"Sis, what are you thinking about? That smile is... creepy," Lin Xiyue whispered, leaning closer.
Lin Qingyue set down her wine glass and succinctly summarized her theories: the "wild female hunting hypothesis" and the "paid venues security hypothesis."
As her words hung in the air, the expressions on the faces of the other three women varied wildly.
Lin Xiyue's jaw dropped, remaining agape for several moments before she suddenly slapped her thigh.
"I get it!" she exclaimed, her eyes gleaming as if she had reached enlightenment.
"So the men on the streets aren't shy—they're terrified that if they flirt with a 'wild' beauty, they'll get captured and forced to become the bridegroom in her mountain stronghold?!"
"And that fox spirit we encountered earlier! The men trailing behind her, with their unsteady gaits and dark circles under their eyes—they're the unlucky saps who couldn't resist temptation and got 'caught' in her trap?!"
"Are they... are they trophies?"
Xia Lian buried her face in her arms, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably as she felt her worldview being repeatedly crushed by some industrial pulverizer.
Just imagining the scene sent shivers down her spine.
"No, those are just medicine dregs," Lin Qingyue said, ending the conversation with a dry, precise joke.
"Judging by their pained yet euphoric expressions, they're probably doing it willingly."
Su Wan's brow furrowed into a tight knot, a complex expression—a mix of disgust and sudden realization—flickering across her icy face.
"Though it sounds absurd, the logic holds. This actually explains their wildly different reactions to 'free' and 'paid' options."
"One group pays with their freedom, the other with money."
"Then... that Tender Village... it's just..." Xia Lian couldn't bring herself to say the word.
"Exactly what you're thinking," Lin Qingyue confirmed with unnerving composure.
"And I'd bet anything it's the most well-informed place in the city."
"A melting pot of every social class and type, where alcohol and hormones are the best intelligence catalysts."
"So... should we go?" Lin Xiyue blinked, her voice barely containing her curiosity and excitement.
"Go! Of course, we're going!" Lin Qingyue answered decisively.
"But not right now." Her tone shifted abruptly. "A place like that clearly has high expenses. Given our current financial situation, unless we want to work there, we'll only be able to afford a sniff at the entrance."
"Therefore," Lin Qingyue concluded firmly, "our immediate priority is making money."
"Make money?" Lin Xiyue's eyes lit up, immediately recalling another keyword she'd overheard earlier. "We could go to that 'Bloody Arena'! They said the ticket price for just one fight with 'Bonebreaker' Baroque would feed them for months. If we fought a few matches, wouldn't we strike it rich?"
"Absolutely not," Lin Qingyue and Su Wan rejected the idea almost simultaneously.
Su Wan calmly analyzed, "The Arena is far too high-profile. Don't forget, there are competitors from other countries in this Dungeon. Exposing our strength, especially the Captain's trump card, for mere money would be a terrible trade. Our goal is to purify the Dungeon, not become gladiatorial stars."
Lin Qingyue nodded in agreement. "Exactly. Why use a butcher's cleaver to kill a chicken? Our trump cards are for resolving ultimate crises, not for performing tricks at a circus for a few coins. Besides, we don't yet understand the combat capabilities of this world. Charging in recklessly could lead to an embarrassing upset if we run into a tough opponent."
A thought surfaced in her mind, and the corner of her mouth curved into an even more delighted smile.
More importantly, this kind of basic amusement—like fighting in a ring—can no longer satisfy my growing spiritual and cultural needs.
What could be more stimulating than delving deep into the adult entertainment industry to conduct sociological fieldwork?
"So what do we do then?" Lin Xiyue asked, sounding somewhat deflated. She had been quite eager to see this "Bonebreaker" in action.
"In any well-ordered city in a world like this, there's bound to be an organization that both solves problems and provides a steady income," Su Wan said, her gaze drifting toward the tavern entrance.
"The Adventurers' Guild."
Lin Qingyue snapped her fingers.
"Smart. Taking quests from the Adventurers' Guild will not only earn us money, but the mission details will also help us understand this world better. Plus, we can level up along the way. Three birds with one stone—perfect."
"What are we waiting for? Let's go, go, go!"
Lin Xiyue instantly sprang back to life, leaping to her feet first.
The four paid their tab at the Roaring Furnace Tavern and stepped outside.
The moment they exited, a scene strikingly different from the tavern's interior yet undeniably real unfolded before them.
A short distance away, at a steam pipeline maintenance station, a burly male foreman, his face smeared with oil, stood with his hands on his hips, bellowing at his crew—a mix of men and women—his spittle flying as he berated them for their slow progress.
The workers all hung their heads, silently enduring the dressing-down, barely daring to breathe.
A new observation crystallized in Lin Qingyue's mind:
It seems men in this world aren't at the bottom of the hierarchy. At least in the workplace, they retain their full authority.
They hadn't walked far when an even more puzzling sight appeared.
A young couple leaned against a street-side railing, sharing a bag of freshly roasted chestnuts.
The boy peeled one open, carefully blew on it, and popped it into the girl's mouth.
Her eyes crinkled with laughter as she naturally looped her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder, her face radiant with undisguised affection.
Several scantily clad women passing by simply smiled warmly at the pair, then politely skirted around them, showing no intention of "hunting" for attention.
"Sis, look!" Lin Xiyue nudged Lin Qingyue. "That guy didn't run away! Did he activate some kind of anti-harassment cheat?"
"That's called a 'Bound,' silly sister," Lin Qingyue chuckled. "Looks like prey who already have an owner aren't within their hunting range."
Just as she finished speaking, another pair of men and women with a completely different vibe passed by.
A radiant woman with cat ears strode confidently, her every step radiating the triumphant swagger of a victor as she affectionately hooked her arm through the elbow of a human man.
The man, on the other hand, wore a look of utter despair, his head bowed dejectedly as if he'd just lost his entire fortune in a gamble.
Yet upon closer inspection, beneath his resigned despondency flickered an odd sense of contentment—a peculiar satisfaction that seemed to say, "Well, might as well embrace it. It's not so bad, actually."
"Quick, look at that one!" Lin Xiyue elbowed her sister excitedly. "That guy must have just gotten 'Bound'! His expression is exactly like the orange cat downstairs after its neutering surgery—utterly dejected and resigned!"
Lin Qingyue burst out laughing and playfully swatted her sister. "Not even close! He looks like he just finished saying 'I do' and has already resigned himself to being henpecked for the rest of his life… and the worst part is, he's clearly loving every second of it.'"
They approached a male engineer by the roadside, who was adjusting a steam valve, to ask for directions.
The man nearly dropped his wrench into the valve when he saw the quartet of strikingly different beauties approaching as a group.
He instinctively retreated three steps, crossing his arms protectively over his chest in the classic posture of the weak, pitiful, and helpless. His eyes darted about like a hamster that had just spotted a weasel.
But when Lin Qingyue asked for directions in an utterly formulaic, emotionless tone, he visibly froze for a moment. Then, his entire demeanor relaxed.
A remarkable transformation followed.
His spine snapped straight, and the startled-animal expression vanished, replaced by the proud bearing of a local. He pointed out the way with evident pride, as if guiding these outsiders through the grand infrastructure of his city were the greatest honor he could receive.
After bidding farewell to this master of "face-changing," they navigated through streets teeming with gears and steam pipes, finally arriving before a building that stood out starkly from its surroundings.
Unlike the surrounding crude steel structures, this house was built from massive stone blocks and raw timber, exuding an ancient, primordial aura.
Above the entrance hung a sign made from the skull of some colossal beast, flanked by two crossed battleaxes, its wildness palpable.
Pushing open the door, a sweltering gust of mingled sweat, leather, and the metallic rasp of friction rushed out.
The Guild Hall buzzed with a din of voices, several times more lively than the tavern they'd just left.
The walls were hung with ferocious beast heads and shattered weapons, each one silently telling tales of iron-blooded valor and hard-won glory.
Along one side of the hall stretched a massive Quest Board, its surface bristling with parchment scrolls pinned to it.
The scene within the Guild Hall left them collectively speechless.
This place was like another dimension entirely!
A stark contrast to the bizarre gender dynamics they had observed on the streets!
The men here showed none of the cowering deference they had witnessed among the commoners outside.
Each was tall and muscular, radiating an aura of savage ferocity, their eyes sharp, their laughter booming and unrestrained.
They mingled freely with equally formidable female adventurers, exchanging stories about which troll dens offered the best kills or which Chimera hides fetched the highest prices in the market.
Some even caught each other's eye—a hulking warrior hoisting a Cat Tribe woman onto his shoulder and striding confidently toward the adjacent inn amid roars of laughter and whistles.
Here, there were no hunters and no prey.
Only the strong and the strong.