BXBX NOVEL Chapter 55: Dungeon = Planet ?
The burned forest came from the second secret technique, "Flamethrower."
As the name suggested, this allowed Alex to shoot flames in the direction of the hammer's head.
The flames burned even bigger as smoke billowed into the sky.
Now covered in sweat, Alex sat beside Emily, who was far away from the area, taking a break on a cliff.
Emily took a gulp from her water bottle.
"This storage ring is really convenient. Usually, we need to bring a lot of stuff in a backpack, then create our own base camp before starting to raid."
Alex nodded.
He already knew how the item would sell like hotcakes after the Hunter Association approved it.
He also thought of making a more durable version for hunters. But what was on his mind now was the dungeon.
The more time he spent here, the more he thought Vesa's theory was correct; this place was another planet.
But how was this possible? Who made this happen?
The weirdest part was how it functioned.
Every dungeon had a limited number of people that could enter.
For example, this dungeon, Goblin Hollows, could only be entered by at most 12 people.
After entry, hunters would be teleported inside, and then they needed to find the boss monster and kill it.
Then, a portal would appear for one hour, allowing the hunters to return and take back their loot.
But when they tried to bring a monster out, the monster would explode when moving through the portal.
Alex also didn't know whether the monsters he caught here could survive since they were inside another space; that was one of the things he wanted to find out.
Seeing her brother in a daze and not replying to her comment made Emily think he was worried about the situation.
"Don't worry too much, brother.
I am sure we can defeat the High Goblin Lord even if they are alert to our presence."
Emily was confident, knowing how destructive her light ability was; as long as they could find the High Goblin Lord, the dungeon clear was guaranteed.
Alex felt warmed by Emily's concern.
"I am not worried about that, Emily. What do you think about this dungeon? Did the Association give you any explanation about this place?" he asked.
Emily shook her head, "The Association never tells us how the dungeons come to be or appear, but in my opinion, someone made this on purpose.
I don't know who or why, but that doesn't matter since I can do nothing about it.
I am sure the Hunter Association knows more about this, which is the same reason why dark zones appear on our planet Ainode."
She then paused for a moment and asked, "Aren't you a progenitor, brother? Doesn't the system tell you anything?"
"I am waiting for the results now. Vesa is making sure of it from the monster I caught.
You know, Vesa theorizes that this place is just another planet somewhere in the universe. Now that I have entered the dungeon myself, I think it's the most plausible explanation."
Emily raised her eyebrow. "You mean they are just aliens? If that's true, I wonder how far the distance is from our planet.
Before this dungeon appeared, people used to think all this was just fantasy. And alien existence is controversial; no one has found proof, no matter how much we try."
"I never thought you were someone interested in history," Alex replied with a chuckle.
Emily's expression turned solemn. "I'm not. I'm looking for anything that can convince me my father is still alive."
"Probably he is still alive, Emily," Alex said with a sigh.
His words surprised Emily since she knew what her brother thought. If he said it, that meant he had a real, tangible reason.
Seeing her eyes silently asking for more explanation, Alex told her about the species behind the category five dungeon break and the possibility of their father probably still being alive.
Seeing her sister's eyes turn hopeful from his explanation steeled Alex's determination to look for Edward even more.
They then talked some more about their dad's abilities and the guild, comparing it with the monsters from the category five dungeon and discussing how Edward should have survived until now.
"Now that we talk about Dad, it reminds me of Mom. I met her."
"Did you guys fight again?" Alex asked with a tinge of worry.
He didn't find it weird that they met since the timing of his mom leaving and Emily coming was very close.
Emily shook her head, "No, it's even weirder. Do you know why Mom cried?"
"Yeah, that's because she remembered Dad," Alex replied with a sigh.
Emily wanted to talk further, telling him she felt weird when Luca was leaving, but her words turned into a blur as Vesa's message appeared in his eyes.
[King, sorry it took longer than expected.]
[Since you captured the High Goblin, I have already confirmed this is just another planet. But it took longer since I needed to confirm the situation.]
[From the information I extracted, these people don't know much; they are here because they were punished by their emperor.]
'Punished?'
[They are tasked to kill any invader that comes here. If they succeed, they will be forgiven and receive some reward.]
Reading the message, Alex's brain churned.
Since this was really another planet, the higher-ups must also know this.
No matter how they did it, they must have some agreement with the natives; that's the only way they could have established this dungeon system.
Alex's world then started to shake, bringing him back to reality.
Emily was pouting on the side, shaking her brother's body since he hadn't responded to what she said.
"You really need to fix this habit, brother. No woman will like being ignored like this."