Great, we're doomed now!

A gentle voice intervened in the argument between the two, causing both the swordsman Kikuro and the dark-skinned young man Cabel to freeze in surprise.

Kikuro reacted extremely strongly, turning his head to see the mage girl, his mouth agape in shock: "Farin? How could you..."

"My brothers rescued me. It's been so long, Kikuro... well, it hasn't been that long, um~"

"They've been rescued... Huh?"

Kikuro breathed a sigh of relief. The string that had been taut all along suddenly snapped, and he felt all his strength drain away. His eyes rolled back and he collapsed, causing a stir among the crowd.

"Young Master!"

"Lord Kikuro!"

A little further away from them, Leos's team stood with Ye Shou, watching this scene with some confusion.

"I know Kikuro...who are the others?"

Leos stroked his chin, his gaze sweeping over the group repeatedly, especially the dark-skinned young man in the lead, before finally confirming:

I don't know him!

……

Kikuro was the former katana user of the Leos Squad. After Farin was swallowed by the Flame Dragon, he believed that the Leos Squad was no longer capable of saving her, so he decisively left the team and went to the town to gather his own men. He was the young master of a wealthy family in the East and had come out to gain experience with a group of trusted subordinates.

His team was indeed very strong, marching at breakneck speed without wasting much time, and even managed to save the Kabul squad, which had been wiped out by monsters.

Upon hearing that Kikuro was going to rescue Farin from the "Leos Squad," Kabul immediately offered to help in order to repay the debt of saving his life, and the two teams joined forces and sped up their journey.

However, they never expected that Leos would run into Ye Shou and Senxi, who started speedrunning, so they ultimately missed the race.

They were unaware of the Flame Dragon's information and thought the target was on the sixth floor. When they rushed there, they were surprised to find that the originally dry and hot environment had turned into a frozen wasteland.

And it was here that they encountered the master of the labyrinth—

A mad magician!

It was a dark-skinned elf, holding a golden magic book, and for some reason looked very weak, with a personality as irritable and easily angered as a rabid dog.

The two teams had no idea what was going on, and before they could even speak, they were suddenly attacked by the mage!

While summoning monsters to annihilate them, the opposing side shouted, "Was it you?! Did you do this? Which bastard set this trap?!"

—These nonsensical words.

Faced with a berserk mage who can freely manipulate monsters and labyrinths, they are powerless to fight back and will soon be wiped out!

But when faced with a life-or-death situation, the magician seemed to be distracted by something, and with a casual remark, "Winged Lions again?" he entered the depths of the maze, leaving the group bewildered and beaten up.

Then it was time to run back to our corpses, resurrect, and return to town together. We thought it was impossible to save Farin, but she actually came out before us...

"You guys really have it tough!"

After hearing their story, Ye Shou expressed his deep sympathy: "They were so unlucky to run into such a madman."

“Yeah…it feels like he’s looking for someone. What could have made him so angry?” Kabul stroked his chin, puzzled. “That’s strange…”

"After all, his nickname is 'The Mad Magician,' so don't try to understand him with normal human thinking."

Ye Shou's expression remained unchanged, without the slightest wavering. Even Kabul, who was an expert in micro-expressions, did not notice anything amiss.

At this time, Kikuro had been taken to a hotel by his family to rest because he had fallen into a deep sleep, but Kabul followed with his team, looking very curious about their experience.

Although Leos was simple-minded, he wasn't stupid. During the conversation, he stammered and skipped over the parts about black magic and demons, simply explaining how they had successfully rescued Farin.

"Oh~" After listening, Kabur secretly glanced at Ye Shou, who was walking ahead.

Although Leos was trying to conceal something and deliberately downplay Ye Shou's presence, Kabul's emotional intelligence and intellect were far superior, and he immediately realized that Ye Shou was the most important person in the whole process.

"By the way, are you all carrying so much luggage and packages, are you also going to explore an island? The port isn't in this direction."

"We're not going to the islands, we're going to the Lord's Hall now."

Chilchuck spoke of this with pride: "We're going to buy this labyrinth we're standing in, along with the whole island!"

"Oh my..."

The members of Kabul's team were immediately shocked, while the dark-skinned guy, after pausing for a few seconds with his eyes wide open, immediately broke into a smile, looking very excited.

"Wow! That's incredibly generous! This is the first time I've ever encountered something like this. Please let me witness it!"

“…Hmm, it should be fine, right?” Chilchuck scratched his head.

But since Ye Shou didn't refuse their request to follow, it must mean he tacitly gave his permission, right?

-

The transaction went very smoothly!

The island owner also believed the rumors, thinking that a new labyrinth entrance had appeared on another deserted island, and that his large island was about to lose its value. The adventurers' movements proved this point.

So when Ye Shou proposed to buy the island for the second time, the island owner agreed without hesitation. He even felt that the price Ye Shou offered was higher than he had imagined. What a kind-hearted person Ye Shou was!

Now that the contract has been signed, the island lord is preparing to hand over various documents and ledgers. Ye Shou doesn't care about this and has asked Chilchak to check them. He then takes Farin and Marushir to a small room inside the lord's hall.

He described his specific requirements to the two of them. Marushir, as expected of a genius girl, pondered for two hours and, combining black magic and Farin's goblin teleportation spell, barely managed to create an array that could meet Ye Shou's needs.

As a valuable bronze mirror was placed on the floor, the surrounding runes lit up with white light, and the scene in the mirror instantly transformed into a dark and narrow castle passage.

"Three underground levels... It's shallower than expected, we'll have to adjust it later..."

Marushir looked up and warned, "What's shown in the mirror isn't necessarily the exact location, and it's an open space with no one to meet you on the other side. If anyone tries to enter without permission, they could get stuck in the wall!"

"I've already said it, it's not about sending people down."

Ye Shou opened his backpack, laid it flat on the ground, and then slowly dragged it backward, carefully "taking" the contents out.

It was a cylinder about one meter in diameter. If it weren't for the Collector's other-dimensional effect, the backpack's pockets would never have been able to fit it.

"so big!"

"so big!"

The two girls exclaimed in unison, very curious about the metallic-looking object.

"what is this?"

"The amazing tools we'll be using later."

Ye Shou took a deep breath, attached a small timer to the device, then picked up the partially exposed cylinder along with his backpack, and aimed it downwards at the teleportation array—

Straight to the heart of the enemy!

—Whoosh!

The six- or seven-meter-long cylinder slid in unimpeded, giving one a sense of exhilaration just by watching it.

"call……"

After placing the first one, Ye Shou asked Marushir to change the coordinates and then send the next one.

Marushir did as she was told, but was still puzzled: "What's the use of this? Will it explode?"

"Explosion? That's not quite accurate; it's actually a type of fuel."

Ye Shou revealed a mysterious smile: "Do you know what the maze's biggest weakness is?"

The two girls exchanged a glance and shook their heads.

"As a closed and limited space, it can barely maintain its ecosystem with the power of demons. Such a balance is very fragile. It is not necessary to destroy it completely. Just taking away some of its elements is enough to make the Lord of the Labyrinth suffer."

"...certain elements?"

"For example, 'oxygen'."

Ye Shou looked at the cylindrical object peeking out of the backpack, a strange sense of emotion welling up in his eyes.

"This stuff has a name in my hometown: 'cloud explosive'!"

Chapter 76 Oh dear, I didn't mean to.

When it comes to weapons of mass destruction, most people will immediately think of nuclear bombs. The Little Boy and the Fat Man left a deep impression on the world and also left Japan with equally deep bomb craters.

However, if we define weapons of mass destruction as "wide-ranging, incredibly destructive, and impactful on the local ecosystem," then the taboos that humanity possesses extend far beyond nuclear weapons, and the barriers to acquiring them are surprisingly low.

The "Agent Orange" used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War was, strictly speaking, just a chemical herbicide, but the environmental damage and subsequent poisoning caused a far greater number of casualties than those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The only difference is that the Vietnamese don't play the victim like the Japanese, so you can see Godzilla reflecting on nuclear weapons on the big screen, but you can't see a Vietnamese Superman reflecting on chemical weapons.

This clearly shows that as long as the industrial scale reaches a certain level, even pesticides can become ruthless harvesters, making nuclear weapons unnecessary.

Thermite bombs are a very "simple and practical" thing. They are much easier and cheaper to manufacture than nuclear weapons, but in certain situations, they are a lower-level alternative to nuclear weapons.

It is not a bomb in the conventional sense, but a highly efficient "fuel" that can be mass-produced as long as there is sufficient industrial capacity.

The system will be activated by two detonations. The first detonation will eject the liquid fuel, which will mix with the air to form an aerosol. Then, the second reaction will occur – a cloud explosion!

Its high temperature and pressure produce an impact effect far greater than that of other explosives, earning it the awe-inspiring title of "sub-nuclear weapon".

This is only the direct destructive force. The terrifying aspect of thermobaric explosives is that they consume all the oxygen in the air when they explode!

In a closed environment, the overpressure reaction will be continuously refracted and amplified by the walls, resulting in a pressure value far exceeding that of an open area.

—This is a killer weapon perfectly suited for maze environments!

Ye Shou had been preparing for the maze for a long time. During his month in the main world, he thought about what to put in his personal space to keep things in order, and finally chose cloud explosives.

Although its power is not as great as nuclear weapons, it is much easier to obtain...

Of course, the conditions aren't right now.

But if the Aoki worldview continues to merge, with that kind of absurd ability where even amateur scientists can create world-destroying weapons (Sira Zilda Gas), given the Kuse family's status, let alone nuclear weapons, they could even get you "Megasys"!

Ye Shou carefully placed two cloud bombs on the second and third floors of the maze, then invited the two ladies to leave the room and all the team members to walk out of the Lord's Hall and into a spacious public square.

Just as everyone was completely confused and about to ask what was going on, the boy reached out and tapped the "blindfold".

"Um... everyone, stand still."

"?"

"There might be a slight tremor next."

Ye Shou stared at the ticking clock in the corner of his vision, then slowly raised his hand—

boom!!!

boom!!!