of the rope and someone's cry of pain from behind.

But I can't worry about that now.

Remove the shoulder straps from the overalls and pull them off together.

He then picked up Karula as if she were a child.

By lifting the bottom edge of the white teddy bear, the delicate little hills seem to part like the sun breaking through the clouds, revealing a cool breeze from the air.

A clear, babbling brook flows quietly beside my fingertips.

It then transformed into a small waterfall, tracing a beautiful parabola.

As Hua Zhen breathed a sigh of relief, she finally realized the beauty of mathematics.

Is this the peculiarity of quadratic functions?

That's sometimes how it is in life and in learning.

When you don't understand something, you always feel annoyed.

But when you finally understand, the parabola left on the exam paper is no longer a quadratic function.

Fortunately...

I said, "Now that Carla's mom is here to give me a lesson, does anyone understand?"

Looking at the parabolic trajectory, Hua Zhen couldn't help but sigh.

Wow, mature women are really something else! They can go that far!

However, something just doesn't feel right.

If it's a quadratic function, the parabola should have a point where it intersects the x-axis.

Peeking out from the side of Karula's head, Hua Zhen saw Tia Ge lying on the ground.

Because the ropes binding everyone were tied together to prevent them from exceeding the self-destruction distance, as Hua Zhen ran towards Karula, the physically weak Tia was dragged quite a distance by Hua Zhen while she was asleep, completely unprepared.

Her face was lowered, and the back of her head received the water like golden waves of wheat.

Hua Zhen remained expressionless.

Because people can feel numb when they are in a state of extreme fear.

Jin Jin, who was not far away, also noticed the commotion and said with a strange expression, "You guys are playing this big game?"

"Tia, are you alright? I... would you believe me if I said I didn't mean it?" Hua Zhen's lips twitched.

"I...am going to...kill you!"

Tia raised her head, her face disheveled, her emerald eyes filled with raging fury.

She was suddenly dragged away in her sleep and her head was soaked with fumes.

Anyone would lose their temper in that situation.

Before, Tia Ge... mainly because she would often fantasize about the heroine in her novels when she was little.

Whether it's a love story or an adventure story, she can immerse herself in it. Sometimes she's a happy girl in a sweet love story, and sometimes she's a knight who charges into battle and is admired by everyone.

But in terms of reality, she has come to a profound understanding of the situation.

It's very simple, because whether it's a love story or an adventure story, the female protagonist will never get soaked.

When faced with Tia Ge, Hua Zhen could only try to please her.

Because you have absolutely no idea what incredible things she might do in a world where time is stopped, given her mental capacity...

Just as Tia was about to lose her temper, a commotion came from the entrance on the 21st floor.

The sound of hurried footsteps carried far through the empty, dark tunnel. Looking in that direction, one could see scattered lights, like lone boats on a dark sea.

"Put aside personal grudges for now, and be careful." Miss Jin Jin took off her gloves, revealing a ring with a silver skull on it. "The other party is an adventurer, and their haste probably doesn't mean they're targeting us, but we should still be cautious. I've already got an idea of ​​where the Ghost Grass is, and I don't want to just turn back now."

Tia glared angrily at Hua Zhen, then drew her throwing knife and became alert.

She secretly vowed that if she activated time stop later, her first throwing knife would definitely hit Hua Zhen's second brother!

Hua Zhen sullenly helped Karula put on her overalls, but before that, she had to take the little white bear back to the hill, which was its home.

Neither Miss Jin Jin nor Tia Ge seemed to understand him... which made him feel a little frustrated.

What did I do wrong?

Adventurers who can enter floors below the 20th floor are no ordinary characters.

In the blink of an eye, the sparks inside had turned into flames, even faster than Hua Zhen had expected. Then, a team of adventurers, about seven or eight people, rushed out.

The two sides met at the entrance, and the other side stopped involuntarily.

"You want to go down? Take my advice, something's happened on the 23rd floor, and we're heading back to the Adventurers' Guild for backup... Hmm?"

The group of adventurers who had just returned from below noticed Hua Zhen.

He was almost finished dressing Karula in her work clothes.

How should I put it... it looks a bit like taking off someone's pants.

"Hey, you there, who the hell are you?!" the leading female adventurer roared. "Put that girl down and come back to the Public Security Bureau with me!"

"Calm down, he's not a Lonos," Tia said, glancing at Hua Zhen. "He's just helping the little guy with mobility issues carry things. You guys continue."

"Oh, I thought that guy was some kind of sadistic freak. Even in an underground labyrinth, we have to be extra careful of the Lonos people..." the female adventurer said. "Enough of the chit-chat, I'm from the Great Dog Legion. The situation down there is very strange. When we reached the 23rd floor, one of our accompanying teams went missing, and then a fog we'd never seen before appeared. The vanguard was the first to enter the 24th floor, but they can't return because of the fog. The rest of us are trapped in the fog on the 23rd floor and can't get back to the main path. Now, more than 23 adventurers are missing in the fog."

"Mist?" Jin Jin asked.

"Yes... it's fog that rose up halfway through," the female adventurer said. "The 23rd floor is the Misty Plains, where there are no naturally growing magic stones to provide lighting, so you have to rely entirely on your own lighting equipment."

"Fog was a common occurrence on the 23rd floor. Experienced adventurers could navigate that area in the dark even by instinct, so no one noticed anything unusual when the fog rolled in. It wasn't until some time later, when we realized we hadn't reached the signpost section, that we realized something was wrong. We were in a fog with visibility of only a few meters, and the situation ahead was even worse. Large areas were shrouded in thick fog, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face... It felt like you had walked into a rounded street, filled with an almost tangible smell of wall water."

"That was indeed very intense." Tia and Hua Zhen nodded.

"So those hundred-odd adventurers were the ones who ventured into the depths of the mist?" Miss Jin Jin continued to ask.

"Yeah, those reckless guys insisted on finding a way out, saying that there was nothing to be afraid of in the monsters on the 23rd floor, but most of them never came back."

"Most... that means you've found a small number of people, right?" Hua Zhen asked.

"Yes," the female adventurer sighed, "when we found her, she was already delirious, with vacant eyes and drooling. We couldn't wake her up no matter how we called her, and there was no response to stimulating her body. We tried all sorts of medicines, but it still didn't work."

"There wouldn't be any X-magic on the 23rd floor, would there?" Tia frowned. "From your description, it sounds like he's been X-magically stimulated and is in a daze!"

"We considered that possibility, but the adventurers' clothes that were found were all intact."

"Wow, this monster really exists?" Hua Zhen exclaimed in surprise.

"I understand. I think I have a way. Can you take us there?" Miss Jin Jin asked with a meaningful smile.

"You have a way?" the female adventurer asked in surprise.

"Yes, if I'm not mistaken, you've most likely encountered a special magical plant, and a mutated one at that."

Hua Zhen and Tia Ge exchanged a glance.

Occasionally, mutated species will emerge among monsters, and naturally, there are also mutated species of magical plants.

For example, the man-eating plant, after mutating, can disguise itself and move by using special roots. When walking on the road, unlucky people are often bitten in half by the man-eating plant that follows them, making it difficult to guard against.

Is Miss Jin Jin's knowledge really that extensive?

"A mutated magical plant?" The female adventurer was taken aback. "I've never heard of such a magical plant!"

"We'll just have to go and see," Jin Jin said. "Anyway, the situation of the adventurers you described is similar to the symptoms of a magical plant I know. They're drooling and delirious because their souls... are most likely no longer in their bodies."

Upon hearing this, Hua Zhen's expression hardened.

He couldn't help but look at Jin Jin, who winked at him, essentially telling him not to make a fuss.

Upon hearing this, the female adventurer from the Big Dog Battle Group pondered for a moment and immediately made a decision.

Her team split into two groups: one group went back to the 20th floor to take the subway to seek help, while the other group took Jinjin and others to the 23rd floor.

There was no danger encountered along the way.

The group quickly descended the main path.

The so-called main road, as the name suggests, is the main road. This road is a passage that adventurers have carved out one after another with their lives. It is marked with various road signs. Because many people pass through it, it is the safest and fastest route.

The main road was littered with the corpses and blood of monsters.

This is enough to show how intense the battle was half a day ago.

The low-level monsters are not dealt with, nor is there any need to. Other monsters will naturally come and eat these corpses after a while. Only the corpses of high-level monsters will be taken as materials.

The female adventurer leading the group is named "Vivi," and she is a member of the Big Dog Legion.

During the journey, she explained the situation in detail.

This great expedition has a total of fifteen battle groups.

Basically, apart from "Shining Wings", all the other top-tier chapters have joined this effort. After all, the Eye of the Cursed is not in the dungeon at the moment, making it an excellent opportunity to make money or improve strength.

Generally, for safety and efficiency, expeditionary teams are divided into vanguard teams and logistics teams.

The vanguard team is responsible for dealing with monsters, while the support team is responsible for counting and collecting various materials. This coordinated approach not only prevents the team from becoming bloated, but also greatly increases the speed of progress.

Since the destinations of the fifteen well-known battle groups were all floors 35-37, and some even planned to attempt to reach floor 40 if they had extra time, everyone moved forward at the fastest speed and descended together.

This method has basically become the norm: fifteen powerful adventurers, who are among the best in Fallands, fight side by side, and the journey is almost unimpeded with a very low casualty rate.

However, this time I was a bit unlucky.

After entering the 23rd floor of the Misty Plains, the vanguard quickly dealt with the monsters on the main path and reached the 24th floor. Although communication crystals were not available in most areas of the underground labyrinth, a faint magical signal could still be received near the entrance of each floor, allowing adventurers on adjacent floors who were staying at the entrance to contact each other.

After receiving news that the vanguard had arrived at the 24th floor, the logistics team began operations.

Then I realized something was wrong.

They were disoriented by the fog.

The compass and other magical locators also completely failed.

Fortunately, they had only been on the 23rd floor for a short time, and if they followed the footprints, there was a high chance they could return the way they came, but that wasn't the case for the vanguard.

They were completely cut off from the logistics team at the rear. Since the logistics team was responsible for carrying supplies and transporting important resources such as monster materials, the vanguard only carried a small amount of food and water, making it difficult to guarantee how long the few hundred people at the front could hold out.

It's important to understand that the vanguard is basically composed of the most outstanding individuals within the battle group. Losing them would be a huge loss, which explains the subsequent situation where adventurers who entered the fog to try to find their way disappeared, and the few adventurers who were found also exhibited unusual behavior.

This had never happened before in the underground labyrinth.

It's even more serious than the magic turbulence.

Therefore, adventurers with faster foot speed, such as Vivi, were sent up there to request support.

"Hey, don't be angry. I'll do all the housework for the next month, okay?" Hua Zhen nudged Tia Ge's shoulder.

"Only a month?" Tia glanced at him sideways.

"How about I treat you to fruit beer every night?"

"That's it? Just drinking? Trying to get me drunk?"

"I'll buy the food too!" Hua Zhen gritted her teeth. "Fried skewers and grilled meat are fine with me!"

"That's more like it..." Tia snorted, which was considered an forgiveness for Hua Zhen dragging Karula several meters while holding her and using her as a chamber pot to sprinkle smoke on her head.

Hey.

Hua Zhen turned his head and revealed a sinister smile...

Is Tia really that easy to handle?

She doesn't know what I'm trying to do yet.

Doing housework and such is just a pretense.

Let me examine your underwear and bra properly, then I'll go find that smoky-voiced catgirl, Mavis, who loves to smoke and has itchy lungs, and have her concoct a scent potion. I'll also buy some cheap underwear, disguise it as used underwear, and sell it at a high price. I'll split the profits 50/50 with Tia...

Hehe, I'm such a genius at making money!

On the other hand, Tia also had some ulterior motives.

She now lives in Hua Zhen's house, which is not big, even cramped, but she got it for free.

It provides shelter from the wind and rain, much better than living in a stable.

But as the saying goes, living under someone else's roof is never a pleasant experience.

Although Tia seemed indifferent at first glance, she actually always felt indebted to Hua Zhen, so she thought it was no big deal to give Hua Zhen, who was repressed but couldn't afford to go to Round Corner Street, some perks.

As long as the glue doesn't get on your underwear and can't be washed off, it's fine.

After all, she didn't want to surprise Huaiyun.

Miss Jin walked behind the two, staring at their backs, seemingly calm, but inwardly she was already laughing wildly.

Now that Dad and the others are settled... Just wait and see how I deal with you guys!

She hadn't forgotten anything that happened in the cemetery, what happened when Hua Zhen threatened her in the guild tavern, or what happened when Tia Ge drove away her potential brother-in-law...

The only one with an empty head is probably Carula.

Fools have no worries, so they live exceptionally happy lives.

She walked in the middle, holding Huazhen and Tia Ge's hands, eating Darou energy bars with a satisfied expression.

There's no need for strenuous hunting anymore, and raw meat, which used to be considered delicious, now holds no appeal in the face of cities brimming with culinary delights.

As long as you open your mouth and make the sound "Mommy...hungry...food", delicious food will be fed to you.

Never before has there been such a wonderful start!

For Karula, whether it's the 23rd or 32nd floor, in her mind it's just about moving from one place to another and continuing to eat delicious food.