Chapter 160: Chapter 151: Heading to the A-Rank Ruins (Part 2)

The soldiers and officers following him had all gone numb. Many even suspected this idiot Prince was lost. It was one order after another, all stop-and-go, and they hadn’t accomplished a single thing. What was the point of leaving the camp at all?

They predicted the Prince would issue another order soon. At this rate, they probably wouldn’t even make it back to camp without a hitch.

Sure enough, less than five minutes later, Xue Shentian issued a new order: "All soldiers, hear my command! Change course to the Northwest! Follow me to attack the goblin remnants and take prisoners!"

It turned out he had just received intelligence: a large swarm of goblins had appeared to the Northwest, and they could be recruited once defeated!

However, when Xue Shentian finally saw the goblins, he realized there were far too many—a vast, sprawling horde, likely tens of thousands strong. The forces he’d brought were insufficient; they would surely be defeated. He hastily led his men back to camp, intending to dispatch a larger army to encircle them.

By the time Xue Shentian returned to camp and mustered enough troops, more than an hour had passed.

At that very moment, deep beneath the center of the Kun City ruins, inside a labyrinthine underground complex, Li Mingli was leading a squad of Soldiers in a pitched battle against robots armed with sharp bayonets on their forearms.

This underground labyrinth was, of course, the A22 ruin, designated as a military base. The interior was dilapidated, full of scorched earth and a complex network of numerous passageways. It had originally been the heart of Liu Nan’s ecological domain, inhabited by a large number of Flame Tree People.

But now, with Liu Nan focused entirely on his campaign against Mr. Jin, all of his subordinate Eco-Warriors had been deployed. Not a single ecological monster remained in the underground ruin, drastically reducing the risk of exploration.

However, even without the ecological monsters, exploring this place was far from safe.

As an underground military base from the old world, its defense systems had not been completely destroyed. Nearly every corridor was still guarded by ancient robots.

Of course, this was by the system’s design. Players without sufficient strength couldn’t possibly explore an A-rank ruin, even without the interference of an Earth Deity.

Li Mingli had already been fighting here for a long time. Over a hundred of his soldiers had fallen, yet he had nothing to show for it!

"Damn it! The armory’s defenses are too strong. What good are these elite cavalry Xue Shentian gave me? Those are Bayonet Robots up ahead! How are we supposed to charge them?"

Li Mingli was incredibly frustrated.

A corridor lay before him, leading to "Armory Number One." However, the passage was guarded by 20 ancient robots. These machines stood three meters tall, with meter-long blades mounted on their arms. They were called Bayonet Robots.

To get into Armory Number One, they first had to destroy those 20 Bayonet Robots.

But the Bayonet Robots were impervious to swords and arrows. They possessed immense strength and surprising speed. The 20 of them blocked the entrance, slaughtering Li Mingli’s one thousand elite cavalrymen until the survivors were frozen with fear.

Now, a great pile of corpses—both men and warhorses—lay before the entrance. No one dared to step forward.

Li Mingli was a Death Warrior secretly cultivated by King Dongsheng. His Martial Arts were formidable, but they were only effective against ordinary people or for assassinating Players. If he tried to fight a Bayonet Robot, he would likely just be dismembered in seconds.

’If only I had a tank or something,’ he thought. ’A few shells would turn all these Bayonet Robots into scrap metal, but all I have are these damn ancient cavalry! Forget it. There’s no guarantee Armory Number One has any supplies anyway. I’ll give up on it and explore somewhere else.’

With a wave of his hand, Li Mingli led his terrified cavalrymen quickly into another corridor.

Just then, a burly figure crawled into view.

This burly man was enormous. His upper body was more massive than a giant bear’s, but his legs were spindly. It was none other than the Dogman God, Ji Liangren.

Ji Liangren’s body was disproportioned and top-heavy. After tripping and falling on flat ground more times than he could count, he had been forced to unlock a crawling stance.

By crawling, he no longer tripped on flat ground. He also discovered that he was quite suited to it. It was stable and fast—much better than walking upright. Most importantly, it made it easier to activate his skills.

’Huh? The smell of blood is so strong. It looks like a huge battle just took place here!’

Ji Liangren soon spotted the corpses littering the ground and the 20 Bayonet Robots standing before the entrance to Armory Number One. His nose twitched as he sniffed the air, activating the Dogman God’s first skill: [Dogman Tracking].

The skill was motion-activated. Simply making a sniffing gesture was enough to trigger it, which would generate a system prompt with tracking clues.

"Ding! The scent of a Chaos Lord has been detected. Begin tracking?"

’No!’

Ji Liangren responded instantly, then turned his attention to the Bayonet Robots standing in neat formation before the corridor.

"Mere Bayonet Robots! How could you possibly halt the steps of a Demigod? Fifth Rank of Fighting Power, activate! Witness my Dogman Stab!"

With a great shout, Ji Liangren activated his Professional Skill, [Dogman Stab]. His body shot forward like a compressed spring, aiming for a gap between the Bayonet Robots.

The Bayonet Robots guarding the corridor instantly activated. Red light glowed from within their eye sockets as bayonets sprang from their arms, and they launched a swift, vicious assault on Ji Liangren.

Ji Liangren’s stab was a partial success—he made it inside the corridor. However, he was immediately met with a ferocious pincer attack from the 20 Bayonet Robots and was sent scrambling for his life. Crawling on the ground, he displayed surprising agility, managing to dodge several of their attacks in a row.

But there were simply too many Bayonet Robots. In less than a minute, Ji Liangren was forced to make a battered retreat.

The Bayonet Robots didn’t give chase. They simply returned to their neat formation in front of the corridor.

’These robots are pretty tough!’

Ji Liangren thought, ’Good thing I got that Muscle Man modification. My upper body is Invulnerable, and I unlocked the crawling stance. Otherwise, I’d have at least five or six new holes in me by now.’

But he wasn’t about to give up yet.

"Fifth Rank of Fighting Power, activate! Witness my Dogman Bite!"

Ji Liangren crept forward, this time like a huge dog. He stealthily approached one of the Bayonet Robots, opened his mouth wide, and clamped down on its lower leg. Then, ignoring everything else, he started dragging it away.

The Bayonet Robot, three meters tall and weighing nearly a ton, was actually pulled to the ground with a loud THUD and dragged out of the corridor.

The other Bayonet Robots activated and gave chase, but Ji Liangren ignored them, focusing only on dragging his prize away.

He ran for a full three minutes, taking a winding path until he reached an empty platform. Seeing that he wasn’t being followed, he finally stopped. He released his jaw, dropping the Bayonet Robot he’d dragged all this way, and roared, "Come on! Let’s fight one-on-one!"

The Bayonet Robot scrambled to its feet, brandished its blade, and engaged Ji Liangren in combat. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Ji Liangren’s class was [Dogman God], but he wasn’t truly a "god" yet. The Divine Power of the Dogman God was still locked. For now, he could only consume "Fighting Spirit" to use his skills: [Dogman Tracking], [Dogman Stab], and [Dogman Bite].

Once his "Fighting Spirit" reached the Full Level, he would be able to wield Divine Power. At that point, his skills would upgrade to [Dog-headed God Tracking], [Dog Head Divine Stab], and [Dog-headed God’s Bite]!

However, even as Dogman skills powered only by Fighting Spirit, they were still quite potent.

Before long, Ji Liangren actually managed to destroy the Bayonet Robot. A golden light flashed across his body as he suddenly received a system notification: "Ding! Through arduous Cultivation, you have awakened the fourth skill of the Dogman God: [Transformation].

By consuming Fighting Spirit, you can use this skill to transform into a harmless dog. Your information will be hidden, and you will be immune to aggro from most wild monsters while out of combat!

By consuming Divine Power, you can use this skill to transform into a Divine Dog, based on your Physique, comprehensively enhancing your combat abilities. Please explore the specifics on your own!"

’I awakened a new skill! Awesome!’

Overjoyed, Ji Liangren immediately tested his new skill. With a POOF, he turned into a corgi.

He froze for a second, then gave his hindquarters a little wiggle. ’This is pretty fun,’ he thought.

’I’m a harmless dog now, immune to aggro from most wild monsters,’ he realized. ’Does that mean those Bayonet Robot guards won’t stop me anymore? Can I explore the whole ruin freely?’

Elated, Ji Liangren was about to test his theory when he noticed something else: there was a Treasure Chest in the corner of the platform.

The Treasure Chest radiated a Seven-Colored light. Ji Liangren had never seen anything like it.

[Lucky Treasure Chest: This is an extremely rare lucky treasure chest that appears at a random time and location. High probability of containing a rare or special item, small probability of containing an easter egg item. Time until disappearance: 1 hour, 45 minutes.]