Chapter 410: Frostfall City, Your Emperor Has Returned!

【-485!】 (Critical Hit!)

【-483!】 (Critical Hit!)

【-584!】 (Critical Hit!)

【-479!】 (Critical Hit!)

【Battle Ended!】

【Congratulations on your victory in battle! You have obtained the item 【Gold Coin】 *23958! (Pickpocketing +9%, Harvest +12%)】

You have obtained the equipment 【Ogre's Iron Pot (Purple)】】 【Ogre's Iron Pot (Purple)】

【Defense +8】

【Toughness +2】

【Increases the probability of inflicting Corrosion, Bleeding, and Poisoning on enemies by 45%】

【Increases damage from Corrosion, Bleeding, and Poisoning on enemies by 30%】

【An iron pot that the Ogre Leader picked up from somewhere; it is of excellent quality and comes with illustrated instructions that even a fool could understand. Ever since it used this iron pot to stew food once, it never tasted raw food again.】

The equipment is actually this pot?

Yun Mu looked at the iron pot in front of her, which was taller than she was, with black lines on her forehead, unable to figure out how one would go about equipping it.

I'm afraid only a giant with a build similar to that ogre could use it.

And setting aside the size of the iron pot, the attribute effects of this thing are actually quite good.

It is similar in nature to the Blood Shackles.

But the problem is that this thing is too big; no one in their team can equip it.

Moreover, there is no "dot" (damage-over-time) specialist in the team.

Even if one were to take a step back, the effect of this iron pot actually overlaps somewhat with the effects of the Plague Path.

If Yun Mu really intended to focus on dot damage, choosing the Plague Path would definitely be stronger than this pot.

Of course, she could also choose to use the equipment together with the Plague Path.

However, firstly, the amount of equipment each person can carry in a Dungeon is limited, and secondly, the effects of equipment can only be enjoyed by the wearer.

Divided this way, the attributes provided by a single piece of equipment are not very high.

Unless Yun Mu has more dot equipment.

And the premise for all of this is that the size of this pot must fit its wearer.

If one can't even put it on, there is nothing more to talk about.

In summary, this thing is just meant to be a snack for Chester; hopefully, by stuffing it with more food, it can level up faster.

Perhaps in the future, there will be no need to bring a Leader BOSS from the Dungeon as the fourth teammate.

"Phew, I feel like there are quite a lot of monsters along this path." After clearing out the last ogre in the camp, Laidun let out a soft breath, put down the War Hammer in his hand, and said.

The fungal monsters encountered in the Fungal Path earlier were one thing, but later, just after arriving at the Beast Cave, they encountered traps set by Laughing imps, and then those pig-men; who would have thought that not long after clearing the pig-men, they would encounter camping ogres the very next day.

"The pollution is truly getting more and more serious," Laidun sighed with some worry.

"Indeed." Yun Mu nodded with a guilty conscience.

She had already chosen very few Battle Areas; the fact that there were still so many monsters only meant that there were too many monsters here.

And the monsters only increased after being affected by the 'Portal', so that's right, it is the 'Portal's' problem!

Laidun, who had no idea that the Dungeon existed, naturally would not suspect Yun Mu; after a short rest with the Dwarves, he continued to walk toward the depths of the Beast Cave.

By the way, the location of the ogre camp was approximately in the middle section of the Beast Cave; converted into Dungeon area terms, they would be able to walk out of the Beast Cave after about two more fork-in-the-road options.

As for what is behind the Beast Cave, she is not very clear either.

It is estimated that by then, Laidun will explain it to them with his map.

"By the way." Taking advantage of the fact that the options for the fork in the road had not yet appeared, Yun Mu intended to learn more from Laidun about that 'Portal'.

"About that gate?" A thoughtful expression appeared on Laidun's face.

"You are experts in magic; I can tell you about things in this regard," he said.

The reason for the appearance of the 'Portal' goes without saying; everyone present is very clear about it.

What is important is the characteristics of the Portal and some details that outsiders do not know.

Through Laidun's narration, Yun Mu finally learned more information about the 'Portal'.

First is the external explanation for the appearance of the Portal: it was a 'Portal' accidentally summoned while researching magic, from which dangerous monsters would continuously emerge, and it would constantly expand the power of pollution outward.

These descriptions are not much different from the facts, only the details of the Portal's appearance were not explained in detail.

According to Laidun, what the Dwarves initially tried to research was opening a gate to a Half-Plane created by the Forge and Flame God.

That place contains rich fire Elements and rare mineral veins; all captured void matter would turn into shiny metallic substances under the burning of flames.

If nothing goes wrong, as long as they can open the gate between the main world and that Half-Plane, the Dwarves could unlock more usable recipes.

Yes, the initial purpose of the Dwarves' research into magic was just to improve their original advantages.

Most races are like this; after all, having the Elves as a race that mainly researches magic is enough.

If they did not choose other directions, the result would just be being rubbed into the ground by the Elves.

That is meaningless; one must develop one's own characteristics to get rid of the influence of Elven magic.

Facts proved that the Dwarves' idea was correct, but their research... well... they did indeed locate a plane filled with fire Elements and rare mineral veins everywhere.

But that was not the Half-Plane opened up by the Forge and Flame God.

It was a journey to hell leading to sulfur, flames, and demons.

At first, the Dwarves used summoning spells, attempting to summon the fire Elements from the plane. But the result was that they summoned an incomparably ugly monster.

"That monster had no reason at all and was impossible to communicate with; when it suddenly attacked our researchers, it was killed by the other party's subconscious counterattack," Laidun said to Yun Mu and the others while recalling:

"Speaking of researchers, they were actually all our Dwarf Master craftsmen, just temporarily learning magic..."

"There really isn't much difference between a forging hammer and a War Hammer; with just one strike, the monster lay on the ground, without making a sound."

As expected of a Dwarf.

Yun Mu could only say that this fit the stereotype in her mind perfectly.

"And then?" she couldn't help but ask.

"And then?" Laidun rubbed his chin: "I don't know much about what happened after that, because I wasn't involved."

"I only heard that the two Dwarfs responsible for guarding the corpses went mad the next morning and hacked several guards to death."

"And those guards who were hacked to death eerily stood back up."

"No one knows the specific details anymore; I only heard from the Survivors who made it out that by the time they came to their senses, the entire research base had already been occupied by those monsters."

"Have you checked the Survivors?" Yun Mu couldn't help but ask upon hearing this.

With such eerie events, it was hard to say whether those Survivors didn't have problems of their own.

Didn't situations like this often appear in film and television works on Earth?

The so-called Survivors were actually just released on purpose by those masterminds behind the scenes. "There is no need for that." Laidun shook his head, his tone gradually becoming somewhat solemn: "The two Survivors who escaped from the research base committed suicide decisively after delivering the news from inside."

"Their corpses have long since been cremated and strictly sealed away."

Hiss. "This is too eerie." Brenna, who was following beside Yun Mu, couldn't help but say.

"That's right, it is too eerie." Laidun nodded in agreement, then said sternly: "But no matter how eerie it is, we must seal that Gate in the deepest part of the underground."

"Because of that damned Gate, we have already lost too much."

"Are you confident?" Yun Mu asked at this moment, carefully scrutinizing the face of the Dwarf beside her, wanting to see his true thoughts.

"Of course not." Laidun glanced at Yun Mu and said half-jokingly: "I'm not an Expert in magic; these things, of course, have to rely on you all."

"Ah haha, is that so?" Yun Mu scratched her cheek with her finger: "I don't have any confidence at all..."

The two of them basically just chatted idly afterward, without continuing to discuss the topic of the 'Portal'.

However, this idle chat was clearly meaningful.

【Dwarf Trust +5, current Trust is 70 (Ally)】

【Suiji Shijian】

【Suiji Shijian】

No, why are both paths Suiji Shijian?

A familiar fork in the road, but unfamiliar fork options.

Yun Mu looked left and right, her gaze piercing through the fog, barely able to see the buildings on both sides.

The path on the left seemed to lead to a church; that style of architecture fit Yun Mu's impression of a church very well.

As for the right side, she couldn't tell what exactly it was.

Could it be an abandoned ranch?

Or something else entirely.

She only saw a fence, obscured by fog and of unknown material, seemingly enclosing a large square. Since both sides were Suiji Shijian, choosing either didn't make much difference.

Yun Mu closed her eyes and rolled the Dice, handing her Fate over to her luck.

Anyway, her Lucky attribute was quite high.

Uncovering her closed palms, the number on the Dice was clearly displayed before her eyes.

16, an even number.

Hmm... then I'll go right!

After making her choice, Yun Mu put away the Dice and stepped toward the path on the right.

And after she decided on the route, the fog on the left path surged and soon disappeared completely.

As for this Dice, it was something Yun Mu made using Alchemy in her spare time.

It felt like smooth bone to the touch, and it had a total of 120 faces.

Crafting an item with this level of detail was quite troublesome; she only succeeded after failing twice.

Hehe, there is only one Dice in the whole world made by Miss Yun herself~ Ahem, back to the main topic.

"Was this place originally a graveyard?"

Passing through the fog, when Yun Mu and the others arrived at this area with the Dwarfs and saw one tomb after another enclosed by a stone fence, she was somewhat surprised.

She had originally thought it was a ranch, but she didn't expect it to be a graveyard.

So what is this place called?

Soon, the message prompt on the Game Panel answered her question.

【You have arrived at the 【Graveyard of the Lost Heart】, you decide——】【1. Dig Grave, see if there are any good burial goods.】【2. Feel the atmosphere here is a bit strange, leave in a hurry.】【3. Look around to see if there is anything, and pay respects to the departed souls by the way.】【4. Choose to dance in front of the grave of the Lost Heart. 【God of Fear and Plague option】】【5. Purify this area! 【Brave option】】(End of chapter)