At midnight, the castle gate, a suddenly appearing stranger, the spoils ordered to be handed over...

All these factors combined make the scene look like it’s straight out of a legendary story filled with intrigue.

Especially since the prince’s guards behind Edgar don’t appear to be easygoing. If conflict arises, it’s hard to say how Uffie will fare; Fanen might encounter trouble.

It’s just unclear why a few guards have such strange looks in their eyes towards Uffie and the others.

It’s really strange, and they occasionally glance towards their arms and limbs, with a hint of fear in their eyes.

What’s going on?

"Lanler’s orders?" Uffie asked curiously, "Since when has he been interested in this sort of thing? It’s not like him at all."

Edgar seemed to have anticipated that the other party wouldn’t obediently hand over the Demon Clan. He raised his hand to take a scroll from one of the guards and said, "This contains orders personally written by His Highness Lanler. Want to take a look?"

"Alright then, I’ll leave this guy to you."

Uffie’s sudden line made Edgar pause.

"Let’s go, let’s go, it’s a wrap, how lucky to not have to run to the Guild again." She stretched lazily while calling Fanen and the others to leave, "I heard a caravan loaded with Sain specialties arrived today, the restaurants will be busy tonight, we better hurry for a good spot."

"No worries, I had Isha secure us a table. If we can have roasted whole pig tonight, that would be perfect." Fanen cracked a rare smile, straightforward and joyful, as if he had developed a particular fondness for meat since Beastification.

"Oh, oh, you’re quite considerate, you rascal!" Uffie couldn’t help but praise.

"Uh... well..."

Edgar watched the two completely immersed in the joyful anticipation of "What’s for dinner tonight?" and had no idea what to say.

According to the typical plot progression, shouldn’t Uffie be suspicious? He presents evidence to counter, then Uffie questions again, he finds more evidence, leading to a thrilling intellectual showdown and declares his triumphant victory?

He had prepared plenty of evidence in his favor, yet the situation didn’t fit his expectations, did it?

Uffie, are you really this indifferent about capturing the Demon Clan?

"What’s the matter, is there anything else?" Uffie glanced back at him, her expression akin to a subcontractor who just hopes their client deals with the troublesome element to enjoy some peace.

"...Nothing more."

Edgar shook his head, waved to the guards and soldiers, and the large group immediately left with him, leaving only Fanen with Uffie.

On the way back, Edgar’s expression remained peculiar, baffled by the situation.

He was indeed the one who successfully acquired the Demon Clan, but why did he feel so uncomfortable?

He shook his head, dispelling the gloomy mood, and forced himself to perk up, walking to the magic cage imprisoning the Demon Clan, scrutinizing the large, muscular body and feeling a sense of relief:

"Finally captured one, I’m restless with anticipation."

Meanwhile, Uffie and Fanen were heading towards their usual tavern.

However, the anticipation for delicious food had long faded from their faces, replaced by a discussion about Edgar’s indifferent behavior earlier.

"I’ve never heard of Lanler being interested in the Demon Clan. What are he and Edgar trying to do?" Uffie muttered to herself, lacking critical information and unable to make any sense.

"Should we investigate?" Fanen asked.

Uffie pondered and replied, "While I’m curious about their intentions, they’re unlikely to harm the people, so investigating doesn’t need too much attention."

She trusted Lanler’s character; although he seemed lazy and unproductive all day, he genuinely cared about his citizens.

If he wanted to take the Demon Clan, perhaps it was truly for research purposes.

Uffie looked around. At this hour, some workers leaving their jobs and early-exiting adventurers from the Dungeon were already roaming the streets, and the nightlife had just begun.

"But, doesn’t it feel like Black Stone City has changed a lot recently?"

She maneuvered through the crowd sideways, almost separating from Fanen.

"Isn’t there too many pedestrians on the road!?"

"No need to wonder, they must be drawn by the Sain Dungeon!" Fanen had no space even to turn his head, and he had to tiptoe to walk because minotaurs over two meters tall were squeezing him from both sides, fearing he’d be crushed between them.

After walking for a while, the road was blocked again, this time it’s soldiers clashing with a cart from a guild bearing the sign "Bed’s Toys," escalating to the point of drawing weapons.

This was just the start of the nightlife, who knew how crowded Black Stone City would become during the midnight adventurer end-of-work rush!

Count Gehard’s tensions managing public order must be off the charts.

"Let’s take another route."

In helplessness, the two had to rely on their familiarity with the city and slipped into a less crowded alley. After several twists and turns, they finally arrived at the usual tavern, where Isha sat at an empty table, bored, and hurriedly waved when she saw them.

"You’re finally back. Luckily, I ordered a few dishes in advance, or the ingredients from Sain would have been snatched up."

Uffie glanced at the bustling tavern in surprise and said, "How did even this place become lively?"

This was clearly the treasure shop she had painstakingly found, the kind that hardly anyone knew.

"Look over there." Isha pointed to the wall, where a simple map hung, seemingly of... Nimgefo?

"This shop has introduced a major discount event for adventurers, suddenly becoming popular, and has also done a series of decorations related to the Dungeon."

"According to the owner, the map there is a magic tool. He signed a contract with a strategy group; the map drawn by the strategy group will be updated on it in real-time. Every time adventurers explore more places, the map increases a bit, isn’t it interesting?"

"That really is..." Uffie silently mourned for a second in her heart for her lost treasure shop.

Every adventurer’s equipment is different, and if the place they often adventure in has a Dungeon, their equipment more or less carries a mark of that Dungeon.

Uffie knows all the Dungeons within the Warrior Country like the back of her hand. At this moment, sitting in the shop and taking a brief look, she can find that the adventurers gathered here come from at least five different Dungeons, and those without marks are even more.

She secretly marvels at the influence of Sain Dungeon, but then thinks carefully that the current scene is not incomprehensible.

"Whatever, let’s eat and drink."

She quickly immersed herself in the solace brought by the food, feeling that a person’s efforts in this life are all just for eating some good food.

In the noisy tavern, the magic map hanging on the wall kept updating bit by bit.

Although the map drawn by the adventurer can’t be said to be exactly the same as Nimgefo, only abstract, those who have been into Nimgefo for field exploration can still see some clues. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Generally speaking, the strategy group represents the current forefront of adventurers’ exploration. If you exclude extraordinary people like Uffie and Lanle’s guards, then this group drawing the map indeed represents the forefront progress of the masses.

They have already mapped the way beyond the checkpoint ahead, explored a small part of Storm Hill, and seem to have found a road leading to Stoneveil City; they just haven’t reached the gates.

Notably, the map has also uncovered Flying Dragon Yakir’s Yakir Lake and its surrounding areas, and a question mark was placed by the strategy group in a place far from Yakir Lake.

If Gong Qiying were here, he might be able to see that there seems to be an entrance to an independent area outside Nimgefo named Crying Peninsula.

Finally, someone found the way there. It really wasn’t easy.

For adventurers coming to eat at the tavern, having such a real-time updated magic map aligned with the strategy group’s progress was indeed extremely convenient.

In the following days, people often came to the tavern to consume, just to glance at the magic map again, making this place a bustling hot spot, so popular that Uffie couldn’t even find a seat.

The magic map rapidly updated in these days, showing the strategy group’s progress through the map.

Not long after, they reached Stoneveil City. No one knows what they encountered, only that two days later, the gates of Stoneveil City were marked with a bright red cross, signaling extreme danger.

The strategy group temporarily gave up on Stoneveil City and instead started exploring the nearby Storm Hill, marking some valuable resources along the way, benefiting everyone greatly.

Then they drew a golden circle on Storm Hill, which represents a mark of significant discovery.

Adventurers followed the map’s footsteps back and discovered the truth behind the mark—it was Benar’s location.

In the following days, the tavern owner suddenly received a lot of complaints, for one reason:

The map stopped updating!

For several consecutive days, the strategy group hovered around Benar and went nowhere, so the magic map naturally stopped updating.

The tavern owner couldn’t reach them, and was incredibly anxious, who knows what they’re doing staying over by Benar all day!

However, many adventurers can probably guess what the strategy group is doing, they must be doing the same thing everyone else is:

Learning combat skills with Benar!

That feeling of enlightenment after being taught once, like suddenly getting a breakthrough, is a rare and precious experience for any martial artist. After experiencing it once, you absolutely don’t want to lose it again; you must accumulate more Lune to take advantage of this feeling and receive continuous teaching before it fades!

Benar’s teachings spread through the adventurer circles like an ice... no, like a Happiness Egg, spreading instantly.

For a time, the word "combat skill" dominated people’s discussion topics.

In the Warrior Country, where combat skills had been dormant for a long time, they seemed to show signs of resurfacing, which naturally caught the attention of some reform factions, and criticisms against combat skills and even Benar emerged together.

A few days after Benar was discovered, Black Stone City and even surrounding cities had begun a battle of words concerning the conservatives and reform factions.

This has transcended the simple topic of magic and combat skills, turning into a collision of different people with different philosophies, potentially affecting a larger scope than imagined.

As the arguments began to escalate, at this critical juncture, new news reached the adventurer circles.

Glory Dungeon, mutation happened!

That is the Dungeon ruled by the Gladiator City Lord who had intersected with Gong Qiying.