Chapter 307 - 72: A Decision Against the Ancestors

Half an hour later, the Witch, tired from the beating, had Duan Fei retract his Divine Power. She then dismissed the other players and dragged the half-dead Swordsman back to her wooden hut.

Tossing a restorative Spiritual Elixir to the Swordsman, the Witch stared at him coldly.

No longer under the effect of the Summoning, the Swordsman looked awkwardly at the Witch, not knowing what to say.

After a moment, he could only rub his head and say softly, "Actually, mine aren’t the same size either."

"Shut up! You think saying something like that will make me forgive you?! Do you have any idea how much trouble it is to make that stuff?!"

"It’s not," Duan Fei said from the side. "I’ve already mixed a batch."

"Do you even know what we’re talking about?" the Witch asked. "For all you know, we could be talking about the size of our hands."

"I’ve seen your notes. The formula for that Spiritual Elixir was in them."

"Oh."

Recalling the other contents of her notes, the Witch was suddenly overcome with the urge to die.

Jinghong, meanwhile, gazed at the Spiritual Elixirs with envy, wishing such things existed in the real world.

After the Witch recovered from her on-the-spot social death, she quickly drank a calming Spiritual Elixir. Only then did she look at the Swordsman and say, "It must have been a long journey. Now that you’ve seen this place, what are your thoughts?"

"It’s a place full of vitality. I never imagined the Demons in the Dungeon could be utilized this way. These Slimes think unconventionally, but many of their unique ideas are brilliant."

"That’s because there are tens of millions of us," Duan Fei said, sipping his medicinal tea. "Among these tens of millions are elites from every walk of life, all able to communicate and learn from one another through the network. You can think of it as tens of millions of craftsmen all working on the same project: to find the Demon King and beat him to a pulp."

"You must be joking," the Swordsman said with a laugh, but his smile gradually faded.

He had traveled quickly from the north, seeing many Dungeon entrances along the way, and had discovered that all the entrances in the south were similar to this one.

After estimating the number of Slimes here, then factoring in the number of Dungeon entrances in the south, the Swordsman quickly calculated that Duan Fei was telling the truth.

They really did have tens of millions of comrades.

’The thought of tens of millions of Demons of similar strength, all squirming and crawling around here... Each one was both a scholar and a warrior, capable of overthrowing the entire Kingdom with ease.’

’And all these Demons wanted to do... was beat up the Demon King...’

After a long silence, the Swordsman said, "My apologies. I’ll be taking my leave."

"No, you can’t leave yet," Duan Fei said at once.

"What do you want with me! I’m just a former Adventurer who’s missing limbs. I don’t think you people need me."

"You’re wrong. You’re exactly the kind of person we need. As you’ve seen, our individual Power isn’t that great yet. We could only fight you to a draw by relying on special abilities. But the deeper we go, the greater the reliance on individual strength. We need someone talented like you to help train us and tell us what to look out for."

The Swordsman sat back down and asked doubtfully, "I don’t get it. My knowledge and Skills might only give you a small boost. Do you really think a small boost would be useful?"

"Any small amount, when multiplied by ten million, becomes a terrifying number."

Those words struck a chord with the Swordsman. He realized that maybe an old-timer like him still had a chance to be useful again.

’Thinking back on how he was treated in his hermitage, he felt this place might be a little more humane.’

Sheathing his personal sword, he looked at Duan Fei and asked, "And the payment?"

"A whole hand and leg, plus a generous fee."

"Deal. When do we start?"

"Now."

A large number of players eager to learn had already gathered in the Witch’s yard. When they saw the Swordsman emerge, they immediately nodded and said in unison, "Hello, Instructor!"

The players’ eyes were filled with curiosity, ready to absorb new techniques and knowledge.

These techniques and this knowledge wouldn’t just be applicable here, but in the next instance, and the one after that, granting them even more options.

Looking at these knowledge-hungry Demons, the Swordsman smiled in satisfaction.

Drawing his personal sword, he said to the Slimes, "Alright, with me!"

There were many Adventurers like the Swordsman throughout the Kingdom.

Different towns and villages had their own recluses. When Duan Fei discovered that NPCs could be utilized in this way, he spread the news, sparking a wave of NPC re-hirings.

NPCs who had previously retired due to injury were hired back by the players. After all, the southern towns were already under the players’ control. The revolution in productivity brought about by the Demons had drastically increased each town’s output, to the point where they could support a thousand idle hands without any issue.

These NPCs were all former Adventurers. Though retired, their networks were still intact, and they invited their old companions to come and teach the Slimes.

Before anyone knew it, another massive force had arrived and joined the players’ ranks.

After handing off the role of chief executive officer to someone else, Duan Fei finally stepped down to continue running instances with his friends.

With twelve in-game days remaining until the instance ended, their team finally reached the fourteenth floor, nearly catching up to the native NPCs.

Leading the charge, naturally, were Duan Fei and his friends. After all, with a powerhouse like Duan Fei supporting them, getting this far was difficult, but not impossible.

Looking at the records on the stone tablet at the Dungeon entrance, Duan Fei nodded in satisfaction, then shouted to the others, "Let’s go! We’re pushing for the fifteenth floor today and setting up a new base camp!"

"Let’s roll!" Eight Desolates shouted excitedly.

Qian Wulu, the top-ranked player, had also joined the event. However, perhaps because he had started a few days late, his progress wasn’t particularly fast, giving Eight Desolates his first real chance to surpass him.

Unlike Duan Fei, who just wanted to enjoy the game, Eight Desolates wanted to beat Qian Wulu on the leaderboards to prove he was just as good.

Besides Duan Fei’s group, the NPCs could also see the rankings on the stone tablet.

The Celestial Wing Knight Order, who had been stuck on the fifteenth floor for half a year, saw the rankings and noticed the horde of Slimes rapidly advancing through the Dungeon.

In eighteen days, they had accomplished what had taken other teams years to do, and now they were charging toward the strongest of them all: the Celestial Wing Knight Order.

Seeing this, the commander of the Celestial Wing Knight Order knew he could not let it continue.

Reaching the deepest floor was a matter of Glory, a symbol of the Celestial Wing Knight Order’s strength. The thought of that Glory being shattered filled them with a deep-seated panic.

"We can’t wait any longer. There’s a chokepoint between the twelfth and thirteenth floors—the Suspended Bridge. Have the members of the Knight Order station themselves on the far side of the bridge and let no one pass. And tell everyone: if you see a Slime in the Dungeon, kill on sight."

’Advancing was difficult, but holding a key position was not.’

To protect his Order’s lead, the commander finally made a decision that betrayed his ancestors, ordering his men to block the Slimes’ path.

Just as the members were finishing their defensive fortifications on the far side of the Suspended Bridge, two Slimes arrived.

They were the number one player, Qian Wulu, and the thirty-first-ranked player, Shadow God.