Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?

The dungeon authority handover ceremony in the country named Red went very smoothly.

From now on, Gong Qiying has his fourth dungeon, becoming the distinguished landlord with four houses.

Red truly lives up to being a small border country; the entire nation only has this one dungeon. It's fair to say that whichever City Lord gains this place can directly paint the country in their colors.

Unfortunately, due to the chaos caused by the fleeing Sealed Item, not many are willing to manage it, and Youlesa took it over out of a sense of responsibility.

While transferring authority, Youlesa described the general situation surrounding this dungeon.

After listening, Gong Qiying finally understood why the combat opportunity failed—there were too many unfavorable factors.

The first point worth noting is that the Teleportation Gate of Red Underground City is located within a city of this country!

This city is where the Hidden Blood Parasite first broke out during the Meteor Shower night, and also the first place in the country to fall.

Groups of Hidden Blood Parasites roam here; even if large battalions go to infect other nearby cities, there are still quite a few wandering inside the city. Powerful mutant types, even the Insect King, quietly lurk here.

In short, there are hardly any living people left here.

In the short period that Youlesa has been operating the dungeon, the main source of spiritual power has actually been humans controlled by parasites!

Due to the high cost of Monsters with excellent blood quality and parasites remodeled by the Evil God being more interested in human blood, Red Underground City is now in a deficit, needing blood transfusions from Youlesa's other dungeons to maintain operations.

However, Youlesa also mentioned an interesting fact.

The physical constitution of the Reid people is "weaker" compared to other nations, but in contrast, their agility talent exceeds ordinary people, and their spiritual power is more resilient than normal races—not more powerful, but unyielding. Sadly, it still can't resist the direct control of Hidden Blood Parasites.

Their God closed one door yet opened two windows; whether this is a loss or a gain is unknown.

But if their spiritual power is truly resilient, it would undoubtedly be a great asset to Gong Qiying's plan.

Another issue is that Red Underground City can't attract more parasites, not just because the Monsters' blood is unappealing to parasites, but also because the Monsters created by Youlesa are too strong, deterring parasites from entering with hosts.

The dungeon has a subconscious attraction to the fleeing Sealed Items, which they cannot perceive, but it doesn't force them in. When they subjectively believe entering the dungeon will cause danger, they develop a resistance, greatly reducing the effect of this attraction.

Finally, Youlesa asked whether to inform Red Teeth or White Blood and whether their help is needed. To this, Gong Qiying replied:

"We'll see when the time comes."

After bidding farewell to Bonds Dungeon, he returned to his faithful Sain.

Looking at the familiar altar, he couldn't help but mutter to himself:

"Could the Evil God also be a fleeing Sealed Item?"

This was just speculation, but he thought it wasn't entirely impossible.

Regardless of whether the Hidden Dull Star is a fleeing Sealed Item, at least it's very likely aware of the Dungeon Lord's existence and matters related to Sealed Items.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have felt necessary to modify the behavior of Hidden Blood Parasites to be more interested in human blood, even if its aim was to induce greater disaster.

"I need to figure out how to completely kill this guy..."

Having an Evil God around makes him uneasy; before knowing of its existence, life seemed peaceful, but after being aware, he felt uncomfortable not taking it down.

In some ways, Gong Qiying's life creed is pursuing peace of mind.

If the Hidden Dull Star dared to reveal its true form, he'd dare to challenge it with an all-star brawl.

"Let's not dwell on this nonsense for now."

He scribbled in his notebook, organizing intelligence gathered from Youlesa, having his own ideas on tackling Hidden Blood Parasites.

Earlier, he mixed Bloodborne-treated blood with ordinary human blood; the resulting sweet aroma elicited a fierce reaction from parasites, akin to alcoholics craving booze.

This situation seems to prove that mixing human blood with some non-human but appealing blood might achieve a more enticing effect.

Now, he took out a transparent box containing parasite specimens he casually collected from Youlesa.

"Alright, time for the experiment to begin."

With a wave of Gong Qiying's hand, dozens of differently colored blood masses floated in mid-air.

There was blood from the higher-ups, Ancient Dragons, Pokemon, Desolate Gods… a collection of blood akin to Immortal People being like Hemp.

He mixed each with ordinary human blood to test the reaction of the parasites.

The final result proved that the blood from the higher-ups worked best.

The blood of Ancient Dragons and Desolate Gods seemed completely unable to coexist with human blood.

The blood of Dragon Feasters worked well and was listed as a consideration.

Pokemon and humans… this strange combination held no interest for the parasites.

Overall performance indicates that Bloodborne blood worked best!

Aside from its compatibility with human bodies, just the inherent influence from higher-up blood makes it the top choice.

Since there are no supreme beings in this world, the source of this latent influence points to Sain, specifically manifesting as an increased attraction of Sain to parasites.

This effect, similar to "addiction," will help him manage these sealed items effectively.

Youlesa also mentioned that the Hidden Blood Parasite can spread through fluid exchange and prefers to infect others through blood during skirmishes between the host and others.

Isn't this convenient? Our Bloodborne Hunters love nothing more than being covered in blood, favoring an eye-for-an-eye approach.

Moreover, the monsters in Bloodborne can be either strong or ordinary, forming traps for attracting parasites.

"A troop from the Warrior Country has also arrived in Red, right?"

Gong Qiying was scribbling and drawing in his notebook.

"Then let Sain give both Red and the Warrior Country a warm greeting."

The purpose of constructing a branch dungeon this time is to address the issues with the sealed items, so there's no need to expand the map too much. After all, there are few people in Red, and a vast area would be unsustainable; placing all Bloodborne maps in such a border country wouldn't be efficient.

So, the final scene Gong Qiying decided to set in Red is—

Yarn.

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"It seems the King of Red intends to hinder the rescue army from entering the disaster area for relief?"

In the Warrior Country, Imperial Capital, Royal Palace.

A young man adorned in splendid attire, laden with gold and silver decorations that made him appear quite "formidable," looked at the brief in his hand, slightly furrowing his slender eyebrows.

The messenger kneeling on one knee before the young man replied respectfully, "This is the general's speculation, Your Majesty."

This richly attired young man, who exuded pride with every gesture, was the current King of the Warrior Country—Banto Kama Rezan.

As the leading figure of the reformist faction, who stands in stark opposition to the traditional forces within the country, this young king is adored by the youth of the Warrior Country today.

This adoration enabled him to defeat other princes and ascend to the throne, leaving the old King Fred to quietly enjoy his twilight years.

Banto stroked the brief, speaking to himself, "What's that fisherman king, who's only good at peddling his catch, planning this time?"

He couldn't understand why the other party wanted to block the rescue army from entering the ravaged areas.

Upon hearing that the parasitic monsters are infectious, the only one willing to assist their country turned out to be the Warrior Country—though that small-scale rescue army was organized because a general volunteered, and it seems the army gathered top to bottom simply because they love seafood.

"Inform the general that if the King of Red is ungrateful, have the army withdraw," Banto said with an indifferent expression. "We are more than willing to turn Red into ashes to block the monsters once it has completely fallen."

"Yes!"

The messenger quickly departed.

"Still as ruthless as ever, boy." An old man's voice came from across the tea table.

Banto smiled, slightly bending his body, and said, "It's all thanks to your guidance, Lord Gapar."

Sitting opposite him was Sword Saint Gapar.

Gapar swirled his teacup, "Spare me; I merely told you to be decisive in your actions when you were a kid."

"Hahaha."

Banto laughed, then turned serious and said:

"So, as for requesting you to inherit and teach our country's traditional combat skills, do you have an answer now?"

"I'm certainly willing to learn more of your combat skills, which you're on the verge of losing, and it's no problem to teach talented individuals on the side."

"That's splendid." Banto was about to toast with tea instead of wine in celebration.

"But, have you really thought this through?"

Gapar's words left his hand holding the cup suspended in mid-air.

"Though it's somewhat irreverent to say, the War God is a petty deity who only acknowledges combat skills and would never bestow blessings upon those who practice both combat skills and magic. Are you truly set on promoting magic warriors nationwide?"

Banto put down his teacup and said:

"This is the hope for our country's future."

Seeing this, Gapar didn't pursue the matter further; he sipped his hot tea slowly and said:

"Alright, but I didn't come solely to see you, kid. Where's my daughter? I heard she ran off to your side, constantly gallivanting around. She never lets me have peace of mind."

Upon hearing this, Banto paused, his expression somewhat awkward as he said:

"That rescue army's general... is your daughter."

"Pfft—"

Gapar sprayed his sip of hot tea.