Once again, thanks for the kofis. Here are the remaining nine bonus chapters. Regularly scheduled chapters are gonna be uploaded tomorrow and the next day!

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While the battle raged fiercely outside, Shanhai dragged Jian Xingyi away through a narrow path.

“You bastard!” Cola shouted, “You leave us here to do all the heavy lifting while you make a clean getaway!”

Though he said this, Cola still led the others to provide cover for their escape; otherwise, the followers swarming from all directions wouldn’t spare a single player.

Once the two had broken free from the fray, Shanhai said, “We need to find the source of the lava.”

Jian Xingyi nodded.

Only after finding the source could they figure out how to proceed.

Now, either they’d find a solution first, or Cola’s group would wipe them out—either outcome was fine.

Jian Xingyi asked curiously, “But where would the source be? I thought the system just randomly generated a spot for the lava to erupt?”

“No, the lava throughout the entire volcano is interconnected. The map for Dawn’s Descent is incredibly detailed.”

Shanhai explained it carefully to Jian Xingyi.

The lava in the Lava Volcano all comes from deep underground; the source everyone has discovered so far is the Earth’s core within the Fire God’s belly. In other words, this dungeon is already at the source, so we just need to find the “entrance” to the lava within the dungeon.

Jian Xingyi tried to wrap his head around it. “So, since this dungeon is located at the Earth’s core, lava flows through it. We need to find the path that runs from the underground through this dungeon to the surface.”

“Exactly.”

“Then how do we find it?”

“There’s a type of Dodo Beast that lives in the lava.”

This Dodo Beast is unlike other creatures; it lives underground year-round, is unafraid of lava, and even uses lava when attacking. If they can find traces of this Dodo Beast and pursue it, it will instinctively flee to what it considers the safest and most advantageous place—the lava.

Jian Xingyi swallowed hard. “Then its level… must be very high, right?”

“Mm.”

It’s not just high—it’s S-rank. Not only is it as powerful as the Wolf King, but it also uses lava.

But seeing Shanhai’s calm and composed demeanor, Jian Xingyi felt reassured.

Shanhai raised an eyebrow. “Anyway, you’re not afraid of lava.”

This put Shanhai’s mind at ease; at least Jian Xingyi wouldn’t get hurt easily. As long as he wasn’t submerged in the lava, Jian Xingyi—blessed by the Priest—would be fine even if he got splashed with it.

“That’s true…”

So Shanhai took out a strange spherical item.

Seeing Jian Xingyi’s curiosity, Shanhai explained, “‘This is a Sonar I got from the Rainforest dungeon; it can emit sound waves that attract monsters.’”

Perhaps it’s hard to imagine, but Shanhai—usually taciturn and aloof—was patiently explaining everything step by step.

“Have you been to Rainforest Mountain?”

“Not really, I just ran the dungeon there once.”

“Oh…” Jian Xingyi scratched his head. Because of the Doctor’s letter, if they could survive the zombie horde, he really did want to explore further afield—including crossing Rainforest Mountain and Wave Mountain to reach the Peaceful Mountain the Doctor had mentioned.

Once the sonic wave was activated, Jian Xingyi could faintly hear a low humming sound.

This soundwave wasn’t meant for human ears, so the two of them didn’t notice much at first, but soon other creatures began to slowly draw near…

This dungeon presented players with a long-extinct lava volcano and its original ecosystem; now, numerous beasts could be seen roaring as they lunged toward them.

Shanhai stood by the sonic wave, dispatching them one by one, while Jian Xingyi hid behind him and lent a hand.

Among the attackers were bizarre-looking lizards, wild boars, unidentified creatures, and bats… What they all had in common was that their bodies were covered in magma and hard shells—some even had barbs—and their colors were utterly eerie, a jumble of red and blue.

Boom!

Boom! Boom!!

Shanhai took them down one by one.

Some creatures managed to grapple with Shanhai for a while, while others, being too massive, engaged him in a chase.

Meanwhile, Jian Xingyi stayed hidden, quietly casting his skills, and once again marveled at how arrogant Shanhai had become due to his power.

Ordinary players in this S-rank dungeon would definitely be dodging monsters; unless it was unavoidable, like being infected by a cultist, who would be shouting here?

However, since guests kept arriving, Jian Xingyi actually gained quite a bit.

【Player 【Xinghe】 obtained 3 Lambs】

【Player 【Xinghe】 obtained 5 Piglets】

After fighting for a while, they finally spotted their target—

“Eeyaa—!”

A medium-sized Dodo Beast roared toward them; as it flapped its wings, lava could be seen dripping from them.

The Dodo Beast was bright red all over, like a blazing flame.

Jian Xingyi’s eyes lit up.

At the same time, Shanhai hurled his spear at it.

“Swoosh!” The spear pierced the Dodo Beast, but only wounded it—not fatally.

The Dodo Beast, furious and frenzied, tried to attack Shanhai, but was so intimidated by his imposing presence and killing intent that it stumbled backward repeatedly. Just as it hesitated, Shanhai hurled his spear with overwhelming force, piercing the Dodo Beast through the other side.

With a long, furious howl, the Dodo Beast flew away, filled with rage and resentment.

Jian Xingyi watched, completely dumbfounded.

That guy, Shanhai… he scared off an S-class Dodo Beast just by unleashing his full aura.

After the Dodo Beast flew away, the two of them gave chase.

Shanhai held Jian Xingyi’s hand and led him forward, while Jian Xingyi followed the glowing points to guide Shanhai.

The two couldn’t possibly count how many narrow or wide paths they’d run through, or how many caves they’d passed through; they simply charged forward, blindly following the glowing points.

Jian Xingyi’s legs were numb from running; he felt as though Shanhai were dragging him forward, and even when he had no strength left, he was still being pulled along.

“Gurgle…”

After passing through a tunnel, the previously dim surroundings suddenly opened up.

A blinding crimson filled their vision. The ground was covered in bubbling lava, flowing slowly to form a river. They couldn’t see where it ended or where it led, but Jian Xingyi guessed it might lead back to the surface.

Yet this lava differed from what they’d seen on the surface. While surface lava required direct contact to cause harm, this was akin to a volcanic eruption—the heat made Jian Xingyi feel dizzy and disoriented, struggling to breathe, and his whole body ached.

The heat was so intense it stung his skin. Shanhai pulled out a temperature-control device and tossed it to Jian Xingyi, then turned to fight the Duoduo Beast himself.

Splash—!

Sure enough, the Duoduo Beast used its wings to churn up lava and splash it at the two of them. Shanhai dodged while pulling out his rifle and aiming it at the beast’s head.

The Dodo Beast let out a piercing screech and plunged headfirst into the lava, sending a massive wave of molten rock hurtling toward Shanhai.

Jian Xingyi: “……!”

Jian Xingyi reacted with lightning speed, rushing forward to embrace Shanhai and summoning a wall of nuts around them.

The lava struck the nut wall, with the excess splashing onto Jian Xingyi’s back.

“Phew…”

Jian Xingyi turned to look. That clever Dodo Beast was rolling and leaping incessantly in the lava, flapping its wings to keep the lava splashing out. Shanhai found it difficult to approach for the moment; unless he charged recklessly, but that would surely result in injury.

“I’ll handle this…!” Jian Xingyi pulled out his gun and charged forward, firing at the mass of lava while covered in it himself, forcing the Dodo Beast to stick its head out.

But the moment the Dodo Beast flew out, a loud “Bang!” rang out—it had been precisely shot down by Shanhai.

“Yay!!” Jian Xingyi quickly wiped the lava off his body. He noticed a faint redness on his skin, but it wasn’t a serious injury—just a bit uncomfortable.

Praise the Fire Spirit Flower!

Praise the Priest!!

Praise the Fire God!!!

Shanhai stepped forward, gripped Jian Xingyi’s wrist, and examined it, furrowing his brow slightly.

It turned out that although Jian Xingyi wasn’t afraid of lava, too much of it would still have an effect.

“Oh, it’s fine! It’ll heal on its own if you wait a bit longer. Let’s hurry and check out what’s going on with the lava.”

This place… must be the source!

After the two arrived, they discovered that the lava here was different from elsewhere—it could be harvested.

However, after harvesting, it appeared in his inventory as just a small vial. When he checked the vial’s description, it stated that it could be handed over to a follower.

In other words, since the dungeon quest required a follower to drink the lava, the lava here could be harvested—but only in this small vial. The vial’s capacity was roughly… one big mouthful, or two small ones.

If you click a hundred times, you’ll have at most a hundred bottles in your inventory.

If they wanted to use this lava on the zombie horde, Jian Xingyi figured they’d have to sit here clicking until tomorrow and still wouldn’t have enough.

Jian Xingyi sighed. It seemed they wouldn’t be able to take the lava out after all.

After all, the lava was too hot, and they didn’t have any containers to carry it in.

Jian Xingyi opened his backpack to delete the bottles inside. After all, even if they collected them, with two full-power and two T1 players on their team, it would take too much time to pretend to be priests and trick the followers into drinking them—it would be better to just physically dispose of them.

It was at that very moment that Jian Xingyi noticed the description for Wolf Fang had updated.

Huh…?

Wolf Fang was a special item they’d obtained yesterday after killing the Gravekeeper Wolf. Jian Xingyi now saw a line of text appear beneath the item.

【A wolf’s fang is one of the hardest things in the world, a symbol of strength and the predator.】

Hard…

Jian Xingyi opened the crafting table and, sure enough, saw a new craftable item appear.

【Interdimensional Container】

【Materials: Wolf Fang, Iron Item, Eye of the Interdimensional Realm】

Jian Xingyi: “……!”

Sure enough, any mysterious item he couldn’t understand or that lacked a description would reveal its details when the time came to use it—and it would come in handy!

Jian Xingyi read the description. This set contained two containers, meaning that as long as he threw one into the lava and carried the other on his person, the two spaces would connect, allowing him to continuously draw lava from the container.

This is a great item!!

Not only is it useful for this zombie horde, but it’s sure to come in handy in the future, too!

But here’s the problem.

The Eye of the Otherworld… what on earth is that?

He’s missing one ingredient!

Jian Xingyi scratched his head. “Can’t craft it…”

Shanhai was also puzzled; he had no idea what this Eye of the Otherworld was either.

“It’s fine, let’s put it aside for now. We can come back once we figure it out.”

After all, they now knew where the source of the magma was. Shanhai remembered the route, so next time they came in, they could just rush straight here without doing anything else.

Jian Xingyi felt a bit disappointed.

If they could take this magma out, it would be incredibly useful during the zombie tide!

But…

Never mind. There’s no point in rushing things.

“So now…”

Since they couldn’t take it out, they’d have to tackle other issues first—like how to clear this dungeon.

“Blow it up?”

Meanwhile, Cola had also received the message.

“Hmm…?” Cola said, “They told us to find a place to hide. They’re going to blow up the cave!”

The group immediately set up a Nut Wall.

After all, they were all regular customers of Jian Xingyi, so everyone had stockpiled plenty of these items in their backpacks. They quickly moved away from the followers and, using the coordinates provided by Shanhai, chose the spot farthest from the source of the lava to hide inside the Nut Wall.

A moment later.

Boom—

Boom————

The entire cave shook violently from the explosion; the mountain walls briefly cracked open, and lava surged out, engulfing everything.

The followers’ screams echoed throughout the cave.

The group could still faintly hear cries of “May the Fire God protect us.”

【Congratulations to the player on clearing the Lava Volcano – Fire God’s Belly: Core of the Earth dungeon — 【Nectar of the Gods II】!】

【Player 【Xinghe】 has successfully claimed the Wish Points reward: 200 million Dawn Coins!】

Yay!

200 million in the bag!

Jian Xingyi now had 340 million, giving him even more resources to work with.

Jian Xingyi and Shanhai hugged each other, huddled inside the Nut Wall, hearing the system’s voice amidst the deafening explosions outside.

【Player has unlocked the special achievement 【Physical Persuasion】, achieving a 100% kill rate by using unconventional methods during the mission. Rewards: 66,666 Dawn Coins, special permission 【Fire God’s Mercy】 x1, special reward 【Fire God’s Blessing】 x1, special item 【Priest’s Robe】 x5】

Shanhai paused. He had unlocked the 【Physical Persuasion】 achievement last time as well, but since his kill rate was only 80%—barely meeting the clearance requirements—and he hadn’t “transcended” all the followers like he did this time using lava, he hadn’t received nearly as many rewards.

Last time, he’d only managed to snag a single anchor point reward.

After leaving the dungeon, the group gathered near the Fire God’s belly to head back home and discuss the rewards along the way.

Everyone received the special item 【Priest’s Robe】. Jian Xingyi examined it curiously—it was a priest’s robe that could protect against high temperatures and lava when worn.

However, it became useless once burned by lava, meaning it was a consumable item.

Jian Xingyi thought to himself that this was a useful item. After all, while he wasn’t afraid of lava, he couldn’t exactly soak in it either, and this item would help him withstand even more intense lava.

Everyone simply deposited their Dawn Coins into the guild treasury; there was no need to discuss it.

What remained were the special privilege 【Fire God’s Mercy】 x1 and the special reward 【Fire God’s Blessing】 x1.

【Fire God’s Blessing】 allows you to choose a reward item; everyone selected Combat Exchange Vouchers and split them evenly, and Jian Xingyi used his to upgrade his gun.

6500/10000

The road ahead is long and arduous…

As for 【Fire God’s Mercy】, it ranks just below 【Fire God’s Wish】. The difference is that 【Fire God’s Mercy】 allows you to ask only one question, while 【Fire God’s Wish】 grants actual items.

Jian Xingyi raised his hand and said, “Can I ask this one? I want to ask about that Eye of the Other Dimension.”

Even if it weren’t about the Eye of the Otherworld, no one would stand in Jian Xingyi’s way—they’d not only hand over whatever he asked for but even help him out.

So Jian Xingyi asked.

【The Eye of the Otherworld comes from the deepest depths of the earth… it is the gaze of the Abyss.】

Jian Xingyi clicked on the details and discovered that this so-called Eye of the Otherworld was actually a blessing. As long as players provided the items the “Thousand-Eyed Monster” needed and fulfilled its wish, the monster would happily bestow a blessing upon them.

Jian Xingyi stared at the photo of the Thousand-Eyed Monster in the description for ages…

Holy cow!!!

Isn’t that the water monster living beneath the river at Flag-Raising Mountain?!

【Player has fulfilled 【Thousand-Eyed Monster】’s wish x1, Progress 10%】

【10%: Unlock Thousand-Eyed Monster Blessing Permission】

【20%: Can obtain Eye of the Otherworld x1】

【30%: Can obtain Eye of the Otherworld x1】

……

And so on—the more wishes fulfilled, the more blessings one can obtain.

Jian Xingyi: “……”

He and Shanhai had accidentally given him an eyeball earlier, and it actually counted as fulfilling a wish!

What is fate, anyway…

This is fate!

Jian Xingyi scratched his head.

The data also mentioned that the Thousand-Eyed Monster’s eyeballs are scattered everywhere, yet the system only provided hints for three of them.

【Treasure Chest of the Heart of the Snow Mountains】

【Eye of the Statue in the Snow Mountain Temple】

【The Tallest Tree on Flag-Raising Mountain】

Jian Xingyi blinked.

This…

Shanhai frowned, “It’s too late today. We have to go back and deal with the zombie horde, but even if we set out immediately after it’s over, we won’t make it in time.”

Jian Xingyi proudly planted his hands on his hips. “Oh my, this is exactly when I need to fulfill my role as a nominal council member!”

Shanhai paused.

Jian Xingyi said with a smile, “It’s too far for us to go, but we could send a local to retrieve them for us. In exchange, I’ll give them food—problem solved, right?”

“……”

Truly, the authority of a merchant.

After the group returned to the guild, the mission was finally complete, and everyone had finally gathered enough Bond Points.

Finally… they can complete the merger!!

Everyone was thrilled.

Tonight, at least, they wouldn’t have to be so disheveled!

Shanhai glanced at Jian Xingyi and said softly, “After the merger, the land and homes can be merged too.”

“Hm?”

“I…”

“Hm?”

Shanhai turned his head and asked, “Isn’t your place pretty big?”

Jian Xingyi blinked. “It is pretty big… What’s up?”

Is Shanhai jealous?

What does that mean?