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

"How much did that bullet cost you?" Zhou Lang asked.

"Just one hundred yuan."

"Then fire a few more shots."

Gu Chen grinned and said, "No problem, it's on me."

Zhou Lang looked at Lin Xiaolu. The girl had been standing behind, doing nothing. But this was normal; support characters really couldn't help in direct combat.

He noticed that Lin Xiaolu's eyes were fixed on the corpse of the Corpse Demon, and her face was pale.

"Is this the first time you've seen something like this?" Zhou Lang asked.

Lin Xiaolu shook her head: "I've seen it before."

She didn't say much.

Shen Ye didn't move from beginning to end. When the battle ended, he opened his eyes and continued walking forward with the group.

Zhou Lang felt a little uncomfortable. An S-rank player, not even helping with a three-star monster? What are you even doing here?

He wanted to say something, but after looking at Shen Ye's expressionless face, he swallowed his words.

Oh well, I guess I'll just consider it an extra accessory.

The third team continued deeper into the fray. Over the next hour, they encountered three more stitched-up corpse demons. Having learned from their first encounter, the subsequent battles were much easier.

Gu Chen's "money power" is indeed useful. Long-range attacks are stable, and damage is controllable. The only problem is—

"I've spent six thousand yuan in this hour." Gu Chen looked at his half-empty wallet and felt a little heartache.

"Can't get reimbursed?"

"There's no such thing as reimbursement in games."

Zhou Lang patted him on the shoulder to express his sympathy.

Just as we were about to reach the entrance to the second basement level, bad news came over the radio.

"A team has encountered two Stitched Corpse Demons simultaneously; one is seriously injured, and the other is dead. Requesting backup."

"Team Four encountered an evolved stitched corpse demon on the first basement level, with combat strength approaching four stars. Two members died and are retreating."

Evolutionary form?

Zhou Lang's heart skipped a beat. This thing hadn't been mentioned in the intelligence reports.

Li Feng's voice came through the radio: "All squads, halt your advance and remain in place. Squads One and Four, retreat to the rendezvous point."

The third squad stopped.

The passageway was so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat.

Xu Mingyuan opened the first-aid kit, checked the consumables, and frowned.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Lang asked.

"We're running low on medicine," Xu Mingyuan said. "My healing skills require materials to use each time. At this rate, we won't last until the third basement level."

Zhou Lang rummaged through his backpack and gave him five of the ten bottles of healing potions he had bought earlier.

"Use this as a temporary measure."

Xu Mingyuan glanced at him, then accepted the money: "Thanks."

Gu Chen leaned closer: "Dude, you're really generous. How much is a bottle of that stuff?"

"Two hundred strange things."

"A thousand dollars is a strange sum—" Gu Chen gasped. "Then I'll transfer the money to you."

"Is real-world money useful in games?"

"Yes, I do," Gu Chen said matter-of-factly. "My skill is using money as a weapon. Do you think I'd be short of money?"

Zhou Lang looked at him, feeling a strange mix of emotions.

Some people live only to be envied by others.

While waiting, Zhou Lang walked over to Shen Ye's side.

"Brother Shen, I have a question for you."

Shen Ye remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

"An evolved stitched-together corpse demon, do you know what that means?"

Shen Ye finally spoke, his voice low and deep: "The longer a monster stays in the dungeon, the stronger it becomes. This dungeon has been around for at least three months, so it's not surprising that some three-star monsters have evolved to near four-star."

"What about the Ghost King?"

"Four stars may have become five stars."

Zhou Lang's heart sank.

"Tell me the truth, is this dungeon even possible to clear?"

Shen Ye glanced at him. His eyes were calm, as if he were looking at a dead person.

"have no idea."

He didn't say another word after that.

Zhou Lang returned to the middle of the group, starting to calculate in his mind. If the Ghost King really evolved to five stars, even if all fifty-odd people present were to join the fight, it might not be enough.

We need to find a way.

Ten minutes later, Li Feng's voice came again: "All squads resume advance. The objective remains the same, but be careful—if you encounter evolved monsters, do not linger in combat, report immediately."

The third squad set off again.

The passageway leading to the second basement level was even narrower, allowing only two people to pass side by side. A rotten smell filled the air, growing stronger the deeper one went.

Zhou Lang had the combat-types go first, the support-types go in the middle, and Shen Ye bring up the rear—since this guy wasn't planning to do anything anyway.

After walking about two hundred meters, an iron gate appeared ahead.

The iron gate was half open, and a faint red light shone from inside.

Zhou Lang raised the chainsaw and slowly approached.

He leaned against the wall and peered through the crack in the door.

Then he froze.

Inside the iron gate was a huge space. In the center of the space was an operating table, and a person was lying on it.

A living person.

The man was strapped to the operating table, with various tubes inserted into his body. He was still conscious, emitting faint groans.

Beside the operating table, three suturing zombies were busy. They took an arm and a leg from the shelf next to them and sewed them onto another zombie.

They are creating new ones of the same kind.

And the material—is living people.

"Damn it," Zhou Lang muttered under his breath.

He turned around and used sign language to tell his teammates what was happening inside.

Three. And also hostages.

Gu Chen's expression was also not very good.

Xu Mingyuan leaned closer for a look, and his expression changed. He recognized the person on the operating table.

"That's a team," he said. "The one who just reported being seriously injured."

Zhou Lang's heart tightened. Only a dozen minutes had passed, and they'd already been arrested here?

This indicates that these ghosts don't just roam the passageways; they actively prey on people.

"Should we save her or not?" Gu Chen asked.

Zhou Lang didn't speak. He was thinking.

It's not that the three stitched-together corpse demons are impossible to fight, but the space is too large. If a fight breaks out and alerts other ghosts and monsters to come over, it will be troublesome.

"save."

It was Xu Mingyuan who spoke. His tone was calm, but Zhou Lang noticed that the knuckles of his fingers, which were gripping the medical kit, were white.

"I'm a healer; it wouldn't be right for me to let him die in front of me."

Zhou Lang looked at him for two seconds and nodded.

"Then let's take a fast one. Gu Chen, how many of the thousand-yuan ones do you have?"

Gu Chen rummaged through his wallet: "Three bills."

"Three thousand dollars for three grenades is enough. Open the door and blow it up first, then we'll rush in and harvest the loot."

"clear."

Zhou Lang looked at Shen Ye.

Shen Ye remained leaning against the wall, his eyes half-closed.

Zhou Lang had given up on him.

"Ready—"

Gu Chen pulled out three thousand-yuan bills and flicked his finger. The three bills floated in the air, emitting a golden light.

"Let's do it."

The iron gate was kicked open. Three golden orbs of light flew inside.

Boom! Boom!

The sound of the explosion was amplified several times in the confined space. Zhou Lang's ears were ringing, but he had already rushed inside.

The three stitched-up corpse demons were blown to pieces, but they didn't die. Their regenerative abilities were extremely strong; their severed limbs wriggled on the ground, trying to reassemble themselves.

Zhou Lang dashed to the nearest one and sliced ​​the chainsaw into its waist. At the same time, his three teammates followed suit.

Within fifteen seconds, all three corpse demons were cut into irreparable fragments.

Xu Mingyuan ran to the operating table. He removed the tubes from the man and quickly examined his injuries.