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

The entrance to the ninth instance is located in an abandoned subway station.

When Zhou Lang arrived, Han Yingying was already there, with Zhao Qiang, Lin Yue, and Su Yao standing behind her. Shen Mo leaned against the wall, two or three meters away from them, neither getting too close nor too far.

"This time it's SS-level," Zhao Qiang said.

Zhou Lang nodded. He glanced at the dungeon information on his phone—the level of the strangeness was a whole tier higher than last time. Last time, the A-level dungeon almost killed him, and this time it jumped straight to SS, which was a bit unreasonable.

"Are you ready?" Han Yingying asked.

"No," Zhou Lang said, "but we can't not go."

The entrance opened, and a white light engulfed everyone.

The instance is an abandoned hospital. The corridor lights flicker, and medical records and syringes are scattered on the floor. There's a rotten, sweet smell in the air.

"It's the hospital again," Zhao Qiang cursed.

Zhou Lang observed the players around him. There were quite a few people in this instance, roughly over forty. He recognized at least twenty of them—not just recognized them, but had seen them before.

People from various labor unions.

The six members of the Black Crow Guild stood at the end of the corridor. Members of the Abyss Guild gathered at the entrance to the ward on the left. Also present were members of the Bloodblade Guild and the Ironwall Guild, all of whom had been encountered in the last dungeon raid.

"Something's not right," Han Yingying said in a low voice.

Zhou Lang noticed it too. The way those people were looking at them wasn't friendly.

The story dates back to the end of the last instance. The four major guilds simultaneously extended invitations to both him and Han Yingying, which they both declined. Their refusals weren't exactly polite—Zhou Lang's exact words were "not interested," while Han Yingying was even more direct, "Not joining."

This caused the major labor unions to lose face.

"Is it possible that they simply don't like us?" Zhao Qiang asked.

"What do you think?" Zhou Lang said.

The dungeon's quest has been refreshed: Find the key to the hospital's underground morgue, open the basement, and eliminate all the eerie creatures.

Limited to six hours.

"Let's go first." Zhou Lang led the team towards the stairwell.

They hadn't gone ten steps when the captain of the Black Crow Guild blocked their way. His name was Chen Kun, he was in his thirties, and he had a scar on his face.

"Zhou Lang, right?"

"What's up?"

"It's nothing major," Chen Kun smiled. "I just wanted to discuss something with you. We've divided the resources from this dungeon among ourselves, so please don't fight over them."

Zhou Lang looked at him without saying anything.

"Of course, it's not like I'm letting you back for nothing," Chen Kun said. "I'll give each of you 500 points of Deception afterward as compensation."

"Five hundred?" Zhao Qiang laughed. "Is that enough to feed a beggar?"

Chen Kun's expression changed slightly: "Zhao Qiang, I wasn't talking to you."

Zhou Lang took a step forward. Chen Kun took half a step back, a movement he probably didn't even notice himself.

"Get out of the way," Zhou Lang said.

Chen Kun's face flushed red. The union members behind him surrounded him, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

"Zhou Lang, don't push your luck." Another voice came from behind; it was someone from the Abyss Guild.

Zhou Lang glanced back. The Abyss Guild members had blocked their retreat. Bloodblade and Ironwall members were also closing in.

More than twenty people surrounded them completely.

Shen Mo remained leaning against the wall in the distance, hands in his pockets, his expression calm. He showed no intention of approaching.

"Isn't Shen Mo going to help?" Lin Yue asked.

"He won't help," Han Yingying said.

Zhou Lang quickly calculated in his mind. There were more than twenty high-level players, each with at least a two-star ghost weapon. Fighting them head-on wasn't an option, but getting injured in the dungeon would make dealing with the strange creatures later on much more difficult.

"This is the last time," Chen Kun said. "To back or not to back?"

"You really want to start fighting inside the instance?" Zhou Lang retorted. "The strange entities haven't been dealt with yet, and you're already fighting amongst yourselves?"

"Internal strife?" Chen Kun sneered. "Five of you and more than twenty of us, and you call that internal strife?"

Zhou Lang didn't waste any more words. He knew that nothing he said today would make a difference; these people had obviously planned this in advance.

"Bandages," Zhou Lang thought to himself.

"Yeah, I saw it." The bandaged man's voice was lazy. "Twenty-three people. The strongest is Chen Kun, his strength is probably mid-three-star. The rest are between two and three stars."

"Can you win?"

"You alone? You can't beat them."

"What about adding Han Yingying?"

The bandaged man was silent for two seconds: "That depends on how much effort she puts in."

Chen Kun didn't give them any more time to think. He had a black dagger in his hand—a ghost weapon with dark red patterns on the blade.

"Let's do it."

More than twenty people attacked at the same time.

Zhou Lang pulled up the chainsaw, blocking the first wave of attacks. Han Yingying reacted quickly as well; she shook the bell in her hand, and a circle of transparent ripples spread out, forcing back several people who rushed in front.

Zhao Qiang protected Lin Yue and Su Yao, and the three of them retreated to the corner of the wall.

But there were too many people.

They could manage for the first thirty seconds, but after a minute, they started to struggle. Zhou Lang's chainsaw cleaved through the defenses of two people, but the attacks from the other three followed immediately.

He was hit on the left shoulder and winced in pain.

"Lin Yue!" Zhao Qiang called out.

Zhou Lang glanced back and his heart sank.

Lin Yue's abdomen was pierced by a sword. It wasn't a complete pierce, but the wound was deep, and blood gushed out. Su Yao's right arm was also slashed open, exposing the bone.

"Are you all crazy?" Zhao Qiang roared.

Chen Kun said expressionlessly, "I told you to back down, but you wouldn't. You brought this on yourselves."

Zhou Lang gritted his teeth. He could feel anger rising within him, but reason told him that now was not the time to lose his temper. Lin Yue needed treatment, and Su Yao wouldn't last much longer.

"Kill them," said the captain of the Abyss Guild. "To avoid future trouble."

The air seemed to grow colder after those words were spoken.

Zhou Lang gripped the chainsaw tightly, ready to fight to the death. Han Yingying stood beside him, the bell jingling sharply.

Just then—

Footsteps echoed at the end of the corridor. It wasn't just one person, but several.

Everyone stopped.

Five men in black trench coats emerged from the end of the corridor. Their coats bore no insignia, but each exuded a powerful aura. Chen Kun's expression changed.

"The X Guild?" someone whispered.

The leader was a woman wearing sunglasses, about 1.75 meters tall, with short hair and a lollipop in her mouth.

"A fight?" She glanced at the scene, her tone casual. "It's lively."

Chen Kun took a step back: "This has nothing to do with the X Union."

"Whether it's our business or not is not for you to decide." The woman took the lollipop out of her mouth, pointed at Zhou Lang and his group, and said, "We've got their backs. Any objections?"

No one spoke.

Guild X holds a unique position among players. No one knows how many members they have, no one knows who their guild leader is, but everyone knows one thing—even the weakest member of Guild X has a strength of four stars or higher.

Chen Kun clenched his fist, then finally relaxed it: "Let's go."

The group of more than twenty people dispersed quickly.

Zhou Lang watched their departing figures and breathed a sigh of relief. He ran to Lin Yue's side and took out a healing potion from his bag.