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

"Let's go!" he shouted. "There are four down there; I've alerted them!"

The team immediately retreated.

After running more than thirty meters, heavy footsteps came from the stairwell, but the monsters did not chase after them.

The group stopped, panting.

Liu Kai looked at Zhou Lang with a complicated expression.

This kid... runs way too fast! He went down for less than five minutes, alerted four three-star ghosts, and came back unscathed?

Song Wan noticed the short blade that Zhou Lang had brought to his waist.

"What is that?"

"I picked it up from down there," Zhou Lang said. "It was being held by a dead man."

Song Wan took a closer look and gasped: "A two-star ghost artifact?"

The line fell silent instantly.

Ten pairs of eyes were fixed on the short blade at Zhou Lang's waist.

"You went down there to get this?" Liu Kai's voice was a little shrill.

Zhou Lang glanced at him: "I told you I was scouting ahead and just picked it up."

"Just casually picked up a two-star artifact?" Liu Kai laughed. "You, a late-stage one-star player, entered the territory of four three-star monsters and casually picked up a two-star artifact? Do you think I'm stupid?"

Although the others didn't speak, their expressions were all similar.

Zhou Lang understood what they were thinking—this thing should belong to the team, not just him alone.

"How about this," Zhou Lang said, "I'll use this blade for now. After the mission, everyone can draw lots to decide who gets it."

Before Liu Kai could say anything more, Song Wan raised her hand to interrupt him.

"Okay," Song Wan said, "It's settled then."

Her judgment was simple: someone who could escape unscathed from four three-star monsters was definitely not some late-game one-star player. Having this blade in his hands would be a greater help to the team.

Liu Kai snorted and stopped talking. But the way he looked at Zhou Lang changed.

It's not contempt.

It is a warning.

After a fifteen-minute break, the communicator received another message.

"Attention all teams, Team Six is ​​completely wiped out. Repeat, Team Six is ​​completely wiped out. A large number of three-star monsters have been confirmed on the second floor, exceeding our intelligence estimates. All teams, halt your advance and remain in place."

All personnel were killed in action.

Ten people, just like that, gone.

No one in the group spoke.

Zhou Lang gripped the Soul-Devouring Blade tightly in his hand.

"Bandages, where did the sixth group have the accident?"

"I don't know. But the number of monsters on the second floor is definitely wrong," the bandaged man said. "The intelligence said there were a total of ten stitched corpse demons, but I sensed seven or eight on the second floor alone. Adding the ones you killed on the first floor, the total number is at least more than twenty."

"Is the intelligence incorrect?"

"Or... the instance is evolving."

Zhou Lang felt a chill in his heart.

Dungeon evolution. He had seen this claim on the forums—that high-level dungeons have a certain probability of automatically increasing in difficulty when they are conquered by a large number of players.

If that's the case, then this operation was a trap from the very beginning.

"The headquarters is trying to figure something out," Zhang Yuan said. He had been using a communicator to stay in touch. "Commander Li told us to stand by and wait for new instructions."

"Wait until what?" Liu Kai said irritably. "This place is haunted by ghosts at any time. What's the difference between waiting here and waiting to die?"

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Song Wan asked.

Liu Kai opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

There's really no way around it. Ahead are hordes of ghosts and monsters, behind—

Zhou Lang suddenly walked to an iron door at the end of the corridor and tried to push it. He couldn't open it.

"What are you doing?" someone asked.

"Find the exit," Zhou Lang said. "It's easy to get into a dungeon, but hard to get out. But most dungeons have emergency escape routes, they're just not easy to find."

"How did you know?" Song Wan asked.

"I've encountered this in previous dungeons."

That's nonsense. The bandaged man actually told him that.

"Where is the escape route?" Zhou Lang asked in his mind.

"Three layers." The bandaged man's answer almost made Zhou Lang curse out loud.

The third floor. The floor guarded by the Ghost King.

"What other options are there?"

"no."

Zhou Lang remained silent for a few seconds, then turned around and looked at his teammates.

Let's not talk about the escape routes now. Talking about them will only make everyone more panicked.

The communicator rang again.

This time it was Li Feng's voice.

"Attention all groups, new order. The dungeon difficulty has exceeded expectations. The objective has been adjusted to: retreat. All groups return to the entrance via the original route. Repeat, all groups retreat immediately."

"That's great." Someone breathed a sigh of relief.

The group immediately turned and headed towards the entrance.

Zhou Lang followed behind the group, his pace neither too fast nor too slow.

"Don't you find it strange?" the bandaged man suddenly said.

"What's strange about it?"

"The sixth group was completely wiped out, so the other groups should have been attacked as well. But you've been on the first floor for so long, and apart from that time at the stairwell, no ghosts or monsters have come looking for you."

Zhou Lang stopped in his tracks.

Correct.

They rested for fifteen minutes on the first floor, then waited for almost twenty minutes. During this long time, not a single ghost or monster appeared.

Based on the previous resurrection interval, those they killed on the first floor should have resurrected long ago.

Why didn't you come?

"They're blocking the exit," the bandaged man said.

Zhou Lang's blood rushed to his head.

"Wait!" he shouted.

The line in front stopped and turned to look at him.

"What's wrong?" Song Wan asked.

"Don't go any further," Zhou Lang said. "The exit is blocked."

"What did you say?" Liu Kai asked impatiently. "How did you know?"

"Think about it, we've been on the first floor for almost forty minutes, why hasn't a single ghost appeared?"

Everyone's expression changed.

Song Wan was the first to react. Her face turned pale.

"They're waiting for us to turn back..."

"It's a trap," Zhou Lang said. "They lured all the ghosts and monsters to the vicinity of the entrance, waiting to wipe them all out when the groups retreated."

silence.

Zhang Yuan immediately picked up the communicator: "Headquarters, this is Group Three. We suspect there are a large number of monsters lying in ambush near the exit. We suggest—"

"Sizzle—sizzle—"

The communicator was filled with static.

"The signal is interrupted." Zhang Yuan's voice trembled slightly.

Some people in the group started to panic.

"What do we do? Which way should we go?"

"We can't get to the exit, and there are a bunch of monsters on the second floor..."

"It's over, it's over, this is a fucking dead end..."

As Zhou Lang listened to their discussion, his mind raced.

The exit is blocked. The second floor is dangerous. The first floor is safe for now, but the ghosts will return sooner or later.

The only way out—as the bandaged man said—is on the third floor.

Escape route.

But there is a ghost king on the third floor.

Four-star goblin.

The bandaged man said that his chances of survival against a four-star monster were less than 10%.

However, the current situation is that if we don't go to the third floor, the chance of survival is 0%.

Zhou Lang looked at the Soul-Devouring Blade in his hand.

It can sever the connection between the ghost and the core.

What if... we could sever the connection with the Ghost King?

"Would bandages and the Soul-Devouring Blade be effective against the Demon King?"

"Theoretically, it's useful. But you have to get close to it first. The domain suppression of a four-star ghost is something you can't withstand right now."

"What if you do everything you can to help me?"

The bandaged man remained silent for a long time.

"Fifteen," he said.

Five-part.

That's much better than 10%.

Zhou Lang looked up at his nine flustered teammates.

"I know a way," he said.