T0 Gaming Guild Saves the World.

Chapter 28. You smell so good (Please continue reading!)

【Demon-Suppressing Stone Slab】

Unlike the anti-magic stone tablets encountered when excavating Sister Alna, the anti-magic tablets can only distort, interfere with, and weaken magic power, making them a lower-level anti-magic tablet.

A massive, dark blue anti-magic stone slab, deeply embedded in the ground, sits in the center of a collapsed temple.

Because the core magic array maintaining the Temple of the Clarity has been damaged by the Church of Eternal Night, not only are the teleportation coordinates unstable, but all the magic arrays in the defense layer are also in a state of intermittent operation, with irregular restarts and shutdowns visible everywhere along the way.

Alna's lantern played a crucial role; perhaps because it carried Alna's identity marker, all the magic arrays recognized them as Clarity Beings without exception, allowing them to pass through freely.

Recalling what he had seen along the way, Original Fries narrowed his eyes slightly: "Currently, this seems to be the only area that has been damaged."

"Is there a problem?" Orange Tea tilted her head.

“There’s a big problem,” Zhong Zemo warned. “The defense layer is the first line of defense for the Clear Ones against invasion. After the tragedy in the Dust Cleansing Layer, there’s absolutely no sign of resistance here. Isn’t that strange?”

Jiang Heyi mentioned that possibility.

"Inner ghost."

Only in this way can the great collapse of the Clarity be explained.

Their early warning system malfunctioned; the magic circles, mechanisms, and puppets that were supposed to guard them were either unable to identify the intruders or stopped responding, allowing the Church of Eternal Night to breach their defenses effortlessly.

The Demon Suppression Slab is a red-quality material and is not a bound drop.

Experience told Jiang Heyi that these special items, which could be obtained without much effort, were either a pure reward mechanism, providing positive feedback to players, or...

"Is there anything particularly dangerous waiting for us ahead?" Zhong Zemo swallowed hard.

On the defensive layer, this worry was unnecessary. The boundary between reality and illusion was carefully crossed through all areas, always worried that another frog-headed, stitched-together monster might suddenly appear, but the journey was incredibly smooth.

There was no sign of any living beings, and the puppet guards that Alna had marked on the map were nowhere to be found. They had arrived at the temple where the teleportation point was located with ease.

The encounter with the Dust Cleansing Layer made the quiet of the Guardian Layer seem particularly unusual, and they only truly felt at ease when the Teleportation Statue was awakened.

The defense layer is completely empty.

The plain fries whispered, "Is this setting the mood?"

In some extremely difficult dungeons, some game level designers will deviate from the norm and design a completely non-combat, frictionless, and relatively relaxed map space for players to explore, reducing players' vigilance.

On the third level of the underground temple, which also belonged to the guard level, they finally saw the dolls.

The bodies of puppets of different races were scattered and broken into pieces near the teleportation landing point. Hundreds of them covered the ground, making it impossible to move beyond the boundary between the virtual and real worlds. People could only "wade" across by stepping on their fleshy bodies, which were just like those of normal living beings.

From the distribution of the doll's remains in the temple where the teleportation point was located, Jiang Heyi could easily reconstruct the scene at the time of the incident.

When the Church of Eternal Night broke through the previous level, some of the Clear Ones on the third level had already reacted. The destroyed Demon Suppression Center was most likely destroyed by the Church of Eternal Night because it was suddenly activated.

Upon reaching the third level, the dolls also noticed the intruders and rushed towards the temple.

The plain fries climbed up a thick pillar and discovered something.

"The remains are very dense; these dolls all 'died' in an instant."

The puppets used by the Clarity to defend their headquarters could not possibly be inferior. The obvious signs of damage to each puppet's heart indicate that the Church of Eternal Night also removed their drive centers after destroying the puppets. This action is enough to prove the puppets' value.

Orange Tea realized what was going on: "The traitor within the Clarity is of a very high rank. He stopped the puppets from retaliating and allowed them to be destroyed."

Thus, the two most heavily guarded layers of the underground temple completely fell, causing no casualties to the Church of Eternal Night, and not even having the slightest effect of delaying its advance.

The third floor was equally quiet. The exceptionally spacious temple complex would take a long time to search, but Jiang Heyi still dared not order a split-up. He felt that giving this order would physically mean 'splitting up'.

"Click."

A faint sound in the distance made the perceptive Jiang Heyi stop abruptly and listen intently.

"It's the noise from the magic circle activating on its own, just like the one on the previous floor." The jailer heard the high-frequency, sharp, and rapid buzzing sound, and waved his hand dismissively. "Let's keep going. There's not much to pick up along the way, just a few unopened bottles of potions."

Just as everyone was about to agree with the jailer's words, another "click" froze them in place.

The sound was much closer than before.

They were now in the center of an open-air temple, which was slightly higher than the surrounding area, allowing them to easily survey every corner of the area.

"Click."

No, that sound sounds like...

Jiang Heyi and Zhong Zemo, both FPS experts, were the first to realize that possibility.

They looked up and nearly suffered cardiac arrest.

The fox's signature tail and slender ears are the first things that catch the eye, followed by the slender and alluring curves of her body outlined by the ethereal woman's fitted long robe. Her chest is very flat... But that's a misconception. If you shift your gaze slightly and focus on the whole picture, you'll discover something terrifying.

The demon fox, now climbing the uneven rock face of the dome, had its head rotated 180 degrees, its mouth slightly open, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. At this moment, it was facing away from the boundary between reality and illusion.

The overwhelming sense of disharmony momentarily disrupted everyone's judgment, but the jailer's loud announcement, "There's a monster! You can get gold coins!" perfectly dispelled the shock for everyone.

"A fox spirit couldn't possibly turn its head at that angle; this is a doll."

Jiang Heyi took out Alna's lantern and shone it on the rock wall of the dome.

Lanterns bearing Alna's identity information can make the Clear Ones' magic circles and creations regard them as friendly units.

As expected, the moment the beam of light enveloped the area, the demonic fox, which had already shown its aggressive nature, shuddered and its limbs loosened their grip on the rock wall.

With a muffled thud, the doll remained in that bizarre, crawling posture with its head flipped over, its limbs on the ground.

"Phew... this plot item is really useful." The jailer sighed. "Players who don't follow the normal process and take the wrong path to get the lantern are in trouble."

"Why did this doll survive?" Plain Fries wondered.

"What went wrong? Maybe it started up too late?" Zhong Zemo speculated. "The entire Eternal Night Church team approved it before it was fully powered on."

Orange Tea smiled and said, "I understand. Your startup speed has already surpassed one percent of all the Clarity Dolls."

As the fox puppet cautiously approached, the jailer squatted down to observe it closely.

Hmm... It's because the head is turned 180 degrees that it looks a bit awkward, which is why it's scary. But if you look closely, the doll is actually quite well-made.

"I'm... scared." The fox doll uttered a confused and helpless female voice, soft and weak.

Before Jiang Heyi could even fully grasp the short knife that had appeared in his hand, a sharp blade flashed past, the invisible blade slicing through the air and leaving a horrifying tear in the ground.

The terrifying "qi" slashed at the doll's head, denting it and causing its four claws to sink into the ground. It slid a distance before coming to a stop.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?" Zhong Zemo exclaimed in surprise. "She spoke! This could be an interactive NPC!"

That's how they obtained the lanterns; they were the key items to easily pass through the second and third floors.

Without the lantern, I can't imagine how much time it would take to solve the puzzle and break the magic circle by relying solely on my brainpower.

"This guy has a strong tea-like quality to him; he's not normal."

Zhong Zemo was taken aback. He suddenly remembered one of the special skills of the original flavor fries—tea tasting.

Many people in the gaming group are naive teenagers with no romantic experience, and they often act out of control due to hormones.

Back when Original Flavor Fries was still active, I once pointed out something unusual about two group members' posts showing affection and gave them guidance to help them successfully identify the tea.

Despite only making two moves, her keen intuition still keeps her name circulating in the gaming community.

Given the earlier meme about R'lyeh going online, "sea salt fries" became her nickname for a period of time, because her group members firmly believed that she was a passionate playboy in real life.

Only Aquaman possesses such insight into people's hearts.

Regarding this, Plain Fries simply sent a casual comment...

“You need more social interaction.”

In short, he successfully made the lively group conversation fall silent for 5 minutes.

"Click, click~~~"

The sunken head gradually returned to its original position as it twisted and turned. The demon fox tilted its head and grinned, revealing a ferocious smile.

"I'm scared... I'm so scared... Why won't you let me hug you? Ah... Hug me, hug me!"

Using both hands and feet, the crazed fox moved with lightning speed, rushing towards them.

At the moment of the fierce collision between Zhong Zemo's giant shield and the two sides, the demon fox's body suddenly leaned back.

Orange Tea, with her sharp eyes, immediately exclaimed, "Its chest has also been damaged!"

How could a puppet whose central magic array has been destroyed possibly move on its own?
"Hehehe, hehehehe, hehehehehe~~~"

"Your bodies are so warm."

The demon fox let out a series of perverse laughs as soon as it lightly touched Zhong Zemo's hand.

"The doll's body is cold and hard... Come, come, let me live inside your body."

"You..." The demon fox licked its lips, drool dripping down its face, "You smell so good."

(End of this chapter)