Chapter 322 - 87: Unexpected Reinforcements

By the time Duan Fei landed in front of Charlie, he and his companions were already covered in wounds.

After having a Priest player heal Charlie, Duan Fei watched him examine his wounds in confusion before asking, "What kind of Magic was that?"

"It wasn’t Magic, it was a Professional Skill. Wait, you don’t have healing spells in your Magic system?"

"No, our gods don’t grant that ability. Right, I should introduce myself. I am Charlie Sol, a former junior officer of the Celestial Wing Knight Order."

Duan Fei nodded and started his live stream.

There were eight hours left until the event ended—eight days in game time.

However, they still had four floors to clear before reaching the final, twentieth floor.

Defeating the Demon King could take a very long time, which cast the entire event in a state of uncertainty. No one knew how long it would take to succeed.

On top of that, the Celestial Wing Knight Order was launching a counterattack outside, keeping everyone’s Spirit on high alert, never knowing what they would face next.

Now, seeing Charlie who claimed to be defecting, Duan Fei didn’t have time to determine if he was telling the truth. He immediately asked his live stream viewers to help vet him, then asked, "Charlie, you said you have important intelligence. What is it?"

"Excuse me, but before I say anything, can I first confirm—are you the leader of the Slimes?"

"I’m not, but I suppose I have a little influence for now."

"Alright, then I’ll be direct. First, the Celestial Wing Knight Order is currently on a dangerous precipice. As long as..."

Duan Fei frowned at him and waved a hand, cutting him off. "Hold on. I need to tell you something first: the Celestial Wing Knight Order has already gone insane. Our base is suffering from their frenzied counterattacks, and our exploration progress has been cut in half."

Charlie froze for a moment, then cried out, "How could it have happened so fast?"

"It just did. Sorry, I can’t waste any more time on you. We’re in a hurry."

"Wait, at least let me see what’s become of them!"

After a moment of thought, Duan Fei nodded. He then took Charlie aboard a super-sized Slime express, heading for the exit.

This Slime express was one of Falan’s creations. It could reach speeds of eighty kilometers per hour and travel swiftly through the frozen region, making it easier to transport players and establish a checkpoint here.

Riding the express, the two of them arrived outside a quarter of an hour later and witnessed the scene.

At the entrance, Slimes and Monsters were locked in a brutal, tangled melee, fighting with bloodshot eyes.

The players had become like beasts, swinging the weapons in their hands purely on instinct, as if they would collapse completely if they stopped for even a moment.

Seeing the enemies the players were fighting, Charlie froze, then said in disbelief, "Those... are members of the Celestial Wing Knight Order."

"That’s right. We don’t know why, but have they also started using the Dungeon’s resurrection mechanic?"

"What resurrection mechanic?"

After a brief explanation of the resurrection mechanic, Charlie understood and quickly asked, "I have a question. Can’t you just temporarily shut down those devices?"

"We can’t. The Demon King controls those devices. We don’t know how he’s using them, but unfortunately, we can’t turn them off."

"What about destroying them?"

"That doesn’t work either. Even if we destroy them, there are backups elsewhere. There are countless backups; we could never destroy them all. As long as even one remains, those things will keep resurrecting."

After dozens of resurrections, these members of the Celestial Wing Knight Order no longer had a human form.

They had turned into viscous, gelatinous masses, identical in appearance to Slimes, only much larger.

Repeated resurrections had caused them to lose their minds. In their place were even more bizarre body structures, allowing them to attack in inconceivable ways.

Looking at these strange beings, Charlie’s legs gave out and he collapsed to his knees.

The world was changing far too quickly.

Just before, he had been with his commander, worrying about the future of the Celestial Wing Knight Order. But in just two short days, his own comrades had become... this.

Staring blankly at his comrades, Charlie felt his entire worldview shatter.

Before him was a scene straight from Hell, yet he felt a supreme sense of ecstasy. A bizarre wave of pleasure washed over him, and he couldn’t stop himself from grabbing his hair and letting out a hysterical, maniacal laugh.

"Haha, hahaha! I shouldn’t be laughing, but why do I want to laugh so badly?!"

His strange laughter echoed through the corridor, but it was quickly cut short by a sharp slap from Duan Fei.

Slapped back to his senses, Charlie covered his mouth and spat out two front teeth.

"Ow, that hurts..."

"It’s supposed to hurt. If it didn’t, you’d be dead. How do you feel?"

Charlie thought for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. I feel much better. What did you do to me?"

"A Priest’s Professional Skill. I just borrowed it for a moment. Now, tell me, are you useful for anything else?"

"...I get along well with people."

"Good enough. Come here."

Duan Fei pulled Charlie over to a prison area, pointing at the packed cells. "These are the members of the Celestial Wing Knight Order we captured earlier. It’s too slow for me to use Summoning on them one by one. I need you to convince them to work for us. Can you do it?"

Charlie looked over and saw several veteran officers among the prisoners, some of whom had even oppressed him in the past.

They noticed Charlie’s arrival as well. Seeing the Slime beside him, these old officers began to suspect that Charlie had already surrendered and betrayed them, and their faces immediately twisted with contempt.

Inwardly, however, they were already scheming how to win him over so they could escape this disaster—and perhaps even profit from it.

But they had no idea what Charlie truly wanted.

He wanted a revolution—one that would allow the Celestial Wing Knight Order to be reborn from its ashes.

Many of his former comrades-in-arms had already fallen, but as long as seeds like them remained, the Celestial Wing Knight Order could be reborn.

But in his vision for the future, these parasites from the past had no place. They had to be purged first.

Without hesitation, Charlie pointed out these men and said, "Those people. If you can get them out of here, I’ll have a much better chance."

"No need. Summoning!"

The veteran officers he had pointed to immediately burst into tears, dropping to their knees and beginning to atone for their sins.

One by one, long-buried secrets spilled from their mouths, leaving their subordinates staring dumbfounded, their worldviews completely shattered.

Then, Charlie and his young companions stepped forward.

They began to denounce the officers’ actions, listing their crimes. Charlie’s excellent eloquence, combined with his pre-existing popularity, quickly won him the support of a large group of men.

This support was still superficial for now, but it would be enough, so long as it held for the next eight days.

There were over ten thousand of them, each one a logistics specialist hardened by the harsh climate of the ice fields.

With them joining, the logistical work ahead would surely become much easier.

Leaving Charlie to assign work to the new recruits, Duan Fei immediately headed deeper, charging toward the sixteenth floor.