15: Chapter 15 Basin Standoff

Chen Qi's sensory tentacles remained extended within a fifty-meter radius in front of them. Along the way, he detected energy fluctuations from at least three resource points, but each time they approached, they only found residual runestone fragments left behind after they had been opened. The treasure chests had already been opened, and their contents had been completely looted.

"That's the third one." He Ming kicked the fragments of an empty wooden box on the ground; traces of dissipated halos still lingered on the inner walls of the box. "Damn it, not even a single hair left."

"Whoever reached this area won't be an ordinary team." Chen Qi crouched down to examine the residual energy of the runestone fragments. "The energy dissipation is very fresh; they were opened less than half a day ago. Judging by the movement patterns, there are at least two teams, opening them from different directions. One of them is moving very fast with high monster-clearing efficiency, barely slowed down by the monsters. People in standard issue gear can't do that; they don't have the strength."

"People with gear," Zheng Tong said.

"Not just gear, but a complete setup as well. Scouting, healing, damage dealing—without any of these links, it's impossible to maintain this rate of progress at this depth. One of the teams must be the one that just opened the second resource point; I sensed a very unique attribute fluctuation in the residual energy. It doesn't feel like a Talent, but rather something emitted by an item or accessory." Chen Qi stood up and adjusted his glasses.

"The other team has even better gear; there are traces of resonance from a green set in the residual energy. It's not just loose pieces, but the kind of resonance that only appears after collecting an entire set of equipment from the same series."

Lin Yan didn't speak. He looked at the discarded wooden box fragments on the ground and continued walking forward, with the others following.

Su Wan walked in the middle of the group, a small, pale gold chain wrapped around her left wrist, with a rice-grain-sized, milky-white bead dangling from the end. A faint halo coated the surface of the bead, swaying gently with her footsteps.

She had obtained this when opening a common resource point earlier. At the time, besides crystals and potions, there was an inconspicuous accessory lying in the treasure chest. The system labeled it as a "Low-Tier Boost Pendant," which increased healing output by 15%. In a one-star Dungeon, this was already a highly sought-after piece of support gear.

He Ming walked in front of Su Wan, holding his round shield. There were several small scratches on the shield's surface, all left behind from when he tanked the Rift Soldier Ants earlier. He had personally opened this shield from a resource point; although it was only of white quality, he found it exceptionally comfortable to use.

"Speaking of which," Zheng Tong said as they walked, "you mentioned earlier that those with A-Rank Talent get issued a set upon entering the Dungeon, but what about B-Rank?"

"B-Rank doesn't get a set," Chen Qi shook his head. "My brother said that before entering the Dungeon, B-Rank Awakened get individual pieces, green quality, but not a full set. In the eyes of the Federation, the line between B-Rank and A-Rank is the difference between heaven and earth. Every investment in A-Rank or above is expected to yield a return, while every resource for below B-Rank must be meticulously calculated; the Federation doesn't do unprofitable business."

Zheng Tong glanced at Lin Yan, who had not participated in the discussion. He was walking at the very front of the group, his pace steady, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

After walking for about half an hour, the terrain ahead suddenly dipped. A huge, sunken basin spread out amidst the ruins, the crumbling walls at its edge looking as if they had been pushed outward by some force, forming a ring of low barriers.

In the center of the basin rose a mound nearly four meters high. Dark red light seeped from the cracks on its surface, flickering on and off like the heartbeat of some massive creature.

The air around the mound was slightly distorted, and the gravel on the ground was trembling gently. Something was waking up.

"BOSS," Chen Qi lowered his voice. "The energy reaction beneath the mound is at least twice as strong as before; it's moving upward."

Chen Qi closed his eyes and sensed for a few seconds. "The energy channels in the soil layer are all moving upward, and the evacuation traces are very fresh. It only started moving after the evacuation channel was activated. It's just in the recovery stage and won't fully break through the ground yet."

Lin Yan withdrew his gaze and turned to the edge of the basin; his pupils contracted slightly.

On the ruins at the edge of the basin, there were already three groups of people.

On the far right were four people with uneven equipment; two of them still had bloodstains on their gear. On the far left were three people standing closely together, looking as if they hadn't experienced any fighting, their bodies appearing spotless. These two groups were clearly not the same team; their school emblem patterns were completely different—one was from the 34th Safety Zone, the other from the 26th Safety Zone.

The group in the center had four people, each with a different school emblem, all from different Safe Zones.

The youth standing in the front had a slender build and was wearing a full set of green equipment. The chestplate, legguards, bracers, and boots all had identical patterns and tones; the dark green scale-like patterns shimmered with a cold light in the illumination.

A thumb-sized rune was embedded in the center of his chest, slowly flickering. A longsword hung at his waist, with a rune embedded at the end of the hilt, sharing the same pattern as the one on the chestplate. On his left index finger, he wore a silver ring, its surface shimmering with faint spatial fluctuations.

The two people behind him also had decent gear, but it was clearly comprised of loose pieces; the chestplate was green, but the legguards were standard issue; the bracers were white, while the boots had no attributes at all.

One of them, a sturdy youth, carried a half-person-tall metal shield with a circle of pale blue runic patterns along the edge of the shield face. The other, a tall and thin youth, stood to Shen Feng's right, with two daggers tucked into his waist, currently looking down and wiping the blades.

Standing at the very back was a girl holding a short staff, a pale blue crystal embedded in the head of the staff. Judging by her positioning and aura, she was an Awakened with a support-type Talent.

One A-Rank leading three teammates—a defender to tank damage, an assassin to supplement output, and a support to add buffs; it was a complete lineup.

"Damn it," Zheng Tong cursed in a low voice, his gaze fixed intently on Shen Feng's set.

Lin Yan didn't speak. His gaze lingered on the rune on Shen Feng's chest for a moment, then swept over the three teammates behind Shen Feng, and finally landed on the mound that was still slowly pulsating.

The two groups at the edge of the basin also noticed the arrival of Lin Yan's group of five. The four-person squad from the 34th Safety Zone turned their heads in unison, their gazes stopping on Lin Yan, and the pupils of the person leading them constricted violently. Standing at the edge of the basin at a height of 2.3 meters, Lin Yan stood there doing nothing, but his mere physique felt like a wall blocking their vision.

"This physique..." a teammate nearby whispered, "he must have at least a constitution-enhancing Talent, and the level isn't low."

"No kidding, can a normal person grow to 2.3 meters? This is at least a B-Rank or higher constitution-enhancing Talent."

The three-person squad from the 26th Safety Zone was also looking at Lin Yan. Their gazes swept from Lin Yan to Zheng Tong, He Ming, Chen Qi, and Su Wan, quickly reaching their own conclusion: the core was this big guy, and the other four were his teammates, with a fairly complete configuration.

Shen Feng also looked over. His gaze rested on Lin Yan for two seconds, first sweeping over the iron scale legguards and ant bone bracers—two pieces of green equipment, mixed and matched, not a set. Then he swept over the iron bone breastplate, white quality. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly; being able to scrape together two green pieces and a white piece in a novice Dungeon was indeed somewhat capable, but that was as far as it went. The gap between a mismatched outfit and the four-piece green scale set he wore could not be made up by technique and operation alone.

He took two steps forward and cleared his throat.

"Everyone, my name is Shen Feng, from the 3rd Safe Zone." His voice wasn't loud, but everyone at the edge of the basin heard him clearly. "A-Rank Talent, Blade Enhancement—all melee weapon damage increased by 40%, attacks ignore 40% of the target's physical defense."

Shen Feng opened his panel and displayed his Talent for everyone present to see.

The edge of the basin was silent for a moment; someone in the 34th Safety Zone team cursed under their breath, and the three from the 26th Safety Zone were also exchanging glances.

A-Rank, attack-type, ignores defense. Combined with the custom longsword at his waist, the base attack power was estimated to be eight or nine times that of a standard issue dagger; every strike was armor-piercing.

Shen Feng paused for two seconds, waiting for this information to be fully digested, before continuing: "We have claimed this BOSS. If you are willing to leave now, I can pretend I never saw you. If not..." He patted the longsword at his waist.

"I don't mind clearing the field before fighting the BOSS."

The captain of the four-person team from the 34th Safety Zone was already backing away, and the three-person group from the 26th Safety Zone was also whispering to each other. Shen Feng didn't look at them again, turning his gaze to Lin Yan's group of five.

"What about you?"

Lin Yan took a step forward.

Meeting Shen Feng's gaze and scanning everyone at the edge of the basin, he spoke, his tone as calm as if he were discussing what to have for lunch.

"This BOSS, I want it."