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

Zhou Lang kept this in mind and didn't pursue the matter further. He glanced around; the other three teams were scattered in different locations. Mu Chen's team was on the rooftop of a building two hundred meters away, Fang Yan's team was at the crossroads to the left, and Jiang Du's group was at the furthest point, almost out of sight.

A stone tablet slowly rose from the ground and appeared in the very center of the city.

The stone tablet was inscribed with words in blood-red script:

Welcome to the SSS-rank dungeon – Graveyard of the Gods!

[Completion condition: Find the owner of the cemetery and let him rest in peace.]

[Note: In this city, death is not the end. But living is not necessarily living.]

[Countdown: 72 hour]

Once the inscription on the stone tablet was completed, a notification popped up on everyone's system interface simultaneously.

Before Zhou Lang could even read the notification carefully, a sharp whistling sound came from the depths of the city. The sound was unlike any known ghost or monster—it wasn't a howl, nor a murmur, but a vibration, a vibration transmitted from the very bones.

The ground began to shake.

Numerous black shadows emerged from the ruins of the buildings. These shadows had no fixed form; sometimes they were human, sometimes beast, and sometimes they turned into clumps of flowing ink. Their numbers were countless, emerging from every street, every window, and every crack.

Mu Chen of the "Night Raven" team was the first to make a move. He leaped from the rooftop, wielding a ghostly weapon in each hand. Blue arcs of light streaked across the air, slicing through seven or eight shadows. But the shadows scattered only for a moment after being cut before regrouping.

"You can't be killed!" Mu Chen's voice came from afar.

Fang Yan of the "Iron Wall" team swung his sword, and the eerie power on the bone blade roared out, cleaving the entire street in front of him in one stroke. The shadows were crushed by the eerie power, and this time they did not reassemble, but more shadows surged up from under the ruins.

"Physical attacks are ineffective; we must use supernatural powers!" Fang Yan shouted.

Zhou Lang drew his chainsaw and infused it with strange power. The chainsaw roared and emitted a dark red light, with dense runes appearing on its teeth.

"Zhao Qiang, left flank! Lin Yan, right flank! Chen Ke, set up the formation! Han Yingying, support!"

The five instantly went into battle mode. Zhao Qiang's prosthetic arm sprang out three energy spikes, piercing into the charging shadows. Lin Yan's blade was so fast that only afterimages could be seen, each strike enveloped in a pale golden, eerie power. Chen Ke crouched on the ground, rapidly setting up trap talismans, sticking them one after another to the ground. Han Yingying raised her defensive device, and a semi-transparent barrier enveloped the five of them.

The shadows are increasing.

Zhou Lang slashed and observed simultaneously. These shadows weren't difficult to deal with, but there were simply too many of them. The rate at which his supernatural power was being consumed far exceeded its recovery rate; at this rate, he would be completely drained in less than twenty minutes.

"Retreat! Head towards the city center, fighting as you retreat!"

The five people began to move.

Mu Chen's team was also moving towards the center. But Jiang Du's trio ran into trouble—they were too far apart, the encirclement of shadows was too thick, and the three of them were split into two. Jiang Du was with one teammate, while the other was separated.

Zhou Lang didn't know the name of the lone man. He only saw him let out a short shout the moment he was swallowed by the shadow, and then nothing more.

The first death in the SSS-level dungeon occurred less than five minutes after entering.

Fang Yan's "Iron Wall" team also ran into trouble. One of her teammates—the one responsible for ranged attacks—was ambushed from behind while casting a wide-range, unpredictable attack. A shadow transformed into a spike, piercing through his back and chest. Fang Yan rushed to his aid, but it was too late.

"Forget about the dead, concentrate our efforts on breaking through!" Mu Chen shouted from afar.

Zhou Lang led his team across three streets and finally arrived at the city center square. The stone monument stood in the center of the square. Mu Chen's group of five arrived first, followed by Fang Yan's group of four, and Jiang Du arrived last with his only remaining teammate.

There were twenty people, but in less than ten minutes, the number had dwindled to seventeen.

The shadow stopped at the edge of the square, no longer approaching. It was as if the stone tablet had some kind of repelling effect.

Everyone, panting, gathered around the stone tablet.

Mu Chen wiped the black liquid off his face: "Three people die every ten minutes. At this rate, we don't need to find the owner of the graveyard. We can fill this graveyard ourselves in seventy-two hours."

No one laughed.

Fang Yan planted the bone knife in the ground, staring at the empty spot in his team, his face ashen.

Jiang Du pushed up his glasses, one of the lenses of which was broken, and said in a hoarse voice, "We need to discuss this. It's obvious that going it alone won't work."

Zhou Lang looked around at the crowd. Seventeen faces, some terrified, some angry, some bewildered.

"The condition for passing the checkpoint is finding the owner of the cemetery," he said. "First, figure out the structure of the city, then divide the tasks. Rather than wandering around like headless flies, it's better to figure out the direction first."

Mu Chen glanced at him: "You have a way?"

Zhou Lang didn't answer, but turned to Han Yingying and asked, "You said you've been here before. Can you recall anything useful?"

All eyes were on Han Yingying. She stood there, the wind blowing her hair, revealing a pair of extremely calm eyes—a calmness that seemed completely out of place with her current situation.

"The clock tower," she said. "Let's go to the clock tower."

Why?

"I don't know why," Han Yingying said honestly, "but I just know the answer is in the clock tower."

Mu Chen frowned: "Just because of a simple 'I don't know why'?"

"Do you have a better direction?" Zhou Lang asked in return.

The square fell silent for a few seconds.

Jiang Du spoke up: "I agree with going to the clock tower. At least it's the only building in the whole city whose original purpose can still be identified."

Fang Yan snorted and drew his bone knife: "Let's go."

Seventeen people set off towards the collapsed clock tower.

The distance from the square to the clock tower is less than 800 meters.

It took seventeen people two hours to walk.

Those shadows waited on the outskirts of the square, pouncing as soon as the crowd left the protective area of ​​the monument. They had become smarter; instead of rushing in all at once, they split into small groups, launching surprise attacks from the building ruins, specifically targeting the edges of the crowd.

Another of Fang Yan's teammates was dragged into a crack in the wall as they passed through a narrow alley. The crack was only twenty centimeters wide; it was impossible for an adult's body to fit through, but Shadow did it. The sound of bones cracking echoed through the alley for a long time.

When Fang Yan cleaved open that wall, there was nothing in the crack.

Sixteen people.

go ahead.

Mu Chen's team was responsible for clearing the way. His combat prowess was indeed strong; he wielded his ghostly weapons in turn, carving out a relatively safe passage. However, his ghostly energy was also being depleted the fastest—Zhou Lang noticed that the ghostly weapon in his right hand began to tremble slightly, a sign that his ghostly energy was running low.

"Use it sparingly," Zhou Lang reminded him.

Mu Chen ignored him.

Chen Ke continuously set up traps in the middle of the group to slow down the pursuit of the shadows behind him. He kept muttering to himself, "One talisman costs three hundred strange coins, two talismans cost six hundred, three talismans—damn it, I'm losing big time."

Zhao Qiang chuckled softly.