Who designed this underworld dungeon?.

Chapter 740 You said you didn't want to be here
The structure of the fire-lighting ritual site has changed considerably in detail from what is commonly known.

Although everyone was shouting "Let's go!", in reality, for about half an hour, they were running around the Firelink Shrine, trying to find more details of the changes.

Todd and Disheartened Brother sat to the side watching Herve and the others run around.

You ask them why they don't contribute?

Because Todd hadn't explored the Sien Dungeon much before, everything he knew about Firelink Shrine came from the recordings on the mirror stone. In short, he was a "cloud player" (someone who only knows what they're doing). Asking him to find subtle changes? You might as well kill him.

As for Disheartened Bro, he's just a phantom. He can't do anything. How can you expect a phantom to help explore the dungeon and describe the changes in the same scene?
That's a bit terrifying, like breaking the fourth wall.

Not long after, Herve and his men, armed with weapons, returned from the cemetery leading to the deep underground and continued their journey to the structures built on the high mountains that could be described as fortresses, strongholds, or city walls.

The reason they searched for this batch of equipment was that everyone was almost out of repair powder.

In truly high-intensity adventures, weapons break down quite quickly. In the past, adventurers had to carry several weapons with them, and if one broke, they would quickly replace it. If they needed to repair it, they would have to go to a blacksmith's shop. Therefore, few people would be willing to use their precious weapons in battle. If they broke and no one knew how to repair them, they would be doomed.

The advent of repair powder changed this situation, and could even be said to have greatly changed the habits of adventurers. Carrying a few repair powders is much easier than having several weapons, and using the same weapon all the time can also help you practice your weapon's compatibility. In short, there are many benefits.

Herve and the others still had a little repair powder left, but they were reluctant to use it now.

"Why not use it?" Todd couldn't help but ask.

“Because familiar weapons greatly enhance combat power,” Hervé said, swinging the two-handed greatsword he had taken from the graveyard, trying to get a feel for it. “Think about it, if the people from the Church of Holy Light get out before us, we might face an attack when we get out. In that case, we can’t waste any combat power, so we’ll use unfamiliar weapons to hold our own for now.”

Oh right, Herve and the others also have to worry about the threat from the Church of Holy Light.

Todd has something to say, but I'm not sure if I should.

He felt that the Church of Holy Light probably wouldn't emerge before them.

After all, it's unlikely that any genius over there would have thought of something as far-fetched as a dream: huddling inside a bird's nest, disguising themselves as eggs to be snatched away by a giant bird, and thus paving a new path.

Hmm, thinking about it this way, exploring dungeons does require a bit of imagination.

As soon as they approached the bridge, several zombies covered in tattered equipment suddenly pounced on them. Their agility was astounding, making it hard to believe that these were zombies known for their slow movements.

The Starfire Knights rushed forward to try out their new weapons, only to discover—

"Wow, this thing is really useful!"

Hervé stared with some surprise at the two-handed greatsword in his hand, stained with the blood of the undead soldiers.

"The weight distribution is perfect, the blade construction is reasonable and smooth, the sharpness is just right, and the combat techniques are simple and practical. Is this really a weapon I could just pick up anywhere?"

He seemed to be full of praise for the excellent quality of the two-handed greatsword in his hand.

"What are you surprised about? Hasn's weapon always been like this?" a Starfire Knight said while swinging a straight sword that had been looted from a skeleton in the graveyard.

"Isn't it more impactful to say it out loud? Besides, I think this weapon is quite practical even in the Sien."

Hervé calmed himself down and shouted, cleaving the two zombie soldiers who lunged at him in two with a single sword stroke.

Weapons from the Sien Dungeon, or rather all dungeons, share a common characteristic: weapons that look identical are essentially the same internally.

The main reason is that when city lords place weapons in the dungeon, they basically use the same copy to replicate them. This is both convenient and something adventurers actually like, since the quality is consistent.

Gong Qiying fully utilized the unique features of the Sien Dungeon, where even the same weapon could have different attached combat skills, and depending on the type of attached combat skills, the weapon itself would undergo different attribute changes.

The use of the same base to replicate ensures the lower limit of weapons, while the numerous combat skills increase the upper limit. This makes adventurers willing to pick up any weapons they encounter during their adventures in the Sien dungeon, no matter the circumstances. If they happen to encounter a rare combat skill like Frost Stomp, they'll make a fortune.

It's said that some adventurous people are even creating rankings based on the strength of combat skills, and chasing after strength is probably an essential part of every adventurer's journey.

After climbing the steps, the group arrived at the building constructed on the continuous mountain range. The conspicuous fortress was not far away, and further away from the fortress, there seemed to be another building that looked even larger, but with a different style from this place.

It looks like an ancient city?
It was only after they officially arrived at this place that they realized that it was not the city wall, military fortress and other buildings they had imagined, but rather looked more like a town built against the mountain.
In an instant, the name "Undead Town Outside the City" appeared before everyone's eyes.

Hervi glanced at the Undead Town outside the city, then looked at the magnificent bridge above him, and the "fortress" connected by the bridge.

"According to that man full of negative energy, this place is called the Undead Town outside the city. Across the bridge is the Undead Cathedral, and one of the bells to be rung is located above the cathedral."

He gazed at the inconspicuous ancient city in the far distance, hidden by the Church of the Immortals, and frowned, muttering to himself:
"Then, what is that ancient building?"

I always felt that place was gloomy, as if countless wronged souls who died unjustly were roaring and gathering extremely deep resentment.

For some reason, Hervé suddenly shivered; his intuition told him that the ancient city was definitely not a good place.

"If I had a choice, I wouldn't really want to go there."

"What's wrong, Herve? Scared? Hahaha, if you're scared, you might as well give me the captain's position!"

"Let's go, let's set off! This town looks easy to explore, okay? We need to be the first to get back!"

Hervi's hesitation seemed rather frightening to the other Starfire Knights. What hadn't they seen along the way? Could they really be scared by the scenery of the Undead Town outside the city?
That's impossible!

Led by the now-excited Starfire Knights, the group rushed into the interior of Undead Town outside the city, officially engaging the town, which resembled a military fortress.

Upon entering, everyone received a very warm welcome.

Organized units of zombie soldiers sprang out from every corner and enthusiastically rushed toward the crowd.

It's clear that these zombies were well-trained soldiers before they lost their minds, because even after becoming zombies and losing their intelligence, their fighting still showed great coordination.

Those carrying shields ran ahead to block the attacks, while those with weapons and firebombs stood in the middle to throw them. When the Starfire Knights got close, they turned and ran without hesitation. The archers at the rear drew their bows and fired arrows wreathed in flames.

Moreover, these archers are the strongest soldiers. When the Starfire Knights break through the encirclement and get close, they will start with zero frames, quickly throw the remaining burning arrows, and then draw their greatswords and slash at the enemy's head in less than a second.

If the Starfire Knights approaching the archers didn't have a shield or were already aware of this action and were on guard, they would have been hit by at least one arrow or a greatsword.

Some little gluttons can even eat their fill of harm.

"As expected, the monsters in the Sien Dungeon have all gotten stronger," Herve remarked as he threw the giant lightning spear.

He just saw some zombie soldiers run to their attacked comrades to come to their rescue!

Although they were eventually wiped out by the more skilled Starfire Knights, this act of rescuing their comrades was the first time such a monster as the zombie soldier had ever done so.

Their intelligence has improved! Just then, a scream came from the side. A Starfire Knight used a dash-type combat skill on the zombie soldier, but it turned out that there was a cliff behind the zombie soldier, and the Starfire Knight fell straight down.

Starfire Knight fell out of this world.

"Hey, was that zombie laughing just now?" Todd pinched his cheek in disbelief. He swore that the zombie soldier who fell down with Starfire Knight was smiling.

You read that right.

Hervé bit his lip, looking shocked, but that brief shock was quickly replaced by the delight of discovering something new!

"These guys have definitely become smarter!"

The place where Starfire Knight fell off the cliff is almost invisible if you don't look closely. There are buildings of Undead Town on both sides, and piles of broken wooden boxes and other junk are stacked up next to it. Who knows why the wooden boxes are suspended in mid-air?

That zombie soldier not only knew how to use suspended traps, but also knew how to choose his enemies. Only the Starfire Knight liked to charge around using combat skills.

This was definitely something the zombie soldiers did on purpose.

Hervé immediately shared his discovery with everyone, and the others, upon hearing the news, showed the same excited expressions as him.

Just like suddenly discovering that the enemy AI in your favorite old game has been updated, the challenge and fun increase in an instant.

The group of dozens of undead soldiers was quickly wiped out, and the Starfire Knights continued their advance after cleaning up the battlefield.

The most valuable items on the undead soldiers are probably the various random drops, such as fire pots, green flowers, and wedge fragments; their weapons are unremarkable.

The deeper one ventures into the Undead Town outside the city, the more intelligent the undead soldiers become, employing a full range of combat methods such as ambushes, feints, and luring the enemy.

Sometimes the Starfire Knights like to predict where monsters will appear next.

"I guess it's behind the corner ahead."

"I think he's hanging from the cliff next to us."

"Why couldn't it fall from the sky?"

After guessing for a while, I went over and found that there were enemies jumping out from under the cliff at the corner and from the sky, and there was even another one lying in ambush under the loose bricks on the ground.

"We need to deepen our understanding of Saien!"

After repeatedly guessing wrong, even the most oblivious Starfire Knight shed tears of frustration.

It's not just that the monsters' intelligence has increased.

The terrain of the Undead Town outside the city also reveals a tricky nature.

On the surface, the buildings appear to be clearly distributed and the roads are wide and easy to pass through, but once you go inside, you'll find that this is not the case at all.

The gaps between the houses form narrow paths that allow zombie soldiers to launch sneak attacks. There are also hidden paths behind the broken wooden crates, carts, and other dilapidated objects on the ground. Even the bricks that were perfectly fine a moment ago will collapse when you try to step on them, with several mad dogs waiting for you below.

The complexity of the Undead Town outside the city can only be known by those who personally venture there to explore it.

More importantly, after wisdom was enhanced
These zombie soldiers will also use the terrain to wage guerrilla warfare against them!

"boom!"

A firebomb was thrown through the window, instantly igniting the oil drums mixed in with ordinary wooden crates. The intense flames quickly filled the entire room, blocking people's path forward, while soldiers with rabid dogs came chasing after them from behind.

"Damn it, I really want to curse!" Starfire Knight cursed as he charged forward, then accidentally slipped on the soap smeared on the ground by the zombies, and was immediately grabbed by the limbs and torn in different directions by the four dogs.

"Ugh"

Hervi waved his hand to summon his weapon, and using the dragon scales that moved at high speed in the air, he killed the invading enemies. Exhaustion was evident on his face.

At first, it was quite interesting to outwit and outmaneuver these zombie soldiers. However, as the number of underhanded tricks they encountered increased and became increasingly difficult to defend against, a sense of exhaustion inevitably arose in my heart.

It even gave me the feeling that "when will this hellish period ever end?"

To be fair, the zombie soldiers with increased intelligence shouldn't have reached the level of dung monsters yet.

A real monster is someone who retreats and runs away the moment you get close, then fires bullets like a Qian Xuesen ballistic missile, summons annoying minions during battle, self-destructs when dead, or even takes away only two health points with a single attack!
That's the kind of shit that's absolutely unforgivable!

"I don't want to stay here anymore."

The Starfire Knight, who had previously fallen off a cliff and was now being picked up like soap, followed behind the group in a depressed state, his face full of black lines.

“I don’t want to be here either. I’d rather fight the Church of Holy Light.”

"I want to leave so badly, I really want to leave."

"Hang in there a little longer. We've come this far already," Hervé sighed helplessly. "Let's at least find a campfire before we go on."

They had finally crossed the first half of the Undead Town outside the city and arrived at the wide-looking bridge.

On the other side of the bridge were more buildings, and the Church of the Immortals. Surely there would be a bonfire in a place like that?
Based on my knowledge of the Sien Dungeon, the campfire must be nearby!

Hervé urged everyone to continue onward, never saying anything discouraging. However, as soon as he stepped onto the bridge, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Based on his understanding of the Sien Dungeon
Such a wide-open space must be teeming with elite monsters, right?

"Ow!"

The moment the idea popped into his head, a deafening roar echoed throughout the heavens and earth.

Todd pointed to the sky and shouted, "Dragon! A red dragon!"

"."

The moment Hervé saw the dragon, the tension in his heart finally snapped.

His shoulders slumped, his eyes lost their luster, and he murmured:
"I don't want to stay here anymore."

(End of this chapter)