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

After Li Feng finished announcing the reward, the crowd fell silent for two seconds.

Then someone raised their hand.

"Excuse me, what happens if someone dies?"

Li Feng glanced at the man: "The government will provide compensation to the families."

"How many?"

"This...is not within my jurisdiction."

The person who had raised their hand lowered it, their expression not looking too good.

Zhou Lang stood at the back of the crowd, mentally reviewing the information on the document. Ten Stitched Corpse Demons, one Ghost King, and the core of the dungeon was on the third underground level. The intelligence also mentioned that the Stitched Corpse Demons' weakness was fire, but the Ghost King's weakness was unknown.

He looked around. There were over fifty people, their equipment varying greatly. A few looked like veterans, carrying obvious ghost weapons. Most others were similar to him, appearing to have just crawled out of a dungeon not long ago.

"Divide into groups." Li Feng clapped his hands. "Ten people per group, five groups in total. Group one is responsible for the left flank, group two for the right flank, group three for the center, group four for reserves, group five..."

He glanced at the list.

"Five groups, follow me, straight down to the third basement level."

Zhou Lang's heart skipped a beat.

He was assigned to group five.

Zhao Qiang was also in Group 5. Han Yingying was assigned to Group 3.

"I'll go find the commander to switch," Han Yingying said.

"No," Zhao Qiang stopped her. "Group Three is in the middle, which is relatively safe."

Han Yingying opened her mouth, but didn't say anything more.

There were ten people in five groups. Besides Zhou Lang and Zhao Qiang, there were eight unfamiliar faces. Zhou Lang glanced around and noticed a bald man with black chains wrapped around his arms, clearly a ghost artifact.

There was also a woman in a white coat, holding a rusty scalpel.

The remaining six people looked quite ordinary, nervously checking their equipment.

"Group Five, come here," Li Feng beckoned.

Ten people walked over.

"Your mission is the most demanding and the most dangerous," Li Feng said. "Go directly into the third underground level and destroy the core. The other four groups will be responsible for holding back the monsters on the perimeter, buying us time."

The bald man asked, "Where's that four-star Ghost King?"

"If we're lucky, we can avoid it," Li Feng said. "If we're unlucky—"

He didn't finish speaking.

But everyone understood.

Zhou Lang thought to himself, fifty-odd people attacking an A-level dungeon—the numbers were enough, but the key question was whether they could hold out. Three-star monsters were already enough to give ordinary players a run for their money, let alone a four-star ghost king…

He remembered what the bandaged man had said: the survival rate was less than 10%.

"Is there a problem?" Li Feng asked.

No one spoke.

"Then let's go."

When the gates of the abandoned factory were opened, a damp, putrid odor wafted out.

Zhou Lang covered his nose. Someone behind him gagged.

The factory was dark inside; the ceiling lights had long since broken, and only a sliver of light shone through the broken windows. The floor was covered in shards of glass and metal scraps, making a clattering sound with every step.

"We've entered the instance area." Li Feng glanced at the device on his wrist. "Everyone, stay alert."

More than fifty people were divided into five groups and entered the factory in turn. Groups one and two spread out to the left and right respectively, group three went through the middle passage, and group four stayed near the entrance.

Group Five followed Li Feng and headed straight into the heart of the factory.

Zhou Lang walked in the middle of the group, holding a chainsaw in his left hand and his right hand in his pocket, ready to light the oil lamp at any time.

"Do you have fire-attribute items?" Zhao Qiang asked, leaning closer.

"Um."

"Those stitched-up corpse demons are afraid of fire," Zhao Qiang said.

Zhou Lang nodded without explaining further. He had bought this information for 5000 points, and Zhao Qiang actually knew about it too.

"Where did you buy it from the intelligence dealer?" Zhou Lang asked.

"No, I heard it from a veteran player," Zhao Qiang said. "He participated in the outer area cleanup of the Ghost Realm dungeon once and came back alive."

"He came back alive? Then why didn't he come this time?"

Zhao Qiang paused for a moment: "He went into a B-level dungeon the day before yesterday and hasn't come out."

Zhou Lang didn't respond.

The group continued onward. The factory was huge; it took almost ten minutes to reach the main plant.

The main factory building was ridiculously spacious, like a stadium. Various machine parts were scattered on the ground, and...

"What's that?" someone in the group asked, pointing to a corner.

There was a pile of things in the corner. Only when you got closer did you realize that they were human body parts. Arms, legs, torso, haphazardly sewn together, as if they had been haphazardly stitched together with thick thread.

"The Stitching Corpse Demon," Li Feng said in a low voice, "is dormant. Don't make a sound."

Everyone stopped in their tracks.

Zhou Lang stared at the mass. It was three meters tall and made up of at least seven or eight corpses stitched together. The stitches were black, like the sinew of some kind of animal.

It has no head. Or rather, its head was sewn onto its chest, with its mouth facing upwards and open.

Zhou Lang's sweat streamed down his back.

"Go around it," Li Feng gestured.

The five groups of people hugged the wall and slowly moved forward.

Just as they were about to go around it, the person at the back of the group stepped on something.

"Click."

The crisp sound carried far through the empty factory.

The mangled corpse, stitched together, moved.

A howl came from the mouth on its chest.

"Run!" Li Feng shouted.

Zhou Lang's first reaction wasn't to run, but to turn on the oil lamp. The moment the flame lit up, the stitched-up corpse demon had already stood up. Its three-meter-tall body blocked the passage, its six arms outstretched simultaneously.

"Scatter to both sides!" Li Feng ordered.

The crowd scattered. The bald man rushed forward, and the black chains on his arms flew out, wrapping around one of the stitched-up corpse demon's legs.

The Stitching Corpse Demon looked down at the entangled leg, then used its other hand to break the chain.

The bald man's expression changed.

"Fire! Attack it with fire!" Zhou Lang shouted, throwing the oil lamp at the stitched-up corpse demon.

The oil lamp struck the stitched-up corpse demon's shoulder, and flames spread. The stitched-up corpse demon let out a piercing scream, its body twisting violently as it tried to extinguish the flames.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Li Feng led his team through the passage.

"Hurry! The fire won't kill it, it can only buy us a little more time!"

The five groups ran forward as fast as they could. Behind them came the screams of the stitched-up corpse demon, and... other sounds.

More screams echoed from all directions of the factory.

"The others have woken up too," Zhao Qiang cursed.

Chaotic shouts came through the walkie-talkie.

"Team 1 has encountered three Stitched Corpse Demons! Need backup!"

"There are two in group two too!"

"Group Three—we're retreating! There are four of them!"

As Zhou Lang ran, he did a simple mental calculation. Of the ten stitched-up corpse demons, nine were on the outer perimeter, and there were more underground…

"Where is the entrance to the underground?" he asked Li Feng.

"That freight elevator up ahead."

Zhou Lang saw it. An old freight elevator, its iron door half-open, the inside pitch black.

"Is the elevator working?"

"No," Li Feng said. "Let's take the stairs over there."

The entrance to the staircase was next to the freight elevator, behind a rusty iron door. Li Feng kicked the door open, revealing a staircase leading downwards.

A stench of decay emanated from the darkness, stronger and more pungent than what was above.

"Go down," Li Feng said.

One by one, the five groups of people entered the stairwell.