Chapter 192: Entanglement

Li En walked hastily, but was soon called to a stop.

"Let's split the loot evenly, okay?"

"Uh, sure."

Li En's group had only four people, two of whom had questionable combat ability (Victoria and Ophelia had no intention of fighting at all), plus a little burden—this division was about fair.

Even if Li En was confident he could take down this squad alone, in underground exploration, their contribution might not be negligible—many tasks still required specialized skills.

The small gargoyle was quickly dissected; some petrified shards and a gargoyle core were packed into a bag, delighting the teams.

Small gargoyles aren't too hard to handle, but their materials are valuable—they can be sold to bloodline evolvers in the petrification system, or to mages, who use this material when crafting gargoyles and puppet golems.

This active stone and petrified shards can also be sold to earth elementals and spellcasters.

"Uh, it's actually quite valuable?"

"Magical creations and spirits are usually worth more. The least valuable are humanoid creatures like goblins—they're too common, and no recipes use them."

That's the plain truth—even in evolution paths, who wants to evolve into a goblin?

"What about ogres? Trolls?" Li En mentioned two other common creatures, alongside goblins, the trio of wilderness bandits.

"Troll blood can be used in alchemical potions, but it's not worth much. Ogres are somewhat useful—their arms are valuable; supposedly they can be made into giant strength gloves, but they're hard to fight."

Newbie warriors hit by ogre hammers often have their shields shattered and armor broken outright.

If unarmored, they're literally launched into the air—top-tier newbie killers.

When these giants go berserk, they easily break through the front line and cause rear-line casualties—they're simply not on the same level as the other two.

Trolls depend heavily on environment; their subspecies vary greatly, and in extreme conditions even great warriors struggle—but one constant is their low value, despite their strong vitality. They're the last thing a team wants to face.

"Onward! A great start!"

After dividing the loot, the small group grew excited.

Not just them—even Li En felt a bit pleased at the prospect of earning more than two gold coins for himself.

"Are adventurers this rich?"

"It depends on luck. Gargoyles are relatively valuable, but normal gargoyles are hard to fight."

The temporary team pressed forward; this time, Palna took the lead in scouting.

She felt guilty for wasting an opportunity due to her serious injury—the gargoyle outbreak Li En regarded as a disaster.

But if handled well, it's a chance for wealth for veteran adventurers; the team had heard many success stories in recent days.

Many high-value prey once rarely seen now appeared in the upper layers—these gargoyles were among them.

Gargoyles generally fall into two types: wild "Petrified Golem Beasts" and "Artificial Gargoyles," with the latter being far more common—mages love placing a few in their towers as ever-watching guardians, which is why they're so valuable.

"Speaking of ever-watching eyes, I just remembered an acquaintance…"—and at that moment, the snake slithered out.

The snake coiled around Li En's head, happily flicking its tongue.

Li En asked what it was so pleased about, but received no reply.

"Are you sure you want me to say it? You already owe too many karmic debts—this piece of information is worth a lot. You could even trade it to someone for a count's title."

Li En fell silent. He didn't know what the snake was hiding, but he felt a great trouble looming.

"Actually, the ever-watching one itself isn't much of a problem—just enough to destroy one or two nations. But what's behind it? Now that's truly troublesome." Even the snake considered it troublesome? Li En instantly focused.

The snake was still trying to spark Li En's interest, but the first response came from—

【Partial truth of the event is known. Continue exploring.】

This abrupt, incomplete hint left Li En stunned.

"Truth? What truth? Oh—the truth about Hero Laike? Could this possibly be connected?!"

Li En had investigated this before, but whether he checked the official library of Huicheng or the archives of any church, all mentioned the same thing: "The Catastrophe of the Great Dragon."

The records were detailed, down to the exact scale of destruction.

The process and outcome were clearly stated, but the cause? Just one sentence: "The Hero and the Kingdom were retaliated against by the Demon Dragon." No specifics at all.

Li En truly didn't believe a being of this caliber—a "Dragon God"—would suddenly appear out of nowhere and destroy a capital city without reason.

This obvious suppression of information made Li En too lazy to investigate—unless he found key individuals, all he'd ever encounter were official press releases.

Li En had also cautiously asked Dainya in the Hall of Spirits, and received only angry resentment.

When pressed for details, her account matched the official version—was the royal family even aware?

"If even the Princess doesn't know the truth, Snake—do you?"

"Of course I know. Tsk tsk tsk—I could even hint that your reincarnation… uh, can't say it."

The snake fell silent, flicked its tail, and grew even more cheerful.

Li En wanted to ask more, but his mind went blank—the snake had vanished without a trace.

He sighed. He hated riddles, especially ones that teased half a secret and then disappeared.

For the next hour, the team encountered no enemies—it was normal; too close to the entrance, monsters had been repeatedly cleared out.

If not for Li En's sharp eyes, they'd have missed these small gargoyles entirely.

In a slightly more spacious area, the team rested and prepared rations. The adults could still push on, but the little one, who had been gritting her teeth, was nearly out of strength.

Li En felt guilty—he'd assumed they'd meet a goblin or a wolf, something simple for her to practice on. Small gargoyles were clearly beyond her capability; flying monsters were a natural counter to agile swordsmen.

Her current strength couldn't even break through stone.

Watching the girl, drenched in sweat, her small face smeared with dirt she'd picked up somewhere, yet still pretending everything was fine, Li En hesitated.

Maybe he should just take her back.

"Friends don't rush," the little one said, keenly sensing his hesitation, and hugged him tightly.

Then she actively helped distribute rations to the others.

Seeing the energetic girl, the others' moods lifted slightly.

In this underground labyrinth, adjusting mood and state was just as important as any task.

"By the way, Lord Li En, what race is Little Laina? I'm not prejudiced against degenerate races—I'm just curious. And what does she like to eat?"

At Li En's glance, Palna instantly felt uneasy.

"She's a catfolk—but the kind that eats meat. A large, striped mountain lynx."

Li En sighed. Lionfolk were rare in the kingdom, and easily identifiable; some traits could even trace back to bloodline.

"Cat! I'm a cat!" Laina, delighted, first looked surprised, then stuck out her waist proudly.

Li En suddenly remembered—he'd never mentioned it. He patted her head, feeling strangely exasperated.

From the snake's hints, his reincarnation, Laina's identity, and the kingdom's past—all were connected, circling back to one person.

"Former Hero Laike."

The Soul Card on his chest still warmed slightly, as if activated by those "pieces of information," but Li En still couldn't use it.

"Or maybe when the Queen arrives, everything will be clear—she was there after all."

"Pfft!" At that moment, the snake reappeared, sneering directly at Li En—as if mocking his naivety.

Li En opened his mouth to ask more, but the snake vanished again, as if busy with something underground.

The small incident passed. After resting, they walked further, crossed another empty zone, and finally entered the underground ruin's combat zone.

In their words, this was where the real journey began. Looking at the dozens of branching paths ahead, Li En sighed.

"Downward: right three, right one, left two—those are the best options." Fortunately, someone knew the way.

This time, they hadn't gone far before encountering large numbers of enemies—first, various magical beasts, relatively easy prey.

During the afternoon trek, Li En vented his frustration from the snake's hints by slaughtering wildly.

He even let Laina try hunting a magical wolf (one leg broken)—she won easily, marking her first blood.

By nightfall, when they set up camp, another problem had to be addressed.

"To hell with the snake's confession promise."

In a way, Li En was destined to come underground—fewer people here, so if he lost someone, fewer would know.

He should pick someone who'd definitely refuse—or someone with whom a temporary relationship carried no risk. A gentleman's fling, then a clean break—though a bit cruel, it was better than deceitfully dragging things on.

"At the start, there weren't many options anyway. Exclude males (the snake would cause trouble), mushroom folk, and the Dark Elf goddess (a political nightmare)—so only Sallyman and Victoria."

Li En dared not choose Sallyman—he already felt uneasy around her. He truly believed choosing her might ruin him for life.

Victoria was his first choice—Dark Elves didn't associate with innocence, and their gender perceptions were reversed from surface dwellers. They were often open-minded, enjoying romantic flings during travels.

Dark Elf women's views on this were similar to "male playboys"—treating it as mere pleasure, not a big deal.

But as he talked with Victoria on this journey, Li En grew increasingly uneasy.

It wasn't that the female elf disliked him—in fact, she was clearly overly friendly and attentive. But her actions revealed an overly refined selfishness—every three sentences turned to profit. It made Li En uncomfortable.

When he mentioned a policy's impact on a region, city, or tribe, she instantly calculated how to profit from it or what she could gain.

Perhaps she claimed to hate Dark Elf society, but in Li En's eyes, this was just a textbook Dark Elf mindset.

If she truly became his partner, she'd immediately use her reputation and connections to gain money and status.

"Uh, let's watch Little Laina for now." Li En glanced at the white-haired, red-eyed girl, who immediately gave him a sweet smile, then stuck out her tongue and ran off.

At that moment, Li En even missed simple-minded Sallyman.

Or maybe he could just go for her—and make up some excuse to get out of it. After all, she was a dumb girl, easy to fool.

"Tsk. Seems it's too late now."

But he might not return to the surface for days—so no choice remained.

He tried to think positively: dating someone he disliked might make ending things easier.

"Achoo!" Sallyman, absent for days, sneezed, staring at the pitch-black surroundings and sighing.

Not far from her, the Princess was guarded by knights. If the boss wanted to go underground, she had no choice but to follow obediently.

She roasted her lizard jerky while angrily rubbing her face—this damn underground dampness and cold made her want to sleep.

"Soon, we will reach the middle level of the underground ruin," and the Crusader Knights on that side also seemed satisfied with this haul.

(End of Chapter)