The night breeze stirred slightly, and the few people crouched in the grass fell into an unanimous silence.
After a moment, Yi Pei finally spoke. “So what you’re saying is, whether we hide or try to destroy the items, it’s basically a dead end either way?”
“High risk, almost zero reward.” Fu Danhong let out a long sigh. “I really don’t want to turn into a living corpse. Just the thought of eating people makes me sick.”
“That’s not so bad,” the Black-Shirted Player suddenly chimed in. “If you were a man, you’d also have to bear the heavy responsibility of reproducing for Sifang Palace.”
“I just saw a living person hugging a corpse.”
The air fell silent again, now tinged with a strange awkwardness.
Fang Penghui gritted his teeth. “I’ll fight the dungeon to the death!”
“It’s not that serious.” Xu Huo took out the Black-Armored Soldier’s head. On the top of the skull was a row of numbers clearly indicating a date. “This dungeon hasn’t been in this state for long. If it had, the ordinary people of Sifang Palace wouldn’t have died in such numbers. Relying purely on mental influence wouldn’t be enough to wipe out all the task players.”
“I knew something felt off,” Fu Danhong said. “The dungeon difficulty is way too high. The players have no way to survive.”
“Can I take a look at that head?” Yi Pei asked Xu Huo.
Xu Huo, aware of her situation, handed the mechanical skull to her. Yi Pei took out a detection item and placed it on the skull, then felt the inside of the bone with her hand. Her face filled with shock. “This is one of Suitcase Man’s creations!”
“Suitcase Man? A high-level player?” Fu Danhong had never heard that name before.
“A super player,” Fang Penghui said. “He’s very famous in E27, though I heard he comes from another wormhole point. He’s a well-known wanted criminal in the game. He always carries a leather suitcase wherever he goes, hence the nickname ‘Suitcase Man.’ Not many people know his real name anyway.”
“Why would one of Suitcase Man’s items show up in this dungeon?” Fu Danhong asked. “Does a wanted criminal engage in commercial activities now?”
“It might be for the corpses,” the Black-Shirted Player said gravely. “I heard from a player from another wormhole point that Suitcase Man likes making puppets. He uses all kinds of materials, but he especially enjoys using player corpses. Apparently, to satisfy this hobby, he’s even broken into the Game Government multiple times, specifically to capture high-level players.”
Fu Danhong felt her scalp crawl. “Someone that big-time wouldn’t bother coming to a D-rank dungeon, right?”
“Maybe high-level player materials are too rare and hard to come by, so he practices on ordinary players.” Xu Huo picked up the conversation.
For a moment, everyone turned to look at him.
Xu Huo didn’t mind. “That means we now face a more pressing issue. The Shared Eyes dungeon doesn’t follow the rule of one dungeon every seven days. New players arrive almost every day. The cumulative number of players over a month is absolutely significant. The end of the month might be the delivery time.”
He took the mechanical skull back and asked Yi Pei, “Do all of Suitcase Man’s works have special markings?”
“…Yes.” Yi Pei was still struggling to snap out of the shock from learning that “a murderous, deranged super player might be coming.” After a second, she said, “There’s a small hidden compartment under the top of the head. Press it open, and there’s a carving in the shape of a suitcase inside.”
Xu Huo felt for it. It was smaller than half a fingertip, with just a couple of careless scratches.
An incredibly simple mark. It was clear he hadn’t put much effort into it.
Naturally, no one would dare to counterfeit Suitcase Man’s signature.
Suitcase Man… Their encounter in the Fairy Tale City was the first time Xu Huo had faced a super player’s overwhelming power head-on. Even Laurence Li and the Paper Artisan he met later hadn’t left as strong an impression as Suitcase Man. That man had chased a single stolen wooden puppet all the way to the Fairy Tale City and leveled half the city with a single strike.
He believed a wooden puppet was utterly insignificant to Suitcase Man, yet the man would install trackers on every puppet and seize any chance for revenge. It was less about holding a grudge and more about seeking entertainment.
That kind of entertainment was different from the Paper Artisan’s. It had no obsessive pursuit—it was purely about playing with the world.
“Forget about the puppets for now.” Fu Danhong cut them off. “Let’s think about what we’re going to do first!”
“Survival dungeons can’t be cleared early. Even if we manage to survive under the dungeon’s influence for seven days, we’d still have to pray Suitcase Man doesn’t suddenly show up.” Fang Penghui sounded somewhat dejected. In truth, he doubted he could even make it to the seventh day.
Xu Huo and the others were in an even tougher spot. Only half of their dungeon time had passed.
“Whether Suitcase Man will come is just speculation. But combining these two points, the real challenge of this dungeon lies in its mental influence. That means, aside from the Black-Armored Soldiers, the dungeon has no other way to wipe out all the players. Reducing the dungeon’s impact on us is the key to clearing it.” Xu Huo said calmly. “Since we know that any eye-shaped pattern is problematic, the best approach is to burn down Sifang Palace. Most of the buildings here are made of wood, after all.”
“As for the drum in front of Sifang Palace and Sifang Palace itself…”
“I can handle that drum,” the Black-Shirted Player said. “I have an item that counters sound.”
“Then how do we start the fire?” Fu Danhong looked at Xu Huo. “Your items probably have a range limit, right? And it’s raining. Some fire-starting items won’t work in the rain.”
Xu Huo pulled out a bottle of Combustion Potion. “This potion is highly flammable. We just need to find a way to pour it over the buildings.”
“That’s not hard. The hard part is that everyone in the city is a set of eyes and ears for the dungeon. The moment we’re discovered, the Black-Armored Soldiers will swarm us. We’re no match for them in one-on-one combat,” Fang Penghui said.
This task could be left to the Painting Woman, but Xu Huo didn’t want to expose her until he knew what the dungeon boss’s role was. If the boss really had a connection to Suitcase Man, revealing a Super Item would only bring endless trouble.
“We can split up and lure the Black-Armored Soldiers away,” Yi Pei suggested. “First, create a disturbance at the entrance to draw some of them in. We can handle this remotely.”
The group roughly sketched out a general plan and then began implementing each step.
Pouring the Combustion Potion wasn’t the only way to fuel the flames. The corpses wandering everywhere were excellent fire starters—they could carry burning materials anywhere.
“I have an explosive item, a single-use item.” Fu Danhong produced something that looked like a landmine. “This thing can blow a whole building sky-high when it goes off.”
She handed it directly to Xu Huo. “You’re good with fire. It’ll be most effective in your hands.”
Xu Huo stored the item in his item slot and distributed some Combustion Potion to everyone. “This accelerant will make the fire harder to extinguish. And if there’s any fire within fifty meters, it will ignite on its own.”
“That works perfectly. The ritual grounds are full of flames everywhere anyway.” Fang Penghui pulled out a soft rope with metal blocks embedded at both ends. “Those corpses and living people are also a problem, especially the players. Too many of them, and we can’t kill them all. But they’re slow to react. This tripping rope should come in handy.”
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