Absolute Death Game

"This is called Iron Cloth Shirt, a Passive Defensive Skill. Pretty cool, huh? Doesn't it give off a bit of a Terminator vibe?" Wu Tao said proudly.

Xiao Buli, however, frowned. "When did you learn this skill? Can you turn it off?"

"Turn it off? Why would I do that? Besides, it's a Passive Skill, how can it be turned off?" Wu Tao asked, perplexed. "As for when I learned it, I've had it since yesterday afternoon. Is there a problem?"

Can't turn it off? Learned it yesterday afternoon? Xiao Buli looked at Wu Tao skeptically. He appeared no different from an ordinary person, his skin was fair with a healthy blush, which made him look slightly pale due to staying indoors for long periods. Checking their surroundings to ensure they were alone, he typed in the game, "Then why hasn't your skin color changed?"

Skin color? Wu Tao was startled for a moment before realizing the issue. (Right, why hasn't my skin color changed?) He hadn't considered this before and completely overlooked it. The question scared him when Xiao Buli brought it up, but he was somewhat relieved to see that his skin color seemed unchanged.

Damn it, I almost gave myself away! he thought to himself. However, he really couldn't explain why his color hadn't changed because he had never paid attention to it.

Yaoyao, however, chimed in from the side: "Maybe it's because Passive Skills aren't that noticeable? Or should I stab you with a knife to test it?"

"Forget it, if you want to stab something, stab yourself," Wu Tao replied irritably. "Anyway, it's good that it doesn't change. Let's not dwell on this anymore and start the dungeon raid. Let's talk about which dungeon we're going to hit today. Old Xiao, you decide."

Hearing Wu Tao say this, everyone decided not to pursue the matter. Xiao Buli pondered for a while, "Let's start with the prison dungeon. It should be a bit easier."

Since the dungeon was set in a prison, they could easily master the terrain, and because the enemies were humanoids, the combat wouldn't be too complex.

"But before that, wait for me for a moment. I need to pick up my pet. You guys go ahead to the entrance of the dungeon and wait for me."
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Maoqiu had been left in the Beast Pen in Nine Dragons City, and now that they were about to raid a dungeon, of course, it was time to bring it along. The group quickly arrived at the entrance of the prison dungeon. After all, the dungeon was in the city, so the walk was much faster. When Xiao Buli arrived with Maoqiu, everyone shouted in surprise.

"Holy cow, a green-named pet, where did you catch it?" Wu Tao's exclamation definitely caught Zhang Yaoyang and Li Chuang's attention, "Green-named pet? Where is it? Where is it?"

The two squeezed through eagerly to look at Xiao Buli's screen and were stunned. Li Chuang said, "Damn, isn't this your lucky day? You actually managed to catch this thing."

Zhang Yaoyang, however, frowned. "That's not right. I feel like I've seen this before. It was supposed to have a grey name, right? We encountered it when we were hunting the White Tiger, I think it was called a 'piao' or something. But it was a drab grey color, not like yours.

Where did you catch this one?"

Xiao Buli broke out in a cold sweat internally, thinking that it was indeed the same creature. But it was also good that Zhang Yaoyang hadn't managed to catch it; otherwise, it wouldn't be his turn.

"It's the 'piao,' which was grey when I first caught it. It evolved after I fed it Tiger Meat," Xiao Buli said half-truthfully, without disclosing the need to dissipate the violent energy. He didn't want to reveal anything related to Mystic Hollow Palace. Of course, if Zhang Yaoyang really had caught another 'piao,' he would tell the truth, since they were all on the same side now.

He wouldn't just stand by and watch Zhang Yaoyang get hindered.

"I see. It seems I haven't dug deep enough into hidden quests. I'll have to check it out again. I want to catch one too." After saying this, Zhang Yaoyang and Li Chuang hurried back to prepare to catch a pet.

After shaking off Zhang Yaoyang and Li Chuang, Xiao Buli could finally focus on the dungeon raid. The dungeon was only a white-tiered one, so they weren't taking it too seriously. The entrance to the dungeon was the main gate of the prison, guarded by several soldiers from Nine Dragons City. A high-ranking officer, appearing proud and helpless, was standing at the entrance.

He promptly stood up excitedly when he saw the group approach.

Luo Dagang (a Nine Dragons City Centurion): "Are you here to take on the commission? That's wonderful! These prisoners have blocked the entrance to the prison, and we don't know what they're up to inside. My men have tried several times to storm in, but without success. Would you be willing to contribute your strength to Nine Dragons City?"

System Notification: Triggered the quest 'Quell the Riot.' Subdue or kill the rioting prisoners inside Nine Dragons City Prison. Accept/Decline?

Everyone chose to accept, and just as they were about to proceed, Wu Tao suddenly said, "Wait a second. My Prestige is quite high with the Golden Dragon Legion. Let's see if they can send some people to go down with us."

While saying this, he addressed the officer: "Although the five of us are seasoned adventurers, we aren't very familiar with the prison layout. How about you send some men to accompany us?"

The officer, Luo Dagang, looked troubled but nonetheless nodded, "Alright. I'll send two of my men down with you. But I warn you, the prisoners who have escaped are dangerous. Although they are trapped, it doesn't mean they can be subdued easily. They'll certainly fight desperately. Be careful, and good luck."

After the officer spoke, two NPC soldiers walked up, following Xiao Buli as he was the team leader, showing up as temporary followers. Xiao Buli clicked on them with his mouse. They were just white-named NPC soldiers, probably not very strong in combat, but definitely better than nothing.

"Don't worry, with our strength, handling a bunch of prisoners won't be an issue," Xiao Buli said as he led the team inside. The moment they entered, everyone was startled by the scene before them.

At the entrance, there were surprisingly about a dozen humanoid monsters, clearly divided into three groups, all blocking the entrance. Among them, there were even three elite monsters with light blue names.

On the left, a bandit leader (Rioting Prisoner) was in charge, accompanied by four others named 'Bandits (Rioting Prisoners)'.

In the middle, a rebel officer (Rioting Prisoner) led the group with four 'Rebel Soldiers (Rioting Prisoners)' under his command.

On the right, a formidable river and lake bandit (Rioting Prisoner) was leading, with four 'Hoodlums (Rioting Prisoners)' following him.

They were ambushed as soon as they walked in, and with three elites inside, could this be a boss battle? Why wasn't there any notification?

Everyone was taken aback, "Are you sure this is a white-instance dungeon?" Liu Xing asked in surprise, while also preparing for battle.

Wu Tao was also scared stiff, "This doesn't make sense, how could it be like this?"

Although Xiao Buli was surprised, he reacted even more quickly, "Nobody move forward, let the ranged attackers pull the monsters, and everyone be ready to leave the dungeon at any time!"

In fact, before they could take action, the rioting prisoners saw them come in and charged towards them. However, after engaging in combat, everyone realized that these guys were all show and no substance.

Despite their intimidating colors and including three elites, their strength was only slightly better than ordinary white-named bandits, and as for their white-named minions, they were even weaker than grey-named minor monsters. Their attacks were incredibly weak, barely causing any damage with a punch, and were no threat at all. They were all swiftly defeated.

After clearing these door-blocking monsters, everyone looked at each other in astonishment.

"What's going on?" everyone wondered in surprise. The combat power of the monsters in this dungeon seemed way too inferior.

Xiao Buli inspected one of the corpses and found nothing, not even a copper coin. Looking at those corpses that didn't drop anything, a thought suddenly struck him, "I get it now, these people must have been stripped of their equipment after being captured. With only half of their combat effectiveness left at best, of course they would be weaker.

After all, a significant part of the strength of humanoid monsters relies on equipment."

Hearing this, everyone else also realized, "Does that mean these prisoners won't drop any equipment when they die?" Bai Yunfei spoke up, and after hearing this, everyone started searching the bodies and indeed, they mostly found nothing.

"Damn, this is too ridiculous," Wu Tao said, feeling dejected.

"Don't be like that. I just exploded an item here," Yaoyao said as she showed a grey-quality item she had just picked up.

Dirty Prison Uniform (Cloth Armor - Breastplate): Armor +1.

Item Description: This is a filthy prison uniform which seems to have no special use other than barely covering one's body.

The loot drop was terrible. Everyone was disheartened, but fortunately, they still gained experience which was just as much as normal monsters. A bandit leader was worth over 200 experience points, and split among five people, each got more than 40 points. Even the white name minions had fifty to sixty experience points. This wave of monsters alone was worth more than 1200 experience points.

Continuing deeper into the dungeon, they earned thousands of experience points after just a short distance.

"This is too exhilarating, even though there are no equipment drops, the experience points alone make it worth it," Wu Tao exclaimed excitedly.

Meanwhile, Xiao Buli was somewhat speechless. This amount of experience wasn't even as fast as what he'd get from grinding ghosts at midnight, but he said nothing. After all, you could never have too much experience.

After killing over a hundred rioting prisoners, both white and blue named, they finally got to a more central area—the Jailor's Hall. From a distance, an NPC soldier suddenly said, "Be careful, everyone. Ahead is the entrance to the prison dungeon. It used to be where the jailors managed the prison and is an excellent spot for an ambush."

Lying on the floor inside the room were several jailor corpses, stripped bare of their equipment, with two of them gnawed down to bones.

Sitting on a table was a morbidly obese giant, his body covered in layers of fat, holding the thigh of a jailor. Upon seeing the group enter, his eyes lit up.

Cannibal Huang Jie (Rioting Prisoner Leader): "Ooh, fresh meat has arrived!" he said while dropping down from the table with a thud, trembling on each step as he approached the group. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)