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

When the entrance to the ninth instance opened, Zhou Lang sensed something was wrong.

The light from the teleportation hadn't even faded when the surrounding environment already made one's scalp tingle. The gray sky hung low, the ground beneath one's feet was cracked yellow earth, and in the distance stood a crooked clock tower, its hands stopped at exactly twelve o'clock.

"SS-level dungeon—'Stopped Town'." Han Yingying read the words on the floating panel. "All players will play as lost travelers, trying to find their way out before dawn. Every hour, the town's bell will ring, at which point all travelers outdoors will be considered dead."

"One hour." Zhao Qiang swallowed hard. "So, we can only proceed with the mission indoors?"

"Not only that." Lin Yue squatted down to look at the words carved on the ground, "There's another one—you can't avoid the bell ringing twice in a row in the same room."

Su Yao tied her hair up tightly. "That means we have to change locations every time the bell rings."

Zhou Lang looked around. The town's buildings were sparse, about twenty in number, and not far apart, but the problem was—they didn't know when the bell would ring.

"The panel says every hour, but it doesn't say when the timer starts," Zhou Lang said.

Lu Chen stood a little distance away, hands in his pockets, expression indifferent. He had been randomly assigned to this dungeon and wasn't exactly familiar with Zhou Lang and the others, though they had met a few times. He was quite strong, ranking in the top fifty on the leaderboard, but he had never joined any guild.

"Let's find cover first," Zhou Lang decided.

The six people had only taken a few steps when seven or eight people emerged from the alleyway ahead.

The leader was bald, with the "Iron Lion" union badge pinned to his chest, and he was smiling broadly.

"Brother Zhou, what a coincidence."

Zhou Lang stopped in his tracks.

It's not a coincidence. There are certain rules for matchmaking in SS-level dungeons; players in the same region are prioritized for grouping. But the fact that so many Iron Lion Guild members entered at once clearly indicates they were using a team-up glitch.

Several more figures flashed out from behind the bald man, each with a different badge on their chest—"Twilight," "Shattered Star," and "Azure Sky."

Four labor unions.

"We've put an end to the last time you refused our invitation; we're not petty," the bald man said, spreading out to the sides. "However, there are orders from above that it's not good for you two to become too powerful."

Zhao Qiang's face paled, and he moved closer to Zhou Lang. Lin Yue and Su Yao's expressions also changed.

Zhou Lang didn't react much, he just glanced at the number of people on the other side.

Fourteen.

"If you fight in a dungeon, you're really dead if you die." Han Yingying's voice was calm. "Have you thought this through?"

"Miss Han," the bald man shrugged, "we didn't want this either, but you're so ungrateful. There are no security cameras in here. Who knows what will happen after we get out?"

"Just say he was killed by a ghost," a member of the Shattered Star Guild added in a flippant tone.

Lu Chen remained silent, taking two steps back. His attitude was clear—he wouldn't get involved.

Zhou Lang didn't expect anything from him.

"If a fight breaks out," Zhou Lang said casually, as if discussing the weather, "about five or six of you fourteen will probably be killed. You guys discuss among yourselves who will be those five or six."

The bald man's smile froze for a moment.

He wasn't bragging. The last dungeon run was rated "perfect," meaning Zhou Lang's items and skill stats were at their peak. If he really went all out, few of those fourteen people could stop him.

But fourteen against six is ​​still fourteen against six.

"Stop dawdling." A woman from the Twilight Guild made the first move, throwing a dagger directly at Han Yingying.

Han Yingying dodged to the side, and the dagger became embedded in the wall behind her.

Chaos.

The moment Zhou Lang drew his chainsaw, three members of the Sky Guild pounced on him simultaneously. These men had clearly rehearsed beforehand; they formed a triangular formation, blocking his escape route.

"Zhao Qiang, bring Lin Yue and Su Yao inside!" Zhou Lang kicked the nearest person aside and swung his chainsaw across the room.

Zhao Qiang pulled Lin Yue and Su Yao toward the building next door, but the people from the Shattered Star Guild were already blocking the entrance.

Lin Yue was punched in the shoulder by a burly man, and flew more than three meters away. His shoulder bone made a crisp sound, and his arm hung down—it was dislocated.

Su Yao tried to pull her up, but was kicked in the back and fell to the ground, coughing up blood.

"Stop!" Zhao Qiang pulled out a worn-out iron sword and stood in front of the two men, his hands trembling violently, but he did not back down.

The burly man from the Shattered Star Guild chuckled and slapped the iron sword away.

On the other side, Zhou Lang had already taken down two members of the Azure Sky faction, but he had also taken several blows himself. Taking advantage of the situation, the bald man from the Iron Lion Guild reached behind Han Yingying and wrapped an iron chain around her wrist.

"That's it?" The bald man chuckled as he tightened the chains. "If you'd been this obedient earlier—"

Han Yingying grabbed the chain with her backhand, used the momentum to spin around, and kicked the bald man in the temple. The bald man's vision went black, and he swayed. Han Yingying took the opportunity to break free of the chain.

But then three more people surrounded them.

Too much.

Zhou Lang made a judgment in his mind. He couldn't win, at least not now. As he took down the third person, the woman from the Twilight Guild stabbed him in the back, the blade slicing across his lower back, blood seeping out.

"Zhou Lang!" Han Yingying's voice was filled with panic.

The situation took a dramatic turn for the worse in just thirty seconds. Lin Yue lay motionless on the ground, Su Yao was pinned down by someone's back, and Zhao Qiang was knocked to the ground. Han Yingying and Zhou Lang were still holding on, but more and more people were gathering around them.

Just as the bald man raised the iron chain in preparation for a second attack—

A beam of white light shone from the end of the alley.

It's not the light from the props, it's the light from the skill.

The white light struck the bald man's wrist precisely, the iron chain flew out of his hand, and the bald man screamed as he clutched his wrist, where a charred mark appeared.

"Who?!"

Three people stood at the alley entrance, all wearing masks with white backgrounds and red patterns, obscuring their faces. The badge on their chests was a simple line drawing of an "X".

X Union.

That legendary guild. No one knows who the members are, no one knows who the guild leader is, and no one is even sure if it exists. Because no one has ever seen a member of Guild X appear in public.

"Keep your hands to yourself." The masked leader's voice was altered, making it impossible to tell if he was male or female. "Move again, and I won't just hit your wrists."

The bald man's face was grim. He looked back at his men—two of whom Zhou Lang had knocked down were still standing, while the rest exchanged bewildered glances.

"The X Guild?" The woman from the Twilight Guild narrowed her eyes. "Since when have you started meddling in other people's business?"

"Starting today." The masked man's reply was as brief as it could be.

The other two masked men had already approached Lin Yue and Su Yao, taking out medicine from their bodies to treat their wounds. Their movements were practiced, and they used high-grade medicine—the kind that you might not be able to buy for a thousand dollars on the market.

The bald man weighed his options for a few seconds. No one knew the true strength of the X Guild, but anyone capable of using skills of that caliber was definitely no less powerful than him. Plus, Zhou Lang and Han Yingying were on the other side; a direct confrontation wouldn't be worthwhile.