16: Chapter 16 Horror Panel

As Lin Yan's voice faded, the edge of the basin fell into a brief silence once again.

Lin Yan had no interest in waiting for them to deliberate any longer; he walked out from behind the broken wall, his steps steady, and came to a stop in the open ground at the edge of the basin.

Standing there at two meters and three centimeters tall, the dark green scale patterns of his iron scale legguards and the bone-white luster of his ant bone bracers were exceptionally striking in the grayish-yellow light.

"I don't have time to waste words with you." Lin Yan's voice was not loud, but everyone at the edge of the basin heard it clearly.

He raised his hand and tapped in the void, triggering the public access permission for his attribute panel.

This was a basic function that every Awakened possessed, allowing them to make part of their attribute data public for others to view.

A semi-transparent light screen unfolded before him, displaying only two lines of text.

[Level: 9]

[HP: 25132]

The air at the edge of the basin seemed to have been sucked away.

The expressions of the four people from the 34th Safety Zone completed a full transition within a mere two seconds: first confusion, then shock, their eyes widened round, mouths slightly agape but unable to speak, because they had clearly seen that line of numbers.

Finally, there was fear; the youth in the lead, who had been hesitating earlier about whether to contend for it, was now retreating, his footsteps at least three times faster than before.

"Twenty-five thousand?" His teammate's voice changed pitch. "What the hell kind of monster is this?"

"Level 9... We're only Level 6, how did he level up that fast?"

"Don't think about it, let's go." The captain grabbed his teammate's arm and retreated toward the outskirts of the basin without hesitation.

"This Dungeon boss has nothing to do with us anymore. While the Evacuation Point is still open, let's go find other resource points and take whatever we can."

The four people from the 34th Safety Zone quickly disappeared into the depths of the ruins, not even looking back.

The three people from the 26th Safety Zone did not leave; the leader was a thin, wiry youth.

His legs were longer than the average person's, his standing posture was slightly inclined forward, and his center of gravity was always pressed onto his toes.

Earlier, when Chen Qi had scanned them with his sensory tentacles, he noticed that although the equipment on these three was quite ordinary, their boots were stained with fresh mud prints and bits of crushed grass.

These weren't traces left by fighting, but rather by prolonged high-speed movement.

Being able to survive in the middle zone until now while remaining clean wasn't just good luck; it was because they were fast, combined with the caution of running away whenever they couldn't win.

The thin youth glanced at the "25132" on Lin Yan's panel, his pupils contracting sharply, but his expression did not collapse like the group from the 34th Zone.

They retreated to a half-collapsed broken wall at the edge of the basin and stopped.

It wasn't giving up; it was waiting.

He wanted to be the oriole behind the mantis—waiting for Lin Yan and Shen Feng or the boss to start fighting, hoping for mutual destruction at best, or at the very least, to pick up some scraps during the chaos.

He had used this mentality throughout the Dungeon; every time he encountered an elite monster he couldn't beat, he would skirt around it; every time he saw other teams fighting a tough battle, he would wait from afar; never taking risks, never acting impulsively, but never returning empty-handed either.

His talent was agility-based, and no one could catch him when he ran; this was his greatest asset in this Dungeon.

Lin Yan glanced at them but didn't bother with them.

Shen Feng hadn't left yet; his expression didn't look like he was scared, but he also lost that composure he had before.

He stared fixedly at the line of numbers on Lin Yan's panel—25132.

He himself possessed a full four-piece set of Green Scale equipment, which added 15% maximum HP, and his health had only just broken past 3400 points.

Twenty-five thousand—that was more than seven times his own.

And the level, Level 9.

He had been clearing monsters and opening several resource points along the way, and he was only Level 7 now, which he already considered a fast leveling speed. Just how many monsters had this guy slaughtered to get that high?

Shen Feng took a deep breath and looked at his own panel.

[Current Level: 7]

[Current Attributes: Constitution 6, Strength 15, Agility 10, Spirit 1, Luck 1]

[Current HP: 3450/3450]

[Current Mana: 100/100]

[Physical Attack: 350]

[Magic Attack: 10]

[Physical Defense: 180]

[Magic Defense: 180]

[Speed: 110]

[Talent: A-Rank Talent · Blade Enhancement—All melee weapon damage increased by 40%, attacks ignore 40% of target's physical defense.]

He was a smart man; with 25,000 HP, even if he stood there and let him attack, it would take half a day to hack through it.

The opponent's build and strength were probably not low either; he might not even be able to withstand a single punch.

A head-on clash wasn't worth it, but the boss was right in front of him, and he wasn't willing to just leave like this.

"Friend." Shen Feng's tone had clearly softened, no longer using that condescending tone of clearing the field from before.

"There's no need for us to waste time and energy here. We don't know the attributes of this boss. If it has area-of-effect skills or special mechanics, having a few more people means a better chance of winning."

He took half a step forward and hung his longsword at his waist, trying his best to make his posture look non-threatening:

"Why don't we cooperate? You take the main attack. My people and I will provide supplementary damage on the flanks, and we'll step in if you can't hold it. We'll split the drops sixty-forty, you take sixty and we take forty. It's fair and reasonable, how about that?"

Lin Yan looked at him without answering immediately.

Shen Feng's tone was indeed much better than before, but he didn't believe a single word he said.

Cooperation was a lie; probing was the truth.

"I don't need cooperation," Lin Yan said.

Shen Feng's smile froze at the corners of his mouth.

"This boss, I said it, I want it. If you don't leave now, when the fight starts later, if I accidentally smash a fist into you, I won't apologize."

Shen Feng's expression finally changed; he had never been rejected before.

In the Dungeon, given his talent level and equipment, it had always been him rejecting others.

This was the first time someone had told him to get lost, and it was after he had proactively softened his attitude and proposed cooperation, right in front of so many people.

His fingers twitched slightly, and he almost grabbed the hilt of the sword at his waist, but he restrained himself.

He weighed the situation; he had four people on his side, and his attack power and attributes were indeed very strong, but he wasn't sure he could win.

This guy named Lin Yan probably only needed to endure his damage, walk up to him, and land a few punches, and that would be enough.

The three teammates beside him—Zheng Tong and He Ming, although their equipment was average, had already spread out their positions; the ponytail-wearing healer was ready to heal at any moment; and the bespectacled Scout Talent user was watching their every move.

"Let's go." Shen Feng squeezed the two words out through his teeth and turned to leave.

His three teammates were stunned for half a second; the shield-carrying youth's gaze lingered on Lin Yan for a moment, the tall and thin assassin moved his hand away from the dagger at his waist, and the support girl put away her short staff and followed.

Lin Yan did not watch them leave.

He turned around, facing the mound in the center of the basin that was still slowly heaving.

The crack at the top of the mound was a finger's width wider than before, the dark red light was flickering with increasing speed, and the tremors of the ground were stronger than before.

Something huge was twisting its body beneath the soil, and dirt and gravel were constantly rolling off the top of the mound.

Chen Qi walked to his side, pushed up his glasses, and said in a low voice, "Those three from the 26th Zone haven't left. They're squatting behind a broken wall 150 meters away. My sensory tentacles can see them. Should I go and drive them away?"

"No need." Lin Yan flexed his wrists, his gaze not leaving the mound.

"If they want to watch, let them watch. When the boss comes out, they naturally won't dare to get close. Just report the boss's data to me in real-time."

Zheng Tong, He Ming, and Su Wan also took their positions behind him; He Ming gripped his round shield tightly, and Su Wan's amplification pendant swayed gently on her wrist.

The mound split open.