Da Fei climbed along the ceiling to reach the entrance leading to the lower underground levels. The door at the entrance was tightly shut, guarded heavily by sentinels. In this situation, he would probably need to turn into a fly to get through. Ultimately, disguise was still necessary; it all depended on whether he could blend in.
Da Fei began observing intently from the ceiling. He saw the gatekeeping sentinels question everyone entering the lower levels before opening the door to let them in, which made Da Fei feel quite frustrated.
"Where to?" "What are you doing?" "Looking for whom?" Although they were simple questions, Da Fei wasnât sure he could answer them all. Especially with the dwarfsâ way of speakingâwho knows if heâd give himself away the moment he opened his mouth? After all, the task hint required him to avoid the sentinels as much as possible.
Just then, a patrol team passed beneath him, seemingly heading to the next level.
Da Fei raised an eyebrow. Would the sentinels question each of them one by one? He continued watching.
The answer was, the sentinels simply exchanged a few words with the leader and then opened the door for the whole team to pass.
So thatâs how it worked! Alright, heâd follow behind the big group and slip through unnoticed as "one more person." However, his uniform and those of the patrol soldiers obviously werenât the same, which would make him conspicuously stand out if he rashly followed them.
What to do?
Beer? Thatâs right! Shadowy figures had mentioned it. Beer was the key to getting through! But he couldnât just hand it out like he was offering cigarettes, could he?
While deep in thought, a few dwarfs carrying things came along, their outfits suggesting they did odd jobs. Da Fei raised an eyebrowâhe had an idea!
Da Fei quietly landed in a dark corner, appearing stealthily. He pulled a case of beer out of his inventory and carried it on his shoulder, then naturally followed behind the laborers, blending into their group.
Now, the team reached the gate. A sentinel barked, "Where are you going?"
The leading laborer mumbled, "Third floor, Room 304."
"Go!"
With a creak, the door opened, and they passed through!
Da Fei immediately followed, his heart pounding wildly! Closer! Closer! He was getting through the door! No way it was this easy, was it?
As Da Fei was about to quicken his pace, a loud shout came from behind, "You at the back, stop!"
Da Fei was shocked! Seriously? It still didnât work? What now?
Da Feiâs mind raced! Wait! Wait until the others had walked far enough and no one could question him, then heâd claim he was going to Room 304 as well. He had to have faith in his Super God-level disguise!
Da Fei feigned confusion and turned around slowly, only to see several sentinels approach with laughter. One person pulled a bottle of beer from Da Feiâs case and waved him onward, "Go, go, go!"
Jeez, you scared me to death!
However, after this episode, Da Fei got a good sense of the dwarfâs laid-back nature, and immediately had a plan of action. He promptly refilled with beer, rejoining the transport crew. As he moved through layers of guards, he was unimpeded, and followed the team straight to the third floor!
Easy, too easy! Ha ha ha! At the end of the day, things just worked out! Thatâs a dwarfâs trait, their combat prowess was top-notch, but their character was easy-going and careless. If it were elves, itâd be a different storyâthey were meticulous and hard to deal with. Even if you sneaked into their forest at night to steal a fruit, an arrow could come out of nowhere at any time!
Now, with two more levels to go before reaching the female clan leaderâs prison, there were no transport crews around. But no matter, Da Fei was confident in the beer.
At this moment, the third floor was blazing hot, with the rumbling sound of lava flowing faintly audible from the lower levels, getting closer to the ground.
This time, Da Fei carried three cases of beer on his shoulders all at once, panting heavily, his head bowed under the weight, making communication difficult. The wobbling beer crates shifted attention even further.
Sure enough, as Da Fei appeared, the sentinelsâ gazes were immediately fixed on the beer!
As he approached, Da Fei intentionally tilted sideways. The beer crates clinked loudly, prompting the watchmen to rush over and stabilize them, "Canât let the beer fall!"
"Youâre carrying too much; let us lighten your load, ha ha ha!"
With that, each grabbed two bottles of beer and drank heartily, "So refreshing! Itâs great to have drinks in this hellhole!"
Perfect, thatâs the effect he wanted. While they were engrossed in drinking, Da Fei slipped through the door into the next level.
The fourth floor greeted him with sweltering heat, a crimson glow filled the area, and the deafening roar of rolling lava was overwhelming. It was a vast underground magma pool, akin to hell! On the banks of the magma pool, countless fire elements and earth element patrol soldiers roamed back and forth.
Within the iron cages along the lava pool walls, a myriad of strange and bizarre creatures lay capturedâthe only living meat in this hellish realm. Damn! Was this a prison for prisoners or an animal torture chamber?
It seemed there were no dwarf sentinels on this level, which would automatically arouse suspicion if he appeared. Da Fei had no choice but to activate Stealth and silently head toward the entrance, while his stamina quickly drained in this unbearable heat!
Impressive! This was indeed a natural cage. When a creatureâs stamina ran out, even a dragon had to coil up, a tiger had to crouch down. If this place was so harsh, what about the lowest level? Were demigods held there? How could his delicate beauty endure this? Was her status equal to that of a demigod? Da Feiâs urgency to rescue heightened.