Chapter 464: Dungeon Destroyer

Chapter 464: Chapter 464: Dungeon Destroyer

They looked at each other, but neither said another word.

They each ate a few bites of their meal in silence.

After a moment of silence, Chet Lucius was the first to break the stalemate.

He lowered his voice and admitted frankly, "I got the mission reward. It was... some useless intel. About the Monster King."

Seraphina Sullivan raised an eyebrow. "Same here. Just a prophecy about the world ending, and not a single damn thing else."

The corner of Chet Lucius’s mouth twitched. He was clearly just as speechless about this so-called "grand prize."

"So," Seraphina Sullivan said, putting down her spoon and looking him straight in the eye.

"You’re staying behind to grab some ’local specialties,’ too? Like that ’Breakthrough Barrier’ potion from Dr. Ford?"

Chet Lucius didn’t deny it. Instead, he gave a slight nod. "It wasn’t easy coming here. It’d be a waste to go back empty-handed.

Besides..." He paused. "This world also has those strange parasites, the Hyper-Beasts. I’m somewhat interested in their Control mechanisms and getting a few samples."

Seraphina Sullivan understood.

’As expected, all Players are cut from the same cloth.’

’Completing the mission was just the foundation. Scavenging for resources, exploring the unknown, and digging up hidden value—that was an instinct that ran bone-deep.’

"We work together?" Seraphina Sullivan asked bluntly.

Chet Lucius glanced at her, then at Flora Sullivan, who was eating quietly beside them with her ears practically perked up. After a moment’s thought, he nodded.

"Let’s work together. We’ll share information but acquire resources on our own. We’ll cover for each other when necessary.

But there’s one rule," he said, looking at Seraphina Sullivan seriously.

"Don’t expose yourself in front of the Native People. I have no desire to be interrogated as a monster again."

"Deal." Seraphina Sullivan extended her hand.

Chet Lucius shook it.

In the cafeteria of this massive, post-apocalyptic Shelter, a temporary alliance was quietly forged over a simple dinner.

Their next objective was clear: use their connection to Dr. Ford and Beau Soto to find a way to legally acquire a batch of finished [Barrier Breaker Type I] potions or the production formula.

Along the way, they would dig up more information on the "Hyper-Beasts," and... see if there were any other "local specialties" in the Shelter worth swiping.

As for Sharon Lynn... Seraphina knew the girl would eventually find her parents,

but that was her own destiny to follow.

As a Player, her escort duty was complete.

Now, it was time for the Players’ own "free exploration."

Seraphina Sullivan decided to set her sights on the mysterious "Hyper-Beasts."

These bizarre, minuscule creatures could parasitize and Control humans, making their samples incredibly valuable for research. She might even be able to trade them with Beau Soto or Dr. Ford for some "Barrier Breaker" potions.

However, before she and Chet Lucius could even devise a concrete plan, a group of "uninvited guests" arrived at the outer entrance of Shelter No. 3.

It was a group of about seven or eight people. Dressed in rags and covered in dust, they looked no different from any other survivors fleeing the wasteland.

But from a distance, Seraphina Sullivan and Chet Lucius both caught it at almost the exact same time—that familiar Aura, the one that marked them as "their own kind."

Players.

And more than just one.

"More of them?" Chet Lucius’s brow furrowed as he muttered to himself. "Did they get an escort mission too? Is their destination also Shelter No. 3?"

Seraphina Sullivan didn’t answer, merely observing the group with a stony expression.

However, this group of Players clearly had a completely different style from Seraphina and Chet’s, who were carefully hiding their identities and trying to blend in with the locals.

During the routine inspection at the gate, soldiers ordered them to surrender their weapons and undergo a quarantine observation. In response, a man with a buzz cut and a brutish, fleshy face immediately lost it.

"You want me to hand over my fucking gun? Do you have any idea what it cost me to get this thing?!" the man’s voice was hoarse and dripping with aggression. "Get out of my way! My mission’s done, I don’t have time to screw around with a bunch of NPCs!"

The soldiers at the gate didn’t know what "NPC" meant, but they understood "hand over your gun" and "get out of the way." They immediately raised their rifles, on high alert.

The squad leader shouted, "Everyone, drop your weapons now! This is your final warning!"

His answer came in the form of a sudden attack from a tall, lanky Player standing next to the man with the buzz cut.

He sliced the squad leader’s standard-issue rifle clean in two!

"So you want to do this the hard way! Let’s bust our way in!"

Chaos erupted in an instant.

Gunshots, the shriek of Skills slicing through the air, the soldiers’ shouts, and the screams and cries of nearby survivors all wove together into a cacophony.

Those Players didn’t seem to care that this was the entrance to a Shelter. They didn’t care if innocents were harmed. They cared even less what consequences their actions would have for anyone who tried to enter the Shelter peacefully after them.

Relying on their status as Level 4 Players and Power far exceeding that of ordinary people, they unleashed their violence without restraint.

Seraphina Sullivan watched this scene from afar, dumbfounded.

’No way! Are they insane? They’re exposing their Abilities just like that?’

’She couldn’t comprehend their play at all.’

Her [Eye of Resume] swept over them, and the information of the four attacking Players materialized. All were Level 4. Their Talents and Skills were diverse: one was a melee enhancement type, another was an elemental control type, and a third seemed to be a support-buffer.

’Based on the data, none of them were weak.’

Their group also included a few terrified-looking civilians—clearly Native People—who must have been their escort mission targets.

The chaos lasted less than three minutes.

After unceremoniously dumping their "escort targets" inside the Shelter, the Players didn’t stick around to fight. Instead... they simply vanished!

A white light flashed, and their figures vanished from thin air.

Seraphina Sullivan’s pupils shrank. ’That’s the visual effect for when a Player chooses to "Return."’

"They... just left?" Flora Sullivan’s jaw dropped. "They caused all this mess, and then they just ran away?"

Chet Lucius’s expression had completely darkened.

He stared at the devastated entrance area, then at the escort targets who had been abandoned there, looking utterly lost. His voice held a rare gravity:

"They aren’t crazy, and it’s not just a matter of being terrible people. They did this on purpose."

He turned to Seraphina Sullivan, enunciating each word.

"They are Dungeon Destroyers."

Seraphina Sullivan was stunned.

’Dungeon Destroyers? What the hell is that?’

"It’s exactly what it sounds like."

Chet Lucius spoke rapidly, the discovery clearly instilling in him a profound sense of crisis.

"And ’Dungeon Destroyers’ are just such a group of people.

They don’t care about missions or the lives of the Native People. Their only concern is harvesting high-value resources from the dungeon using the fastest, most brutal methods possible, then escaping before the world’s rules can retaliate or the system can issue a penalty.

Their methods include, but are not limited to, slaughtering the world’s inhabitants, destroying survivor settlements, and causing mass casualties."

"Those people just now deliberately caused a scene at the Shelter’s entrance. They revealed their supernatural Abilities in front of countless people, killed soldiers, and then immediately returned... They couldn’t care less what happens to this dungeon now. They don’t care about the suspicion, fear, or outright hostility toward ’outsiders’ that the Native People here will develop because of their actions.

They had their fun, got what they wanted, and bailed. They leave the mess for Players like us—the ones who actually want to complete missions and gather resources normally—to clean up."

When Chet Lucius finished, he fell silent, staring at the still-chaotic entrance.

Seraphina Sullivan fell silent, too.