101: Chapter 101 The Song of Ninja

After the battle, the three sat quietly on the roof, waiting for the Boss's loot to materialize.

Sunlight shone on the black tiles, steaming up a faint, scorched smell. That was the trace left by Amon's [Lightning Array]. A few wisps of blue smoke rose from the gaps between the tiles, only to be quickly dispersed by the mountain breeze.

The bamboo forest rustled in the distance, as if the thrilling fight just now was merely an insignificant episode in this mountain wilderness.

Hu Jinsi sat cross-legged with his iron-wood wrapped iron staff laid horizontally across his knees. The steel hoops at both ends of the staff were blackened by Amon's lightning, and he reached out to wipe them, his fingertips stained with a layer of fine carbon powder.

He looked up at the other two and said: "We already forced him to fight us on the roof, and he was still this tricky and cunning. I can't imagine how strong he would be if we were in an indoor environment full of traps."

Lin Rui was leaning against a protruding ridge, his heavy armor half-removed, his breastplate open, revealing the sweat-soaked undergarment beneath. He nodded upon hearing this, his voice somewhat hoarse: "Other teams are indeed not to be trifled with. Any squad that could defeat him in that kind of home field advantage definitely has some real skills."

Su Wan sat between the two, hugging her knees, her chin resting on her arms. The [Siren's Voice Collar] around her neck still retained a faint glimmer from the spellcasting, the black mithril weave shimmering with subtle dark light in the sunlight. She caught her breath and suddenly said: "I made so many mistakes in this battle."

Hu Jinsi and Lin Rui turned to look at her simultaneously.

"Facing a ninja-type enemy, I didn't even think to cast [Faerie Fire] on him beforehand." Su Wan frowned, her tone carrying a hint of self-reproach, "And, although he is a ninja, I noticed that he was chanting something the whole time while weaving hand signs. It was just too quiet; you two might not have noticed."

Hu Jinsi was stunned.

"Next time, I could completely forgo using [Crown of Madness] and just hit him with a [Silence]." Su Wan looked up, a glimmer of light flashing in her eyes, "Perhaps that would seal his ninjutsu just the same."

Hu Jinsi instinctively patted his forehead. He had watched so many anime and movies in his past life; the fact that ninjas needed to chant while weaving signs should have been deeply ingrained in his mind. But during the battle just now, his attention had been completely drawn by those complex hand gestures of Amon, and he had completely overlooked this point.

"It was my fault." Hu Jinsi said to the two, "I only paid attention to his hand signs and didn't notice that he was chanting the whole time."

Lin Rui shook his head and added: "This isn't just your problem. When we watched the video together, we all only paid attention to his hand movements. As for what he was saying, the voice was already quiet, and with the mask on his face, it was impossible to tell. If it weren't for Su Wan being sensitive to sound, neither of us would have discovered it until now."

Su Wan also waved her hand: "It has nothing to do with you. As the only spellcaster in the squad, this is something I should have thought of earlier. Except for supernatural abilities, other spellcasting requires chanting; otherwise, if those powerful skills could be cast silently, it simply wouldn't be something we could handle at this difficulty level."

While the three were talking, Amon's corpse had completely dissipated into light spots. On the roof tiles, several items were slowly condensing into physical forms.

First, silver-white fabric appeared in the sunlight, like a mass of mist appearing out of thin air. Then, a rolled-up paper tube fell from the void, making a slight patter as it landed on the tiles and rolled half a circle.

Hu Jinsi stood up first and walked over to the dropped items. The first to materialize was a set of clothing; the silver-white fabric emitted a faint cold light, and even the wrist guards, knee pads, and face mask were the same color.

He bent down to pick it up, then smacked his lips and shared the attributes with the two, saying: "A set of flashy clothing. I don't even know how to comment on this."

[White Haze Ninja Garb]

[Type: Clothing]

[Eye-catching White Gear: In well-lit environments, you have disadvantage on Stealth checks. When attracting attention in social/performance/intimidation situations, you gain advantage on relevant Charisma checks.]

[Item Description: A set of silver-white short-sleeved jacket and matching split ninja pants. The fabric has been specially starched and dyed, emitting a faint cold silver luster in the sunlight. It is said that this was a 'anti-stealth uniform' custom-made by a certain show-off ninja, Amon.]

Lin Rui looked at the attributes of this clothing and couldn't help but click his tongue. He pointed to the description and said: "This set of clothes is less for a ninja and more for a performer class. Bards, dancers, street performers, magicians—these are the classes that need this effect."

During the previous battle, the three hadn't paid much attention to this silver-white dressed ninja. It wasn't until they saw the description of this equipment that they realized—shouldn't ninjas be wearing dark clothes? Clearly, Amon's strength was so great that the three of them had even ignored his unusual attire.

Su Wan leaned over at this moment, tilting her head to look at the silver-white ninja garb. She extended a finger and pinched the texture of the fabric. The starched fabric was somewhat stiff, feeling like it had a thin layer of wax on it, and it would indeed reflect light in the sun. She asked Hu Jinsi: "If you don't want this, can you give it to me?"

As soon as she finished speaking, even Lin Rui looked at Su Wan with a strange look in his eyes.

Su Wan felt a bit creeped out by their gazes and quickly waved her hand to explain: "It's not for me to wear! I have a distant cousin who is a dancer. I think he would want these clothes. I'll ask him when we get out; maybe he can offer a suitable price. Otherwise, we'll definitely be stuck with these clothes."

The two accepted her reason with half-belief. Hu Jinsi handed the [White Haze Ninja Garb] to Su Wan, and she immediately rolled it into a ball and stuffed it into her backpack, moving so fast as if she were afraid the two would change their minds.

Hu Jinsi turned his head and picked up the other dropped item. It was a scroll; the primitive mulberry paper was bound tightly with a dark green ninja rope, exuding an aura of accumulated time. The edges of the paper were slightly yellowed, as if it had been rubbed by many hands, and the corners were even slightly curled and worn.

[Score: Song of the Ninja]

[Type: Musical Score]

[Effect 1: If played completely by a creature capable of playing musical instruments according to the score, listeners have advantage on saving throws against negative mental states like panic, charm, and despair during the performance.]

[Effect 2: Bards and other classes can convert this score into a skill: Overture of Inspiration.]

[Item Description: A yellowed mulberry paper scroll, bound with a dark green ninja rope. This piece is rumored to originate from the ancient modes of a hidden ninja village, passed down through the generations among the clan's flute masters via oral and written forms, and rarely heard by outsiders.]

Hu Jinsi unfolded the scroll. On the paper were a bunch of musical notes he couldn't understand at all, like heavenly scripts. Those symbols were crooked, some looking like traces of bugs crawling, others like scribbled sketches. But he could understand the item description.

He waved the scroll toward Su Wan and said with a smile: "I really am the lucky charm of this dungeon run. Yesterday I helped Lin Rui get a skill, and today I helped you get a musical score. You two better thank me properly when we get out."

Upon hearing it was a musical score, Su Wan rushed over and snatched the scroll from Hu Jinsi's hand. She didn't choose to learn it immediately but first unfolded the scroll, looking at the notes before her, silently chanting and memorizing in her heart.

Her lips moved slightly, and her fingers unconsciously traced the melody's direction in the air. Those notes seemed to come alive in her eyes, turning into a low and melodious tune that flowed slowly in her mind.

The melody was initially like a trickle of water in a mountain stream, cold and lonely. Then it gradually merged into more tributaries, becoming somewhat impassioned, like the sound of ninjas running under the night moon. Finally, it returned to Silence, as if nothing had ever happened.

Her lips moved slightly, and her fingers unconsciously traced in the air. Those notes seemed to come alive in her eyes... Her fingers slowly traced that invisible rhythm, as if playing an unseen instrument in the air. A few minutes later, Su Wan closed the scroll, her face carrying a bit of satisfaction, yet hiding a bit of regret.

"The song is very beautiful." She said, "But it's a pity that it still requires an instrument like a wooden flute or bamboo flute to achieve the maximum effect. If I only sing with my voice, I might only get six or seven tenths of the effect."

Hu Jinsi didn't care about this at all. He pointed to the [Siren's Voice Collar] worn around Su Wan's neck and said: "What's the problem with that? Can't this thing of yours always be upgraded? Who knows, when it upgrades in the future, it might help you add the timbres of various instruments? It's like an electronic keyboard that can imitate the timbres of other instruments. If you get one more function like this for every level up, wouldn't you be an entire orchestra all by yourself?"

Su Wan's eyes lit up upon hearing this. She instinctively touched the collar around her neck, and the cold metal touch brought her back to reality. She had indeed never thought in this direction.

Although she didn't know what specific effects the [Siren's Voice Collar] would have after upgrading, even if it wasn't the function Hu Jinsi mentioned, just being able to expand her vocal range would be a huge help to her right now.

But her expression quickly dimmed again: "But upgrading requires a Siren's vocal cords. Sirens are not enemies our level can deal with."

Hu Jinsi comforted her: "Although there are no Sirens for the time being, what does Wei City have a lot of? We are guarding the Fang Reservoir, there are plenty of Naga. Anyway, I personally can't tell the difference between a Siren and a Naga; I think they look about the same. What if this collar is not as picky as I am? What if it thinks a Naga's vocal cords can barely count as a substitute?"

Su Wan laughed and pushed Hu Jinsi: "Do you think it's you? Can this collar have such a thing as picky eating or dietary restrictions?"

The three looked at each other and smiled. The mountain breeze blew from the bamboo forest, carrying a fresh scent of grass and trees, blowing away the last trace of the scorched smell on the roof. The sunlight was warm and bright, making people feel a bit sleepy.

Hu Jinsi laid his long staff horizontally beside him and yawned. He hadn't sat so relaxedly for a long time; in the previous dungeon, they were either on the road or fighting, and it was rare to have such a quiet moment. Su Wan carefully rolled up the score and put it in the innermost position of her backpack where it wouldn't be easily crushed.

Just in the chatter of the three, there was less than half an hour left until the time limit to leave the dungeon. The 72-hour cycle of the dungeon was coming to an end. The system prompt flickered at the edge of their vision, reminding the three of the passage of time. The bamboo forest in the distance was blown by the wind, rising and falling in layers like a green ocean wave.

Lin Rui asked directly: "What do you say? I remember there is another ninja on the second floor who can use shadow clones. Shall we go down to find him, or ignore him and go directly to the next level?"

Hu Jinsi stood up, patted the dust off his pants, and said: "Let's go directly to the next level. That way, the next time we come in, we can directly choose to start from the fourth level without having to fight this level again. As for that ninja who can use shadow clones, forget it. I've fought enough ninjas; I don't want to see a ninja right now. Besides, we still have a ninja's Awakening Stone to sell."

Lin Rui glanced at Su Wan and found that she also nodded, having no objections. She then said: "Alright then, let's go."

The three stood together holding hands, closed their eyes, and silently recited going to the next level. Their vision went black, as if someone had covered their eyes with a black cloth, and their bodies experienced weightlessness for about half a second. When they opened their eyes again, the surrounding scene had completely changed.

---

A stone corridor in the style of Ancient Rome appeared before their eyes.

Rough stone pillars stood on both sides of the road, the shafts engraved with weathered patterns, and in some places, the stone skin had peeled off, revealing the gray-white inner core. A few incomplete stone statues stood quietly against the wall, some missing heads, others with broken arms, and the mottled stone surfaces were full of traces of erosion by time.

Beneath their feet were flat stone slabs extending all the way forward, with a wide and long field of view, and the arches in the distance were layered, like an endless corridor. Sunlight poured down from the openings in the vaulted ceiling, casting bright patches of light on the stone slabs.

There was no vegetation, no dwellings, only these ancient buildings, bringing a heavy and solemn atmosphere. Completely different from the quietness of the Japanese-style mountain forest in the previous level, it was quiet and empty here, and an ancient and oppressive aura rushed toward them.

Even the sound of the wind became dull, as if absorbed by these huge stones. The end of the distant corridor was hidden in the blinding sunlight, and it was unclear what else was waiting for them.

This kind of authentic ancient Roman style architecture is something most people can now only see in history books and dungeons. After all, due to the expansion of Water Blue Star, ordinary people have basically lost the possibility of crossing borders.

The price of that cross-border teleportation array is not something ordinary people can afford. Even if you can afford the price to come to the Ancient Roman region, most of these types of buildings have already been occupied by dungeons.

Just like the Great Wall in the real world of Water Blue Star. During the time Hu Jinsi went to the Jade Forest, he checked that maps like Kun-Lai Summit, Townlong Steppes, Dread Wastes, and the dungeons around them had all descended along the Northwest Great Wall.

Except for the Jade Forest in Daibei City, other maps from the Azeroth Pandaren era had more or less descended in areas around the Great Wall. The more iconic the scenery, the easier it is to resonate with certain characteristics in the dungeon, so dungeons are extremely likely to descend around such special terrain or buildings.

The thoughts of the three were quickly pulled back by the enemies in front of them.

From afar, the three had already discovered the enemies of this level. Unlike the first three levels, the enemies in this level wore very little fabric. Most of the enemies had no intention of wearing tops, only wrapping a short piece of cloth around their waists, or simply wearing nothing but a pair of shorts.

Rather than saying this is a level based on Ancient Rome, Hu Jinsi felt more like it was some kind of Spartan version of a muscle-head level.

In the observable area, Hu Jinsi saw some wrestling tough guys wearing only shorts, their muscles gleaming in the sun as if coated with a layer of grease. There were also some ranged archers wearing only a few pieces of cloth, and gladiators holding spears.

But strangely, those gladiators had no armor where they should have, yet wore helmets, greaves, and other armor where they shouldn't.

A muscular man wearing a full-coverage helmet, greaves, and arm guards, but with only a simple cloth wrapped around his waist, was walking around holding a spear. The scene was so absurd that Hu Jinsi couldn't bear to look.

Further away, a few oiled-up wrestlers were grappling with each other, their palms slapping against each other's greasy chests, making crisp smacking sounds.

Facing these enemies, Hu Jinsi found it hard to muster any interest in fighting. He signaled to Lin Rui to stay and protect Su Wan, while Lin Rui went forward alone to collect information and data on the enemies.

Lin Rui raised his shield and strode toward the enemies. His gear made dull metallic clanking sounds on the stone path, quickly attracting the attention of several enemies. The muscular men turned their heads, saw the fully-armored Lin Rui, and let out a few low roars, but they didn't charge immediately.

Watching Lin Rui head forward alone, Su Wan curiously asked Hu Jinsi, "Isn't this usually the job you do? Why are you suddenly lacking motivation today?"

Hu Jinsi pursed his lips at the enemies. "Look at these enemies, every single one of them is glistening with oil. If I fight them, I'm afraid I'll get oil all over my body and clothes. I'm wearing cloth clothes, and getting oil stains on them is a real pain to wash out."

"Plus, since I use unarmed attacks, I don't want to end up with a handful of oil after slapping them. And it's all mixed with sweat—how disgusting is that? Who knows if these projections even have body odor."

Su Wan was stunned at first, then burst into laughter. She laughed so hard she doubled over, and the bottles and jars in her backpack clattered together, making a tinkling sound.

After laughing for a while, she seemed to think of something and laughed even harder. When she finally caught her breath, Su Wan asked Hu Jinsi with a flushed face, "Then tell me, how do other squads get past them?"

Hu Jinsi said, "I really don't want to think about that. Just imagine, if you were asked to attack this bunch of oiled-up muscular men unarmed, do you think you'd be interested?"

Su Wan thought about it, then said with a flushed face, "I... I might actually be interested."

Hu Jinsi was speechless after hearing that. He turned his head away, deciding not to continue this topic. The two were clearly not on the same wavelength; they couldn't talk about this.

But this also gave Hu Jinsi a reminder. He planned to buy a few cheap sticks for 80 credits each when he got back. The current iron-wood stick wrapped in iron, which cost 2,000 credits, would get covered in oil if he hit these hunks, and he hated the hassle of cleaning it.

He could just throw away the 80-credit sticks after finishing the dungeon, saving him the trouble of cleaning. Anyway, there were plenty of these white-tier weapons in the dungeon, and he wouldn't feel bad about breaking cheap stuff.

While they were talking, before Lin Rui could return to them, the time had reached seventy-two hours. The dungeon's forced teleportation mechanism triggered, and everything went black for the three of them. When they opened their eyes again, they had already arrived at the dungeon entrance.

As usual, the three of them first completed their dungeon exit registration with the administrator at the entrance. The teacher in charge of the reporting desk for this dungeon wasn't someone they were familiar with, nor did they know the trio's progress. Therefore, the three of them just briefly mentioned they had reached the fourth level, and the teacher didn't ask any more questions, simply ending the report.

Arriving at the bus waiting area, they found that Pear Garden Squad hadn't come out yet. The three decided to listen to gossip from others to see if there was any interesting news.

The crowd chatting and complaining here was mainly divided into three categories.

The first category was the food exchange area. Everyone gathered to analyze which food tasted good, and some even summarized the probability of what kind of enemies would drop which type of food, complaining about which type of enemy appeared less in this dungeon run.

Someone claimed confidently that the drop rate for the milk tea in the second level had clearly been lowered, while others discussed what the olive oil mixed bread in the fourth level actually tasted like.

The three members of the Jack-of-All-Trades Squad were speechless hearing all this. For them, they always just pushed through directly; it seemed some people came to this dungeon specifically for the food. One girl even took out a notebook densely packed with notes on which enemies dropped which foods, like a food guide.

The second category was the popular trading area outside the dungeon. Some people wanted to quickly turn their drops into cash as soon as they left the dungeon; there were plenty of people buying and selling skills and items. Although it wasn't as grand or rich as a real large-scale market, it was quite specialized, since everything had just dropped from this dungeon.

Someone was weaving through the crowd holding a [Chain Eight-Strike] skill stone, shouting loudly; others were squatting on the ground with a cloth spread out, displaying various white-tier weapons and armor, like a makeshift street stall. A boy in a leather jacket was haggling with someone else, arguing over how many credits a bicycle chain was worth.

Hu Jinsi also saw a classmate from Class 3 whom he wasn't very familiar with, buying equipment that increased knee-strike damage. No need to guess, he probably obtained the Flying Knee skill from the mini-boss in the first level.

The three of them happily sold the [Jim's Knee Pads] they had. Although the price wasn't high, only selling for 3,000 credits, this type of equipment was indeed only wanted by people with specific needs. After getting the knee pads, the classmate excitedly put them on his legs to try them out, drawing a burst of laughter from those around.

The Jack-of-All-Trades Squad also tried asking around, wanting to sell the [Skill Stone: Man's Ki Blast] they had. As it turned out, most students had similar aesthetic tastes, and everyone was very disgusted by this skill. Some shook their heads just seeing the name, not even looking at the stats.

Hu Jinsi specifically looked to see if there were any similar skills that could be converted into his own system, but he was out of luck and didn't find any. He had to stuff the skill stone back into his backpack, planning to list it on the career mall when he got back and slowly wait for someone destined to buy it. He thought to himself that although the skill name was funny, the damage numbers were actually quite impressive; surely someone wouldn't mind the name as long as it was practical.

The last discussion section was for dungeon strategies. Of course, for the Jack-of-All-Trades Squad, there wasn't much useful information, because most people were just complaining. Especially after the squad listened, most people were complaining about the boss in the final level.

The content of the complaints was nothing more than saying that in a dungeon where all the enemies were supposed to be martial artists, the final boss turned out to be someone with superpowers. Various targeted strategies became completely useless, and many squads couldn't even get close to the final boss, let alone deal damage.

Someone complained that they had prepared a bellyful of melee tactics, but the boss could just fly in the air and shoot energy waves, making them so angry they wanted to quit the dungeon on the spot. As they spoke and gestured, the people around laughed out loud.

However, the three members of the squad did hear some interesting strategies for the fourth level. Since most of the people in the fourth level had their upper bodies exposed, some squads simply implemented a "poisoning" tactic. They would find a few poisoned weapons, smear them directly on the enemies, and just wait for them to die from the poison, or at least severely weaken them.

A bespectacled mage excitedly described how their squad stabbed poisoned daggers into the enemies' greasy chests, then watched them lose health while scratching an itch, saving time and effort. He also emphasized that because those muscular men were so oily, the poison actually penetrated more easily, and the effect was even better than usual.

The three members of the Jack-of-All-Trades Squad gained something from this. Because up until now, they hadn't implemented such a poisoning tactic. After listening to the experience shared by others, they felt this wasn't an unreasonable way to save effort. Hu Jinsi decided to look into which toxic herbs or pills he could find when he got back, practice making a few to bring along, and maybe they could use them next week.

He remembered that he still had a few recipes for antidote pills in his backpack, and maybe he could reverse-engineer how to mix poison. Su Wan muttered on the side, saying that using poison might not be very honorable, but Hu Jinsi shrugged and said they were just projections in a dungeon, no need to be so particular.

A few minutes later, the three of them noticed the Pear Garden Squad appearing beside them. But there were only two people, Wu Yingyu and Wang Jingshan, and the String Master Mo Ming was nowhere to be seen.

The Jack-of-All-Trades Squad originally thought Mo Ming had suffered some serious injury and was being treated at the emergency medical station, and they intended to go visit. But Wu Yingyu grabbed Su Wan's hand and told them, "No need to go over there. Mo Ming had his forced teleportation charm triggered during this dungeon run and was teleported out of the dungeon earlier this morning. Due to serious injuries, he was already transferred to the hospital."

The remaining two of them had also suffered significant injuries inside the dungeon, so they stayed at the medical station for a while, only coming out when the school bus was about to leave, preparing to board the bus and return to school.

Lin Rui and the others indeed noticed the bandages and signs of dressing on Wu Yingyu and Wang Jingshan that they hadn't noticed earlier. A white bandage was wrapped around Wu Yingyu's arm, with blood faintly seeping through.

Wang Jingshan had a piece of gauze on his forehead, and his face was much paler than usual. His right wrist was also wrapped in an elastic bandage, and his fingers were slightly curled in an unnatural way. The school uniform jackets on both of them were also stained with dust and dried blood, clearly having had no time to change.

Faced with this sudden situation, Su Wan quickly asked Wu Yingyu what was going on. After all, the semester had already started for over a month, and most squads had entered the stage of stably farming dungeons, so it wasn't as easy to wipe as it was during the initial exploration.

Mo Ming was a String Master, only having support abilities and not needing to fight in melee at all; logically, he shouldn't have suffered such a serious accident in the dungeon.

Wang Jingshan took over the conversation at this point, speaking for Wu Yingyu: "It was completely an accident. When we were dealing with the boss in the final level, that half-human, half-snake Cleopatra, when she only had a little over ten percent of her health left, suddenly turned into a snake and burrowed underground. Then she suddenly appeared beside Mo Ming, followed by a telekinetic attack, hitting Mo Ming against the nearby wall from a distance."

He paused, then continued: "Mo Ming had bad luck. He never expected to be hit by this boss's telekinesis at close range, so the wall behind the spot where he was standing had a relatively large spike. That spike went right past Mo Ming's ribs and pierced through his abdomen. Mo Ming was immediately forced-teleported out of the dungeon."

As for the rest of the battle, according to Wang Jingshan's account, although Wu Yingyu and Wang Jingshan fought through their injuries to take down the boss, they couldn't feel any happiness. Wu Yingyu lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the bandage on her arm, her voice very soft: "We were clearly about to win."

As everyone's level exceeded ten, the forced teleportation charms bound to them were upgraded to Tier 2, and the cooldown period after triggering them also grew longer. After being triggered this time, it meant that Mo Ming would not be able to enjoy the protection of a forced teleportation charm for the next two months.

Furthermore, the price for the next self-funded Tier 2 forced teleportation charm would be 200,000 credits. Although student loans could be paid in installments, it was clear that Mo Ming would be burdened with debt for a long time. 200,000 credits was an astronomical figure for a high school student, and even with installment payments, the monthly pressure would be significant.

After listening to the Pear Garden Squad's account, Hu Jinsi silently patted Wang Jingshan on the shoulder. Not only the members of the Jack-of-All-Trades Squad, but other squads also expressed sympathy for the Pear Garden Squad after hearing about their encounter.

Some people whispered about the deviousness of the boss in the final level, while others were glad their own teams hadn't reached that deep yet. The atmosphere in the originally noisy waiting area suddenly became a bit heavy.

Lin Rui asked, "So what are your plans for the next few weeks? Are you still going to continue raiding this dungeon?"

Wang Jingshan shook his head and said, "We barely passed this time. And this encounter has told us that the risk of continuing to force our way through this dungeon is too high. During these two months while Mo Ming has no protection, we plan to hit some dungeons with lower difficulty."

"For example, that [Burning Village] you cleared before the new year is reportedly still open. We might apply to the school to go train in that dungeon. Although the rewards are worse than here, now is not the time to talk about rewards."

Wu Yingyu also nodded on the side, adding, "Once Mo Ming recovers, and once we save enough money to bind another forced teleportation charm for him, we might come back. But for these two months, safety comes first."

The Jack-of-All-Trades Squad, who had originally planned to wait for the Pear Garden Squad to come out and share their "skipping class" strategy, felt disheartened after hearing this news. This was clearly not the best time to bring up that topic. Hu Jinsi had originally wanted to chat with them about his insights on skipping class via the roof to enter Amon's room, but swallowed the words when they reached his lips.

Looking at Wu Yingyu and Wang Jingshan's weary state, showing off his own strategy at a time like this would be too inappropriate. Su Wan was also silent; she subconsciously touched the [Siren's Voice Collar] at her neck. The patterns on the surface of the collar warmed slightly, as if sensing her low mood.

She softly hummed a low syllable, the sound waves slowly dispersing in the air, like some kind of silent comfort.

The bus engine let out a low roar, urging the students to board. Hu Jinsi sighed, patted Lin Rui and Su Wan on the shoulders, and said, "Let's go, we'll talk about it when we get back."

The three of them turned and walked toward the bus. Behind them, the vortex at the dungeon entrance continued to rotate slowly, like a silent eye, watching these young professionals coming and going.