Underground prison.
A refined young man in adventurer's gear, his face etched with an expression unbefitting his delicate features, stared at the lion and the black donkey in the cell.
"You guys are such losers!!!"
"Mmmph—"
The black donkey tilted its head, two wisps of white vapor puffing from its nostrils, its bared teeth seeming to argue with the young man.
"Don't butt in if you can't even speak properly." The refined youth glanced dismissively at the black donkey, then kicked the rat-man, who was stripped down to just his underwear. "Third brother, you talk!"
"I have nothing to say."
The rat-man responded and lowered his head.
"Right, you don't have the qualifications to blabber here anyway." The refined youth sneered. "You, you're a complete failure, wasting the boss's meticulous training."
"..."
"Such good Necromancer Staffs, Necromancer Robes, and you were even given a secret manual on necromancy, and during the fight, you couldn't even summon a single skeleton. Aren't you ashamed!"
"This stronghold is anti-magic. What else could I do!"
The rat-man, wearing only his underwear, glared.
"Should I hit them with my staff?"
"Hmph!" Seeing the rat-man argue back, the refined youth's eyes widened. "You've got some backbone now, huh? Daring to bare your teeth at me?"
"Second Brother, that's not how you should put it."
Facing the youth's threat, the rat-man didn't back down.
"Aren't we brothers who've been loyal to you? You said you wanted to attack this stronghold, and without a second thought, Second Dog and Jack stood by your side."
"When we got there, yes... I really couldn't summon a skeleton horde."
"But wasn't it you who lost your nerve in the end? Second Dog wanted to charge in directly, and you, trembling for ages without saying a word, kept saying 'boom boom boom boom,' talking about activating combat engines?"
"Fine, you activated the combat engines, but then why didn't you fight? In the end, there was a retreat."
"We had two thousand people!"
"We were chased by a few hundred people across more than ten cave planes. How embarrassing is that?"
Upon hearing this, the usually aggressive refined youth scratched his neck, looked up at the sky for a long time, and then coughed.
"I did that for your own good."
"Didn't the black donkey say the leader of this stronghold was in the Obsidian realm? How could we possibly be their match? Besides, didn't I stay behind in the end to buy you time to escape?"
"But you guys didn't run!"
"Well, let me say something fair," Jack, the lion lying on the ground, coughed. "Brother Dou, we are very touched that you bought us time, but the problem is, you were captured within the first encounter."
The refined youth instantly fell silent again.
At this moment—
The ones held in the underground prison were none other than Hei Dou and his companions. And this refined young man was Hei Dou, who had signed a spiritual contract with Chen Yu.
That's right, he had transformed.
And he was very handsome!
"If we hadn't come to save you, would we have been captured?" Kuka also chimed in with a roll of his eyes. "We could have run back if we continued, but you insisted on making a dramatic stand. If you want to be like the boss, you need to have the ability, and yet you're still shouting here."
*Pfft.*
Suddenly, a chuckle echoed from the prison.
Hei Dou and the others, confined in the cell, all looked towards the source of the sound. Upon seeing who was laughing, they silently chose to ignore it and shifted their gaze away.
"I'm telling you, I let them capture me on purpose."
Hei Dou, withdrawing his gaze, said righteously, "I sensed treasures within this stronghold and was deliberately captured to bring some of it back."
"Oh~"
"I am a resource-type spirit beast, and my perception of these treasures is very keen. Also, you all know my original form is a cat! A CAT!!!! I can leave this place whenever I want!"
"Then leave."
"What you're saying is, with the boss gone, I'm at least the second-in-command of the camp. How can I abandon you guys?"
*Pfft.*
The familiar chuckle sounded again. Hei Dou, brimming with suppressed anger, turned back gritting his teeth.
"Ilia, I've tolerated you for a long time!" Hei Dou yelled. "Don't think that just because you're good-looking, have long legs, a good figure, beautiful eyes, and delicate skin, I won't get angry at you."
"Huh?!"
Ilia, who was being yelled at, looked up in confusion.
"What's wrong?"
"What do you think? You were laughing 'pfft pfft' the whole time. Were you laughing at me?" Hei Dou gritted his teeth tightly. "Don't push me."
"Oh, sorry, I wasn't laughing at you, I..."
Ilia pursed her lips with a smile, her eyes slightly raised.
"I was thinking about something happy."
"Huh?!"
"Yes, about something happy, very happy."
"What is it?"
"My sister is going to have a baby!" Ilia's smile was brilliant. Upon hearing this, Hei Dou's face darkened further. "Ilia, don't go too far. Do you think I'm a fool just because I'm not angry yet!"
"Hmm?"
Facing the enraged Hei Dou, Ilia blinked in confusion again.
"Why are you so mean to me? I helped you transform, and I voted for you as the main fighter. We're on the same side."
As she spoke, Ilia slightly curled her lips.
"On the contrary, you were right earlier. There are indeed treasures in this stronghold."
"You're also a resource spirit beast?" Hei Dou suddenly leaned in as if he had met an old acquaintance in a foreign land. Ilia shrugged, "What do you think?"
Seeing that look, Hei Dou knew he was overthinking.
Sighing,
Hei Dou plopped down onto the ground.
"How pathetic. This is my first time leading troops into battle, and I suffered such a heavy defeat. The boss will probably break my legs when he finds out."
"It's useless to say this now. We need to think about how to escape," Kuka said.
The black donkey also grunted in agreement.
"We can't escape," said Shan Gang You Tai, the young master of the hunting dog, shrugging. "The prison gate is made of fine iron. We can't break it at all. Even if we break it, there are heavy guards outside. Can we fight our way out in our current state?"
"We can't just stand here and do nothing."
While everyone was discussing countermeasures, Ilia walked around the prison with her hands behind her back as if nothing had happened, a smile occasionally gracing her lips.
"What are you smiling about?" Hei Dou frowned.
"Heh, this is my first time being captured and put in a dungeon. It feels so exciting," Ilia said with excitement. "You guys, will they torture us later? Should I scream louder?"
"What kind of torture tools will they use on me? Will they... strip me naked!"
"Will I resist or not when the time comes?"
"I..."
"Hey, you guys, when I scream later, should I change my voice?"
???
Suddenly, everyone in the dungeon was stunned, looking at Ilia in silence for a long time.
"Ilia, are you sick?"