Chapter Fifty-Six: Marcus

Qi Guanbei took out a healing potion and poured it into Marcus's mouth. Then, he turned his head to look at Zhao Bai.

"Is this really your first time in a dungeon?" Qi Guanbei's lips curled in a meaningful smile as he regarded Zhao Bai. "You really do have something special about you. No wonder you got chosen by a Mythic Dungeon on your first try."

Xiao Zhang felt a jolt in his heart; he glanced at Zhao Bai and whispered, "Be careful from now on, Zhao Bai. Two whole squads wiped out in such a short time."

At that moment, Marcus, lying nearby, let out a low groan and slowly regained consciousness. The instant his eyes opened, he reached instinctively for his weapon. Finding nothing, his expression changed; he sprang to his feet.

Qi Guanbei pressed down on Marcus’s wrist, his voice steady. "Relax, it’s us."

When Marcus recognized Qi Guanbei, the murderous tension on his face faded, and he exhaled sharply. But a flicker of worry crept into his eyes. "Where are my teammates?"

Qi Guanbei met Marcus’s gaze, silent. Immediately, Marcus understood, his face darkening. "They’re all...?"

Now, it was clear the ones in the best shape were Xiao Zhang and Zhao Bai. They’d suffered some wounds, but compared to Qi Guanbei and Marcus, they were far better off.

Qi Guanbei nodded, smiling bitterly. "Honestly, you shouldn’t have come to this dungeon—and if you had to, you shouldn’t have brought rookies along..."

"I had no choice." Marcus shook his head. "Something happened to me, so..."

"Your organization—did something go wrong?" Qi Guanbei asked in a low voice.

Marcus shook his head again, unwilling to elaborate. "I have my reasons. I had to take part in this dungeon, that’s all."

"That Giggs really wasn’t right for your team. Even if he’s a mage, you shouldn’t have recruited someone like that." Qi Guanbei frowned. "In any squad, someone like him—no matter how capable—will only drag down his companions with such a poor temperament."

"I had no other option," Marcus replied with a wry smile. "He was the only mage willing to come with me!"

Qi Guanbei’s expression was calm. After handing Marcus a staff, he said, "Enough. You’re no rookie—you’ve weathered so many dungeons, seen teammates die time and again. I won’t bother comforting you. Just remember: if you can’t clear your head, this mood will only get you killed in the next adventure."

Marcus stood up, drew a deep breath, and took the staff. "I know! Qi Guanbei, you don’t need to tell me this!"

He glanced at Qi Guanbei. "But now, I’m the only one left in my team."

Marcus hadn’t finished speaking before Qi Guanbei caught his meaning and smiled. "It’s my honor to cooperate with Captain Marcus."

The two then exchanged information.

Marcus recounted everywhere he’d been and everything he’d experienced—the terrain, the dangers. Qi Guanbei did the same. Comparing their routes, Qi Guanbei pondered for a moment and came to a conclusion.

"It’s obvious—the area covered by those vines is expanding."

Qi Guanbei sighed. "Unfortunately, the final quest prompt for the dungeon hasn’t been issued yet. For now, we can only take it one step at a time."

"The final quest description usually doesn’t come until players reach a certain point. That’s always the way. These mythic dungeons really are nightmares," Marcus sighed.

"Whatever happens, we have no choice but to press onward," Qi Guanbei said, gazing into the darkness ahead with no idea where the end might be. "But there could be even stronger opponents ahead, and right now..."

"Your map isn’t working anymore, is it?" Marcus interrupted, surprised.

Qi Guanbei nodded.

Then, Zhao Bai, who’d been standing in a daze, spoke. "Captain, actually, my map still works?"

...

The others were speechless—why on earth did his map still work?

Seeing them all staring at him, Zhao Bai explained, "The system says this is counted as my newbie dungeon, so none of my system functions are restricted..."

With Zhao Bai leading the way, the four of them journeyed for about half an hour until they stopped beside a temple.

According to the map, the final boss was right inside this temple. Zhao Bai said it was a mandatory destination, but the place was surrounded by monsters—enough to make the other three hesitate.

"Is there a way to sneak in?" Xiao Zhang suddenly asked.

"There are so many monsters marked on the map, I don’t think we can get through," Zhao Bai replied. But after inspecting the map more closely, he noticed the monsters seemed not to be awake; earlier, active monsters appeared as red dots, but these were all gray.

Marcus and Qi Guanbei began discussing tactics. Xiao Zhang, testing his luck, used his mind to probe the area and found that he could actually observe the monsters inside. Damn, is this what having maxed out mental power gets you?

"Captain, those monsters aren’t awake yet. Should we go take a look first?" Xiao Zhang suggested.

Marcus and Qi Guanbei exchanged a glance; Qi Guanbei nodded. "Alright!"

There was no better option, so Xiao Zhang switched off his headlamp and crept forward. Even without the light, he felt like he was in a strange state—everything around him was projected into his mind in three dimensions.

They slipped past the slumbering monsters and entered the temple.

But once inside, they were left groping in the dark, searching for a mechanism.

According to Zhao Bai’s map, there should be another entrance inside the temple.

Qi Guanbei and Marcus split up to search, while Zhao Bai and Xiao Zhang searched together.

To be honest, Xiao Zhang didn’t quite trust this guy.

Zhao Bai’s expression was odd as he ran his hand along a candlestick. "Hey, this thing’s a bit weird."

"Weird?" Xiao Zhang paused, eyeing the candlestick.

"Yeah?" Xiao Zhang tried to lift it, but it wouldn’t budge.

Maybe it’s the mechanism? He tried twisting it to the right, but it wouldn’t move. "This must be it."

He lost interest in the candlestick and started searching nearby.

"Really? Are you sure it’s not a trigger or something?" Zhao Bai was unwilling to give up. He kept fiddling with the candlestick and managed to twist it slightly to the left. "It moved!"

"What?" Xiao Zhang was startled and rushed over.

While speaking, Zhao Bai twisted the candlestick harder. "It really is a mechanism!"

"Don’t turn it!" But Xiao Zhang was a second too late. There was a distinct click!