After an unbearably long sleepless night spent keeping watch, the warm light of dawn finally shone down upon the ruined city. Although everyone's spirits had recovered somewhat, a cruel reality immediately presented itself: The soldiers' and refugees' supplies of food and ammunition had been completely exhausted. Although Chen Luo was more than capable of supplying everything from the System Shop, continuously taking out enormous quantities of equipment and food in such an unreasonable manner would arouse extremely dangerous suspicions about his abilities. Chen Luo understood that he could not take such a risk.
While everyone was hesitating over whether they should force themselves to keep moving or stop here, Chen Luo took the initiative and made a decisive decision: the entire group would set up camp and stay here for a relatively long period before setting out again toward Shanhe City. Chen Luo himself also needed this period of rest to gather precious and rare materials to repair the Myriad Extremes Divine Sword, while grinding levels and upgrading his personal equipment before leading a large group into the territory of unfamiliar factions.
Not a single soldier or refugee suspected this plan. After all, following a week of exhausting battles, everyone's bodies needed time to recover from their injuries and recuperate. Without hesitation, Chen Luo led the entire group to choose a relatively intact high-end hotel nearby and establish it as their second temporary base. Standing on a high-floor balcony, Chen Luo looked up at the sky: the lights of the coordinate markers he had once marked on his mental map were still flashing. Before leaving this land, he absolutely had to return and completely gather the abundant mineral resources hidden deep underground.
He immediately got to work on the usual cleanup: sealing off all routes leading to the upper floors, assigning separate bedrooms to everyone, and arranging a clean communal bathroom. After more than three hours of hard work, everything had been properly arranged.
-"This is unbelievable, little brother!" Zhang Zewei walked around the neatly arranged room, exclaiming in admiration: "To be able to clean everything up and prepare it this thoroughly in the blink of an eye... Looks like you've got quite a few unusual tools hidden in your luggage, huh?" The rescue captain could not help but feel astonished. The fact that Chen Luo had been able to single-handedly maintain the entire team's ammunition supply for more than a week was already an extremely puzzling mystery.
-"Just a few simple survival tricks, that's all." Chen Luo waved his hand and answered with an utterly calm expression. The children standing behind him immediately pursed their lips in unison and shot him disdainful, mocking looks — they knew all too well that their big brother had started putting on an act again, but since they had no evidence, they could only silently endure it.
*RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!*
Suddenly, a violent earthquake erupted without the slightest warning! The entire building shook violently, while the ceiling trembled and sent bricks and stones crashing down in a continuous roar. It was the first time Chen Luo had directly endured such a brutal earthquake in this world, and for a moment he was stunned, unable to react. However, thanks to his extraordinary physical attributes after repeatedly leveling up, he quickly regained his balance, avoiding the awkwardness of the others, and hurriedly rushed toward the open courtyard.
-"What a pain! What the hell is going on? This aftershock still isn't going to stop?!" Helber complained with a grimace as he crawled out from the rubble, his face filled with unease.
-"Is something unusual happening, Brother Chen Luo?" Chris leapt over beside him and asked in a low voice. Having grown up in a seclusive Demi-Human City that had shut itself off from the outside world, the little wolf had no understanding of the world's abnormal geological changes.
-"If I remember correctly, this is a resonance phenomenon caused by the residual energy of the Black and White Society... Looks like someone just activated..."
Before Chen Luo could finish speaking, *CRACK!* — right beneath his feet, the ground suddenly split open into a narrow fissure! Chen Luo stepped into empty space, completely unable to react in time, and instantly slipped down into the darkness below!
It happened far too quickly and silently. Several dozen seconds later, when Chris and Zhang Zewei could no longer hear Chen Luo's voice, they turned back in alarm, only to find that the young man had vanished without a trace. The fissure in the ground had also automatically closed, becoming perfectly flat as though it had never existed.
***
*SWISH! SWISH! BANG!*
Chen Luo slid for a long distance through a series of narrow magical conduits before being violently thrown into a vast domed space, where he lost consciousness.
After being unconscious for several minutes, Chen Luo suddenly opened his eyes. Everything around him was pitch-black. He struggled to sit up, scratched his head, and then called out loudly:
-"Heyyy! Is anyone up there?!"
His voice rang out and echoed rapidly throughout the stone walls. Chen Luo waited patiently, but the only response was an eerie silence. Half helpless and half joking, he shouted once more:
-"I fell into a hole! Can someone pull me up?!"
Once again, only dead silence answered him. Only then did Chen Luo narrow his eyes and carefully examine the surrounding stone walls. The surface of the ancient brick walls was densely covered with Rune characters emitting a faint fluorescent glow — this was a high-level magical formation for sealing away sound and information. This place was clearly hiding an extremely important secret, which was why it had been completely isolated from the outside world.
With the knowledge of a veteran gamer, Chen Luo immediately recognized this familiar scene: this was one of the special Hidden Dungeons — the Black and White Dungeon! A famous challenge space in *Infinite Profession Users*, renowned for its long history and notoriously terrifying difficulty.
This place was frightening not only because of the magical projection monsters recorded by the Travelers and Truth-Seers, but also because of the "Guardian" — the ancient AI machine of the Black and White Society that governed this underground chamber, which was extremely cunning and scheming.
However, at this moment, Chen Luo had nothing left to fear. With no companions to hold him back, he leisurely began his exploration.
*HUM!*
The moment he took a step, countless strands of gentle blue light lit up one after another along the Rune patterns, crawling all the way to the top of the dome. The sudden burst of light forced Chen Luo to squint and shield his eyes. When he opened them again, he could not help but be stunned: before him was a gigantic underground space filled with uneven, suspended stone structures. Immediately afterward, the light source automatically lowered its brightness to a moderate level, maintaining the simulated day-and-night cycle of Rune technology.
Chen Luo smiled excitedly and began his "clean-out" operation. He passed through one tunnel after another, and whenever he saw stone slabs engraved with precious magical Runes, he would take out his tools, chip and excavate them clean, and store them in his bag. After more than three hours of painstaking work, he had harvested a large quantity of high-grade Rune Stones.
When he reached the end of the corridor, Chen Luo's eyes stopped upon a sturdy stone gate covered in dense Rune energy. Chen Luo gently pushed the door open and walked inside without encountering the slightest resistance.
-"Congratulations, Traveler #6676, on successfully returning to the organization! Unlocking all gates to welcome the honored member's return!"
An extremely faint, emotionless mechanical voice came from the dome above, too quiet for Chen Luo to hear. Instantly, all the defensive magical energy underground flowed backward into the center of the room and then moved toward a direction completely unknown to Chen Luo.
Chen Luo leisurely walked into the hidden room. The ancient stone desk was covered with leather scrolls, records, and countless sophisticated experimental devices. A strangely familiar feeling suddenly surged through his heart. What was strange was that, according to his memories from playing the game in the past, this hidden room had never existed in the Black and White Dungeon! A huge question mark arose in Chen Luo's mind, but he quickly pushed it aside and approached the wooden board hanging on the wall.
-"This is..."
Chen Luo's eyes widened in astonishment. Five pieces of equipment emitting fantastical auras were floating on the wooden board. The moment he approached, the System's notification sound immediately rang out sharply:
-"Master recognition confirmed! Congratulations, Host, you possess 5/6 items from the Black and White Society Collection!
The items obtained are:
1. 「Spectrum Headphones - Source of Sound」
2. 「Black and White Cloak」
3. 「Black and White Backpack」
4. 「Black and White Face Mask」
5. 「Technology Flag - Black and White」"
Chen Luo picked up each item and inspected it. Aside from the unfamiliar Spectrum Headphones, the other four were all signature pieces of equipment bearing the distinctive symbols of the members of the Black and White Society. If his deduction was correct, then the missing sixth item was undoubtedly 「Truth-Seer - Tablet of Truth」!
The Black and White Society — those who called themselves "The Traveler" — were famous for carrying Truth-Seers as they traveled throughout the world, using magical power to copy and control technological spiritual entities and turn them into their own strength.
*SWISH!*
At that exact moment, in the darkest and most gloomy corner of the room, a brilliant blue light suddenly burst forth and then vanished, revealing something that completely shocked Chen Luo...