72: Elevator first floor, seven pairs of players

Su Mo adjusted his mindset in the shortest time possible.

Never mind whether she's that Xiao Wu or not, never mind whether she's a Gentle Charming Rabbit or a Gentle Bone Rabbit.

Anyway, she's my teammate now.

And not just any teammate—she's a stunningly beautiful one who also looks easy to fool... a top-tier beauty teammate.

Such a great resource would be a terrible waste if not properly utilized!

"So, I'm the first human you've ever seen."

A warm, spring breeze-like smile appeared on Su Mo's face, and his tone became incredibly gentle.

"That's truly an honor."

"Mhm! Mhm!" Xiao Wu nodded vigorously, her large pink eyes sparkling like two shining stars.

"I've only read about humans in books before. The books say humans are very intelligent, but also very cunning and dangerous creatures."

As she spoke, she cautiously stole glances at Su Mo, as if trying to spot traces of "cunning" and "danger" on him.

Su Mo felt a dark cloud forming over his head as he listened.

Which damn book wrote that?

Isn't this ruining our human image?

"Ahem, Xiao Wu." Su Mo cleared his throat and said with a serious expression, "You've been deceived by that book."

"Huh? Deceived?" Xiao Wu was taken aback.

"That's right." Su Mo spouted nonsense with a straight face, "We humans are actually a very kind, very simple, and very helpful race."

"Especially someone like me, who's handsome—our hearts are even kinder."

Xiao Wu: "..."

Although she was naive, she wasn't a fool.

She couldn't help but feel that these words sounded... odd.

"Really?" she asked, somewhat doubtfully.

"Of course it's true!" Su Mo thumped his chest in assurance, "I swear on the names of all my ancestors that every word I just said is the absolute truth. If there's even half a lie, may I... may I never again meet a beauty as stunning as you!"

That was one "poisonous" oath!

Looking at Su Mo's earnest and solemn expression, Xiao Wu felt he probably wasn't lying to her.

After all, he'd made such a heavy vow.

"Oh... I see."

Xiao Wu nodded, half-understanding, "Then it seems I misunderstood you."

Su Mo breathed a sigh of relief internally. He was just about to strike while the iron was hot and pour more of his "Humans Are Wonderful" philosophy into her, completely bamboozling this naive long-legged rabbit girl.

Clang—!

A heavy metallic scraping sound interrupted his train of thought.

The elevator doors directly ahead slid open to both sides, and blinding light poured in from outside.

Outside was no longer the oppressive, cold metallic space but an open room.

Su Mo squinted as he looked out.

It was a massive stone chamber at least five thousand square meters in size. The entire room's walls and floor were constructed from rough, bluish-gray stone bricks. Every dozen meters or so along the walls, a torch burning with green flame was embedded, casting an eerie green glow throughout the space.

In the center of the room and in the corners, ten ancient-looking wooden chests, clearly of great age, were sparsely placed.

"Squeak... gurgle..."

A series of sharp, unpleasant cries that made one's scalp tingle came from all directions in the room.

Su Mo focused his gaze and saw that around those wooden chests, a group of creatures less than a meter tall, with emerald-green bodies, pointed mouths and monkey-like faces, wielding rusty short knives and wooden clubs... Goblins!

There were quite a few of these Goblins—a rough estimate put their numbers at at least two hundred, all at Level 3.

They were wandering aimlessly around the room, their pairs of small red eyes gleaming with Greed and malice as they looked around.

"The energy cores must be inside those chests." Su Mo instantly made his judgment.

Just as he was pondering what strategy to use to most efficiently clear out these Goblins and secure the chests...

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A series of elevator door opening sounds rang out one after another from his left and right.

Su Mo turned his head to look and saw that, on either side of their elevator, seven identical elevators had appeared.

The seven elevator doors opened simultaneously, and from them emerged seven teams, totaling fourteen players.

These people were men and women, old and young, dressed in various styles, but without exception, each exuded a fierce aura.

Clearly, no one who could enter this four-star difficulty dungeon was a "newbie."

"Honey, look! Treasure chests! The energy cores must be inside!"

From one of the elevators, a woman dressed in revealing clothes and wearing heavy makeup pointed excitedly at the wooden chests and shouted to the man beside her.

"Charge! Grab the chests!"

Almost the moment her words fell, a pair of players who looked like a couple let out a roar and charged straight out of their elevator, heading for the nearest wooden chest.

The man, wielding a large blade, took the lead, while the woman followed behind him, holding a burlap sack, apparently ready to stuff things inside.

"Dammit! Don't let them get ahead!"

"There are only ten chests! First come, first served!"

The other players instantly reacted as well. As if injected with adrenaline, they brandished their weapons and rushed toward the chests nearest to them.

The entire stone chamber instantly descended into chaos.

The clash of blades, shouts of battle, and the shrieks of Goblins blended into a cacophony.

Yet, amidst this chaos, three parties stood out as distinctly out of place.

Su Mo and Xiao Wu remained where they were, unmoving.

Not far to their left, in one of the elevators, a Bald Strong Man nearly two meters tall, with bulging muscles, bare-chested, and sporting a dragon tattoo that stretched over his shoulder, watched the chaotic battle outside with a look of disdain.

He held in his arms a woman dressed in a crop top and hot pants, with a fiery figure.

The two leaned against the elevator door as if watching a show, showing no urgency at all.

And in an elevator to their right, two people also stood.

One was a Long-Legged Woman with a tall, slender figure, wearing a tight black leather outfit.

The other was a girl who looked only eleven or twelve years old, with neat short hair and dressed in a Gothic-style dress... a little girl?

These two also remained motionless, merely watching the battle outside calmly—a chilling sort of calm.

"Interesting," Su Mo stroked his chin.

The level restriction for entering this dungeon was LV15 to LV25.

Among this batch of S11 new players, aside from himself, it was absolutely impossible for anyone else to have reached Level 15.

That meant everyone present here were all veteran players who had entered the game earlier than him!

A veteran player's Constitution would start at a minimum of 110 points.

There might even be players among them who had already reached Level 20 and completed their class change!

This bunch was far more troublesome to deal with than those newbies encountered earlier in the Ocean World.