Their arrival took the people inside the tent by surprise, especially with the little girl hiding behind Isaac. Ling Tian seemed to be holding the hilt of the sword tightly, while Wang Yi reflexively took a step back.
Only Guo Chen looked happy to see the two of them.
"See, right? Like I have said, she is different. Only Brother Isaac can see it."
The young man smiled broadly. The closeness of the two of them showed Isaac was on his side. Guo Chen felt he had won the debate.
On the other hand, Isaac had a straight face. He knew what his right-hand man was thinking. He was actually rather disappointed that Guo Chen was still so innocent; even a homunculus could trick him so easily.
At least Isaac could relax a little because this would give him an advantage.
"Brother, that thing didn't do anything to you, did it?" Wang Yi asked suspiciously.
Ling Tian was silent. There were no proper words for him to say to Isaac. He was sure the white-haired man had the right judgement, but the scene he was seeing right now made him think otherwise.
"Don't worry. This little girl won't hurt you."
Isaac pushed Aman to face them. She looked shy, like an ordinary human child in general. Meanwhile, the three adult men looked doubtful.
Surprisingly, Guo Chen who was desperately defending Ling Tian not to kill the little girl also looked worried. His instincts as a fighter told him to be vigilant.
Wang Yi narrowed her eyes at Guo Chen's strange behavior. She realized the man did not fully believe in the little monster before them.
"Hey, weren't you the one who took care of it all this time? Why are you nervous?" asked Wang Yi in a whisper.
"A baby tiger is still a tiger. They can bite and make you bleed."
Wang Yi snorted as she shook her head. She couldn't believe the answer she heard from Guo Chen.
"I think you're used to her. Then, why are you defending her if you feel threatened?"
"That little girl can take down eight B-rank hunters alone. Even my pinky was almost broken from stopping her when she was angry. Besides, I have to fulfil my duty from Cheng Ho. I don't want to embarrass Miss Wang Mei for having incompetent subordinate."
Only then did Wang Yi fall silent. Now, the man's words only made sense. Isaac also heard his words even though the young man said it in a whisper.
This made Guo Chen get a plus.
"Mister, Miss, my name is Aman. I am the guard on the 2nd Floor. Nice to meet you."
Her voice was shrill, typical of a child who had just turned eight years old. Her physique was also not a much different human child. They still couldn't figure out how they could be wary of such a creature.
Then, Guo Chen was the first to return Aman's greeting. They already knew each other, even though they were not too close. The two of them rarely spoke because Guo Chen was patrolling more often to prevent the monsters from coming. Even the guard in charge of taking care of Aman didn't talk much to her.
He was actually quite surprised to see Isaac and Aman's closeness in such a short amount of time. They had only met a few minutes ago.
After that, Wang Yi followed suit. She only said her name, and not smiling at all. Even the way she answered the little girl seemed insincere.
Meanwhile, Ling Tian didn't care. He held his sword tight and saw Aman as a threat.
"Since you guys already know each other, let's sit down together. There is something we need to discuss. It's regarding the homunculus and the kidnapping of humans in this dungeon."
They looked at each other. After that, they sat around the seat. Not long after, the discussion began.
"Tell them, Aman, about the lab and the dungeon."
The little girl still looked shy.
"I am the homunculus that was created by the Dungeon Master. My job is to prevent humans from going up to another floor. I was born in a lab, together with my grandpa."
After that, Aman began to tell a long story.
She told the same points as Guo Chen's story; about labs, the dungeon, creator, and orders to kill humans. One point that differed from their stories was the location of the whereabouts of the newly born homunculus.
According to her confession, on the 2nd Floor there was a lab, it was different from the lab where they were born on the 3rd Floor. The lab located on the 2nd Floor was a place where the homunculus born with defects were redefined. In other words, this lab was a place for recycling failed products.
Failed and imperfect homunculus were turned into materials, then sent to Lab on 3rd Floor to be remade into the homunculus again.
This news made everyone in the tent shocked, especially Guo Chen. He truly felt disgusted by the homunculus being treated like the wild animals. Even the animals had a higher degree than them, but the homunculus were treated like objects. Their feelings, pain, and thoughts were not considered.
"This is really hard to accept." Wang Yi seemed to be biting her lip. She felt the same way.
Meanwhile Ling, Tian remained expressionless. All the craziness he had heard had never made any sense, but he still managed to accept it well.
Besides, he had one thing on his mind.
"Why do we have to know about this information? I mean, once we know there's another lab, then what?"
Ling Tian's words caught the attention of Wang Yi and Guo Chen. If an issue was brought up for discussion, then they needed to do something about it. That was happening right now.
Then, all eyes were on Isaac. Meanwhile, the man who became the center of attention smiled broadly.
Isaac stood before them.
"As you guys heard from Aman, there were a lot of homunculus who became the victims. They were not treated like living beings. Even the cattle are better than them. We will save them."
Instantly, the whole room became lively. Even Guo Chen.
Ling Tian quickly stood up. "This is crazy. Why do we save them? I understand that we are going to destroy the lab and exterminate them. Save them? This is bullshit."'
The man argued, no matter how badly they were treated, homunculus were monsters. Even if they had human traits, their existence was created to kill humans. There was no guarantee that after rescuing the homunculus, they would not pose a threat to humans.
If Ling Tian met with the joint raid members later, he would talk to Cheng Ho to discuss again the deal he had made with Lawrence.
He could not accept this plan.
"I don't agree. We shouldn't do something like that. Saving them is a waste of time. We will only create threats in the future."
Of course, Guo Chen didn't go against Isaac's opinion. He would support the man no matter what. Loyalty had already been planted in his head since they first met.
"You are too closed-minded, Ling Tian. From this, we know that not all the monsters in the dungeon are dangerous. Besides, didn't you hear about the dungeon at the border? There, they have monsters that are friendly to humans. The dwarves who make weapons and the Elf Village. Don't you know that?"
Ling Tian chuckled.
"Then, did you forget the tragedy? Did you forget that 800 of your comrades died there?"
Guo Chen instantly fell silent, and his head hung low. Of course, he would not forget the bitter experience in that place. Grief and nightmares still lingered in his head.
"Never believe the things dungeons offer to us. There is only deception in this place," Ling Tian added.
No one could refute the man's words. Meanwhile, Wang Yi also couldn't say anything, although she was a little touched after hearing Aman's story.
The tent was silent for a while. Until the originator of this plan spoke up.
"Then, how long are we going to continue like this?"
Ling Tian narrowed his eyes, surprised by Isaac's words. "What do you mean?"
"How long are we going to keep fighting the monsters in the dungeons? Until when are we going to enter their territory and kill them? How long are we going to send humans to die?"
"I don't know, but we must fight to survive."
"What kind of life? Watching parents lose their children? The child who lost his father or mother? Seeing our loved ones disappear one by one?"
"That's the price to pay," Ling Tian replied. His words were cold. Guo Chen heard him look displeased.
Isaac sighed.
"I didn't say we should save them to let them live; especially after what they did to us. If we want to win, we must recognize our opponent first. However, there are many things we don't know about them. We don't know whether our opponents are monsters or the person who created them is the monster. Or something else."
Ling Tian was silent. He couldn't give an answer, because he also agreed with what Isaac had said.
Isaac then continued.
"If we just keep killing them indiscriminately, there's nothing we can learn from them. Sometimes we have to look at things from a different perspective to solve problems, including this war."
The situation in the tent was silent. No one spoke at all. Everyone was contemplating.
Until finally Ling Tian stood up with a frustrated look on his face.
"Damn it! I don't really know who the leader of this party is. Fine, let's see your plan. I want to see how it turns out later."
Guo Chen immediately smiled broadly. Aman, who kept silent, also smiled. Wang Yi would follow what the result would be. She chose to be neutral, although inwardly she tended to support Isaac.
Meanwhile, the originator of this plan grinned widely. The first of the dungeon infiltration missions began.
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