"Bei Ming, listen to me. The area we are heading to this time is called the Dark Forest. There... many Shadow Cat Demons are lying in ambush. They are extremely fast, and their attacks carry a curse effect. If you get scratched, you need to immediately use a Purification Potion."
"But don't worry. Because you are a newcomer, when you team up with us, the strength of those Shadow Cat Demons will be forcibly balanced under the Newcomer Protection Mechanism, making them relatively weaker."
"Furthermore, since the few of us are quite experienced, as long as you stay honestly in the middle of our group, nothing bad will happen."
After leaving the city gate, everyone spent ten brave badges each to board a dilapidated carriage operated by a Reborn One, speeding toward the Dark Mist outside the city.
Inside the carriage, Eighth-Level Great Gale saw Lin Bei remaining silent, thinking the latter was worried about his safety, so he quickly offered comfort.
"Don't worry, little brother. Big sister will protect you well! My Frost Magic can greatly reduce the movement speed of those Shadow Cat Demons, so you don't need to worry about getting hurt!"
Vanilla Nemo looked at Lin Bei with a gentle expression, parted her fiery red lips, and blew a smoke ring toward him.
"Hmph, kid, you better keep your eyes peeled when the time comes. When we reach the critical moment of Combat, we might not have the energy to look after you!"
Yīlù Zhǒu Hǎo said with a cold expression and an indifferent tone.
"Alright, leave Bei Ming's safety to me! As a Pill Expert, I have quite a few good things on me!"
Battle Tyrannosaurus quickly scooted next to Lin Bei, offering him a few grenades emitting an icy aura as if presenting a treasure, and said, "Look at this. This is the newly developed Special Frost Grenade. We even infused it with a lot of Big Sister Vanilla's Frost Magic, doubling the freezing efficiency!"
"With this by your side, even if the Combat is intense and we can't look after you immediately, you can throw this grenade directly, turning those Shadow Cat Demons into ice sculptures instantly!"
"How about that? I'm awesome, right?"
Battle Tyrannosaurus said with a smug look.
Lin Bei took the Frost Grenade, nodded silently, and gave the other party a thumbs up.
"Impressive."
He offered a word of praise.
Because he didn't want to expose too much of his own information, he only revealed his identity as "Bei Ming." As for his Level, Profession, Title, and Combat Power, he chose to hide them all.
To the outside world, he just said he was an Ammunition Expert.
As for weapons, he used the set of equipment based on the Frost Ice Arrows, and the others didn't have any suspicion.
Fortunately, after entering the Underworld, he could choose to hide the equipment special effect glow through the Survivor Interface. Otherwise, the orange glow emitted by the Perfect-grade Frost Ice Arrows alone would probably leave the group stunned.
Along the way, he asked the others many questions about the King-Level Dungeon World.
Naturally, everyone told him everything they knew, answering many of his doubts.
First is the Dungeon Rating Reward. Every Survivor who enters a King-Level Dungeon World can receive a certain Final Rating based on their actions after a period of exploration, and based on the rating, they can claim and draw rewards of different levels.
However, generally speaking, completing the Hidden Missions released by Reborn Ones and conquering the Mist Area are more likely to yield high ratings. Therefore, Survivors usually choose to accept missions and conquer the Mist Monsters and BOSSes in the Mist Area after entering the Underworld.
Furthermore, everyone has three opportunities to enter the Underworld. They can choose to settle the rewards separately, or accumulate the rewards and claim them all at once at the end.
Of course, if they die here, they will lose one opportunity to obtain rewards.
Lin Bei was not surprised by this. What he cared about were some things Da Hei had told him before he left.
At first, he didn't take it seriously.
But now, thinking back, Da Hei's words seemed to hint at a sense of inconsistency everywhere.
Because the other party once said that the faster he clears the King-Level Dungeon World Instance Dungeon, the higher the rating he would receive.
Moreover, the other party also said that he could obtain special materials like "star stone," which are only produced in High-Level Survival Worlds, by killing Survivors from those worlds here.
However, this information seemed somewhat inconsistent with the intelligence Gale and the others were telling him.
"By the way, I have another question about clearing the Mist Area."
Lin Bei frowned.
"Go ahead."
Gale nodded with a smile.
"Is the Dark Forest you mentioned a specific Instance Dungeon? Or is the Dark Forest just a specific Mist Area?"
Lin Bei asked curiously.
"Oh, you mean that... The Dark Forest is actually not an Instance Dungeon or anything similar. It is just a special area formed by the condensation of Dark Mist power. It is covered by a thick Black Mist Barrier and can continuously spawn monsters like Shadow Cat Demons."
"Generally speaking, if a team can enter through the Dark Forest Entrance and successfully pass through the deepest area, they are considered to have successfully conquered the Dark Forest."
Gale patiently explained, "At that time, the world will will give a rating based on a comprehensive consideration of the time taken by the team members to cross the Dark Forest, the number of monsters killed, and their difficulty."
"Those ranked high will also leave their names on the hall of honor at the entrance and exit of the Dark Forest, receiving additional rewards from the world will."
Lin Bei's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he quickly asked, "There are additional rewards? Are those rewards generous?"
Generally speaking, for him, this kind of reward could directly trigger a Critical Hit effect!
If the rewards are good enough, plus the Critical Hit... the gains would be unimaginable!
"Alas, you should save your breath. Our team's strength is only so-so. To leave one's name on the hall of honor... that requires an Elite Team with an average Combat Power of over a million to be qualified."
"Let's not even think about it."
Gale shook his head with a wry smile. "In comparison, I think if we are lucky, we might be able to try our luck on the speed leaderboard."
"Although the rewards are much worse than those from the hall of honor, they are still extra rewards. If we can make it onto the list, that would still be quite good."
"The speed leaderboard? What is that?"
Lin Bei inquired.
"That is a list that doesn't look at strength, but purely at the speed of crossing the Dark Forest. In the King World, it refreshes every ten days and records the fifty fastest teams to pass through the Dark Forest."
"Any team that makes the list can receive a certain reward during the final settlement. The higher the ranking, the more generous the reward."
"Although this is related to strength, it is also linked to luck. There was a time when a group of teams whose average Combat Power did not exceed one million achieved a top ten ranking."
"They were very lucky at the time. They didn't encounter too many obstacles while traveling through the mist, nor did they waste too much time getting lost, ultimately achieving good results."
"I remember at the time, this news caused a sensation throughout Tianjian City!"
"After investigation, it was learned that they had two newcomers in their team that time, so the monster strength was greatly weakened. Coupled with good luck, they achieved excellent results."
Gale said with an envious look, "Although our team only has one newcomer this time, with the Protection Mechanism in place, while we don't have much hope of entering the top ten, if we push hard, we still have a small chance for the top fifty."
"So that's how it is."
Lin Bei nodded lightly upon hearing this, and then continued to ask, "By the way, you mentioned that newcomers can trigger the Protection Mechanism. Can you explain what the specific Protection Mechanism entails?"
"Oh, that? It's actually very simple."
This time, before Gale could speak, Battle Tyrannosaurus, who couldn't restrain his desire to show off, spoke first: "Generally, if a newcomer joins a team, the world will will weaken the strength of the Mist Monsters to a certain extent based on the newcomer's strength."
"According to the data compiled by the Major Powers, generally, the strength of those Mist Monsters... can be weakened to as low as one percent of the newcomer's Combat Power."
"Of course, that's just an ideal scenario, but don't worry, even if the weakening is limited, it can still be reduced to at least one-tenth of the newcomer's Combat Power."
Battle Tyrannosaurus said with a calm expression, "This is nothing to us!"
"That's why Boss said we have a chance to challenge the Speed Ranking List this time."
"Because when facing those Shadow Cat Demons whose strongest Combat Power is only one-tenth of yours, we can easily crush them!"
"If our luck is good, and we take fewer detours on the way, we can definitely cross the Forest of Dark Night quickly and secure a ranking!"
"Speaking of which, our operation this time is truly thanks to you!"
Battle Tyrannosaurus showed a relaxed smile on his face.
"Is that so? Haha, well, indeed..."
Lin Bei heard this and let out an awkward but polite laugh.
Because he suddenly realized a problem.
If the monster strength is calculated according to what these people say... the people in front of him... seem completely inadequate.
His Combat Power has already surpassed 100 million points. Even if the monsters' Combat Power is adjusted and weakened to the extreme by the so-called "Protection Mechanism," the opponents would still possess over one million points of Combat Power!
Among his current team members, even "Eighth-Level Great Gale," who has the highest Combat Power, only has a little over 500,000 Combat Power.
If they truly enter the Dark Forest, even if they only encounter the weakest minor monster, without him taking action, it would likely lead to a total party wipe!
"Ah, this..."
The corner of Lin Bei's mouth twitched slightly.
It seems his terrifying strength won't be hidden for long.
He had originally intended to get along friendly with these teammates as a common person, but now he was about to be forced to show his hand.
He felt no psychological burden about this.
After all, his reluctance to expose his strength was only to avoid unnecessary trouble. When it was time to act, he felt no pressure at all.
After all, the Combat Power Ceiling here seems to be only ten million Combat Power.
In front of a big shot like him, whose Combat Power exceeds a hundred million, it's nothing.
He just really wanted to complain about this so-called world will.
This supposed Protection Mechanism you promised, what exactly is it protecting?
"Haha, just relax. I will stay by your side and protect your safety!"
Battle Tyrannosaurus, seeing Lin Bei's unusual expression, thought the latter was worried about the situation in the Dark Forest. He immediately patted his chest and spoke confidently.
"Hmph."
Yīlù Zhǒu Hǎo saw this, snorted coldly, glared at Lin Bei, and turned his head away.
In his view, this guy named Bei Ming was a pure rookie.
As the saying goes, fear not a god-like opponent, but a pig-like teammate.
He still didn't think the captain's choice was correct.
It's true that recruiting a newcomer can reduce the strength of the Mist Monsters they encounter, but the problem is... they are meeting the person for the first time and have no tacit understanding whatsoever.
In case they encounter the Area BOSS, the Shadow Cat Demon King, inside the Dark Forest, even with the suppression of the Protection Mechanism, the BOSS's strength will still be formidable. At that point... this rookie, unable to cooperate smoothly, will inevitably become a ticking time bomb, not only dragging everyone down but potentially causing all their preparations during this time to go to waste.
Therefore, he hadn't given this kid a good look from the start.
Absolutely! It was not because Sister Vanilla favored him and spoke exactly 108 sentences to him along the way!
He! Was definitely not jealous!
..."Alright, we have arrived at the entrance of the Dark Forest. Passengers, please alight."
After about ten minutes, the speeding carriage gradually stopped. Outside the carriage, a calm voice was heard.
Everyone got off the carriage together and looked ahead.
It was a Dark Forest wrapped in countless Dark Mists. Everywhere the eye could see was filled with a chilling and terrifying aura. Many figures hurried along, entering the darkness in groups, disappearing completely.
Outside the Mist Area, a massive Luminous Monument stood on both the left and right sides.
On them were conspicuously carved the large characters "hall of honor" and "speed monument."
The light on the characters shone brightly like a blazing sun, dispelling the endless Dark Mist encroaching from the surroundings.
"Alright, let's go over there."
Gale took a deep breath, said a word, and led the way toward the monuments.
The others also looked serious and followed suit.
Lin Bei was no exception.
At this moment, he was somewhat looking forward to the gains from this trip to the Dark Forest.
At the same time, he suddenly realized a problem.
That is, with his current strength, could he already delve deep into the darkness without any reservations and explore the world as he pleased?
After all, through the previous conversation, he had gathered a lot of information.
For example, in the King World region, there are a total of thirty-six Main Cities, which are named after the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stars and each occupy a large area.
Moreover, a powerful Barrier covers the areas between the various Main Cities, separating them.
Unless one possesses the Combat Power Ceiling of this world, otherwise... it is impossible to break through the Defensive Barrier using personal strength; one can only use the Teleportation Array between different Main Cities to Teleport between them.
However, his own current Combat Power... has already surpassed 100 million points. Those Barriers... should not pose any trouble for him now.
In other words, the King-Level Dungeon World is now like his own backyard; he can go wherever he wants.
"Hmm... when I get back, I should get a World Map and see if there are any interesting places to go relax."
"Living a dull and boring life on the Island every day, I'm practically bored out of my mind."
"It's a good time to find something to do. If possible... I could go meet the Legendary World BOSS and see if I can gain any benefits from it."
Lin Bei thought this to himself as he stepped into the Dark Forest, which was enveloped by endless black mist, along with the others.