Chapter 309 Encounter and Suspicion

These past few days had been the most surreal of Abi's life.

He had heard of the dangers of the Underdark.

Even veteran adventurer parties composed entirely of Class Holders were often rumored to perish there.

High-level, ferocious monsters, incredibly hostile environments, and even intelligent subterranean creatures filled with malice toward humans...

It was by no means an Earth Realm a bottom-tier adventurer like him, still far from obtaining a Class Level, could ever set foot in.

Yet he had walked right in and had somehow survived until now.

This was naturally thanks to Lord Saloyan's generous help.

This immensely powerful and kind-hearted figure not only guided him through the complex, fork-filled gloom, but also lent him the strength to overcome any danger he couldn't handle alone.

Abi increasingly felt that this man was a holy angel sent down to the mortal realm by the gods to save him.

"This should be the way."

"Be careful. Keep moving forward."

The gentle male voice echoing in his skull seemed mild, but it acted like a command input for a machine, leaving Abi utterly incapable of mustering a shred of resistance. He bowed his head and obeyed on instinct.

Subjected to days of continuous, silent suggestion and temptation from the Purgatory devil, the young man was already teetering on the brink of corruption.

Just a slight push further, and his soul would belong to hell.

The time was ripe.

The experience accumulated over countless years and from countless souls made Saloyan absolutely certain: unlike before, given the youth's current level of corruption, he only needed to find the right opportunity.

Even if that opportunity lacked logic and seemed completely absurd to an ordinary person.

As long as he could provoke even a sliver of emotion from this young adventurer and guide it, Abi would willingly sign a contract, handing over both his body and his soul.

Such an opportunity wasn't hard to find. Even now, Saloyan had ten thousand ways to manufacture one.

But right now, he had no intention of wasting precious time on this complimentary "little dessert" that would hardly fill his stomach.

The true main course had already been set before him.

After countless attempts over the past few days, he had finally found the underground tunnel leading to the core of the Goblin Lair mentioned in his intelligence.

Coincidentally, this path was hidden right near the Armored Lurker's nest. He had only overlooked it because the entrance was too narrow to accommodate the massive horde of Goblins that had carved out the tunnel passing through all at once.

He only discovered the hidden path when the Armored Lurker—heavily injured and driven back by Saloyan—forcibly smashed its body through the rubble piled near the entrance during its escape, revealing the spacious tunnel inside.

It also had countless branching paths, but after leaving the Underdark, the air was no longer clouded by chaotic, inert magical particles. Saloyan easily found the correct route by using his Perception to trace the signs left by the massive number of Goblins that had passed through earlier.

They headed straight up.

Then, a small speck of light appeared at the end of the deep tunnel, marking the exit.

"An exit! It's an exit, Lord Saloyan!"

Having wandered through the deep, oppressive Underdark for days, even the faint light of a burning flame was enough to make Abi unbearably excited.

Subconsciously, his exhausted, sluggish footsteps quickened.

But just as he rushed toward the light, on the verge of escaping the tunnel...

The voice in his head rang out once more.

"Stop! Stop right here, don't move!"

Unlike his usual friendly and kind demeanor, Saloyan's tone carried a sharp hint of sternness.

They were finally about to reach their destination, and he didn't want all his previous efforts going to waste over a moment of unnecessary negligence.

The warning echoing in his mind brought Abi back to his senses, restoring some of his focus.

Immediately after, he felt a slight tremor in the ground and heard a familiar screech coming from outside the cave.

"Is it the Armored Lurker?"

Having just repelled one with Lord Saloyan's help, Abi was no stranger to the monster's cry.

But from the sound of it, the beast seemed to be fighting something else.

With Lord Saloyan's permission, Abi carefully shifted his feet, pressing against the wall and shrinking entirely into the shadows as he quietly approached the cave entrance.

To avoid attracting attention, he moved at a crawl. By the time he reached the tunnel exit and got a clear view of the situation outside, the battle had already reached its end.

Accompanied by a high-frequency shriek and the howling vibration of energy, a perfect arc of ochre-red light flashed fleetingly through the air.

The tip of a sword pierced into the gap in the neck carapace. With a forceful twist and swing, the Armored Lurker's head was lopped off in a single strike.

Abi's pupils contracted sharply. He clamped a hand over his mouth, desperately holding back any sound.

He recognized the man who had just decapitated the Armored Lurker!

'Mr. Xia Nan... why is he here?'

He froze in shock.

What astonished Abi even more was the man's effortless, relaxed posture while killing the Armored Lurker.

How was that possible!?

Through the male voice's introduction, he knew that a monster like the Armored Lurker boasted a Challenge Rating of "4". Even though it had been severely wounded by Lord Saloyan's flames, it was absolutely not something an ordinary adventurer could handle.

And Mr. Xia Nan... he couldn't have remembered incorrectly!

He had only just completed his advancement during the Hunting Day period last year to become a Class Holder.

Just a short while ago, he had still been busy dealing with an Advancement Quest on the Association Second Floor.

Now, a few months later, no matter how good his luck or how high his talent, his Class Level was probably only around 2 or 3. How could he possibly be a match for such a dangerous monster?

But right now...

The image of the ochre-red blade of light tearing through the air, the fading roar of a black wolf phantom, and the Armored Lurker's head rolling on the ground flashed through his mind over and over again.

It had happened right before his eyes, leaving Abi no choice but to believe it.

Just as his mind reeled in turmoil, the male voice in his head spoke once again.

This time, the tone carried an increasingly deep sternness and a heavy, undeniable sense of command: "Don't move! Don't make a sound!"

How could it be him!?

Saloyan certainly remembered the black-haired youth with the cold, sharp face standing in the clearing ahead.

A few days ago, when Abi had still been wallowing in a Rivervale Town casino and Saloyan was trying to tempt him into corruption with money, he had crossed paths with this man once.

He had heard Abi mention that the man was his former teammate, someone who went by the nickname "Greysword" among the town's adventurers. What was his name again... Xia Nan?

As a devil Baron from Purgatory, Saloyan naturally didn't care about a nobody among these bottom-tier adventurers.

However, the man's soul had displayed a troublesome trait—like a chaotic mixture of countless pigments dabbling in a bit of everything. This had prompted Saloyan to consciously steer Abi away from him, avoiding any connection with the man.

To his surprise, so many days after that brief glimpse, he had unexpectedly run into this man again right here—at the final destination where he had projected his consciousness into the Material Plane.

'Could it be... he's coming right for me?'

Refusing to believe in such a coincidence, Saloyan couldn't suppress the suspicion rising in his heart.

After all, even within "Dis," the second layer of hell, countless intricate relationships intertwined between devils, and between nobles.

Even though he was quite worldly and smooth, always handling matters thoughtfully, he had still made a few notable enemies over the countless years.

If they had discovered his plan, it wasn't out of the question for them to dispatch subordinates at the last minute to stop him.

But who had leaked the information?

Suddenly recalling their encounters along the way—the hidden Petrification Lizard and the vague positioning within the Underdark—Saloyan became increasingly convinced that there was a problem with the person in charge of the intelligence network he had built in the Material Plane.

'Could that punk have taken a kickback from someone and leaked the information?'

He made up his mind. As soon as his consciousness returned to Purgatory, he would immediately send that damned, despicable, remorseless traitor to the Blood War, leaving his soul to be utterly devoured by the lowliest worms in the abyss.

With the destination right before his eyes, no matter how cautious Saloyan was, he couldn't just give up on all his previous efforts because of an ordinary adventurer who had only recently advanced.

Holding onto a sliver of hope that "this was all just a coincidence," he ordered Abi to stop and stay silent.

As an adventurer, if the black-haired youth wasn't here for him, then his targets were highly likely the green-skinned Goblins that had already been reduced to severed limbs and minced meat across the clearing.

Now that his task was complete, the youth likely wouldn't linger in the cave for long.

It wouldn't be too late to steer Abi out after the youth left. Saloyan had that kind of patience.

Silently, magical particles fluctuated, casting a blurry veil over Abi's body as he obediently hid deep in the shadows, drastically reducing his presence.

This was naturally Saloyan's doing.

Against intelligent creatures, the pheromone-concealment methods meant for Underdark monsters were no longer effective. But as a great devil from the Nine-Layered Purgatory, even a mere projection of his consciousness was enough to manipulate magical particles and mask his host's aura.

Normally speaking, with the Perception of an ordinary adventurer, it would be absolutely impossible...

Saloyan's thoughts instantly stalled.

Because the very moment he manipulated his mental strength to condense the magical particles...

In the clearing ahead, the black-haired youth who had been carefully examining the Armored Lurker's corpse inexplicably seemed to sense something.

He abruptly turned his head!

Filled with lingering killing intent, his cold and piercing gaze—much like the gleam reflecting off the longsword in his hand—shot straight toward them.

Saloyan himself was fine, merely surprised by the youth's sharp Perception.

But Abi—a rookie adventurer who had only just reached the Novice tier with a single combat technique—jerked violently as if electrocuted the moment that glance swept over him.

Subconsciously raising his empty, weaponless hands, he stepped out from the tunnel's shadows and shouted, "Mr. Xia Nan, it's me! Don't attack!"

'Damned fool!' Saloyan cursed silently.

Since things had come to this, contact with the black-haired youth named Xia Nan was unavoidable.

He had no choice but to do exactly what he had done during their first encounter: restrain his will, remain silent, and wait to see how the situation unfolded before making any plans.

Xia Nan frowned slightly, his gaze shifting to the familiar figure holding up both hands and walking toward him in a panic.

"Abi?"

He was surprised, but his expression didn't change in the slightest, and he continued to grip the monster-blood-stained longsword tightly in his hand.

Signaling for Abi to halt and not get any closer, Xia Nan raised his voice slightly and asked, "Why are you here? Where's Adeline?"

Here, deep underground in the core area of the Misty Forest, any kind of danger was possible. Recalling the rumors he had heard in the tavern, he had to consider the possibility that the Abi standing before him was actually a shapeshifting monster in disguise.

He needed to test him a bit with his words.

"Boss Adeline?" Hearing this, Abi scratched his head in confusion. "Didn't I leave the 'Greenblood' party a long time ago? Did you forget?"

Hearing his answer, Xia Nan felt faintly relieved, having at least confirmed that the person before him was the real Abi.

Without acknowledging it, he continued asking, "This is already the forest's core area, isn't it? How did you get here?"

At the same time, he stared straight at Abi, carefully observing his facial expressions.

His outstanding Perception allowed Xia Nan to clearly see that the moment his words fell, Abi's face stiffened for a second. His eyes subconsciously rolled, as if he were internally organizing his words, before he explained in the pleasantly surprised tone of someone who had just run into an acquaintance after a disaster, "What? This is already the core area?"

"I... I didn't know, Mr. Xia Nan."

"A few days ago, I was still clearing out Goblins on the outskirts of the forest. I originally intended to go into their lair to see if there was any loot, but I accidentally discovered a cave entrance leading deeper."

"I thought it was a storage room or something, so I went in to take a look, and then..."

"I got lost."

"Fortunately, I had prepared plenty of supplies in advance, and I didn't encounter any monsters along the way. I barely managed to hold on until I met you today."

'Hmm, he hesitated slightly at first, but spoke more fluently as he went on. Judging by his expression, it's likely a mix of truth and lies.'

Xia Nan guessed inwardly, his gaze carefully scanning the other party before he asked, "What about your teammates? You couldn't have come alone, right?"

"Uh... the number of Goblins in that group was higher than expected. Our party suffered heavy losses, so I figured I'd search the lair for more loot to bring back."

"So you've been alone these past few days?"

"Yes, Mr. Xia Nan."

Naturally, Xia Nan didn't believe that.

No matter how reasonable the explanation sounded, he couldn't possibly relax his guard in this situation.

Not to mention that the other party's answers were full of holes.

He could clearly see the bloodstains and scorch marks left on Abi's armor, trousers, and even his leather boots, yet Abi himself was completely uninjured, looking only mentally exhausted.

Clearly, the young man was hiding something about his encounters along the way.

And right now, in a Goblin Lair located deep underground in the core area of the Misty Forest, a lone adventurer had suddenly appeared from a side tunnel.

Let alone Abi, even if the person standing in front of him were Adeline or Wood, he would still have to observe them carefully.

However, Xia Nan didn't press further on the flaws in Abi's answers, nor did he waste any time on nonsense.

Instead, he clearly stated his own purpose and his next plans.

"I plan to harvest some materials from this monster, and then I'll leave."

"If you want to follow me back to Rivervale Town, you can, but we need to agree on a few details first."

"If you have other business and plan to stay here, that's up to you. It has nothing to do with me."

"I'll be leaving in twenty minutes."

'Good!' Saloyan inwardly let out a long sigh of relief.

'Leave, leave quickly!'

Abi wasn't an idiot either. Hearing Xia Nan say that, he naturally knew the other man was suspicious of him.

He stopped trying to explain and simply nodded heavily, taking two steps back to signal for Xia Nan to do what he needed to do.

Both sides had very clear purposes. Their goals differed, and they were wary of each other.

If the situation continued to develop like this, it might really be resolved peacefully.

Xia Nan would leave the lair with his loot and materials, while Abi and Saloyan would stay behind to inspect the remaining traces of Goblin technological items.

However, for adventurers, reality often differed significantly from what they had envisioned.

Xia Nan hadn't even had the time to gouge the lobster monster's eyeballs out of its skull.

When another burst of denser and more hurried footsteps echoed from the tunnel between the rock walls.