"Killed a guardian boss? Oh my god, you did it alone?"

The chubby player exclaimed in shock, his face full of disbelief. Then he remembered who Su Ran was and finally accepted the unbelievable fact, "Overturning Water, bro, I’m totally impressed. Defeating a boss is as easy as drinking water for you, truly worthy of being the top expert of the Human Race!"

"..."

Su Ran felt that it was hard to keep chatting, so he stopped responding and started searching for anything unusual on the ground.

"Guarding treasures? I’ll help you look for them. Don’t worry, bro, I won’t fight or snatch them, I won’t make it difficult for you!"

Having made his promise, the chubby player trotted to the other end of the space and started searching eagerly.

"Phew."

Su Ran finally got a moment of peace from this guy’s incessant babbling, reminiscent of a buzzing fly, which annoyed him indescribably. For some reason, he felt this person was too insincere and was reluctant to get too involved with him.

Just in case, Su Ran had his shield skeleton follow behind him, keeping a certain distance from the chubby player, to prevent any surprise attack; it would be too late for regrets then.

"Eh?"

When Su Ran reached the spot where the chubby player had fallen, he unexpectedly discovered a slight crack in the ground.

"Could it be..."

After spotting the anomaly, Su Ran instantly became spirited, crouched down on the ground, and started tapping it, listening to the hollow sound. His face showed an "I thought so" expression, and he felt a surge of joy. Since he was somewhat wary of the chubby player, he had the shield skeleton form a circle around him, enclosing himself and the unusual spot. Only then did he pull out a beginner’s hoe and began digging strenuously.

"Clang, clang!"

The continuous sound of digging alerted the chubby player, who turned his head and saw that Spilt Water Can’t Be Regained was tightly blocked by the skeletal pet, his view obstructed and unable to see clearly what Su Ran was up to inside.

"Overturning Water, bro, did you find it already?"

The chubby player squinted his slender eyes and asked, moving quickly towards Su Ran.

"Clang, clang!"

Su Ran didn’t respond, continuing to dig on his own, his eyes’ periphery watching the chubby player through the skeleton’s gaps, as vigilant as guarding against a thief.

"Hey, I say, Overturning Water, bro, this isn’t fun. Share the good stuff; I’m not going to rob you, do you really need to be so cautious?"

The chubby player complained discontentedly, moving closer to the stationary shield skeleton and craning his neck to peek inside.

"Crash."

In just that short moment, the ground in front of Su Ran could no longer withstand the pickaxe’s jabs and collapsed with a crash, revealing a large hole with a staircase winding downward.

"Haha, there really is a secret here!"

Su Ran laughed out loud, disregarding the chubby player’s intention and stepping towards the stairs below.

However.

In that instant, a layer of crystal clear ice appeared before Su Ran, sealing him and all his pets in ice, leaving them completely immobile.

"What’s going on?"

Su Ran was deeply shaken. He hadn’t expected such a twist at the crucial moment. Could it be, he wondered, that they had triggered a trap in this place?

How tragically frustrating is that?!

"Hahaha, Spilt Water Can’t Be Regained, didn’t see that coming, did you?"

The chubby gamer finally showed his true colors. After discarding the half-piece of talisman in his hand, he pressed his hand on the shoulder blade of the Skeleton Shield Warrior and somersaulted into the encirclement. His agile movements were totally unexpected from someone of his size.

"The world is perilous and human hearts are unfathomable. Today I’ve taught you a lesson, and it’s free of charge, hahaha, my boy, you’re just too naïve with too little societal experience. I apologize, but the treasure guarded here is mine!"

The chubby player’s words were arrogant, filled with immense show-off, feeling it was an impressive feat to snatch the treasure from the hands of the top expert of the Human Race.

"Spilt Water Can’t Be Regained, top expert of the Human Race, you’re nothing special! Goodbye to you!"

The chubby player didn’t seem intent on attacking Su Ran. After humiliating him, he directly stepped onto the staircase and drilled into the underground chamber, soon disappearing from sight.

"Dammit, I’ve fallen for his trick!"

Su Ran, trapped within the ice, couldn’t move and could only watch helplessly as the overweight gamer entered the underground chamber. Despite all his precautions, he had fallen prey to a special talisman.

This made Su Ran furious, yet helpless. Fortunately for him, the chubby player hadn’t targeted him, otherwise, with his current health, he wouldn’t have withstood many attacks!

"This damned fatty, truly scheming! Pretending to be a warrior just to paralyze me, I was completely unprepared for his long-range attacks..."

Now sealed and unable to move, Su Ran analyzed his mistake and concluded that humans were mostly greedy creatures; in the face of benefits, one simply couldn’t trust any stranger!

"How bizarre, to be sealed this long? It’s a bit too much!!!"

Anxiously, Su Ran experienced each second like an eternity under the ice. After waiting for so long without the ice showing any sign of melting, he opened the system prompt in frustration, eager to see what made this talisman so abnormal!

"Warning! Player Skeleton has received a malicious attack from player******, resulting in an Ice-bound status for 60 seconds, which will disappear upon receiving another attack."

After reading the system prompt, Su Ran finally realized why the damned fatty hadn’t attacked him—it was for this reason!

"Crack."

While Su Ran was reflecting, the minute passed, and the thick layer of ice shattered, releasing Su Ran and his group of skeleton pets.

"Fatso, see where you can run now!"

The Ghost Fire in Su Ran’s eye sockets flickered rapidly as he summoned the Dark Bone Lion and Bone Centipede along with the Skeleton Shield Warrior. All charged into the underground chamber. Su Ran first checked his health and, seeing no serious damage, summoned the Sand Shield to protect himself, and then stepped down towards the chamber.

Undoubtedly, once bitten, twice shy; Su Ran made comprehensive preparations before choosing to confront this cunning fatty.

He had no choice, Su Ran didn’t want to be capsized in the proverbial ditch again, so he had to proceed cautiously.

However.

When Su Ran reached the bottom of the chamber, he found no sign of the fatty.

"Damn it, he’s escaped!"

Su Ran angrily shook the bone scythe in his hand, bellowing, "Fatso, I will not let you off!!!"

...

"Achoo!"

A plump player walked through the Ghost City, wondering to himself, "Who’s thinking of me?"