Who designed this underworld dungeon?.

Chapter 696 City Lord's Banquet
The cross of the unbeliever is plain and unremarkable, like a rotten wooden frame pieced together anywhere.

Therefore, when this unremarkable thing was thrown into the furnace golem's brazier, it didn't look like the exciting killing of the enemy leader at all.

Instead, it looks a bit like a furnace golem picking up trash and doing charity work. It even comes with its own trash can, so you can throw trash in and it will burn on the spot.

Because it's located in an underground city, there's no need to worry about burning garbage polluting the air, which is incredibly environmentally friendly.

"Ahhh-"

As the cross was thrown into the furnace, the unbelievers who remained on the ground cried out in unison.

Their expressions were blank, their movements were uniform, and although they were wailing, their expressions remained stiff and lifeless.

This doesn't seem like a living being at all; it's more like a puppet that responds to the commands of the cross. It's so funny it almost triggers the "happy bean effect."

All of this demonstrates that the cross is the true essence of the unbelievers.

The moment it was thrown into the furnace golem's brazier, flames immediately enveloped and licked it, and the wooden outer shell of the cross burst into flames and was burned away in an instant, revealing its true form inside—a cross made of the twisted and fused large intestines of various creatures.

No, not the large intestine, it's the brain, all sorts of brains piled together, writhing and struggling violently under the burning flames.

The Furnace Golem burst into flames, but surprisingly, it didn't burn completely in an instant.

"I'm here to help."

Yanhuo summoned a ferocious fire elemental serpent that rushed into the body of the Furnace Golem. In an instant, flames burst forth and the firepower reached a level never before seen!

He seems to possess some means of promoting combustion, and appears to be a professional at playing with fire.

A vortex of flames rose from the furnace golem's brazier, intensifying the flames at full power.

The wailing of the unbelievers reached its peak at this moment.

Then silence fell in an instant, for the body of the cross had perished in the flames.

According to intelligence, the cross will regenerate in 666 minutes, which is about a dozen hours.

This period of time is neither too long nor too short, putting us in a rather awkward situation.

"Excellent! The flames have purified the heretics!"

The followers, as if they had just seen something good, became excited and waved to the sky with great enthusiasm. His unique holy light monsters descended to the ground. This time, they were not skeletons, but holy knights who looked righteous and were surrounded by holy light. As soon as these holy knights appeared, they immediately began to harvest the unbelievers who were stunned in place.

After the cross is destroyed, not only will it no longer absorb faith, but the unbelievers will also fall into a period of stagnation, so now is the best time to get rid of them.

Flamefire also enthusiastically offered his assistance. Without the constraints of the cross, he arrogantly summoned various large and powerful monsters, reaping the lives of the faithless as if seeking revenge.

Irene glanced at everyone jealously, shrank back, and in the end did nothing, becoming a quiet bystander.

The furnace golem that burned the cross stood still, waiting to see if the cross would come back to life.

The remaining seven furnace golems also began to act, each bending down to grab the unbelievers and throw them into the fire pit, much like farmers picking fresh vegetables.

The atmosphere at the scene instantly became more relaxed; at least before the resurrection of the cross, the unbelievers faced a one-sided massacre.

To be honest, if the cross didn't have that effect of continuously absorbing faith, any of the city lords present could have easily taken down the unbelievers.

However, on the other hand, if the unbelievers were on the surface, then a single dungeon would really be no match for them.

It is said that during the turmoil, there were thousands of crosses that had just been burned to death by them. It is unimaginable how huge a wave of unbelievers could have been unleashed by these thousands of crosses in an era when the level of faith among the people was far higher than it is now.

How exactly did the people on the ground manage to destroy these sealed objects? Just the resistance must have been incredibly difficult.

Gong Qiying looked at the diligently harvested Furnace Golem and couldn't help but fall into thought.

It's said that sealed artifacts are sealed by the gods, but with so many dungeons, and each dungeon containing sealed artifacts, just how many times have the gods intervened? They must be incredibly hardworking.

And most importantly, how did the various races on the ground, including humans, survive the rampage of these powerful sealed objects?
Whether it's the Burning Demon, the Blood Parasite, or now the Believers, based on Gong Qiying's observations of humanity over this period, he has come to a very unfortunate conclusion:
With the current size of these sealed artifacts increasing, it seems that humanity is simply no match for them.

We can't rely entirely on the protection of the gods. In this era where even the gods are silent, how can people fight off disasters of the level of sealed artifacts?
"What are you thinking about?" Chi Ya's voice suddenly rang in my ears.

Gong Qiying looked up at the old man among the city lords and told him what he had just thought.

"Haha, I've thought about this question too, but it's no use. No matter what I guess, it can't be confirmed. It's better not to think about it than to add to my worries."

Just like how Chi Ya no longer cares about where the monsters and maps like Gong Qiying came from, he is the type who has learned to give up thinking.

“Either ancient humans were stronger than we are now, or they would suddenly become stronger under the threat of the sealed artifact. Otherwise, there’s no way to explain your idea,” Yan Huo leaned closer.

"In my opinion, it is the God of Light who has guided all mankind through every difficulty," the follower said in a deliberately calm voice, displaying utter piety.

"Here we go again. Can we take a break for a while? Look, I haven't talked about Vulcan in ages."

Yan Huo shook his head helplessly, seemingly quite familiar with his followers. He turned to Gong Qiying and said:

"Come on, Godwin, forget about all that nonsense, it's time for our usual post-victory celebration party!"

"Mm." Gong Qiying nodded.

If what Yanhuo said is true, he actually hopes that humans can suddenly become stronger in an instant, because that would be more fun.

Because they wanted to test whether the cross would resurrect on the spot after being destroyed, the city lords did not leave. Instead, they held a party on the spot, which was actually just a gathering of drinks where they chatted.

The atmosphere at the scene seemed quite harmonious; there was absolutely no sign of conflict. People were gathered together eating and drinking.

Honestly, do these people really hate me?
Holding his wine glass, Gong Qiying revealed a look of self-doubt.

He hadn't forgotten the mission Chi Ya had requested. Perhaps one of the three had betrayed them, so while drinking, he kept an eye on everyone and casually inquired about some information.

Yan Huo and the other two are all local city lords of Scammeron. The local city lords all know that a demon of unknown origin has appeared in Scammeron. What they don't know is that there may be a traitor among the city lords and that Chi Ya is investigating.

To avoid arousing suspicion, Gong Qiying didn't mention the demon race at all, but instead talked to them about the dungeon, such as its management.

"Right now, I only have the Blazing Inferno dungeon. Although I could probably win a fight against others and open a branch city, I don't feel like I have any talent for management. I can get by with just this one city."

Yan Huo said casually:

"The people who come to me are fairly consistent. I can even remember what some of them look like. Thanks to them, I was able to get through the most difficult period at the beginning. However, I don't know what happened a few days ago, but those people rarely come anymore. I thought I did something wrong and quickly modified the dungeon. But it seems that this modification upset another group of old customers, and they stopped coming. I had to modify it again. I feel like half of my brain was ruined after I finished modifying it."

Although he said it with a smile, there was a hint of tragedy in Yan Huo's words. It's so good that he has such a strong personality.

"Fortunately, Scammeron started fighting, and my dungeon specializes in producing materials for large-scale wars. A large number of people poured in, which is why I've been able to hold on until now. In fact, I have a lot more mental energy than before," he said proudly.

Gong Qiying raised a toast to congratulate him, but then noticed something amiss and asked, "Speaking of which, why didn't those regulars come? Did something happen during that time?"

"I don't know, it happened a few months ago, less than a year ago," Yan Huo sighed and shook his head. "Those people used to like coming to my place to worship the fire god."

What major events happened in the past few months?
"That was when the Sain Dungeon was still in its infancy, so it shouldn't have anything to do with me," Gong Qiying nodded in relief, clinked glasses with Yan Huo, poured himself a full glass, and went to find his followers. "Dungeon? I do have two, one here and one in the Kingdom of Anor. But I haven't been managing the Anor Dungeon much. I left it to a city lord who lost to me in a previous duel. He's doing a good job, and under my guidance, he's also come to believe in the Holy Light. He's a good person who deserves to go to the Holy Light Paradise."

Perhaps because of their religion, the followers always spoke with a sense of confidence and pride.

"Managing dungeons is incredibly easy under the protection of the Holy Light. All I have to do is periodically add things related to my god to the dungeons, and believers will flock to me to pray. Hehehe, that's the power of the God of Holy Light. My dungeons will never perish under His protection!"

When Irene heard this, she was so angry that she crushed her wine glass.

Scameron, the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Religions, is a nation of ten thousand religions, but the smaller churches have little influence, and the entire country is controlled by three major churches.

One of them is the Church of Holy Light. Scamellon is the Church of Holy Light's stronghold, or rather, its headquarters. The influence of Holy Light here is extraordinary.

Therefore, as long as the church exists, the Holy Light Dungeon, which uses Holy Light as its name, is like guarding an inexhaustible oasis of sweet spring water, where one can lie down and do nothing and not starve.

No wonder he speaks with such confidence; he's someone with real substance.

The followers' behavior didn't seem like acting; they genuinely seemed like the rich second-generation heirs from a wealthy landlord's family.

Generally speaking, people who exhibit this kind of personality are unlikely to be involved in dark matters such as colluding with demons, because the followers do not seem to have any reason to collude with demons.

Although the Church of Holy Light can be quite annoying at times, in recorded history, whenever the Demon King revives and people go to war with the demons, the Church of Holy Light is always the most active in the war, and its casualties far exceed those of other churches. The presence of the Church of Holy Light on the battlefield against the demons is considered a matter of course by the people.

"By the way, Godwin, you don't seem to have any faith yet, do you? Why don't you come and worship the Holy Light? With the protection of the Holy Light, your dungeon won't have such a bad reputation among mortals anymore."

"My reputation is excellent, everyone loves Sion."

When his followers suddenly began proselytizing, Gong Qiying immediately took his wine glass and left, deciding to distance himself from proselytizing.

The last city lord, and also the one most obscure, is Ilinene.

It's not visible in a physical sense, because this guy is quite proficient in shadow magic and still covers his entire body with black shadows.

Only when drinking will the shadow below the nose be removed, revealing a porcelain-white chin and pale red lips, and sharp teeth will be visible when the mouth is opened to drink.

Judging by appearance, he shouldn't be very tall, probably a head shorter than Luluwo, but Gong Qiying wouldn't treat him like a child just because of his height.

Irene seemed uncomfortable talking to strangers. When faced with the topics that Gong Qiying threw at her, she just made low humming sounds, and it was impossible to understand what she was saying, or perhaps those humming sounds were completely meaningless.

This is difficult; there's simply no way to communicate with each other.

The only topic she would answer was about adventurers.

“I enjoy observing them,” Irene said softly. “They are easily swayed by emotions. They feel pain when bitten by a bat, scream when their blood is drained, feel conflicted and angry when their companions become blood servants, and feel despair when cornered. I can make them emit the corresponding notes with a flick of my finger, hehehe.”

Although she spoke very softly, what she said was surprisingly terrifying.

Gong Qiying felt that he had already shown a lot of "malice" towards adventurers, but compared to Irene, it still seemed insufficient; the other party's demeanor didn't seem to be acting.

“But sometimes, I really wish they could smile a little bit,” Irene said, her voice almost inaudible.

After that, Gong Qiying never heard her speak again.

The party didn't last very long.

When the cross was resurrected again, and resurrected inside the furnace golem, the city lords knew that this time they were safe.

Now it's hard for the faithless not to become the "King of Cinder".

Finally, everyone agreed to let the Furnace Golem burn the cross here ten or so times to completely intimidate the unbelievers. After confirming this plan, Yanhuo and the others left, leaving only Gong Qiying and Chiya behind.

The atmosphere was cheerful and harmonious when everyone left, making it feel like we had all become good brothers and sisters.

"So, is there anyone worth suspecting?" Red Fang asked.

"If we're talking about doubts, we can observe Irene for now."

After all, the other party's malice towards adventurers was almost becoming the evil of this world.

"By the way, they all seemed very friendly to me just now."

“Everyone knows how to be respectable, so they certainly won’t say much when cooperating. You mean, when they’re pretending to be respectable people, it’s impossible to get to know them deeply, right?” Chi Ya realized.

"That's exactly what I mean." Gong Qiying nodded.

"So, in a few days I will pass on the news that I will be taking over the Fanaticism Dungeon and see how they react."

"Hmm, that's a good idea. Their behavior today is indeed very different from what I know. I don't remember when Yan Huo's personality became as peaceful as it is today. I'll leave this to you. Just let me know if you need any help."

For the next ten days or so, Gong Qiying kept manipulating the furnace golem to burn the cross over and over again.

As it burned, the cross visibly withered, its once straight back bent crooked and unrecognizable. When the furnace golem took it out of the brazier, it collapsed to the ground, motionless.

It's clear that this guy has completely surrendered.

"Now that the sealed artifacts have been dealt with, it's time to take over this place."

Looking at this fanatical dungeon that would eventually be renamed Sain, Gong Qiying wrote three letters and sent them to the three dungeons: Blazing Flame, Holy Light, and White Blood.

The content is very simple, just one sentence:

I'm going to be your neighbor! Nice to meet you all in the future!

After sending all the letters, Gong Qiying sat on the altar and muttered to himself:
"Alright, what will their reaction be next—"

Before he could finish speaking, a clanging sound came from the dungeon.

[The Blazing Dungeon has launched a dungeon battle against you!]

[Holy Light Dungeon has launched a dungeon battle against you!]

[The White Blood Dungeon has launched a dungeon battle against you!]

[Nature's Dungeon has launched a dungeon battle against you!]

【Moonlight Dungeon】

"."

Gong Qiying looked at this sudden string of messages, and the expression on his face became indescribable, probably a mixture of laughter and tears.

"Was my welcome ceremony this enthusiastic?"

(End of this chapter)