The silver door felt cold to the touch.
Unlike the rough bronze door outside, this one was smooth as a mirror.
Qin Yu pressed his palm against the door.
"Combat suit system, analyze the material."
"Unable to analyze. Unknown alloy."
Qin Yu wasn't surprised.
"Everyone step back."
The muscles in his arm bulged slightly as black nano fluid surged along his arm toward his palm, instantly increasing grip strength and thrust.
"Open!"
There was no sound of mechanisms.
No dust.
The five-meter-tall silver door silently slid inward under Qin Yu's monstrous strength.
A faint blue glow seeped through the crack.
"This is..."
Li Ruobing, holding her gun, peeked inside and her eyes instantly widened.
There was no mountain of treasures as imagined.
No magnificent golden palace.
Behind the door.
Were numerous intricate metal passages.
The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made of that unknown silver alloy.
Countless passages intersected and folded into each other, extending beyond sight.
Like a massive silver spider web.
"A maze."
Yao Xue calmly made the judgment.
"And a three-dimensional one at that."
She pointed overhead.
Where another passage hung upside down, even the red gravity indicator light was visible.
"The gravity system here is chaotic too."
"One wrong step, and we might fall into the bottomless abyss or be shredded by the defense mechanisms here."
Qin Yu stepped inside.
The metal floor beneath his feet made a crisp sound.
"Interesting."
"Now this feels like a high-level instance."
Compared to the tactic of overwhelming numbers of monsters outside, this high-tech maze was clearly more troublesome.
"Stay close."
"The interference here still exists, don't fall behind."
The four-person team filed in.
As the silver door slowly closed behind them.
The entire world seemed to be left with only that cold, faint blue glow.
...
At the same time.
Southeast corner of the maze.
"BOOM!!"
A violent explosion sounded.
Flames shot skyward.
Illuminating the originally dark metal passage brightly.
"Hold the line, damn it!"
"Anyone who retreats, I'll shoot them first!"
The roar echoed through the narrow passage.
The speaker was a bald, burly man.
With a fierce scar across his face, holding a modified heavy machine gun.
The barrel still smoking.
At his feet lay two corpses.
Not killed by monsters.
Shot dead by him from behind.
He was Zhao Gang, ranked sixth after the server merge.
Known as "Yanwang Zhao."
"But... Brother Gang, that's a Rank A monster!"
"Our homemade explosives can't even scratch it!"
Several survivors in tattered leather armor ahead, faces miserable, held crude iron spears and explosive packs, their legs trembling.
In the passage before them.
Lurked a giant mechanical centipede.
Twenty meters long.
Pitch black throughout, each segment covered in sharp barbs.
The mechanical centipede raised its head, spewing green acid mist from its mouth.
Over a dozen corpses already lay on the ground.
Some were bitten in half at the waist, others corroded by acidic mist until only their skeletons remained.
"Can't blow it up?"
Zhao Gang sneered, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
"If explosives won't work, then we'll throw lives at it!"
"Sun Wu! Qian Biao!"
"Send your men forward!"
He turned to look at the two men behind him.
Ranked seventh, Sun Wu was a man as thin as a monkey, playing with two poison-coated daggers in his hands.
Ranked eighth, Qian Biao was a large, fat man with a face full of rough flesh, but his small eyes gleamed with cunning.
Although the three had formed an alliance, none of them truly submitted to the others.
"Zhao Gang, your men are almost all dead, and now you want us to send ours forward?"
Sun Wu let out a sinister chuckle.
"That centipede is at its last gasp."
"You want our men to die so you can take all the loot?"
"Enough nonsense!"
Zhao Gang slammed the butt of his gun against the nearby wall, sending sparks flying.
"We found this maze entrance together."
"Just to get in here, I've already lost half of my hundred-plus brothers!"
"Now this damned gatekeeper is on its last breath."
"If you want to break the alliance, I'll pull out right now!"
"Then none of us will get what's inside!"
Sun Wu and Qian Biao exchanged a glance, both seeing the greed in each other's eyes.
They had entered through another entrance, lucky enough to avoid the frontal assault of the Rank S gatekeeper monster and sneak in through this side door.
But this peak A-Class Mechanical Centipede was still giving them a hard time.
"Fine."
The fat on Qian Biao's face trembled.
"Fortune favors the bold."
"This centipede's shell is almost shattered. If we can jam its gears, it'll be nothing but scrap metal."
He turned around, looking at the group of trembling survivors behind him.
These were all members of their three subsidiary fleets, or captives they had taken along the way to use as cannon fodder.
There had been two to three hundred of them initially, but now fewer than a hundred remained.
"Listen up!"
Qian Biao's voice suddenly became gentle and persuasive.
"Brothers."
"This is the last monster."
"Kill it, and inside lies mountains of gold and silver!"
"S-Class Items! Enhancement Potions! Even tickets to leave this damned place!"
"Whoever charges at the front, I'll give them ten percent of the loot!"
Where there is great reward, there will be brave souls—and desperate ones.
Hearing "ten percent" of the loot, several men who had been trembling moments before instantly had reddened eyes.
"Let's risk it!"
"Kill!!"
Over a dozen men roared, charging forward with explosive packs and iron spears in hand.
"Screech—!!"
The Mechanical Centipede let out a piercing shriek, sensing the provocation.
Its massive body suddenly sprang up like a black whip, sweeping horizontally.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The three men at the front were instantly sent flying, exploding into clouds of blood mist mid-air.
But this didn't frighten the remaining men—instead, it ignited their ferocity.
"Blow it to hell!"
One man took advantage of the centipede's attack interval and lunged at its underbelly, where a previously blasted gap exposed spinning gears and wiring.
"Die, damn you!"
He pulled the fuse.
"Boom!!!"
A violent explosion sent shockwaves through the narrow passage.
The Mechanical Centipede thrashed in agony.
The suicidal attacker was gone, but his sacrifice was not in vain.
The gap was blown wide open, several thick cables severed, and sparks flew everywhere.
The centipede's movements instantly slowed.
"Now's the time!"
Zhao Gang's eyes lit up.
"Everyone, attack!"
"Anyone who doesn't will have their whole family killed by me!"
"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!"
He led the charge, opening fire.
Heavy machine gun bullets poured like rain onto the centipede's wounds.
Sun Wu and Qian Biao no longer held back either.
"Go!"
Sun Wu's figure flashed, moving along the wall like a gecko.
Taking advantage of the centipede being distracted by the crowd,
he suddenly leaped down from above.
Two poisoned daggers accurately stabbed into the centipede's huge electronic single eye.
"Sizzle—"
Black engine oil sprayed all over his face.
The mechanical centipede frantically shook its head, throwing Sun Wu flying.
But this was its final struggle.
The dozens of people below pounced on it like mad dogs.
Some used iron rods to jam its joints.
Some wildly hacked at its shell with axes.
Some even directly stuffed explosive packs into its mouth.
Screams, explosions, and the sound of tearing metal mixed together.
This was the human wave tactic.
No skill involved.
Purely using human lives to wear it down.
Finally.
Five minutes later.
"Boom..."
The massive mechanical centipede let out an unwilling wail.
Heavily crashing to the ground.
Motionless.
Its hard metal shell was now pitted with explosions, its abdomen completely hollowed out, revealing charred components inside.
The surroundings were littered with severed limbs.
Blood stained the silver floor dark red.
The remaining survivors slumped in the blood, gasping for air, their faces full of relief at having survived.
"It's dead..."
"Finally dead..."
Zhao Gang strode forward.
Kicking aside a corpse blocking the way.
The corpse still tightly gripped a steel pipe stuck in the centipede's joint.
"Pah."
"Useless trash."
Zhao Gang cursed.
Reaching into the centipede's wreckage, he rummaged around.
Soon.
A purple-glowing crystal core and a metal box were pulled out.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"It dropped!"
"Rank A mechanical core!"
"And a box!"
Sun Wu and Qian Biao immediately gathered around, their eyes burning with desire.
"Zhao Gang, what's in the box?"
Zhao Gang didn't hide anything, directly prying the box open.
Inside lay three peculiarly shaped laser pistols and several bottles of blue liquid.
[Acquired Loot:]
[1. Pulse laser pistol (Rank A) x3]
[2. Gene enhancement fluid (Intermediate) x5]
[3. Labyrinth side door pass]
The three looked at these items, their breathing growing heavier.
"Good stuff..."
Qian Biao rubbed his hands, a greedy expression on his face.
"And we haven't even reached the core area yet, already getting such good items."
"If we get inside..."
Zhao Gang tucked one laser pistol into his waist and threw one each to the other two.
"This is our capital."
"With these things, plus the enhancement fluid."
"Even if that Qin Yu shows up, I'd dare to blast him!"
Mentioning Qin Yu.
Sun Wu narrowed his eyes, toying with the laser pistol in his hand.
"Qin Yu is rank one."
"They probably took the main entrance."
"The monsters at the main entrance are much stronger than these side door ones."
"Starting from Rank S, right?"
Sun Wu sneered.
"They only have four people."
"We have hundreds."
"Even if he's a god, facing Rank S monsters, he'll be lucky to escape with his life."
Zhao Gang sneered coldly as he tucked the mechanical core into his chest.
"Maybe when we get inside..."
"All we'll find is Qin Yu's corpse."
"Then his S-Class Items and those beautiful wives of his..."
"Heh heh heh."
Qian Biao let out a series of obscene chuckles, the fat on his face jiggling uncontrollably.
"I've seen photos of those girls in the Chat Channel too."
"Absolute top quality."
"If Qin Yu dies, those girls become ownerless property."
"The three of us brothers can just split them up."
The three men looked at each other and burst into laughter.
It was as if they could already see Qin Yu lying dead on the ground while they enjoyed both beautiful women and treasures.
"Form up!" Zhao Gang waved his hand commandingly.
"Bring everything that's usable."
"Leave the wounded behind, let them fend for themselves here."
"Let's move out!"
"To the core area, to collect the body!"
...
Deep within the maze.
"Achoo!"
Li Ruobing suddenly sneezed.
She rubbed her nose with an annoyed expression.
"Which bastard is cursing me?"
Qin Yu stopped walking.
He was looking at a fork in the road ahead.
On the ground were some messy footprints.
Though deliberately cleaned up, they couldn't escape detection under the S-Rank Battle Suit's scanning.
"Someone's here."
Qin Yu crouched down, wiping his finger across the ground.
There was a faint smell of gunpowder.
"And quite a few of them."
Yao Xue walked over and glanced at the traces on the ground.
"The smell of blood is strong."
"They must have just experienced a brutal battle."
"It seems this maze has more visitors than just our team."
Qin Yu stood up.
"To make it this far..."
"They must have some skill."
"Or rather, they have plenty of cannon fodder."
He pointed to a fragment in the corner of the wall.
It was residue left from the explosion of the lowest quality homemade explosives.
Only bottom-tier survivors would use such things.
Qin Yu looked in the direction the footprints extended.
It led deeper into the maze.
"This way."
Qin Yu chose another path.
...
Half an hour later.
Zhao Gang and the others finally pushed forward to the middle section of the maze.
This half hour had been nothing short of a nightmare for them.
Moving walls would suddenly compress, crushing people into pulp.
Floors would suddenly crack open, revealing rotating meat-grinding blades beneath.
There were even invisible laser nets that instantly sliced anyone who walked through into neat chunks of meat.
Of the original hundred-plus person team,
only less than fifty remained now.
Every survivor was on the verge of collapse.
"Damn it!"
"What kind of hellish place is this?!"
Zhao Gang kicked away a blocking panel in front of him.
His face had been grazed by a laser, leaving a charred bloody mark.
"Brother Gang... there's no path ahead!"
A subordinate ahead cried out in despair.
It was a dead end.
Before them stood a massive silver wall.
There were no gaps or switches on it.
"No path?"
"Bullshit!"
Zhao Gang strode over and slammed the wall twice with his gun butt.
"Thump thump."
Solid.
"How is this possible?"
Sun Wu took out the access card that had dropped from the centipede and swiped it all over the wall.
"The card clearly points in this direction!"
"Could it be Qin Yu?"
Qian Biao suddenly thought of something, his expression changing.
"Did Qin Yu block the path first?"
Just then.
"Click click click..."
The sound of gears turning suddenly came from above them.
Immediately after.
The "dead end" wall slowly turned transparent.
No.
It was a one-way glass wall!
On the other side of the wall.
Was a massive circular hall.
At the center of the hall, a glowing golden cube hovered mid-air.
That was the core reward of the High-level instance!
And standing beside that cube.
Were four figures.
One man and three women.
The man wore a black Fluid combat suit, casually holding the golden cube as if it were a toy.
Beside him.
A woman in revealing shorts leaned against the railing, drinking from a bottle of mineral water.
Two identical beauties were studying a nearby control panel.
It was Qin Yu's group!
"Qin Yu!!"
Zhao Gang's eyes instantly turned bloodshot.
Separated by this transparent wall.
His group was covered in dust and blood, looking like rats that had just crawled out of a sewer.
While Qin Yu's group on the other side.
Didn't even have a speck of dust on them.
They were even drinking water and chatting!
This stark contrast completely shattered Zhao Gang's composure.
"He's inside!"
"That's the Rank SS reward!"
"That belongs to us!!"
Qian Biao also went mad, firing his laser gun frantically at the glass wall.
"Zzzzt!"
The red laser beams only created ripples on the wall.
Not even leaving a white mark.
On the other side, Qin Yu seemed to sense something.
He turned his head.
Looking through the thick special alloy glass.
His gaze was indifferent.
As if watching monkeys in a display case.
Qin Yu raised the golden cube in his hand.
Shook it at Zhao Gang.
Then.
Curved his lips into a mocking smile.
He opened his mouth and silently spoke two words.
Zhao Gang understood the lip movement.
It was—
"Moron."
"Damn!!!"
Zhao Gang completely exploded.
"Blow it open!!"
"Get all the explosives out!"
"I'm going to kill him!!!"
However.
Before they could act.
Yao Qian beside Qin Yu seemed to press a button on the control panel.
"Bzzz—"
The floor beneath Zhao Gang and the others.
Suddenly lit up with red light.
A warning glow.
"Warning. Illegal intruders."
"Elimination protocol initiated."
A cold electronic voice echoed through the passage.
Immediately after.
The walls on both sides suddenly opened.
Revealing rows of dark gun barrels.
Gatling guns.
Densely packed.
At least a hundred of them.
"No..."
Zhao Gang's gun dropped to the floor.
Sun Wu and Qian Biao's legs gave way in terror, kneeling directly on the ground.
"Run!!"
"Run now!!"
Too late.
"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!"
Metal Storm.
Instantly erupted.
The narrow passage instantly became a slaughterhouse.
Screams lasted less than two seconds.
Before being completely drowned out by the dense gunfire.
This was why Qin Yu had chosen this path.
Not only was it the path of life.
But also the main control room of the entire labyrinth.
Once he obtained the authority.
All the mechanisms, traps, and defense systems in the entire labyrinth.
Belonged to Qin.
...
In the control room.
Li Ruobing watched the bursts of blood mist outside the wall and curled her lips.
"How tragic."
"Turned into minced filling."
"But Brother Yu, these people are too stupid, right?"
"Charging in so recklessly?"
Qin Yu put away the golden cube.
That was the [Labyrinth core control hub].
"This is also one of the greatest rewards of this dungeon."
"Greed makes people foolish," Qin Yu said calmly.
"They thought numbers alone could secure victory."
"But in the face of absolute power and rules,"
"Quantity is merely a joke."
He turned away, no longer looking at the bloody scene.
"Cleared up."
"Yao Xue, check if this console can still connect to other areas."
"Since we're here,"
"let's pack up all the valuable things in this maze."
"Understood."
Yao Xue's fingers danced rapidly across the light screen.
"System resetting..."
"All treasure chests above A-rank have been marked."
"All traps have been deactivated."
"And..."
Yao Xue's fingers paused.
"Detected an abnormally powerful energy fluctuation at the bottom of the maze."
"It's not mechanical energy."
"It's biological energy."
Qin Yu's eyes narrowed.
"Biological energy?"
"Correct."
Yao Xue pulled up the surveillance footage from the bottom level.
The image was blurry, showing only a pitch-black deep water area.
But in those depths,
a pair of enormous, crimson-glowing eyes
were fixed intently on the camera.
Even through the screen,
one could feel that suffocating, violent aura.
"It seems,"
"this is the real gatekeeper."
"Those earlier,"
"were merely guard dogs."
Qin Yu clenched his fist.
The fighting spirit in his eyes ignited once more.
"Let's go."
"Time to meet this final big guy."
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