64: Chapter 64 Dead End

It had been some time since the new dungeon map opened.

Yet, no one had managed to clear it.

When the new map first appeared, it truly attracted many who were eager to give it a try.

However, the several ten-man teams that entered one after another all ended in failure.

Now, no one dared to try it lightly.

One had to know, the penalty for a single failure could wipe out days of hard work without sleep or rest.

This forced many to choose to wait and see.

They were all waiting for someone to clear it first, obtain the guide, and then try it themselves.

Jiang He also gained some understanding of the new map.

This map was called: Cage of the Fallen Titan.

The entire map was just an empty, mechanical-feeling space.

The surrounding walls were wrapped in iron plating.

There were no monsters inside the map, only thick copper pillars standing irregularly all around.

And the environment inside the map was even more oppressive.

It was unusually hot inside, and even though this was a game world, it still gave people a suffocating feeling.

Players who had gone in had never even seen the figure of the BOSS.

According to their descriptions, they usually only heard a few continuous, loud explosions, and then the entire team was wiped out.

However, a few players did bring out reliable information.

They claimed that the cause of death was caused by those copper pillars.

It was as if some mechanism had been triggered, and for some reason, the copper pillars would suddenly explode.

And the attack damage caused was extremely terrifying.

"Da He, why don't we choose the Beginner difficulty?" Zhao Yun said with a nervous expression.

He had also heard of this dungeon.

No one had cleared it yet, and no one had even seen the BOSS's face.

It wasn't that he was particularly afraid of losing levels, but at such a critical juncture, losing levels was undoubtedly an extremely risky thing.

After all, the beast tide was imminent.

The others heard this and also nodded silently, agreeing with Zhao Yun's idea.

But Jiang He shook his head and refused: "It's all the same. Dungeons basically fall into two types. One relies entirely on brute force to push through; with our team's current configuration, we should be considered top-tier in Chang'an City. But as you've heard, there are no mobs in here, so it's clearly not the first type."

"Then the second type must be triggering some mechanism, using the correct means to suppress or solve it to clear the dungeon. Just like the Geo Hypostasis we encountered before; relying solely on attacks, even if we were given ten resurrection chances, we might not win. And the Demon Butcher was a similar situation."

Once these words were said, everyone immediately guessed his thoughts.

Thinking about it carefully, it was indeed so.

The Demon Butcher was successfully lured away by Li Qing's few Taunts, which gave them room to deal damage.

And the Geo Hypostasis was even trickier; in the end, it was only when the mage's energy was insufficient to cast a Fireball Technique that Jiang He noticed the abnormality.

Therefore, many seemingly powerful BOSSes often have their own weaknesses; they just haven't been discovered yet.

Everyone tacitly accepted Jiang He's decision.

A white light flashed, and everyone vanished from the spot, entering the dungeon.

[Dungeon Challenge: Cage of the Fallen Titan · Advanced]

Just after entering the dungeon, everyone appeared in a small room, with an open iron door in front of them.

The scene outside the door was exactly as other players described: copper walls and iron barriers all around, continuously hissing and spraying scalding steam.

Clearly, the temperature of these walls was shockingly high.

And in the center of the hall stood about twenty or so thick, identical copper pillars.

"Let's go." Jiang He took the lead and stepped out of the iron door, with the others following closely behind.

Just as they stepped out of the room, the iron door behind them slammed shut with a bang.

Li Qing was startled and rushed back, wanting to use brute force to pull the iron door open.

But the moment his hand touched the door surface, a heart-piercing burning pain immediately arrived.

"Hiss… it's burning hot!"

At the same time, a red number floated above his head: -20

"Everyone, pay attention! Do not touch the walls! This intense heat will cause continuous damage." Jiang He immediately reminded them loudly.

Now everyone became nervous; they were practically trapped in a scorching iron furnace.

It was airtight all around, accompanied by the hot steam continuously erupting from the walls.

The temperature of the entire hall was rising sharply.

Although they wouldn't actually sweat in the game, this intense feeling of roasting still made everyone feel stifled in their chests and have difficulty breathing.

After standing in a stalemate for about a minute or so, Blood Blade became a bit restless: "We can't just stand here like this, right? There's nothing going on? This damn dungeon, it would be better if it spawned a hundred or so monsters, letting me have a good, satisfying fight! I hate this kind of brain-teasing gameplay the most."

As he spoke, he irritably walked towards the nearest copper pillar, wanting to see what that thing actually was.

However, just as he got a few steps closer, the copper pillar immediately emitted urgent beep-beep-beep alarm sounds.

Jiang He suddenly realized the danger and shouted: "Not good, Old Lin, retreat quickly."

Unfortunately, the next second, BOOM.

A deafening roar erupted, and Blood Blade was sent flying by the shockwave of the explosion.

"Xiao Xue, heal him quickly." Jiang He roared, while both he and Xiao Xue began to cast Healing Spell on Blood Blade.

Blood Blade had been blown back, and at this moment, his HP had plummeted by two-thirds.

Was this still something preserved under the timely rescue of Jiang He and Xiao Xue?

What if they hadn't been able to react instantly?

Based on Blood Blade's current HP, which was as high as 8,000 points, that explosion just now had caused at least around 6,000 points of terrifying damage.

No wonder many players complained that they died without even understanding what happened.

It was no surprise now; Blood Blade was recognized as the number one tank in Chang'an City, and even he could only barely save his life under this explosion; the others would be completely unable to withstand a single blow.

"Damn, what the hell is this thing? A time bomb?" Blood Blade sprawled to one side, letting Xiao Xue and Jiang He continue to cast Healing Spells.

Suddenly, Jiang He looked up and shouted at Bai Luoyao: "Xiao Yao, use a ranged attack on that copper pillar."

"Mm!" Bai Luoyao did not hesitate in the slightest, quickly raised her staff, and a Lightning Strike Technique precisely struck the copper pillar.

The lightning instantly sank into the copper pillar, but didn't leave any damage values?

Jiang He frowned: "Continue, switch to Frost Spell, Fireball Technique."

He intended to use the strategy from the battle against the Geo Hypostasis to test: did these copper pillars also react to magic attributes, and could they be destroyed by ranged attacks?

But after continuously trying Frost Spell and Fireball Technique, he fell completely silent.

Whether it was Frost Spell or Fireball Technique, hitting the copper pillar was like a stone sinking into the ocean; not only did it cause no damage, but it was completely absorbed and devoured by it.

An extremely ominous thought instantly flooded his mind.

"This time… I'm afraid we really are going to lose levels."

This sentence was like a heavy boulder, smashing fiercely onto everyone's heart.

"Da He, what do you mean by that? Is it possible that this stage… is impossible to clear at all?" Zhao Yun's voice carried a trace of disbelief.

Jiang He nodded heavily and stated his deduction: "This hall is, in essence, an airtight cage of copper walls and iron barriers."

"That only safe initial room is now completely sealed. Forcibly breaking through the iron door is simply not feasible; not only might the strength not be enough, but the HP loss from just touching it is hard to bear. And the temperature of the surrounding walls will only be higher, making it an absolute dead end."

"Look at these copper pillars again…" He pointed to the surroundings, "They are purely living bombs. As soon as you get within a certain range, they will immediately detonate. You have also seen their lethality."

"Here, probably only I, Old Lin, and Zhao Yun can barely withstand one explosion. Others… will definitely be killed instantly."

"And…" He looked around at the silent group, "From the moment we entered until now, there has been no countdown or mission prompt. This can only mean… we are trapped in a dead end."

They were completely trapped.

In front of them, only two desperate retreats remained: either stay indefinitely in this sweltering copper and iron hell.

Or take the initiative to step forward and trigger the explosion, accept the punishment of death and level loss, and then be teleported back to the city.