"This really wasn’t easy. We’re finally about to fight the final boss."

Beside Lake Dawnlight, a guild executive was currently receiving treatment from several priests.

He was a warrior. He had tanked damage inside for a long time before finally coming out.

At the same time, he was also one of Glory Guild’s vice guild leaders, and his level had already reached Level 45.

When the priests treating him heard this, they immediately became curious.

"Vice Guild Leader, can you tell us what the situation inside is like right now?

We’ve heard that ruins are very special, but exactly how are they special?"

Hearing this, the vice guild leader shook the blood from his blade and said, "Inside? It’s practically a whole different world.

There’s a royal palace inside. After entering it, anyone without Drowning Resistance can’t stay in there for long.

The only reason I was able to fight inside the palace for so long this time was because someone previously farmed a batch of Water-Repelling Pearls here.

If I go in again now, I’ll have to use another one.

That’s why conquering this ruin dungeon has already consumed far too many resources.

If we fail this time, then next time we want to conquer it, we’ll have to stockpile another batch of Water-Repelling Pearls."

Hearing this, looks of yearning appeared on the faces of the nearby priests.

A royal palace built underwater—just imagining it made them feel that it had to be extraordinary.

Immediately, another priest asked, "In that case, the palace monsters inside must drop some really powerful equipment, right?

What kind of gains have you made so far?"

The vice guild leader smiled and said, "Of course we’ve gained something. For example, this armor I’m wearing was dropped by a turtle mini-boss inside. Its defense is extremely strong, and it allowed me to hold on until now before coming out.

After you recover my condition later, I’ll be going back in again.

The next time I come out will be when our Zone 1 guilds take down the boss."

His speech, filled with grand promises, instantly made the priests excited.

Last time, Zone 1 had been robbed by Zone 5.

They had lost the first-clear reward for the Zone-wide Dungeon, and even now, they still brooded over it bitterly. Now that they finally had some good news, how could they not be excited?

Just then, a priest with an unfamiliar face walked over. He raised his hand and cast a green skill.

In an instant, that vice guild leader’s condition was actually restored to full.

The surrounding people were immediately shocked and stared at the newcomer.

As priests themselves, they knew better than anyone just how terrifying a skill capable of instantly restoring someone to full condition truly was.

The vice guild leader also noticed the abnormal recovery of his body. He hurriedly stood up and looked over.

After seeing the other party’s face clearly, he was stunned.

He had never seen this person before, and the man did not seem like a member of Glory Guild either.

How could he have appeared here?

One had to know that Glory Guild had already issued a strict order to the other players of Zone 1. Unaffiliated players were absolutely forbidden from approaching this place.

"And you are?"

Because the recovery skill the other party had used was extremely powerful, and because he was also a priest with no obvious threat, the vice guild leader did not immediately drive him away. Instead, he asked politely.

John said calmly, "I heard that a special dungeon was being conquered here, so I deliberately came from a remote main city to see if I could be of any help."

As he spoke, his gaze shifted toward Lake Dawnlight.

"Only, I see that all of you seem to be members of the same guild. As an outsider, would I be allowed to follow you in and lend a hand?"

Hearing that John wanted to help with the dungeon, a look of joy immediately appeared on the vice guild leader’s face.

Because the number of Water-Repelling Pearls this time was insufficient, priority entry into the dungeon had been given to classes with offensive capabilities.

This had resulted in a large number of priests being completely unable to enter the dungeon with the teams. If they wanted to heal anyone, they could only do so after the players exited the dungeon, which greatly slowed down efficiency.

Even among the priests who could enter, none of their healing effects were anywhere near as powerful as the skill John had just displayed.

If John was willing to enter the dungeon with him, then they might be able to slay that boss within half an hour.

After thinking for a moment, the vice guild leader immediately said, "No problem. Since Your Excellency is so powerful, and a priest on top of that, even if you are not a member of our guild, you may enter with us.

After this matter is completed, you will definitely receive your share of the dungeon rewards."

Toward the end, the vice guild leader could no longer suppress the joy on his face.

With such a powerful priest joining them, even if he did not join the guild afterward, Glory Guild would certainly be able to establish a connection with him.

And as the person who had taken the initiative to lead John into the dungeon, the vice guild leader’s status within the guild would undoubtedly rise greatly in the future.

Right now, the most important thing was to befriend this mysterious priest who had suddenly appeared.

With him present, the vice guild leader would be able to fight freely in future battles without needing to worry about his HP at all.

John nodded slightly, then said, "This dungeon seems to be underwater. Do you have any item that can allow me to move freely underwater?"

The vice guild leader hurriedly took out two items from his backpack.

"Of course. Please use this item, Your Excellency. With it, you’ll be able to move freely underwater and won’t be affected by drowning."

John accepted them without hesitation and directly threw them into his backpack, pretending that he had already used one.

In any case, he had the Drowning trait. He had no use for this item at all.

He was purely using this to lower the other party’s vigilance.

As expected, when the vice guild leader saw this, he relaxed inwardly.

"It seems this mysterious priest doesn’t have Drowning Resistance. In that case, there’s no need to worry that he has some hidden class talent capable of causing large-scale destruction. After all, underwater, his life is in our hands."

He immediately welcomed John warmly.

"As it happens, I’m just about to enter the dungeon again to continue pushing progress. Why don’t Your Excellency come with me?"

John nodded slightly.

"That would be best."

Under the envious gazes of the priests, John followed the vice guild leader directly into the depths of the lake.

As soon as they entered the water, an uncomfortable look appeared on the vice guild leader’s face.

Clearly, for a warrior, fighting in water was an extremely unpleasant thing.

John, however, was not affected in the slightest.

Drowning Resistance allowed him to unleash one hundred percent of his combat strength even underwater.

However, in order to prevent the vice guild leader in front of him from noticing anything wrong, he still put on an uncomfortable expression.

The two of them quickly swam toward the depths.

Before long, they arrived at a dark and secluded cave.

The vice guild leader stopped and warned him, "This is Your Excellency’s first time here. The scene transition later may be somewhat uncomfortable, so please prepare yourself."

John nodded slightly, indicating that he understood.

Afterward, the vice guild leader took out a token and pressed it toward the cave entrance.

The cave entrance, which had originally seemed empty, actually revealed a magic array.

Only after encountering the token did the restriction finally unlock.

John’s heart trembled slightly.

"I didn’t expect the guilds of Zone 1 to be this cautious. They actually laid down a restrictive magic array directly at the dungeon entrance.

Good thing I didn’t rashly sneak in earlier. Otherwise, I really might have been discovered by this fairly high-rank array."

"Please follow me."

The vice guild leader held up the token and led John into the cave.

The moment they entered, a terrifying suction force suddenly swept toward them.