secret dice.

Chapter 793 Tower of Babel

The base of the Tower of Babel is two to three thousand meters long and wide, almost the size of a small town. To prevent monsters from escaping, the Empire built several layers of defensive fortifications around the Tower of Babel, creating a massive concentric circle fortress. Inside, in addition to stationed soldiers, there are also branches of various guilds and associations.

Moreover, after hundreds of years of development, in addition to official institutions, many private merchants have settled here, selling weapons, equipment, food, and potions, while also buying materials and treasures dropped by mercenaries from the monsters inside the tower. These merchants have gathered on the outskirts of the fortress, forming a huge market. Thanks to the large number of mercenaries entering and leaving the Tower of Babel every day, business here is booming, and it looks very prosperous.

With the certificate issued by the guild, the two entered the fortress smoothly. They first went to the mercenary guild branch there to see if there were any missions available.

Now that the 49th floor has been conquered, the most important task is definitely conquering the 50th floor. But this kind of task won't be posted on the guild's bulletin board, and it certainly won't be available to B-rank mercenaries like them.

The two looked around and found that most of the tasks involved maintaining levels that had already been cleared, such as clearing out monsters, collecting materials, and helping to build facilities.

With a mindset of getting familiar and comfortable, the two casually accepted a few jobs that seemed to offer good pay, left the guild branch, passed through city walls, and finally arrived at the foot of the Tower of Babel.

"Is this the entrance to the Tower of Babel?" The two stood in front of the entrance, gazing up at the enormous gate that was at least a dozen stories high, and couldn't help but exclaim, "How magnificent!"

"Is this your first time here?" A group of mercenaries happened to come out of the door. The captain was a middle-aged man with a stubble beard, carrying a greatsword. Seeing their dumbfounded look as they stood in front of the door, he greeted them familiarly.

"There was no door here originally. There was only a huge black hole at the bottom of the tower. Later, in order to resist the monsters that kept pouring out of the tower, the empire built a sturdy door outside the black hole and reinforced it with magic."

"It is indeed very heavy." Luo Jun looked at the half-open giant door, the exposed edges of which were at least five or six meters thick, and the inside was also filled with sharp spikes. Such a heavy and huge door would require a winch and a mechanism to open.

"But can this alone really withstand the monsters in the Tower of Babel?" Mulan Shi expressed her doubts.

"I heard it was a bit difficult at first," the giant swordsman chuckled. "But after the boss of the first floor was defeated, the remaining monsters that spawn occasionally posed no threat to this gate."

"The first level is cleared... Won't the monsters from the upper levels come down?" Luo Jun asked.

"The mechanism of the Tower of Babel is that if the leader of this floor is still alive, the monsters from other floors will not invade. However, if the leader is gone, the monsters from the upper floors will start to try to come down after a period of time, occupy the lower floors, and begin to multiply, their numbers increasing more and more," the giant sword uncle explained.

"The monsters on the first floor are the weakest. It's dangerous for them to escape. If the monsters from the dozens of floors above keep moving down and multiplying, and eventually escape the Tower of Babel, it will be a disaster. So we can only take advantage of the fact that their numbers are still small and keep attacking upwards."

"But don't the monsters get stronger and harder to defeat as you go higher?" Mu Lanshi asked, puzzled. "If the monsters are too powerful to withstand at a certain level, wouldn't we be completely finished? Why not suppress the monsters at a certain level while we can still deal with them and keep them at bay?"

"Do you think the Empire doesn't want to?" The giant swordsman shook his head. "Your plan was tried three hundred years ago. I remember it was on the seventh floor, I think. The Empire wanted to stop there and station heavy troops on the sixth floor to keep the monsters trapped on the seventh. This tactic did work initially, but after several decades of peace, one day the monsters on the seventh floor suddenly increased explosively, annihilating the garrison on the sixth floor in one fell swoop, and rushed out with lightning speed, causing the second crisis of the Tower of Babel!"

“I’ve read about this!” Mulan Shi nodded. “The book says it was due to a mistake in the strategy guide…”

"It was actually a decision-making error; they misjudged the mechanics of the Tower of Babel." The giant swordsman shook his head. "Later, the Empire paid a heavy price to eliminate the monsters and launch a counterattack to the seventh floor, killing the mutated lord. But when they reached the eighth floor, they discovered that neither the number or strength of the monsters, nor the lord's power, could compare to the mutated seventh floor..."

"Since then, humanity has learned of a hidden mechanism of the Tower of Babel: starting from the death of the previous lord, if the new lord who unlocks the new level survives for more than a certain period of time, it will induce a mutation, causing a surge in strength. At the same time, it will also affect the monsters under its command, causing the strength, number, and frequency of monster spawns to increase dramatically."

"Is that so?" Mu Lanshi asked in surprise. "So, once a level is unlocked, you have to conquer it within a certain timeframe?"

“Yes,” the giant swordsman chuckled. “Generally speaking, if there’s less than a week left until the final deadline, a notification will appear. And the higher the level, the shorter the time required for the lord to mutate. Around level ten, the mutation might take twenty or thirty years; around level twenty, it might take three to five years; and now, at level forty-something, the time limit for mutation is measured in months. Although the Empire tries to complete the conquest before the mutation to conserve its strength, the time left for humanity in the Tower of Babel is getting shorter and shorter.”

"Uncle, how do you know so much? It's like you were there yourself." Luo Jun asked curiously.

“Because I really experienced it.” The giant swordsman removed his headscarf, revealing a pair of slightly stubby, pointed ears. “I’m a half-elf, with a lifespan much longer than that of ordinary humans. When the Tower of Babel appeared, I was still a boy, and now I’m a decrepit old man…”

Half-elf… Luo Jun knew that elves existed in this [game] world, so the possibility of half-elves appearing couldn't be ruled out. However, this giant swordsman's speech and behavior were very intelligent, and Luo Jun was more inclined to believe he was a "player," and in the [Empire] world, elves were also an important race!

"Hey, Half, it's time to go, go back and turn in the mission," urged an Asian man dressed as a martial artist from the group of men.

“Young people, we have to go on an adventure.” Uncle Half extended his hand: “It’s fate that we met. I am Half, an S-rank mercenary. If you need any help in there, you can come to me. As a senior, I can at least give you some experience.”

"My name is Luo Jun!" Luo Jun reached out and shook hands with Half. "Her name is Mulan Shi. Although we are only B-rank now, we will be on the front line of the conquest sooner or later!"

"That's ambitious!" Half praised, turning to leave, but was suddenly stopped by Luo Jun.

"I have one last question!"

"Ask away," Half said, his personality quite easygoing. "As long as I know."

Luo Jun smiled slightly: "Wouldn't the reward be greater for killing the mutated leader?"

“Uh…” Half paused for a moment, glanced at Luo Jun a few times, and finally answered truthfully: “In history, there have only been two instances of lord mutation, one on the seventh floor and the other on the sixteenth floor, both in the early stages. Although I also participated in the extermination of mutated lords, I was not a core member… However, I have heard that the rewards for mutated lords are indeed incomparable to those for ordinary lords!”

"Thank you!" Luo Jun said with a smile, "Until we meet again!" "Until we meet again!" Half nodded, turned around and followed the group out of the fortress.

"Let's go in too." Luo Jun smiled and stepped through the gate with Mu Lanshi.

The inside of the door was pitch black, but after passing through a spatial rift, the two were suddenly greeted by a bright and clear view.

"Is this... inside the Tower of Babel?" Mulan Shi looked at the blue sky, white clouds, grass, trees, river, and rows of human buildings in surprise... This was clearly a picturesque town!
"It seems to be space technology," Luo Jun analyzed. "After passing through that door, there is another space inside."

As he spoke, Luo Jun turned around and discovered that what they had just emerged from was a huge cave about the size of the entrance to the Tower of Babel. Not only behind them, but everything they could see was surrounded by cliffs, indicating that this was a basin surrounded by mountains on all sides.

Just then, a strange cry came from their side. The two turned around and saw a group of green goblins, under the command of a goblin wizard holding a staff, wielding primitive weapons and charging towards them with bared teeth and claws!

"We encountered a monster as soon as we came in?" Mulanshi picked up his longbow, but before he could make a move, a fireball suddenly shot out, blasting the goblin wizard into pieces.

The remaining goblins were startled when they saw their leader had been killed. They stopped attacking, dropped their weapons, and scattered in all directions.

But the attackers had no intention of letting them go; several more arrows were fired, finishing off the fleeing goblins as well.

Luo Jun and Mu Lanshi turned their heads and saw that the attackers were a group of young mercenaries, about seven or eight people. Judging from their equipment, they had warriors, mages, tanks, archers, and assassins—a standard adventure team.

"These goblins are still incorrigible, stubbornly preferring to attack humans!" The squad leader was a young sword and shield warrior with a sunny and cheerful demeanor. Through the Eye of Insight, it could be seen that his level was thirty-six, the same as Luo Jun's, and his health points were over a thousand, significantly higher than ordinary NPCs, so he was probably also a player.

As for the others in his team, they were around level 30 on average, with a few hundred to a thousand health points. Considering that there are minimum requirements to enter the Tower of Babel, these guys must all be B-rank mercenaries. However, their level and health are only considered relatively weak among B-rank mercenaries.

"Unfamiliar faces." The archer in the group's eyes lit up, clearly having activated his Insight: "Level 31 and Level 36, is this your first time at the Tower of Babel?"

"Yes, you guys look very skilled. You must be quite experienced, right?" Mu Lanshi smiled back. Her appearance and temperament were outstanding, and the young boys in the team couldn't help but blush a little.

"Well...no, we only dare to operate in the lower levels..." The sword and shield captain scratched his head. At this moment, the archer in their team looked at Luo Jun's head: "Hey? Why can't I see your health bar? How are you hiding it?"

"A little trick, not worth mentioning..." Luo Jun was too lazy to explain. He pointed to the houses and walls not far away: "Is that a town?"

"Yes, that's what the Empire built on the first floor of the Tower of Babel for the raiding party. It's not just housing; there are also shops and medical facilities inside," the mage in the party explained. "After the raid, the first floor will only spawn weak monsters like goblins, so it's safe for B-rank mercenaries."

"In fact, the area below the tenth floor is quite safe now." The captain patted his chest confidently. "It's called the Tower of Babel, but over the years, the area below the tenth floor has basically been occupied by humans and developed into border towns. I've been to the area above the error level before. The monsters there are somewhat challenging, but with a little caution, you can handle them. You're new here, so I advise you to stay below the tenth floor, get used to it, and then consider going up."

Luo Jun glanced at the few missions he had just received. Considering that he needed to go to higher levels to find other people, he only accepted missions within the B-level range, which were relatively difficult, with the lowest level being above the twentieth floor.

"Thank you for the advice." Luo Jun asked, "If we want to move up to the next level, how do we proceed?"

“There are teleportation portals in each level of the lord's tomb,” the captain laughed. “We’re going to the upper level anyway, let’s go together.”

The two were happy to have company, so they followed the team through the town. The team members enthusiastically introduced them to the locations of various shops in the town and shared their limited experience.

As they talked along the way, Luo Jun discovered that the people in this team were younger than he had imagined. They fought monsters year-round, exposed to the wind and sun, and were physically strong, so it was inevitable that they looked more mature. In fact, the oldest among them, the captain, was only twenty years old, just one year older than Luo Jun. As for the others, most of them were only sixteen or seventeen years old, and the youngest assassin was not even fifteen years old!
In the main world, they wouldn't even have graduated from middle school yet, and they've already become B-rank mercenaries. That's truly remarkable...

"You're all so young, how many years have you been here?" Luo Jun asked.

"Here? You mean the Tower of Babel?" Captain Sword and Shield asked.

"I'm referring to the continent, the Oran Empire," Luo Jun said with a smile. "Aren't you also from the Lost Lands?"

"Huh?" The young mercenaries looked at each other in bewilderment. "We are native to the Oran Empire."

"A local?" Luo Jun and Mu Lanshi were slightly surprised.

“That’s right!” The sword and shield captain tapped his breastplate. “My father was a knight in the western province of the empire. I received rigorous training from a young age. Don’t let my youth fool you; I already have a wealth of combat experience.”

The others also stated that they were all locals who had learned magic or combat skills since childhood.

“However…” the mage in the group said, “We did talk about it before; it seems our ancestors all came from the Lost Lands.”

(End of this chapter)