Chapter 68: 68 Traces

"Please stay, routine inspection is required."

Aiden adjusted the bronze badge on his chest; his iron gauntlets and chainmail gleamed coldly as he crossed his arms to block five adventurers who had just exited the dungeon, their boots still clinging with fungal threads.

"Inspection? Why?"

Several adventurers frowned; no one liked their luggage being searched, but no one chose to ignore Aiden, waiting only for him to give a plausible reason.

Aiden knew this task was unpopular, so he explained patiently: "Recently, we received a report regarding a raider attack."

Aiden pulled out a parchment scroll and unfurled it; the guild's seal was clearly visible.

"We are searching for equipment lost by the victims. Please cooperate, everyone; finding the raiders benefits all."

The female wizard in the party, wearing a robe, let out a light scoff and was about to speak, but the captain stopped her.

They unloaded their heavily worn leather packs, the metal buckles hitting the stone floor with a dull thud.

Aiden nodded to the two guards behind him, then opened the record book with its parchment cover, crouching down to compare the items in the packs one by one.

Soon, a dwarf helmet tarnished with copper rust was pulled from the bottom of a pack by a guard.

A pair of iron shoulder pads was found alongside it.

Aiden rose without expression, stepped back two paces, and quietly held up three fingers to the commander wiping his sword under the elm shade.

Only after the Gold-rank officer walked to his side did Aiden straighten his back and speak:

"This helmet and these shoulder pads match the equipment held by the victims; I'm afraid we must delay you all a bit longer for questioning."

"What!?" Sure enough, these words triggered a reactive response from the adventurers.

One heavy-axe warrior angrily demanded: "Do you mean we are raiders?"

"I do not suspect you all; I am simply acting on orders. Please cooperate well with the guild."

Standing behind his own Gold-rank officer, Aiden spoke with neither humility nor arrogance, like a law-enforcement machine devoid of emotion.

Meanwhile, that commander drew his sword from his waist a fraction, the meaning quite clear.

Seeing conflict was about to erupt, the adventurers' leader hurriedly stepped in front of his teammates.

He was just an ordinary adventurer party; where would he dare to truly clash with the guild?

"Everyone calm down, everyone calm down.

Gentlemen, this is what we obtained from the big fat Pooji on the fifth floor; we are truly not raiders."

Seeing his attitude was still decent, Aiden spoke to comfort him:

"I guessed as much; do not worry. Previously, some adventurers were in the same situation as you.

But routine questioning must still be done.

We will not wrong you; the previous groups were all released after questioning."

Hearing they were not the first group stopped this way, the several adventurers felt much more at ease.

They truly were not any raiders.

Nearby, Dylan, carrying a large pack, did not stop to watch the spectacle like the others.

Instead, he bypassed the group and entered the dungeon directly—entering the dungeon did not require inspection.

Aiden rubbed his nose; he seemed to smell a hint of blood, but blood scent was obviously not something worth noting.

This was the dungeon entrance; it was too normal for exiting adventurers to carry a bit of blood scent.

He had even smelled the scent of large feces!

——

On the first floor, Dylan crouched on the ground, his fingers scraping the wall cracks.

He hooked up a large clump of fungal threads.

And fungal threads growing in wall cracks like this were now visible everywhere on the first floor.

Is the Boss planning to slowly occupy the previous floors as well?

While guessing, Dylan walked along the passage with the most fungal threads.

About half an hour later, he finally found a fungal mat in a remote compartment far from the strategy route.

He dropped his backpack on the ground and stretched vigorously.

At his age, he still had to carry such heavy things; it was truly suffering.

He threw the contents of the pack onto the fungal mat.

The remaining steps the fungal threads would naturally handle.

To be honest, if the other side had only asked for two more gold, he would have just taken the loss.

Asking for 20 gold right off the bat?

Some retired adventurers didn't even have this much saved for their old age!

Of course, that information broker asking for 20 gold was just opening his mouth wide, waiting to bargain.

However, this attitude that clearly wanted to squeeze him dry made Dylan truly uninterested in entangling with him.

Now it was good; he got the information and even earned 8 gold coins for free...

But Dylan truly could not be happy.

Because Bella really went to the Archipelago...

According to the information, Bella seemed to have come to Silent Wind Town before the Demon Tide, inquiring about his whereabouts.

At that time, Dylan was still drawing spores on the fifth floor, living in seclusion for a long time; hardly anyone in the entire Silent Wind Town knew him.

Even those who knew him, like the tavern owner Cole, had no idea of his whereabouts.

In the end, Bella found nothing.

But thanks to Bella staying in Silent Wind Town for a while,

that information broker was able to successfully collect her subsequent destination—Silver Sand Bay.

One of the three great slave masters of the Archipelago, Glosa's territory.

A villain notorious for the illegal kidnapping of people.

The message says his daughter went to save someone!?

This undoubtedly made Dylan deeply worried.

Going to such a place to save whom? It must be some unlucky soul turned into a slave!

What if his daughter clashes with Glosa...

Can he only stay here and pray, hoping his daughter remains safe and sound?

After dumping the contents of the package, Dylan simply tossed the package itself into a corner and was about to leave.

"Seems your life outside is quite colorful too."

"Boss!?"

Hearing the Boss's voice from five floors away was the first time.

However, what followed was over a minute of silence; just as Dylan began to suspect he was hallucinating, the Boss's voice sounded again.

"The latency is still too high, so I won't chat idly with you.

Since you are on the first floor, do me a favor while you're at it.

Go out from here, walk right past three intersections, then turn right.

There's a large Shi Laimu there; go kill it."

"No problem." Dylan nodded and agreed.

This was the first floor; the highest monster level was only LV5, so Dylan could naturally handle it easily.

But by the time he arrived there, he didn't think so anymore.

Two scale-less Pujis were besieging a huge blue Shi Laimu almost as wide as the entire corridor.

A Mushroom Cannon shot out, exploding a small patch on the large Shi Laimu, seeming to cause no pain or itch.

Inside the Shi Laimu's body floated another Puji, melted halfway.

This scene made Dylan instinctively wary—was this Shi Laimu that strong?

He tried using 【Spin Slash LV5】 at the extreme range of his attack.

The large Shi Laimu was not only sliced open but also had its core exposed by the sword wind.

Dylan, looking incredulous, stepped forward two paces, delivered a finishing sword strike, and ended it.

So it wasn't that this Shi Laimu was too powerful, but that these Pujis were too weak?

He knew very well the power of the Mushroom Cannon; just now, such a tiny display of power made him think the Shi Laimu had nullified all the damage.

So what is the Boss up to?

Why are the first-floor Pujis so weak?

(End of Chapter)