Hu Wan looked at him in surprise.

This...

This is a bit too far-fetched, isn't it?!

And what does this have to do with the monsters in the maze besides the Earth Cave Spider?!

"And then... what?"

"Then, you can let your imagination run wild."

Yiye Zhiqu glanced around, looking at the spider webs hanging on the maze's walls.

"The former Demon King died, but the monsters in the maze are still present, so a power vacuum appeared. Birds occupied the snake's nest, snakes drove away the spiders, and spiders chased away the rats... Before forming a new order, some powerful monsters rose rapidly. Some were because of their formidable individual strength, some due to their astonishing reproduction rate, and others thanks to their exceptional environmental adaptability."

"The ratmen we encountered in the mine were clearly driven out by the Earth Cave Spiders. And when we threw them back into the maze, they were almost immediately wiped out... So, what does that tell us?"

Caught up in the explanation, Hu Wan was taken aback, not expecting Brother Yiye to suddenly leave him guessing, and after hesitating for a moment, he said.

"It means... ratmen are not as strong as Earth Cave Spiders?"

"Not quite," Yiye Zhiqu said with a smile, shaking his head and hitting the nail on the head, "Organization."

"Organization?"

"Exactly," Yiye Zhiqu nodded, continuing, "This is the advantage of civilization over barbarism, the ability to systematically exterminate the organized ratmen and take their ecological place in the maze can only mean that Earth Cave Spiders have also formed a tight organization."

"This is possible?" Hu Wan stared dumbfounded at the person before him.

Although he felt that his brother's analysis was indeed making a lot of sense, he also instinctively felt that a game wouldn't be detailed to this extent...

It must be a coincidence!

Although he wanted to say that, he couldn't find a more convincing reason to persuade himself.

And it was at this moment that he suddenly realized a serious problem!

If Brother Yiye's speculation was correct, weren't they walking on an extremely dangerous path?

"Wait a second, does that mean... if we keep going, we might encounter a spider similar to that big rat we saw earlier?"

Seeing Hu Wan's apprehensive look, Yiye Zhiqu said with a smile.

"Don't be nervous, I specifically chose a path with fewer webs, what awaits us ahead is probably not spiders, but something else."

The emergence of local powers in the maze meant that monsters would no longer live in mingled chaos but would have clear territorial divisions.

The section of the maze they were in had already been incorporated into the Earth Cave Spider's territory, and naturally, no other monsters would appear.

But just the Earth Cave Spider's power was clearly not enough to occupy the entire maze.

In other words, if they walked just a few more steps, they would see other monsters.

As they were talking, the scene in front of them suddenly opened up.

Although they were still in the maze, both men clearly felt that the atmosphere and setting here were distinctly different from the previous area.

If the area they had just come from was the domain of the spider spirit, Silk Cave, then this place was like the sewer of a human city-state.

Rusted pipes filled the walls, and there were plenty of discarded wooden boxes and household trash left here.

Too bad skeleton soldiers don't have a sense of smell.

Otherwise, they should be able to smell the pungent ammonia.

"It seems it's just as I deduced," Yiye Zhiqu said, surveying the surroundings, "This should be outside the Earth Cave Spider's range of influence."

In theory, spiders should prefer moist environments, but those Earth Cave Spiders would rather squeeze into a mine than expand here.

I wonder what kind of monster governs this area.

Could it be snakes?

Or lizards and centipedes?

Or perhaps some other fantastical species—

As Yiye Zhiqu pondered, he quickly made a new discovery.

At the end of the labyrinth corridor, in the room, lumps of greenish "dumplings" were shifting on the shiny, slick floor.

"This is..."

"Slimes?!"

The souls fires of the two skeleton soldiers flickered with surprise in their pupils simultaneously.

Just as they noticed the group of greenish creatures, the latter also noticed them.

Unlike the Earth Cave Spiders.

Being scavengers in the labyrinth, the slimes showed far more interest in the skeleton soldiers than the Earth Cave Spiders, squirming their sticky bodies towards the players' direction.

"It seems this area is the domain of the slimes," Hu Wan said, his scalp tingling as he took a half step back.

Compared to rats and spiders, he found these booger-like things even more physically repulsive.

Yiye Zhiqu, on the other hand, didn't step back but observed the gelatinous monsters with interest.

"Interesting... They move slowly, their aggression is unknown; logically, they shouldn't scare off the Earth Cave Spiders this much."

As he spoke, he drew his one-handed sword and prepared to strike. As one of the slimes came within striking range, he swiftly slashed out like lightning.

"Slashing!"

The sweep of his sword effortlessly penetrated the slime, which burst like a popped balloon, spilling goo all over.

"The experience is only a third of what the Earth Cave Spiders give, just slightly more than the Ratmen."

This level of strength clearly wasn't enough to intimidate the Earth Cave Spiders, and it was hard for him to understand why they hadn't expanded into this area based on strength alone.

Was it because it wasn't on their diet?

Or could it be that... this area isn't just inhabited by slimes, but also by other, more dangerous creatures, and the slimes either have a symbiotic relationship with them, or are merely their livestock?

A strange expression also appeared on Hu Wan's face.

"I also feel these monsters are much weaker than the Earth Cave Spiders... this should be the area for beginners to grind levels, right?"

Even players with life skills should be able to easily deal with these monsters.

Yiye Zhiqu nodded his head.

"Possibly... Anyway, we should mark down this area for now."

This area shall be named... [Sewer Corridor] then. The main monsters here are slimes, recommended leveling range LV0~5.

Since the officials didn't name this area, he had to do it himself.

As Yiye Zhiqu was about to leave before the slimes surrounded him, Hu Wan found something unusual on the body of a slime.

"What's this?"

Enduring his mental discomfort, he reached his skeleton hand into the greenish goo and picked up a crystal the size of a rice grain.

"Let me see..."

Yiye Zhiqu took it from him and after examining it in his hand for a moment, he was initially baffled.

However, at that moment, he suddenly remembered a comment he had seen on a forum before—

It was a post from a user with an ID that could ruin one's appetite.

Unsurprisingly, that person was probably still muted.

"So, this is a Demon Crystal?"

Hu Wan was stunned.

"Demon Crystal? What's it for?"

"I don't know, but I always have a bad feeling," Yiye Zhiqu said, wearing a subtle expression, "When we were grinding, we might have missed a lot of things..."

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