Chapter 156 - 131: A Strategy One Step Ahead?

Chapter 156: Chapter 131: A Strategy One Step Ahead?

There was a very simple way to verify if Yu Zhun’s guess was correct: have a team member enter the Human Circle again. If the Human Circle they entered this time was different from the one Salas and Su Hong had entered, and the scheduled time to fetch water was also different, it would prove that this was a random event.

"I’ll go," the Stealth Blade player from Moon-devouring Celestial Wolf volunteered. "My Profession is the best at stealth. Even if I enter the Human Circle, there’s a certain probability I can come back."

This was an advantage no other Profession possessed. The Stealth Blade’s First Turn exclusive skill, Void Divine Concealment, could take self-concealment to the absolute extreme.

Yu Zhun looked at the man, recalling that this player’s name was Cao Yu, and gave him a slight nod. "I’ll have to trouble you to make a trip, Cao Yu."

Cao Yu nodded. Holding the Communication Button, he vanished from where he stood.

An hour later, Yu Zhun and the others received a message from Cao Yu. He had entered the fourth Human Circle in the due south corner, and the next time to fetch water was fifteen days away.

Yu Zhun’s guess was confirmed. Which Human Circle one entered and whether they could obtain the location of the spring ahead of time were entirely random occurrences.

"It seems this discovery really can’t serve as a direction for clearing the Dungeon," Zhou Yunhao sighed in disappointment.

Seeing that Yu Zhun had made a new discovery, he thought they had it in the bag this time. Now, it appeared things weren’t that simple. Thinking about it carefully, even if they sped up the destruction of the springs in the first twelve days and shortened the time to clear the Dungeon, what would it matter? During the final three days, armed with a massive amount of Spring Tokens, they would become the targets of every other raiding team and suffer a continuous three-day siege. Unless they possessed the invincible strength to crush everything in their path, this was a dead end.

Therefore, a discovery like this simply wasn’t enough! They wondered where the breaking point could be.

Yu Zhun scrolled through his previous chat logs with Su Hong, reviewing the new intelligence the latter had shared. Suddenly, his gaze locked onto a single sentence.

The darkest hour... the Great Sage’s final words...

This was the reason why the Defenders always held onto hope, holding fast and waiting for a "miracle" to arrive.

In that case... what was the darkest hour, and who was the Great Sage? Did this simple sentence hide some undiscovered background lore of the Dungeon?

[Yu Zhun: Find out more about the darkest hour.]

Inside the Human Circle.

Having obtained crucial intelligence from Kadar, Salas and Su Hong felt a weight lift off their shoulders, their moods lightening accordingly. The former really couldn’t stand the terrible environment here, pulling out various tools like a magic trick to start cleaning the vicinity. The latter took out some food to share with Kadar, making casual conversation.

Catching sight of the new message on his Communication Button from the corner of his eye, Su Hong’s expression grew serious again as he looked at Kadar. "What is this darkest hour you mentioned earlier?"

Eating delicious food he had never tasted before, Kadar had thoroughly come to trust these two outsiders. Hearing the question, a look of reminiscence appeared on his face as he replied, "Actually, a very long time ago, the Human Race wasn’t like this.

"We had our own cities, a glorious civilization, and lived lives completely different from now. We were far stronger than the Giant Demons of today.

"But all of those beautiful things changed because of a wicked Curse."

"A Curse?" Su Hong revealed a grave expression. "What is that?"

Kadar shook his head slightly, a bitter smile eventually surfacing. "No one knows what it is. All we know is that on that day, the Holy Land of humanity lost its light, and our fate was shrouded in darkness as our bodies grew frail.

"And the terrifying race known as the Giant Demons suddenly appeared after that day. They enslaved us, treating us as livestock.

"And then, step by step, we ended up in the situation we’re in today."

Listening to Kadar’s words, Su Hong’s expression grew increasingly solemn, while Salas, who had been busy cleaning nearby, halted his movements.

A Curse! Human bodies growing frail! Giant Demons suddenly appearing and enslaving humanity! They had found new clues and lore!

"Then do you know where humanity’s Holy Land is?" Su Hong asked softly.

"The Holy Land..." Kadar shook his head slightly. "I don’t know."

"You don’t know?" Salas tossed his cleaning tools aside and strode forward, grabbing Kadar by the shoulders. "Why don’t you think a little harder?"

They had already gotten to this point, and he was saying he didn’t know?

Kadar shook his head, letting out a sigh. "I truly don’t know. Even in the most glorious of eras, not just anyone had the qualifications to enter the Holy Land.

"That was where the King and the Great Sage lived. It is said that the Holy Land possessed boundless miraculous powers established by the Great Sage, sustaining the fate of the entire Human Race.

"If you want to find that place, perhaps the only way is to find the relics left behind by the Great Sage."

"The relics left behind by the Great Sage?" Su Hong patted Salas’s shoulder, signaling him to let go, then turned his gaze back to Kadar.

"Yes." Kadar nodded. "Rumor has it that the Great Sage had an extremely miraculous treasure. This treasure was lost for unknown reasons before the darkest hour arrived, which was what allowed the Curse to exploit the opening."

"Is there anything special about that treasure?" Su Hong shot Kadar an encouraging look. "Think carefully, anything will do."

Under Su Hong’s gaze, Kadar pondered for a long time before speaking with some uncertainty, "This... that treasure...

"It seems... to be related to a water droplet?"

Outside Giant Demon Valley, at another raiding team’s camp.