Chapter 574: Breach
After some effort in bringing Tan Han and Ninglan Qiuyue up, everyone stepped forward to inquire about what had happened.
They were curious why the two of them had come up from there.
Tan Han didn’t hide anything and directly explained the whole situation.
There was no reason to conceal anything; their current enemy was the players, and understanding what those guys were after would help prevent them from striking again.
Thus, both Tan Han and Ninglan Qiuyue shared the information, including the fact that the players were plundering fortune.
Not only for the Witch Academy, but Tan Han also didn’t hold back when facing people from other academies. After all, everyone was a victim now, and there was no need to be reserved in this regard.
The other Extraordinary Academies were immediately alarmed upon hearing this.
Their academy’s Child of Fortune… upon closer inspection, was indeed missing!
Realizing this, they instantly panicked. If their academy’s Child of Fortune was robbed of their fortune and ultimately killed by those players, wouldn’t that be their heavy responsibility?
Who didn’t know how much the academy valued the Child of Fortune, training them as the main force of the new generation, allowing them to lead the new cohort to heights never reached by previous students?
If their academy’s Child of Fortune all disappeared, it would mean their academy lost its competitive advantage.
The identity of the Child of Fortune was even more important than their individual strength, as it represented whether other academies were still willing to compete with them!
Didn’t they see that the Witch Academy, which used to be aloof, was now also invited?
Didn’t the once-dismissive Extraordinary Academies now want to play along?
Having such a qualification was truly important, and this was even clearer to the seniors in higher grades.
Otherwise, why would they bring their own reputation to participate in this auction to gain some experience?
Of course, to take a new look at the Witch Academy.
In just this one semester, involving multiple academies, during two events, the Witch Academy had decisively suppressed all the Extraordinary Academies!
The first time was at the beginning of the term, demonstrating the students’ talents and the academy’s foundation; the second time was at the end of the semester, showcasing the students’ efforts and the strengths and weaknesses of their respective academies’ power systems.
Everyone wasn’t foolish—previously unwilling to face the situation, they were now putting on a brave front while students in higher grades had only understood the disparity through severe beatings, and now the new generation was directly suffering from it…
Thus, communication was essential.
However, with such an unexpected situation arising, those players wanted to break this current status quo and even aimed to harvest the Children of Fortune from various academies!
They naturally had to unite!
So after Tan Han explained the exploration and plans regarding the Dungeon Space, everyone had a clear goal.
Originally, they had clustered in the upper Dungeon due to the unknown, not daring to touch the fissures created by the anomalies. But now that they had an idea of what lay ahead, they weren’t afraid anymore.
Just as everyone was busy preparing plans to seek out various paths, the Witch Academy also held a brief internal meeting.
Planning what to do next.
Though they acknowledged that there were many of them now, blindly exploring those unknown areas remained dangerous. Tan Han and the others could have found their way here through perilous adventures in busy spaces, which was likely a stroke of luck.
Or rather… it was fate.
Let’s not forget that Ninglan Qiuyue had an Extraordinary Item, the “Heart of Ninglan.”
After this Extraordinary Item was returned to her, she had kept it with her; its function was to manipulate fortune at the cost of consuming flesh.
But fate was elusive, not something she could see. However, Tan Han had the talent of the Ethereal Eye, which allowed her to see through fortune threads. Yet, she seldom used this talent due to its high cost, and … what good was it to see through the threads of fortune?
The threads of fortune wouldn’t straightforwardly inform her what they represented.
But now Tan Han discovered that if her ability was used in conjunction with this Extraordinary Item… the effect would be simply perfect!
Although the power of fortune was not the same as luck, it would help them make the right choices at critical moments.
“By the way, senior sisters, have you seen Store Manager Shali? And… Xiao Han, there should be more of us from the Witch Academy at the hotel, right?” Tan Han asked.
“Not sure, most likely on different hotel floors, so they got separated. Perhaps others are also figuring things out right now.”
Just as many had begun to take action, a muffled sound suddenly came from below.
The pixel blocks on the ground were lifted by this force, creating a circular ripple.
Moist air condensed into frost on the ground, and then a penetrating chill slowly spread.
However, this was far from over; the next moment, the pixels on the ground suddenly exploded!
The splintering pixel blocks shattered under a ferocious force, followed by a wave of cold air sweeping in!
A large hole instantly opened up in the ground.
A figure, entirely enveloped in crimson flames, leaped up from beneath the ground. Upon seeing this scene, everyone instinctively became alert.
The one causing all these anomalies was momentarily stunned at the sight, then retracted their transformed appearance.
“It’s… it’s Luxien? How could it be you?”
“It’s me… hiss!” Luxien recognized most of the people here, or rather those she had met once, and she immediately nodded in acknowledgment. However, before she could finish, shrinking back from her fire fairy transformation, she was instantly injured by the gem in her hand.
Then, everyone’s gaze fell on the gem Luxien held… wasn’t that the Heart of Cold Wave from the auction?
Though it seemed slightly different from the one at the auction.
“Let’s not worry about that right now; be careful of the players!”
Luxien hurriedly used her abilities to pick up the Heart of Cold Wave. This Heart of Cold Wave was a gift from the All-Purpose Association, brought along with the Great Knowledge Seed.
She never expected that this time, the key to breaking out of this situation would be this. By relying on this item, she could unleash its power to shatter the boundaries of these pixel block spaces, and it was also how she had escaped from the players’ pursuit.
However, using it wasn’t without cost; even with her fire fairy transformation used to fend off this cold wave, it only provided a degree of safety in picking it up. Each time she activated the Heart of Cold Wave, it didn’t distinguish between friend and foe.
And once those players discovered this item, they would go insane trying to capture her.
At that moment, several figures emerged from the destroyed area behind her!
“Hahaha! Did you think you could escape so easily? Too naive! That tech core… you… you!”
The players who had chased her out found themselves under the intense gaze of everyone still present, making them feel uneasy…
“Go! Don’t let those players run away!”
“Capture them alive!”
In an instant, the previously arrogant players found themselves in a completely reversed situation!
Because they were now facing all the Extraordinary Students who were filled with rage!
Thus, before their firepower combat platform could fully deploy, the strongest combat stance hadn’t even formed before they were instantly suppressed by concentrated fire.
Although many rational individuals were calling to leave some alive, the furious crowd still couldn’t help but accidentally k*ll one player.
After all, it was these guys who had caused everything to turn out like this, making everyone’s emotions hard to control.
However, the one player left alive didn’t have it any easier.
Yet they appeared unconcerned, clearly shielding their sensory perceptions.
Perhaps they knew struggling was futile; even if they still had the dungeon authorization, it was useless now.
Just when some professionals were preparing to approach these players for questioning, the players spoke up first.
“This time I’m done for, ha! Damned stuff, a bunch of bastards, once we conquer your world, I’ll make you lick… uh!”
The player hadn’t finished speaking before receiving a punch, as they knew she was about to say something vulgar.
“Ugh…” The player spat out bl**d but seemed unfazed, casting a malicious gaze at everyone as if she wanted to remember them all, “Just this bit of strength isn’t enough… you all stay put… I’ll appear in front of you in a brand new form…”
She seethed the most vicious words with slurred speech. Clearly, she was no longer threatening, yet everyone still felt a chill down their spines…
In the next moment, her head tilted, and she completely lost her breath, alongside a few other players who also chose this.
This was quitting voluntarily.
“s*icide? How did they all d*e together?”
People spoke with grim expressions, and some skeptics went to check, discovering that they indeed had no life signs. Healing spells and awakening spells had no effect whatsoever.
At this moment, a sense of gloom enveloped everyone’s heart; they hadn’t extracted any useful information from these players!
The threats they had uttered before dying sent a chill down everyone’s spine as if the feeling lingered on.
This feeling was really unpleasant.
However, after a while, many regained their spirits; after all, they were still trapped here and had to find a way to leave.
But as Luxien appeared with a new Heart of Cold Wave, quite a few seemed to have new options.
After all, Luxien also acknowledged that the power unleashed by this Heart of Cold Wave could break the boundaries of this Dungeon Space.
However, the cost was truly tremendous; even with the fire fairy transformation to withstand the encroaching cold wave, it was still a force that could make her spells go awry.
Now back with the main group, Luxien no longer cared about appearances as she collapsed to the ground to rest. After all, spell backlash was no joke.
The heavy atmosphere hadn’t lifted with the d*ath of those players; they had to find a way to break this spatial blockade.
It appeared that this Heart of Cold Wave might be the key to breaking the deadlock, but the boundaries it connected to were another space, not a direct exit, still not considered a solution.
“By the way… I seem to… have understood something…” Luxien, sprawled on the ground, closed her eyes to recuperate, but her rapid breathing and racing heart didn’t allow her to simply fall asleep.
So, upon hearing discussions from everyone, she quickly spoke up about something she had encountered.
“Luxien, do you know something?” Everyone was drawn in by Luxien’s words, hoping her suggestion could become a new breakthrough.
“Hmm… not sure if it’s…” But on her way here, she definitely couldn’t outrun those players…
“Yeah, how did you manage to break through the boundaries of the dungeon while resisting the force’s encroachment and the backlash of your spells to make it here?”
Quickly, everyone responded, eager to know.
“Quiet! Everyone, be quiet! Let’s hear what Luxien has to say!”
“Hmm… thank you…” Luxien, still with her eyes tightly shut, adjusted her state and seemed to reminisce about the circumstances at that time.
“I accidentally stumbled into a strange Dungeon space… inside, there was a massive pixel creation… I destroyed it… and immediately that area crumbled… taking the space I came with into darkness… then I fell into a new area…”
“You mean that within these spaces, there are some core-like creations maintaining the existence of the Dungeon space?”
“Is it that as long as we destroy that creation, we can collapse the nearby space?”
Listening to Luxien’s fragmented descriptions, many who were paying close attention could roughly guess what she was trying to express.
“Hmm…” Luxien nodded, then fell silent.
“Luxien? What’s wrong?”
“Fell asleep. Everyone, don’t disturb her. Luxien has already endured a lot of stress to reach here; let her rest for a moment,” said the senior holding Luxien, quickly casting a deep restorative spell so Luxien could recuperate properly.
“Hope you have sweet dreams.”
Then everyone’s gaze seemed to unconsciously turn to Tan Han and the others. Based on their descriptions, they had also traversed many connected spaces.
“Tan Han, did you see the special Dungeon space that Luxien described when you came over?”
“Special Dungeon space?” Asked by everyone like this, Tan Han recalled in detail, calling forth the projection of the Great Knowledge Seed, searching through the interconnected spaces she had marked down. If it was a special space, she indeed had experienced it; however, to avoid complications, she didn’t act rashly.
“Tan Han, is it the one Luxien is talking about?” Ninglan Qiuyue seemed to have a vague memory.
“Yeah, it’s probably that one; let me look for the recorded images.” Tan Han nodded, then pulled up an image, which eventually appeared before everyone. Many were quite surprised by this technique, though this imaging method wasn’t particularly rare; it was clearly presenting memories!
“Is this it? It seems to match Luxien’s description of that thing, such a big creation?”
“Since that’s the case, let’s go check it out first; otherwise, we have no other breakthrough options left.”
At this time, someone suggested.
Many were eager to try, and the Witch Academy was also willing to cooperate. Those willing to take the lead to test for danger were more than happy to do so.
Moreover, it was evident that this was a special Dungeon space; it was impossible for everyone to attempt; if an accident occurred, it would be problematic. Thus, they had to leave some behind “to guard the home,” especially with many injured and the currently unconscious Luxien, plus the Children of Fortune present; they couldn’t take that risk.
Though… right now, it seemed that these Children of Fortune were mostly from the Witch Academy?
