**Mental Power** and **Soul Crystals** are the lifeblood of every territory. Soul crystals are essential for building Underground City facilities, enhancing territory functions, and expanding capacity, making the territory more prosperous. Adventurers drop these crystals each time they perish in a secret realm.
Mental power, on the other hand, is a Dungeon Lord's resource for crafting secret realms and advancing their rank. It can only be extracted when Adventurers experience strong positive emotions during their secret realm journey.
A mundane secret realm might repeatedly produce soul crystals but cannot continuously generate mental power. Only a realm that thrills Adventurers, filling them with joy, excitement, and exhilaration, can yield mental power!
John Stone, feeling annoyed, remarked, "Damn, these corpses aren't tough, but there are too many of them!"
"I think ammunition is very precious early on," Lone Blade advised. "These corpses seem particularly sensitive to sound. Use handguns sparingly, or they might attract more."
Now it was Lone Blade's turn. As a seasoned Adventurer, he entered the secret realm and wisely avoided using his handgun at first. He took out the "Smile Back" Zombie with an axe and continued exploring the corridor rooms.
He stealthily eliminated two more Zombies without attracting additional enemies. While searching the rooms, he found two ammo clips and a second handgun, doubling his firepower.
"Wow!"
"That's impressive, Lone Blade!"
"Bullets can indeed be replenished! This is the right strategy!"
Encouraged, John and Mandy cheered.
Suddenly, a Zombie lurking in the shadows launched a surprise attack.
"Watch out, Lone Blade!"
Startled, Lone Blade fought back with his axe. After a few tense rounds, he dispatched the Zombie but sustained several injuries.
"Damn, the noise attracted nearby corpses!"
Zombies from the corridor were closing in. Relying solely on the axe was futile. Lone Blade overturned a table for cover and emptied two clips, taking down eight Zombies.
"Impressive, you took out so many!" Mandy praised.
"Don't get too comfortable," John cautioned. "More corpses are outside, and we can't stay here long!"
Lone Blade had one clip left, but with five or six Zombies in the corridor, survival seemed bleak. His body felt increasingly weak.
He lifted his shirt to inspect his wounds: they were black and festering.
"This isn't good! These corpses must be poisonous. How do you feel, Lone Blade?" Mandy asked, eyes wide with concern.
"I don't feel right. I have maybe fifteen minutes," he replied grimly.
"The medical kit might help," John suggested.
The medical kit, one of the initial items, contained bandages and medicine for injuries.
"This area isn't safe. Corpses could come any moment. I should find a safe spot to treat myself," Lone Blade decided.
"Look at that window behind you," Mandy pointed out. "It could be a way out."
Though the window was on the third floor, Lone Blade could climb down using the pipes. Below was a narrow alley without Zombie activity.
Minutes later, Lone Blade descended into the alley. But as he ventured out, he was stunned by the sight. The streets were teeming with terrifying Zombies—hundreds, if not thousands.
They were men and women, young and old, clad in sportswear, suits, police uniforms, hazmat suits, and more, all wandering aimlessly, bloody and grotesque.
A few Zombies spotted him and howled, alerting the horde.
"It's over!"
With nowhere to escape, Lone Blade faced the surge of Zombies in the alley, a scene both breathtaking and terrifying.
Now trapped, an overwhelming sense of despair consumed him. At last, the Adventurers understood why this realm was called "Doomsday Frenzy."
Lone Blade fought valiantly, emptying his last clip, then wielding his axe to chop down two more, but ultimately, he was overrun and torn apart by the relentless tide.
[Adventurer "Lone Blade" has died. Mental Power +1, Soul Crystal +1!]
Upon returning to the Underground City, the three Adventurers exchanged bewildered looks.
"That was intense!"
"How could there be so many corpses?"
"What happened to this city? Why did everyone turn into these creatures?"
"This is intriguing! There's a story here!"
"The production level of this small Underground City is incredible. How did they manage so many monsters?"
The Adventurers were astounded by the shocking scenes they witnessed and the secret realm's high production level. They had never encountered a realm with such richness, so many monsters, and such a unique art style.
Mandy, hands on her hips, questioned Lord Jack: "I have to admit, your secret realm is well-made, but with so many monsters, how can we possibly clear it? Did you intend for us to fail?"
Jack smiled slightly. "There's definitely a way to clear it. Explore more, gather stronger weapons, and discover better escape routes."
"Really?" Mandy was skeptical.
"Can you tell us what happened in this world? Why are the residents like this?"
John interjected, "Mandy, don't press the Lord too much. This realm's production is impressive, and the Lord likely has many ideas. It's more fun to explore and find out ourselves!"
"True!" Mandy agreed.
Suddenly, Lone Blade exclaimed, "I got loot!"
This piqued the other Adventurers' interest. "Getting loot" is Adventurers' slang for rewards from the secret realm.
Adventurers love challenging secret realms not just for the thrill but also for the living materials they can gain. Different realms yield different materials.
Generally, material output isn't very high, and it's tied to the secret realm's completion degree. The more developed a realm is, the higher the resource output probability.
The Adventurers were surprised because they had barely scratched the surface of "Doomsday Frenzy," yet resources were produced.
Jack wasn't surprised. His realm's richness and content increased the resource probability.
Miracle City could drop various resource items from different game worlds. These exclusive outputs would be the Underground City's core competitiveness.
However, due to the realm's low development degree, rewards were limited. Lone Blade's reward was a box of iced soda, a basic material that didn't even consume mental power.
Even such a small reward, given the surface world's scarcity, was enough to satisfy the Adventurers!