Chapter 695: The Dungeon Conundrum

Boom!!

Who?!

The meeting room door was blasted open in an instant.

Before the Rebel High-Ranking Officer inside could fume in anger, everyone who had expected an enemy attack suddenly slumped, hastily bowing to the forcefully intruding figure.

Then, a Third-Stage mid-level companion of Hong Tiangang shouted hurriedly:

“Commander Huang! This man seems to be…!”

“Seems to be what? Just an S-Level Skill—none of you understand a thing!”

With unmistakable mockery, the Middle-Aged Man who had stormed into the hall instantly appeared before Yenir, his eyes burning as he glared:

“Kid, you’ve got an S-Level Skill, right? If I’m not mistaken, you picked it up from that Dungeon?”

“That Dungeon you entered—wasn’t it called Sword Rite? It had an Eastern-Western flavor, with priests, skill gear rewards, and was split into three acts!”

He spoke at a rapid pace, exuding certainty.

Yenir, who had planned to unleash his power to break out, suddenly froze.

Luckily, his reflexes were sharp; seeing the Middle-Aged Man, he quickly realized the other must have misunderstood something.

S-Level Skill?

Exactly—he did have an S-Level Skill, and it was SSS-Level!

But what about that so-called Sword Rite Dungeon…?

(Did he really come after me because I made up that Dungeon on the fly?)

Everything made sense—and Yenir’s mind raced, picturing what this Rebel High-Ranking Officer might have inferred.

Unbelievable—look at Commander Huang’s confident expression, so sure of his judgment!

Before Yenir could decide how to spin his answer, Hong Tiangang and the others, still baffled, interrupted urgently:

“Commander Huang?! What are you saying?”

“This kid is off! He’s detected the prototype of the rules! And he even passed the Divinization Potion test! I suspect he is…!”

“There’s nothing to suspect—you just don’t know the full story! What prototype? I know exactly what’s going on!”

Before Hong Tiangang could explain further, Huang Bayun, who had rushed over, impatiently cut him off.

It wasn’t that he was overconfident or dismissive of Hong Tiangang’s doubts.

For Huang Bayun truly knew what Yenir was up to!

Like Yenir, sent here by Base 1 to inspect the tests, he had been the first to learn of the problems that arose—and of the middle-level officials at the Base who had withheld information.

Such anomalies naturally commanded his full attention, sparking suspicions about what had really transpired.

Perhaps Yenir hadn’t expected that, right after covering things up with the Otherworldly Ghost, Huang Bayun would pull up the records from that moment.

Even though Yenir deliberately deleted later records, the earlier conversation logs had been seen.

After hearing the details Ming Luo concocted, Huang Bayun nearly leapt in shock—realizing that the Dungeon they experienced was the same one he once visited!

So when he learned Yenir had been brought here for testing, he rushed over immediately, determined to get the facts straight from him.

“Sword Rite?”

“It doesn’t exactly go by that name. When we entered, all we heard was ‘Sword Rite’.”

Observing Huang—the high-ranking officer who clearly wanted to take him away—Yenir realized that the man was extremely high-ranking and, in a sense, had ‘rescued’ him. Yet, not knowing exactly what his made-up Dungeon really was, Yenir could only reply vaguely.

He couldn’t possibly give the exact name. Besides, whether or not he was being tested, he needed to leave himself some room.

Otherwise, any follow-up questions would expose his errors one after another.

But it seemed that this Dungeon was especially significant to Huang Bayun; based on Yenir’s answer, the officer’s suspicions grew even stronger.

“The name being off is the point!”

“Ever since I emerged from that Dungeon, I’ve never been able to find it again! Back then, I suspected that if you didn’t complete it flawlessly, the Dungeon would vanish!”

“Now it appears the mission details changed, and that’s why the Dungeon isn’t where it used to be!”

Lost in his own recollections, Huang Bayun took a deep breath and glared intently at Yenir:

“The Blood Shadow Device you got was from Act One, right? That priest—was he injured so that you got it for nothing?”

“Absolutely!”

“The Blood Shadow Device you pulled out reeked of that Snow Wolf’s treacherous aura! It seems he claimed to be heading for the Northern Border but secretly re-entered the Dungeon and met his end there!”

“True enough. Whoever held that device would have kept it secret to get another chance—even I would have done the same!”

As if driven by an old blood feud, a flash of hatred flickered in Huang Bayun’s eyes.

Years ago, when he and the Blood Wolves had teamed up to enter that Dungeon, the entire squad immediately realized its uniqueness—the rewards inside were lavish enough to build a Safe Zone!

But due to their limited strength, they were forced to retreat halfway through the mission.

Eventually, not only did the Dungeon vanish, but Snow Wolf disappeared as well! He had always suspected that Snow Wolf had secretly finished the Dungeon without him, pocketing all the rewards!

Now, hearing that Snow Wolf likely perished inside actually brought him some relief.

(Snow Wolf? Northern Border?)

As Huang Bayun kept dropping clues, Yenir was initially confused until a fleeting silhouette crossed his mind.

Snow Wolf?

Blood Wolves?

Blood Nightingale!?

Damn it—I finally understand!

(Years ago, Huang Bayun and Blood Nightingale’s father entered the Sword Rite Dungeon together. After Blood Nightingale’s father secured a ton of resources—including the Blood Shadow Device—he fled to the Northern Border, never daring to return. Later, Snow Wolf (of the Blood Wolves) was killed, the Blood Shadow Device fell into Yinglong’s hands, and eventually ended up with me. When Huang Bayun saw the device, he immediately assumed I had obtained it from that Dungeon!)

(Moreover, after Yinglong killed Snow Wolf and fused his essence into the Blood Shadow Device, Huang Bayun was even more convinced.)

Once Yenir quickly pieced everything together, he felt an uncanny sense of coincidence—it was almost too perfect.

Good grief—if it weren’t for Ming Luo and the others exposing themselves, he definitely wouldn’t have revealed the Blood Shadow Device.

Without showing the device, Huang Bayun would never have come over to ‘rescue’ him.

If he were exposed, the Mother would be nearly impossible to locate—jeopardizing Huaguo and even humanity!

And it all started with the one time I encountered Blood Nightingale.

For some reason, Yenir suddenly felt that dealing with Blood Nightingale was indeed the right call…

“Sir, I can’t quite follow everything you’re saying. But the S-Level Skill and device on me are definitely from that Dungeon…”

Feigning that his biggest secret had been discovered, Yenir’s face turned pale as he replied.

In the next moment, Huang Bayun fixed his gaze on him, as if unwilling to dwell on the details:

“If you’ve got it, you’ve got it. Seems you’re lucky—not only did you manage to fuse the potion, but you also acquired the S-Level Skill ahead of time.”

“But it doesn’t matter now. I just want to know where that Dungeon is. And of course, it’d be best if you took me there!”