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

Zhou Lang's heart skipped a beat.

The intelligence report says the monsters will keep resurrecting, and the core of the dungeon must be destroyed. But if we can find the connecting wires and cut them, would we not necessarily have to fight the Demon King?

Where is the main storyline?

"Each stitched-up zombie has one, the red one," the bandaged man said. "But cutting it requires special tools; ordinary weapons won't work."

"What tool?"

"I'm not sure. But the thread in your hand still carries the core's essence; perhaps we can use it as a clue to find a solution."

Zhou Lang put the loose thread into his pocket.

This information is unknown to others.

He glanced at the troop that was speeding up ahead, but remained silent.

The third group cleared two areas on the first floor and encountered a total of seven stitched corpse demons.

After nearly an hour of fighting, the team was quite exhausted. Two people had sustained minor injuries, and a crack had appeared in Song Wan's metal glove.

"Ten-minute break," Song Wan said.

Everyone sat down against the wall.

The man with the buzz cut—his name was Liu Kai—slurped down some water and glanced at Zhou Lang out of the corner of his eye.

During that hour, Zhou Lang barely made a move. Whenever they encountered a ghost or monster, he stood in the back, occasionally delivering a finishing blow, but mostly observing.

Liu Kai was seething with anger.

I'm fighting tooth and nail in front of you, and you're just watching from behind? A one-star late-game character is just a one-star late-game character, you're obviously just here to freeload off the rewards.

"Feed him!" Liu Kai shouted at Zhou Lang. "Can't you pay a little attention? You always hide in the back during fights. What are you doing here?"

Other people's eyes turned to them.

Zhou Lang was examining the red thread when he heard this and looked up: "I'm looking for the monster's weakness."

"Weaknesses?" Liu Kai scoffed. "What weaknesses could a one-star late-stage player possibly identify? Don't flatter yourself."

Zhou Lang ignored him.

Explaining things to this kind of person is a waste of time. Besides, he doesn't intend to reveal the secret of the sutures, at least not now.

Song Wan glanced at Zhou Lang, then at Liu Kai, but remained silent. In her assessment, Zhou Lang had indeed performed mediocrely. However, she noticed a detail—Zhou Lang remained calm and composed every time he encountered an enemy, without the slightest sign of panic.

A player with a one-star late-game level isn't worried at all when facing a three-star monster.

Either they're bold, or they have a trump card up their sleeve.

"Alright, stop arguing," Song Wan said. "Let's keep going. The next area is the staircase leading to the second floor."

The team set off again.

As I reached the stairwell, my communicator suddenly rang.

"Attention all groups, Group 1 has been attacked by a large number of ghosts on the second floor and has retreated. Group 6 is out of contact. Repeat, Group 6 is out of contact."

Zhang Yuan's expression changed.

"What does 'out of contact' mean?" a tall, thin man asked.

"It might be a problem with the communication equipment," Zhang Yuan said, but he himself didn't quite believe this explanation.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

"Shall we go down?" someone asked.

Song Wan looked at Zhou Lang—no, she looked at everyone. "The first group has retreated, which means the second floor is more dangerous than the intelligence said. According to the commander's orders, survival is the priority."

"But if we don't go down, the mission won't be completed," Liu Kai said.

"Between life and mission, which would you choose?" Song Wan countered.

Liu Kai fell silent.

Just then, Zhou Lang walked to the top of the stairs and glanced down.

It was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything. But the bandaged man said in his mind, "There are four stitched-up corpse demons down there, and... some other things."

"Something else?"

"A ghost artifact," the bandaged man said. "Two-star level, located in the eastern corner of the second floor. It's probably a relic left behind by a player who explored this dungeon before."

Zhou Lang's eyes lit up.

Two-star ghost weapon, picked up for free.

But the problem is how to get it. Most of the team didn't want to take the risk; it would be too conspicuous for him to go down alone.

"I have a suggestion," Zhou Lang said, turning around.

Everyone was looking at him.

"I'll go down and scout ahead."

Liu Kai was the first to speak: "You? What are you doing exploring this path at the late-stage of a one-star level? Going down there is just suicide."

"Anyway, I'm the weakest, so even if something happens, the team's losses will be minimal," Zhou Lang said. "You guys wait up there, I'll be back in five minutes. Don't wait if I'm not back."

That was said too calmly.

Song Wan stared at him for several seconds. What was this kid thinking? Was he deliberately courting death? Or did he have some other purpose?

"Are you sure?" Song Wan asked.

"Sure."

"...Whatever you want," Song Wan said. "Keep your communicator with you, call immediately if anything happens."

Zhou Lang nodded, turned around and walked down the stairs.

Darkness swallowed his figure.

Liu Kai curled his lip: "Is this guy out of his mind?"

Song Wan didn't answer. She had a gut feeling—Zhou Lang wasn't throwing his life away.

He was so composed.

The staircase was long, extending downwards with about twenty steps.

When Zhou Lang was halfway there, he lit an oil lamp. The dim light illuminated the surrounding space—the layout of the second floor was completely different from the first floor; it was a huge, open factory filled with rusty machinery.

"Where are the four?" Zhou Lang asked.

"Two at three o'clock, one at nine o'clock, and one directly in front," the bandaged man said. "The ghost artifact is in the eastern corner, about a hundred meters away."

"Block one for me."

"Two," the bandaged man said. "You're not strong enough to handle two three-star opponents at the same time."

"Okay, two."

Without further hesitation, Zhou Lang lowered his body and moved quickly along the gaps in the machinery.

The oil lamp's light was faint, but enough to illuminate an area of ​​three or four meters in front of him. He moved among the machines as quietly as possible.

The stitched-up zombie directly in front of him had its back to him and was lying on a pressure bed, gnawing on something.

Zhou Lang went around it without attacking. His target was the ghost artifact, not the monster.

He walked the 100-meter distance in about two minutes.

In the eastern corner, a withered corpse leaned against the wall. The corpse clutched a short blade in its hand, the blade engraved with fine patterns and emitting a pale blue light.

Ghost weapon.

Zhou Lang crouched down and pulled the short blade from the corpse's hand. It was cold to the touch and lighter than he had expected.

"A two-star ghost artifact, the 'Soul-Devouring Blade,'" the bandaged man said. "It can sever the connection between ghosts and their core."

Zhou Lang was stunned for a moment.

Disconnect.

Isn't this the "special tool" he just needed?

Luck has come.

He tucked the dagger into his waistband and was about to return the way he came—

A low growl came from behind.

Was discovered.

Zhou Lang looked back and saw the stitched-up corpse demon charging towards him from the nine o'clock position.

"I'll do it," said the bandaged man.

Suddenly, the bandage on Zhou Lang's left arm tightened, and a white strip of cloth shot out from his sleeve, wrapping around the charging monster. It struggled, letting out a piercing scream.

Meanwhile, the other two were also alerted and surrounded them from different directions.

"Run," the bandaged man said. "I can't hold out much longer."

Zhou Lang turned and ran.

He had only one thought in his mind: five minutes were almost up.

Rushing past the rusting machines and leaping over collapsed scaffolding, Zhou Lang reached the stairwell in less than forty seconds. He ran up the stairs in two strides and appeared before everyone.