Capítulo 16: Chapter 14 [Heart of the Sorcery Gambler's Bi-mutation]
The girl with the mechanical arm knew that Leonard Churchill held the Witch's Gaze, and she had a faint idea of how the monster was killed.
What if it was ineffective against the monster?
Are you willing to risk your life on such uncertainty?
Churchill understood his teammate's perplexity, but still pointed to the monster's corpse, reminding her, "I think this monster has produced some materials."
The real challenge of this level is not figuring out the solution, but daring to actually attempt it.
As she looked at him and his cavalier attitude, as if he had just made a life-or-death gamble, her brows furrowed in apparent confusion.
Still, she drew out a dagger and impressively cut open the monster's chest, taking out a heart covered green crystals.
[Heart of the Sorcery Gambler's Bi-Mutation]
Quality: Excellent Shining Silver
Description: A rare material from the Mysterious Type, containing deep contamination of immense cursing power, it carries the explosive power and speed of the ultimate flesh form;
Holding the heart, the girl could clearly feel the overwhelming power surging inside. It was unbelievable.
She had never seen such a strong substance at the first tier.
This was in no way inferior to the Pituitary Gland of the Witch she had procured earlier. "This is a top-notch material for all flesh-type profession cards. If you plan to advance in close combat professional sequence, I haven't seen better material of the same tier."
While saying this, she glanced at Leonard, continuing, "Let me seal it for you."
Containing such high-level materials required highly-quality containment cards, clearly, her teammate wouldn't be able to afford one even if he sold every piece of equipment he had.
"Thank you."
Churchill was not shy about accepting.
He knew this material was valuable without even examining it. Whether or not it would be of use, it would still make a difference financially since he was new to this world.
Moreover, his teammate had shown herself to be considerate. Although she didn't help him slay the monster, she didn't mention wanting to have a share of the spoils of war.
...
Her doubts had only grown.
After storing the heart, the girl handed the card to Churchill, unable to hold back her question, "How did you determine that Witch's Gaze could kill this monster?"
Although her tone was indifferent, her desire for knowledge was bursting out.
A mere ordinary fellow had actually killed an A-rank Catastrophe, it was simply miraculous.
At this moment, she completely understood what Churchill meant, earlier, by "taking a gamble".
From the result, her teammate's confidence was certainly not just relying on luck.
Hearing her question, since she was a teammate in the same predicament, Churchill didn't conceal his thoughts, "Change your perspective."
He said directly: "Think from the perspective of an adventurer, and you will only think about how to crack this level. But if you stand in the shoes of the level designer, then you will think about how to design the level. It has to be subtle and challenging, but also not make it impossible for the player. This is the only way I can think of to kill the monster."
"You can understand it as: The witch is the guardian of the second floor, guarding the relevant clues. In order not to make these clues useless, her existence must be crucial to later decryption. That skill card is the key to link to the subsequent level."
"..."
On hearing this, the girl with the mechanical arm frowned in contemplation.
Her teammate's calm demeanor revealed an ultimate cool-headedness, wisdom, and meticulous logical thinking ability.
And, madness!
Churchill continued: "From the moment I found a problem with the wall, I guessed this alternate dimension has a very clever and logically tight level design. The entire fort has four floors, each floor has a B-rank Catastrophe that is obviously stronger than the rest of the monsters. With such difficulty, the setting of the BOSS should not be irrelevant..."
The girl was also very smart and seemed to immediately guess what he was going to say, but she interrupted and asked, "What if... I mean, what if they are irrelevant?"
Leonard Churchill responded mysteriously, "If the levels are not related, then those clever designs would be meaningless."
He continued: "Moreover, if they were irrelevant, then do you think anyone could survive under an A-rank mutant catastrophe? If I'm not mistaken, the original normal clearance procedure is that someone killed that A-rank Corrupted Giant on the first floor, then obtained some kind of crucial items that could kill the Fallen Witch on the second floor, and then the Sorcery Gambler on the third floor... Each level is like an iron gate that needs a corresponding key to open. And on these Catastrophes, there are the keys to clearing the level."
"But we didn't have..."
The girl was about to say they didn't go to the first floor, but stopped halfway through her sentence.
Churchill finished her sentence for her, "It's because you are too strong."
Her teammate was so powerful that she managed to forcibly overcome the Catastrophe on the second floor, hence they jumped the level.
From this perspective, her teammate's strength was indeed abnormal.
Even when she was chosen by the gambling dog earlier, the calmness she showed made Churchill almost certain she had other means to escape danger.
"..."
Hearing these words that seemed like praise, the girl felt no joy. Instead, she fell into deep thought.
They had scarcely exchanged words, yet she felt as if this man had seen through all her secrets.
With this explanation, her mind seemed to clear.
But one thing remained.
She asked, "What if your guess was wrong?"
"..."
Churchill considered for a moment, and did not speak.
The girl had originally thought he was withholding some discovery, but after a moment of silence, she heard a faint reply.
"Hence, there's the element of gambling."
A twitch in Churchill's brow quickly softened into a calm smile.
Indeed, everything previous was conjecture, and to verify it, there was bound to be risk.
But in his eyes, there were things far more interesting than death.
....
"Bang, bang, bang..."
In the dark laboratory, the sound of gunfire echoed occasionally. The Blackwater mercenaries who had fled earlier had predictably run into trouble.
After collecting the spoils from the catastrophe corpse, Leonard Churchill gestured, "Let's go and see ahead."
If he had guessed this one correctly, then the chapters that followed would be, for him, like answering an open book test.
Though he didn't know what he would be facing, Leonard already had confidence.
The girl with the mechanical arm didn't say anything, but she seemed to agree.
At this point, if she didn't understand that this partner of hers was not as weak as he appeared, then that would be her own problem.
But here came the old question, why would such a smart guy recklessly come to this Alternate Dimension alone?
And he even stayed with the witch overnight?
Could it be... he was seeking some particular type of thrill?
Normal people wouldn't risk their lives for that.
But this guy was so crazy, it was highly likely...
Moreover, the fact was there, he had slept with the Witch for one night, and had really survived!
The girl seemed to think of something, hurriedly swung away the strange thoughts in her head.
But she had to admit, this guy was indeed unique.
...
The two of them kept moving through the hallway of the lab, randomly checking around from time to time. While they were looking for clues, they could also scavenge the spoils from the corpses of the mercenaries on the road.
The pair walked and looked around for small things.
It seemed that the "escape and kill mode" had turned into an "exploration mode".
The girl with the mechanical arm found it strange too. She didn't know when, but the feeling of being constantly shrouded by a cloud of death had started to fade.
After some thought, it seemed that after killing the Sorcery Gambler, this feeling had emerged.
It was as if calmness was infectious, this guy beside her never seemed panicked.
Every time they encountered a crisis, he was able to turn the tide, that feeling...
While her thoughts were drifting, suddenly she heard hurried footsteps and urgent curses in the distance.
"Captain, Alden's leg has been cut off..."
"Damn it, do you see where the monster is? Kill it for me!"
"No, we didn't see the monster. It must have been that unknown catastrophe on the fourth floor!"
"Save me, Captain, don't leave me!!!"
"..."
The lab was a closed corridor and the sound could travel a long way.
They haven't even seen the people yet, but the groans and cries could be heard already.
Listening to those familiar voices, Leonard Churchill was thinking, if these were not the mercenaries from earlier, then who were they?
The girl with the mechanical arm seemed to have noticed something too, she said seriously: "There is a very powerful aura of catastrophe around here... even stronger than the Sorcery Gambler!"
Leonard Churchill naturally did not dare to take it lightly.
But as there were people to clear the mines, they would have less trouble.
He seemed to think of something, suddenly drew out his pistol, and fired at the gas lamp above their heads.
With a "bang," the light went out.
The corner of the corridor plunged into darkness.
Leonard looked at his companion who had entered combat mode, shook his head to signal her, pulled her into the darkness, and said, "Let's see what happens next."
The girl with the mechanical arm looked at him with a question in her eyes, Aren't we running?
In her view, with others attracting the monsters' hatred, wasn't this the perfect time to run?
Leonard Churchill didn't explain.
The girl hesitated for a moment and chose to trust him, so she didn't ask any more questions.
The two of them quietly retreated into the darkness.
....
A few moments later, the voices were getting closer.
The two saw a bald muscular man and four mercenaries as if being chased by some monstrous beast, running back haphazardly.
There were more than dozen people before, but only four remained now.
Just as they were running, a bizarre scene occured.
Without warning, the head of the last running mercenary suddenly flew up. Blood spurted like a fountain, and the man's body fell with a thud.
The neck was cleanly severed, clearly a blade cut.
Leonard watched attentively, his eyes narrowed.
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