Quick Travel to the Clouds

Chapter 781 Challenge Dungeon 37

Xie Yipei was as concise as ever: "The intelligence for the A-level team dungeon 'Hunting Ground' has been shared. The rules may be harsh. The objective is for all members to survive and maximize their gains."

"Yes, Captain!" the team responded in unison, their morale high.

Yun Chu stepped forward and distributed the prepared talismans and pills to the eight team members, excluding Xie Yipei: "These are some homemade amulets and healing medicines. They should be quite effective. Everyone should take them with you just in case."

The team members were somewhat surprised, but they all politely accepted the gifts and expressed their gratitude. They already knew that this newly appointed captain's wife was no ordinary person, but they didn't expect her to have such supportive abilities.

Lu Ting and Su Yining carefully sensed the energy fluctuations on the talisman, their eyes showing surprise.

"Thank you, sister-in-law!"

"Thank you for your trouble, sister-in-law."

Yun Chu nodded and stepped back to Xie Yipei's side.

Xie Yipei glanced at her, his gaze softening for a moment before sharpening again. He took out a silver, compass-shaped item emitting spatial fluctuations—[Team Positioning Teleportation Talisman (Rank A)]—and activated it!

A dazzling white light instantly enveloped the ten people.

The familiar feeling of weightlessness and spacetime distortion came over me.

[Team detected... Matching for a dungeon... Match successful!]

Welcome to the A-rank raid instance – 'Crimson Hunting Grounds'!

[Instance Type: Survival/Hunting]

Number of players: 1000

Main Quest: Survive for 5 days in the 'Hunting Grounds' as the 'prey'.

[Warning: The hunters are in position. They are inhuman, bloodthirsty, and extremely sensitive to the scent of their prey. Killing is the only theme of the hunting grounds. The choice is yours: flee or fight back.]

[Special Note: By countering the 'hunter,' you will receive extra points and special item rewards based on your hunter level.]

[Countdown begins: 119:59:58...]

The cold, cruel system notification echoed in everyone's minds.

The white light dissipated, and the ten people appeared in a dim and oppressive environment.

The air was filled with a strong smell of rust, mold, and an indescribable sweet, fishy odor.

Above them was a dark red "sky" of an unknown material, resembling congealed blood. There were no sun, moon, or stars, only a faint light emanating from somewhere, barely illuminating the surroundings.

They were in a vast, labyrinthine complex of abandoned buildings. The dilapidated high-rises leaned and collapsed, rusted metal pipes twisted and coiled like giant pythons, and the ground was covered with thick layers of dust and unidentified debris.

In the distance, a sickening metallic scraping sound could be faintly heard, along with the sound of some heavy creature dragging a heavy object.

A thousand-player dungeon, a hunting mode, hunters who are not human... Just the opening prompts are enough to send chills down your spine.

Xie Yipei didn't even frown. Almost the instant he landed, the black earring on his left ear flashed, and hundreds of fire iron flying ants silently emerged, like spreading dark red smoke, quickly disappearing into the shadows, cracks, and pipes of the surrounding buildings, beginning to build a reconnaissance network.

At the same time, he flipped his wrist, and a palm-sized precision instrument appeared in his hand. The screen lit up, displaying a simple 3D map of the area within a radius of 500 meters—this was a portable environmental scanner developed by the guild, complementing the reconnaissance information of the Fire Iron Flying Ants.

“At the ten o’clock position, 300 meters away, there is a large life form reacting. It is moving slowly and its energy fluctuation is about level C.”

"At the three o'clock position, there is a faint trace of energy on the top floor of the abandoned tower, possibly a resource point or a trap." Xie Yipei spoke very quickly. "Lin Xun, confirm the tower's situation. Ding Sheng, Cao Luo, guard the ten o'clock position. Everyone else, maintain formation and follow me."

His instructions were clear, decisive, and without the slightest hesitation. The team members immediately sprang into action, displaying their excellent training.

Lin Xun moved with lightning speed, like a shadow blending into the environment, silently making his way towards the tower.

Ding Sheng and Cao Luo stood on the left and right, their giant shields and heavy armor slightly tilted forward, protecting the team behind them.

Yin Chengxu and Miao Yiming, longbowmen, occupied the high ground on the flank, their arrows already nocked.

Du Ruo vanished without a trace.

A soft healing light emanated from Su Yining's fingertips, ready to respond to any unexpected situation.

Lu Ting stood behind Xie Yipei and Yun Chu.

Yun Chu was also impressed by this efficient and professional response speed and quickly got into the zone. With a slight movement of her fingers, several lightness talismans and spirit eye talismans were already affixed to her body. At the same time, she used her divine sense, combined with the information fed back by the fire iron flying ants, to be vigilant about her surroundings.

Xie Yipei chose to move away from the two already discovered targets and head towards a deeper area of ​​the complex, with more complex terrain, which would be easier to hide in and set up defenses.

"Our goal isn't to hide for five days," Xie Yipei's voice rang out in the team channel, calm yet powerful. "Passively taking hits will only deplete morale and resources. Since there are rewards for counter-hunting, let's be the fiercest 'prey'."

"The first step is to establish a safe camp and obtain initial intelligence and resources."

"The second step is to take the initiative and hunt down lone or small groups of 'hunters' to find out their strengths and weaknesses."

"The third step is to expand the gains as needed, or to shift to a more covert defense."

"Understood!" the group responded in hushed tones, their eyes gleaming with fighting spirit. Having followed their captain, they were already accustomed to turning crises into opportunities.

Guided alternately by fire ants and scanners, the team avoided several obvious danger zones and wandering "hunters," and finally arrived deep within a relatively intact building ruin after twenty minutes.

This place may have originally been a small workshop or warehouse, with a sturdy structure, only one main entrance and a few high-level ventilation openings, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

"This is it." Xie Yipei stopped in his tracks.

Without him saying anything more, Yun Chu had already stepped forward and taken out several small flags engraved with runes and a core array plate from her spatial storage.

With practiced ease, she inserted the small flags into the cracks in the ground and walls in specific positions, placed the array plate in the center, and faint, almost invisible ripples spread out from the array plate, quickly covering an area of ​​fifty meters in radius.

A concealed, confusing force field was generated, and at the same time, the runes on the ground and walls lit up slightly, forming a basic physical defense.

"The concealed defensive composite formation can interfere with reconnaissance and perception of medium to low intensity, and has a certain degree of physical resistance," Yun Chu explained. "As long as it does not actively expose itself or encounter high-intensity attacks, it should be able to deceive most 'hunters'."

The team members once again looked at the captain's wife with surprise and admiration. This ability to instantly deploy formations was practically a divine skill in dungeons.

A hint of appreciation flashed in Xie Yipei's eyes, and he immediately gave the order: "Lin Xun, set up early warning traps on the perimeter. Ding Sheng and Cao Luo, reinforce the entrance. Yin Chengxu and Miao Yiming, occupy the high ground and establish sniping positions. Everyone else, rest where you are, check your equipment, and we will have a meeting in ten minutes."

Commands were relayed down the chain of command, and the team began to operate efficiently, like precise gears.