The terrifying insect hive

After the three from Lin Yuan appeared, Meng Zhan walked over quickly from a distance, nodding first at Luo Yushang, "Mayor Luo."

His gaze turned to Lin Yuan, "I represent the Demon Suppression Army in welcoming your arrival."

Meng Zhan was not a man who liked pleasantries. After seeing Lin Yuan, he got straight to the point, "I believe President Lin has already explained the mission to you on the way."

"I won't repeat it."

Meng Zhan beckoned to the side, "Ling Yi."

An officer around thirty years old walked over, "General." The officer named Ling Yi was 1.8 meters tall, with sword-like eyebrows and star-bright eyes, exuding a heavy aura of killing intent.

"Ling Yi, a Level 30 Ice Mage, my adjutant, and the commander inside the Insect Nest Fortress Dungeon."

Meng Zhan introduced Ling Yi's identity to the others, then emphasized a point to Lin Yuan, "After entering the Rift later, just stay by Ling Yi's side."

"Unless the entire Demon Suppression Army is wiped out, your safety is absolutely guaranteed."

Safety had never been a concern for Lin Yuan, so he didn't pay it much mind. However, when he learned that Ling Yi was an Ice Mage, Lin Yuan paused for a moment. He seemed to have an S-rank Skill book for Blizzard. This guy named Ling Yi looked quite wealthy; perhaps he should sell it to him.

Thinking of this, Lin Yuan took out the Blizzard skill book directly, "General Meng, I have a skill book here that seems very suitable for Adjutant Ling."

Ling Yi hadn't been very interested at first. He had four A-rank, one S-rank, and over a dozen skills below B-rank. With both damage and crowd control, he wasn't lacking in skills at all.

Meng Zhan was the same, but when he saw the skill description, he couldn't remain calm, "An S-rank Skill!"

"And it's a large-area crowd control skill."

Upon hearing "S-rank," Ling Yi's eyes immediately shifted to the skill book, "S-rank Skill, Blizzard!"

Ling Yi's eyes widened, "This skill..."

This skill was practically tailor-made for him.

The Insect Nest Fortress had a concave structure. If Ling Yi learned Blizzard, he only needed to stand in the middle of the concavity and cast Blizzard to maximize the delay of the insects' assault.

Meng Zhan was clearly aware of this as well, and his eyes held a look of excitement, "Good!"

"I'll take this skill book."

Meng Zhan thought for a moment, then took two talismans—one red and one blue—from his spatial backpack and handed them to Lin Yuan, "These are special items I obtained from opening a Diamond Treasure Chest previously."

"They should be very suitable for you."

【overlords contract】 (One-time consumable)

【Usage Requirement: LV30】

【Effect: Has a 50% probability of making a monster no higher than your own level + 10 become your Summoned Beast. After the contract is established, the monster's level will be equal to the Summoner's level. Consumes 1 summon slot.】

【Awakening Contract】 (One-time consumable)

【Usage Requirement: LV40】

【Effect: Bind a skill book to learn a skill 10 levels higher than your own in advance.】

The red one was the overlords contract, and the blue one was the Awakening Contract. Seeing the attributes of the talismans, Lin Yuan nodded with satisfaction, "General Meng is right."

"These two talismans are indeed very suitable for me."

The overlords contract would allow Lin Yuan to choose his favorite BOSS to become his Summoned Beast, and a dragon was undoubtedly a very good choice. If he encountered a pure-blooded dragon, Lin Yuan could attempt to use the overlords contract. As for that 50% probability, Lin Yuan completely ignored it. It didn't matter if it didn't agree; Lin Yuan would let the other party know what it meant to be unable to die even if they wanted to. He believed there shouldn't be any blind fool who would refuse.

The Awakening Contract was even more powerful. Summoning the Naga Queen was a Level 50 skill. After using the Awakening Contract, Lin Yuan would be able to learn to summon the Naga Queen at Level 40, meaning that at Level 40, Lin Yuan would possess a Seventh-Rank Monarch Summoned Beast. It was simply invincible.

Having obtained the Blizzard skill, Ling Yi learned it impatiently, "With Blizzard, the confidence in repelling the insects' assault this time has increased by another 10%."

"As long as that fifth-rank insect doesn't burrow underground, the Insect Nest Fortress inside the Dungeon won't be completely destroyed like last time."

"Let's hope so." Meng Zhan sighed, "Remember, if you really can't hold them off, you must ensure Lin Yuan's safety."

"The fortress can be rebuilt if destroyed, but Lin Yuan must absolutely not be harmed."

Ling Yi stood at attention, "Yes!"

"I guarantee I will complete the mission!"

Lin Yuan found it a bit awkward to hear, "Are the insects really that strong?"

"They can even destroy a fortress?"

"Why don't we just fight the insects back? Isn't it too passive to just defend?"

Meng Zhan knew that Lin Yuan had never been to an Insect Nest, so he educated Lin Yuan on the situation inside, "Brother Lin, you don't know."

"The Dungeon before us is called a Rift Dungeon."

"A Rift Dungeon has a characteristic: its difficulty fluctuates with the size of the rift."

"The level of this Insect Nest is limited to LV20~LV30, and the difficulty is at the Adventure level."

"A Rift Dungeon is a real world; it doesn't limit the number of people who can enter."

"Usually, there are about fifty troops stationed at the Insect Nest, rotating regularly."

"They build a fortress inside the rift to resist the invasion of the Insect race; that is where the name Insect Nest Fortress comes from."

Lin Yuan suddenly understood, "So that means the other side of the rift is the world of the Insect race."

"Then why don't we just send a large number of Professionals to push through?"

"That would solve the Insect Nest problem once and for all."

"We have naturally thought of this question, and it's not like we haven't tried it." Meng Zhan shook his head slightly, his tone tinged with a bit of melancholy, "The No. 17 Insect Nest in Tianhuo City of the Northwest Province once organized five thousand Professionals to enter the Insect Nest, wanting to destroy it completely."

"But the final result was that 5 sixth-rank insects appeared on the Insect side."

"In that battle, more than four thousand Professionals died, the No. 17 Insect Nest Fortress was completely destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of insects appeared in Tianhuo City."

"Over a million ordinary people died at the hands of the insects, causing indelible damage to Tianhuo City."

"Since then, no one has dared to organize a large number of Professionals to enter an Insect Nest."

Meng Zhan pointed to the rift not far away and said, "The Insect Nest before us can only accommodate a maximum of 100 Professionals. Any more, and an incident like the one in Tianhuo City will occur."

"Don't think that one hundred Professionals is a lot; the number of insects is in the tens of thousands."

"These insects have weak individual combat power, but they are overwhelming in number."

Speaking of this, Meng Zhan's expression became serious, "What I just said is under normal conditions. If you encounter an Insect Nest riot, the number of insects will increase."

"Moreover, the difficulty of the Insect Nest will also become Nightmare."

Before Meng Zhan's voice faded, the color of the rift suddenly changed, gradually shifting from blue to purple.

【No. 37 Insect Nest】

【Difficulty: Nightmare】

【Challenge Level: LV20 ~ LV30】

【Limit on Number of People: 100】