A bizarre and terrifying experience; I messed up the dungeon world.

The location of the second basement level on the map had been crossed out with a black marker, so hard that the paper almost tore.

Zhou Lang took the [Eye of Truth] out of his inventory and held it in his palm. The glass eyeball felt slightly warm, and the vertical pupil turned, aligning with the guide map.

The blurred writing reappeared in the erased area.

"Cable station"

Han Yingying followed and saw what he was holding. "What kind of prop is this?"

"A cheat code." Zhou Lang withdrew his eyes. "There's a cable car station on the second basement level. Let's go."

"Wait a minute." Chen Tiejun rushed forward and blocked his way. "I just said, let's figure out the situation first. You haven't even figured out the structure of this place, and you're already digging underground? Don't you want to die even faster?"

Zhou Lang looked at him. "Do you think it's safe to just stay here?"

"I didn't say to drag it out. I meant to proceed step by step. First, split into two groups: one to search each floor above ground, and the other to find the underground entrance. Both groups should be equipped with intercom capabilities—"

"How many dungeons did you manage to survive like this?" Zhou Lang asked.

Chen Tiejun choked for a moment.

"What I mean is, your experience might not be useful in this instance," Zhou Lang said calmly. "The death rate in this instance is 89%, so conventional strategies won't work."

When this number was announced, everyone's expression changed.

Lin Xiaoxiao, who was squatting on the ground, trembled, her voice trembling with tears: "Eighty-nine percent?! Then we—"

"Can you not scare her?" Su Wan glanced at Zhou Lang, walked over to Lin Xiaoxiao, squatted down, and patted her shoulder. "It's okay, there are so many people here."

Lin Xiaoxiao looked up at Su Wan, nodded vigorously, and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

Zhou Lang noticed that Liu Hao, standing in the corner, hadn't moved. The boy in the school uniform just stood there, his expression indifferent, neither afraid nor nervous.

This is not the reaction a newbie should have when entering a dungeon for the first time.

Zhou Lang recalled that post on the forum.

"Don't trust the one in the school uniform."

He looked away, not lingering on the subject.

"Alright." Chen Tiejun took a step back, crossed his arms, and said, "Since you're so resourceful, you lead the way, and you'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong."

"I'm only responsible for myself." After saying that, Zhou Lang walked straight towards the fire escape staircase leading to the basement.

Han Yingying followed.

Chen Tiejun stood there for two seconds, cursed, and followed. Su Wan, holding Lin Xiaoxiao's hand, walked in the middle.

Liu Hao walked at the very back.

The fire escape door slammed open with a sharp metallic scraping sound. The stairwell was dark, pitch black. Zhou Lang lit an oil lamp; its green light illuminated the concrete walls.

"Why is this light green?" Chen Tiejun asked.

"Special prop." Zhou Lang didn't explain further.

Descending to the basement level, it was indeed a parking lot. It was empty and quiet, without a single car in sight. There were large patches of dark stains on the ground, indistinguishable as to whether it was oil or something else.

Zhou Lang walked forward, holding the oil lamp, the Eye of Truth continuing to heat up in his palm.

As he walked to the innermost corner of the parking lot, the vertical pupils of his eyes spun violently.

There is a door in the wall.

The door was sealed with cement, but the seal was very rough, with cracks on the cement surface from which black liquid seeped out.

Zhou Lang placed his hand on it.

It's cold.

That wasn't water. It was some kind of viscous, flowing substance, like diluted asphalt.

"The second basement level is behind this," he said.

Chen Tiejun stepped forward and tapped the cement surface with his fist; the sound was dull. "Sealed solid enough. What are you planning to do—"

Zhou Lang took out a chainsaw from his inventory.

"Wait, wait, wait! Put that thing away!" Chen Tiejun took a step back. "Using a chainsaw in a confined space? Are you crazy?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Find another entrance! A normal staircase or elevator—"

"The normal entrance has been blocked long ago, otherwise the floor plan wouldn't be completely dark." Zhou Lang pulled the start rope of the chainsaw, and the engine made a humming pre-starting sound. "Back up."

Han Yingying tugged at Chen Tiejun's arm and pulled him a few steps away.

The sound of the chainsaw cutting into the cement was extremely piercing, sparks flew everywhere, and concrete debris flew all over the place. Zhou Lang cut a square opening big enough for a person to crawl through, and his arm was numb when he turned off the chainsaw.

It was dark inside the cave.

It wasn't ordinary black; it was the kind of black that swallows up any light that shines through. The green light from the oil lamp stopped at the edge of the cave entrance, unable to penetrate even an inch further.

Everyone fell silent.

"Who goes first?" Su Wan asked.

Zhou Lang glanced back at the crowd. Lin Xiaoxiao huddled behind Su Wan, Chen Tiejun's fists were clenched but he didn't move, and Liu Hao still stood expressionless ten meters away.

Han Yingying walked to the cave entrance, squatted down, peeked inside, and then stood up again. "There's a breeze inside. It's blowing downwards."

"That's the passage." Zhou Lang held the oil lamp to the edge of the cave entrance, the green light barely illuminating half a meter inside—it was a staircase extending downwards.

He bent down and crawled inside.

The steps were longer than Zhou Lang had anticipated.

After walking down for at least three minutes, the air grew colder and colder, and the light from the oil lamp cast long shadows on the walls. The steps were made of iron, and had been in disrepair for years, creaking with every step.

Footsteps approached from behind. Han Yingying followed closely behind him, then Chen Tiejun, followed by Su Wan and Lin Xiaoxiao.

Liu Hao followed silently, without anyone noticing.

We've finally reached the bottom.

Zhou Lang raised the oil lamp high, and the green light swept across the scene before him, causing him to pause in surprise.

This is a platform.

The standard cable car platform—with iron railings, waiting lines, and a half-broken electronic display screen hanging overhead. On the other side of the platform is a bottomless tunnel, with two rusty tracks extending from the darkness and disappearing into the darkness at the other end.

But these are not the most striking features.

Words are carved everywhere on the platform floor and walls.

The densely packed characters were carved with a knife or scratched with fingernails—the strokes were crooked and the ends were marked with dark red marks.

"Help."

"Let me out."

"This is the 37th time."

"They're back again."

"Don't get in that car."

"Can anyone hear me?"

Zhou Lang squatted down and looked at one of the lines of text. The characters were very small, but deeply engraved.

"We did not die voluntarily."

The Eye of Truth burned in his palm. He looked down and saw his vertical pupils fixed on a wall at the end of the platform, where a notice board displayed a yellowed announcement.

He walked over and tore it off.

The notice read:

"Ocean Cable Car Co., Ltd. hereby announces: Due to equipment maintenance, the No. 3 cable car line will be suspended from the 15th of this month. We apologize for any inconvenience caused."

The date on the document is seven years ago.

Turn it over, and you'll see a line of text written on the back with a ballpoint pen:

"It's not under maintenance, it's broken. The steel cable is broken. They refuse to replace it."