Full health is the kill threshold, no matter if you're a god or a demon!

After passing through a heavily guarded tunnel behind the city of Toothpick, the group officially stepped into the unknown territory of the Underdark.

The smell of sulfur and metallic corrosion in the air was gradually replaced by a damp, chilly breeze with a faint fishy odor.

The tunnel gradually widened, and along the way, one could see dwarf soldiers patrolling sporadically, so this part of the journey was basically safe, without encountering any monsters, until they crossed the patrol line and arrived at the first dangerous section—the Earth Sound Corridor.

This is an underground canyon with steep rock walls on both sides, riddled with honeycomb-like holes, and damp gravel underfoot. Scattered, pale white animal skeletons and broken shells are everywhere.

The most peculiar thing about this place is its acoustic environment. Any slightly loud sound—footsteps, voices, or even the clash of weapons—will echo, refract, and amplify repeatedly in the canyon, creating a disturbing noise. This is the origin of the name "Earth Sound Corridor".

"Be careful, warriors," Mekkatorque whispered, its voice still echoing faintly in the canyon. "Those armored demons have exceptionally keen hearing, and they can use the echoes here to locate themselves, giving them an advantage over us in the dark."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a sickeningly loud "click" came from the shadows ahead.

"Light the miners' lamps," Mekkatorque commanded.

Then the portable headlamps on the heads of the two dwarfs lit up, and with the help of the light, everyone could see the attacking monster.

This is a giant, shelled creature, comparable in size to a millstone, with its main body covered by a thick, rock-like, uneven, dark brown shell. Its eight long, arthropod legs move swiftly and strangely.

What is most striking are their disproportionately large claws. One claw is huge and heavy, used for defense and heavy blows, while the other is relatively slender and sharp, like a can opener, gleaming with a cold light.

[Cave-dwelling Plunderer Crab LV.16]

Seven or eight of them came at once.

"They're here! Damn it!! Looks like they've been waiting here all along!"

Mekkatork cursed loudly!

At this point, keeping quiet is no longer of any use.

In an instant, the burrowing predator crabs scrambled out of the holes and shadows in the rock wall and charged toward the group.

Their shells reflected a greasy sheen under the light, and a chorus of clicking sounds filled the air.

Faced with the onrushing swarm of crabs, Mekkatorque and his two dwarf guards quickly threw out several disc-shaped devices.

It was a [Silent Force Field Generator]. Upon landing, it quickly deployed a faint light screen, allowing everyone inside to be isolated from most sound wave damage.

As the gnomes made their moves, the human player team launched their attack.

Zhao Xinchun, confident in his high rank, was the first to rush forward.

She moved like a ghost into the shadows, using Shadow Step to instantly appear behind a predator crab, her dagger glowing green as she stabbed fiercely into the gap in its shell!

However, with a dull "clang," the dagger, though causing damage, fell far short of its intended effect.

"The defense is so high!" she exclaimed, quickly retreating to avoid the giant claws that were swinging at her.

Chen Suan brandished his bone staff and unleashed the [Miasma Breath] technique, enveloping several crabs in a dark green poisonous mist.

Sun Yao's fireball only left a charred mark on the carapace.

Wu Zhan scratched his chin: "This thing's defense is comparable to a tortoise's!"

Liu Nian chuckled from the side, "Beetles usually have high defenses."

"Looks like we'll have to be a bit more strategic then; this thing definitely has weaknesses!" he suddenly shouted. "Switch to armor-piercing weapons and try attacking its leg joints, eyes, and rear!"

At this moment, Liu Nian also moved.

He immediately used Shadow Strike to close the distance to a predator crab trapped in a sticky trap.

With one punch, a burrowing crab's head popped out—

-504!

Liu Nian raised an eyebrow. This thing did indeed have very high defense. Even with the Earthshaker equipped with 30% armor penetration, he only managed to deal 50% damage.

The steel imprint of the heart shines in the center of the crab shell!

"Duang!!!"

Liu Nian slammed his fist into the mark again!

-678!

[Heart Steel activated! Health +63!]

Liu Nian deduced that this thing's life points were over 2000, which was not too outrageous.

He immediately finished her off with a Soul-Sucking Strike!

-1425!

[Soul Drain Strike damage +5!]

quiet!

Zhao Xinchun and Chen Suan's pupils suddenly contracted, their faces filled with disbelief.

Their hard shell, which they could barely break through with all their might, was so vulnerable in front of Liu Nian.

Three punches to kill?

Is this what "extremely strong" power is?

Liu Nian ignored their stares and didn't stop for a moment, weaving through the crabs with his fists.

"Duang! Duang! Duang!"

The pleasant sound of steel stacking echoed happily in my mind~

The remaining predatory crabs quickly scattered under Liu Nian's rampage, which was like taking apart a toy.

He almost single-handedly took down all seven raiding crabs.

After the battle, Zhao Xinchun looked at Liu Nian, took a deep breath, and whispered to Wu Zhan, "Boss... the guy you rescued this time is a monster..."

Chen Suan nodded silently, his gaze towards Liu Nian filled with astonishment.

I've seen some impressive newcomers, but none this impressive!

After the battle, some materials were left on the ground:

[Sturdy Crab Shell] x5 (Material, can be used to craft heavy armor)

【Sharp Crab Claws】×2 (Materials, can be used to craft weapons or arrowheads)

[Thick Crab Roe] x3 (Material, used to make potions that restore health and increase resistance)

……

So for the rest of the journey, Liu Nian was mainly in charge of clearing out the monsters.

The others weren't incapable of defeating him, but their efficiency was far inferior to Liu Nian's.

Zhao Xinchun could kill them herself, but she had to use all her skills to kill one, and it would take her at least thirty seconds. Moreover, she would need to recover after killing one.

Chen Suan was even worse; he was slowly worn down to death by poison.

Liu Nian was happy to take the initiative to improve his attributes.

Mekkatorque followed behind, providing emotional support: "Aha!" "Whoa~ What a beautiful strike!" "A warrior, a true warrior!"

Occasionally, elite-level [Cave Raider Crab Guardian LV.20] will drop excellent-quality [Crab Shell Shield] or [Hard Armor Bracers]. The main attributes are high armor and block, but the required strength is too high, so even warriors can't wear them now.

After killing dozens of them, Liu Nian finally reached level 17.

The Unstoppable Force has been upgraded to level 2. It wasn't upgraded at levels 10 and 15 before, so it was upgraded directly this time.

Unstoppable Force (Level 2, 45 CD, 150 Mana Cost): You are immune to crowd control effects. You charge at the target area, dealing magic damage equal to (85% of your maximum health + 85% of your spell power) and launching all enemies into the air for 2 seconds.

The data improvement isn't significant, but the attack range has increased by 10%, and the knockback duration has increased, which is quite a boost.

"Please wait a moment, warrior!" Mekkatorque suddenly spoke up. "Next, you'll come to a fork in the road. The left path leads to the Glowing Fungus Forest, while the right path leads to the lair of the Burrowing Predator Crab! There's a huge creature there that often devours my soldiers!"

Players suddenly received a new side quest:

[Optional Quest: Kill Echo Weaver Krakenis, helping the gnomes eliminate a major threat, gain +1000 reputation with Toothpick, +500 favor with Mekkatorque, and the title: Champion of the Dark]