“When in doubt, overpower with firepower!”
“Just blast it with magic!”
Li Xiuman swam back a short distance from the underwater cavern and raised his wand.
At the same time, he pulled out 《The Skeleton's Magic Book》.
Looking at the magic circles he had researched in the book over the past few days, Li Xiuman began experimenting.
Having finally found an opportunity, he intended to thoroughly test his recent achievements.
“For the first try, let's start with a dual-element fusion.”
As he raised his wand, blue and yellow magic circles expanded in front of him.
“Tier 3 Fusion Magic.”
“Wind-Rock Burst!”
Countless rocks, large and small, mixed with the flowing water and swept up in a swirling vortex, slammed toward the cavern.
Instantly, a violent underwater sandstorm erupted around the cavern.
Once the magic dissipated, the outer layer around the cavern had been stripped away, revealing a layer of crystal underneath.
“Still not enough? Let me try another one...”
“This time, I'll test this magic circle.”
Li Xiuman turned 《The Skeleton's Magic Book》 to the next page and continued his experiments.
Meanwhile, inside the cavern, the paralyzed party felt the ground beneath their feet violently shaking, as if an earthquake were striking.
Xiuman, leave us! Just go!
Brad shouted frantically in his mind, but his body couldn't move, leaving him unable to utter a single sound.
He was currently so moved that he was nearly in tears.
Mr. Xiuman...
Even though you always tell me to be more cautious and not to trust others so easily, you really are a complete good person deep down. I'm so glad I wasn't wrong about you.
Right now, you could have just walked away.
And yet, you stayed, willing to risk your life to save me.
A sharp tongue with a heart of gold—you're the exact definition of that, Xiuman.
Brad was absolutely unwilling to believe that Li Xiuman stayed behind to save him just for those ten thousand-plus gold coins.
The education he had received since childhood told him that risking his life to save them for ten thousand gold coins was impossible. It was merely ten thousand gold coins.
It had to be because Xiuman accepted them and considered them true companions that he was doing this.
Xiuman, that's enough! Leave quickly, it's really dangerous here!
Everyone, I'm sorry... I dragged you all into this mess with me.
Outside, Li Xiuman continuously bombarded the area while muttering to himself, “Ten thousand gold coins! Ten thousand gold coins are flying away! I can't stop! I absolutely can't stop!”
However, after shattering the outermost rock layer, no matter how much force he used, the crystal inside showed no signs of damage whatsoever.
This made Li Xiuman extremely anxious. Coming to a dungeon only to lose ten thousand gold coins—who in their right mind could accept that?!
In the end, Li Xiuman hardened his heart.
“You raise a Golem for a thousand days to use it for a single moment!”
Li Xiuman pulled out Number Zero.
Number Zero, it's all up to you now.
Li Xiuman fetched a braided steel cable and wrapped it around Number Zero's waist.
“If you encounter danger and stop moving for more than three seconds, I'll pull you out immediately.”
“Also, once you go in, remember to keep your eyes closed. Don't look at anything.”
After saying that, Li Xiuman dressed Number Zero in his spare clothes. This minimized the risk as much as possible.
If he used other Golems, the connection would be severed as soon as they entered, leaving Li Xiuman unable to control them.
But Number Zero was different. After the recent event in White Bear City where they harvested loot from the nobles, Number Zero had developed a degree of self-awareness. This allowed Number Zero to act independently even after losing connection with him.
For ten thousand gold coins, it was worth taking a small risk.
Li Xiuman now had to admit that he was probably... a total gambler at heart. A gambler's gotta gamble—after all, that was over ten thousand gold coins!
“Number Zero, remember: I'm always right behind you.”
Li Xiuman squished Number Zero's soft cheeks with both hands, then raised his wand toward her.
“Tier 3 Magic, Water Spirit's Blessing!”
After buffing Number Zero, he directed her to walk step by step into the cavern. He held tight to the steel cable attached to Number Zero, ready to yank her back out at the slightest sign of trouble.
Upon approaching the cavern, Number Zero obediently closed her eyes and stepped inside.
In an instant, Li Xiuman lost his connection with Number Zero. He hurriedly looked down at the steel cable in his hands.
The cable was moving! Number Zero was still moving! It seemed Number Zero could still act!
Inside the cavern:
Watching Number Zero's figure step inside, Brad's eyes welled with tears.
Xiuman... Why... Why would you do something so foolish? We've... we've only known each other for such a short time...
The other party members felt much the same way, all moved to tears.
However, someone quickly realized that the "Li Xiuman" who had entered the cavern hadn't been controlled and was still capable of moving!
The crystal statue's fleshy eyes glared fixatedly at Number Zero, yet they failed to stop her movements.
With her eyes closed, Number Zero used magic to conjure a rock blind cane and tapped around as she felt her way forward, soon coming into contact with something.
Number Zero poked it carefully. This texture... no doubt about it, it was a human.
Thus, Number Zero separated a strand from the steel cable wrapped around her waist and gave it a gentle flick, binding the cable around the person in front of her. Next, using the same method, she located each person with her cane and wrapped steel cables around them one by one.
Xiuman! Awesome job!
I can't believe Li saved us again!
Li, you really are a genius! You figured out that line of sight was the key just from standing outside!
Li, over here, over here! Poke me, poke me!
...
Everyone cheered frantically in their minds. Watching "Li Xiuman" navigate with eyes closed, poking around with a cane, they were touched beyond words.
As Number Zero poked her cane directly onto Mia's chest and secured the steel cable, every person in the cavern was successfully tied up.
However, the crystal statue—glaring wide-eyed at Number Zero—seemed to have had enough. Blood vessels surged across its fleshy eyes as it controlled a crystal spike from the stone wall to thrust toward Number Zero.
Deprived of vision, Number Zero couldn't block in time through sight, so she raised her wand to meet the attack head-on. After all, she was currently playing the role of Li Xiuman.
A massive wave of water around her compressed against her body, blocking the crystal spike.
“Tier 2 Magic, Hardened Rock Spike!”
Crack! Crack!
As a yellow magic circle expanded on the ground, rock spikes surged up from beneath, colliding with the crystal.
Amidst the turbulent underwater currents, Number Zero pulled back swiftly, swinging her durable wand to shatter the incoming crystal fragments one after another.
“Tier 1 Magic, Rock Shield!”
Clenching her left fist, a magic circle opened over her forearm, conjuring a circular rock shield floating in front of her arm.
With one hand, she swung her wand in an airtight defense, shattering crystal shards, while using the shield in her other hand to continually block incoming attacks.
However, lacking sight and relying entirely on spatial sense, she was still hit several times across her body. Fortunately, Number Zero was built with high-quality materials, so she suffered no significant damage.
At the same time, her tail covertly wrapped around the cable, dragging everyone toward the cavern entrance.
Perhaps because the crystal statue had diverted its focus to deal with Number Zero, the people being dragged realized that although they still couldn't move, they could now speak.
Brad quickly opened his mouth and shouted, “Xiuman, to your right!”
Hearing his words, Number Zero swiftly raised her wand and Rock Shield to defend her right side.
If it were Li Xiuman here, he might not have trusted Brad so easily, suspecting whether a controlled Brad was attempting to mislead him. But Number Zero, who was less than a year old, was pure and innocent.
Thus, she naturally trusted him, and as luck would have it, she blocked the strike perfectly.
However, her shield shattered under the force, and her body jolted, causing her hood to slip off and reveal long silver hair alongside the stunning face meticulously sculpted by Li Xiuman.
In an instant, everyone who had regained their speech fell completely silent.
After a long silence, Brad finally stammered, “Xiuman... you're... a girl?!”
With her eyes closed, Number Zero turned her head back to give them a cold look without saying a word, dragging everyone as she bolted out of the cavern.
Outside, Li Xiuman, who was currently calculating how to spend those ten thousand gold coins, had no idea about any of this—let alone the living hell awaiting him next.
He only cared about his precious coins.
Rate on N.U.
