"I think I've heard this rumor before. A friend of mine used to be on guard duty in the Furnace Core Passage. One night, he needed to pee, so he went to relieve himself in the passage. He had just unzipped his pants... when he saw something like a ghost float by. He was so scared that he ran back without even pulling his pants up..."

"Your friend...you wouldn't happen to be yourself, would you?"

"What are you saying! What kind of talk is that! Of course I pulled up my pants! I didn't even unzip them! I'm an honorary recruit who trained for two and a half years in basic training! How could I possibly be afraid!"

"I didn't say anything... Why are you in such a hurry?"

...

"Be on high alert! You're here to complete a mission, not to tell stories!"

Bronya sternly rebuked the guards who were rambling on. She didn't believe in such things, and if she were to actually see them, she would represent the will of the city builders and shove a gun into their nostrils.

"Yes, Lady Bronya..." After being reprimanded by Bronya, the guards didn't continue the conversation.

...

Before she could lead the group any further down, they heard a faint sound behind them, which sounded like footsteps.

Bronya ordered her men to hold their breath, preparing to wait and ambush the prey.

As the sounds from behind grew louder, a series of footsteps echoed through the furnace core tunnel.

"Why haven't we arrived yet... Old Sambo, are you even reliable?" March 7's complaining voice slowly rang out.

Located in the furnace core passage, Sambo even led them astray.

"Reliable...really, trust me just this one last time!"

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Bronya was startled at first, trying to recall where she had heard it before. Then she suddenly stood up, realizing that it was the voice of the outsider who had escaped that morning.

"Come with me..."

Bronya led her men towards the direction of the sound.

As expected.

At the next fork in the road, she saw Danheng and the others.

"It really was you! Surrender now! Come back with us obediently!"

"?"

Upon seeing Bronya appear before them, March 7 frowned and helplessly scratched her hair with her left hand:

"You're like a persistent ghost! We didn't provoke you at all. We just wanted to ask about a star core. You don't have to arrest us like this... Does your so-called Great Guardian dislike us that much?"

"Stop talking... let's go."

Dan Heng had no intention of fighting; they wouldn't have much of an advantage fighting in this complex passageway.

"Quick, after them!"

He chased after him.

He fled.

He has no way to escape.

The two groups of people, one in front and one behind, moved in and out of the furnace core tunnel like cats playing with mice, making Bronya's black stockings sticky with glue.

Finally, at a fork in the road, Seele and the Trailblazers from the Earthfire clashed with Bronya's Guard.

At the fork in the passage, the faint light of the miners' lamps shone like a lighthouse on a vast sea, illuminating the faces of the three groups of people, each with a different expression.

Seele fell silent as she looked at the two groups of unfamiliar faces. Although she didn't recognize Bronya, she could tell that the armor worn by the guards behind Bronya was the standard of the Upper District.

She didn't know March 7th or Danheng, but she did know this guy, Sambo.

Bronya glanced at Seele opposite her and then said, "Lower District, stop them for me!"

Hearing Bronya's shouts, Seele and the others were dismissive: "Why should we listen to you... Just because you say so, does that mean we have to do it?"

"Xier, Xier, these are all my friends..."

At this moment, Old Sangbo's role as a source of amusement came into play. Relying on his familiar face, he easily led March 7 and the others through the passage behind Seele and the other Earthfire members towards the lower area.

Seeing this, Bronya hurriedly ordered her men to give chase. Just then, the faint light at the fork in the road flickered intermittently.

The first time it went out.

A chaotic battle ensued.

"Protect Lady Bronya! We swear to protect Lady Bronya to the death!"

"Charge! Charge! Charge!"

"Stop them!"

Thud—

Bang bang—

Amidst the sounds of gunfire and the clash of melee weapons, as the lights returned slightly, Bronya was seen standing next to members of the Earthfire faction, while Seele stood on the other side of the Upper Zone faction.

The two sides switched sides.

Bronya appeared slightly nervous as she was surrounded by the Earthfire members.

What happened?

Something just started going wrong while we were playing...

...

"Don't make any rash moves! Otherwise, we won't let her go!" the Earthfire members shouted.

"We also have hostages!" Bronya's guards retorted, not to be outdone.

"What do we do?"

"Exchange hostages!"

"good!"

As Bronya and Seele walked step by step toward their respective camps, the miners' lamps at the fork in the road, like duckweed in a storm, finally gave out and went out completely.

"Protect Lady Bronya! Lady Bronya is here!"

"Retreat! Retreat!"

"Holy crap! I saw that shadowy figure again! And it's so green!"

Amidst the chaos of battle, Bronya's guards spotted two more objects emitting a faint bluish-green glow drifting at the crossroads.

Zhou Xiao, who was wearing a mask, was referred to as something very green, which puzzled him.

He was almost at the upper zone when he discovered that March 7 and the others seemed to have escaped from the upper zone and were circling around the core passage. Since his purpose in going up to the upper zone was to find March 7 and reunite with him, he turned back.

His presence made the dark battlefield even more chaotic.

"I've captured Lady Bronya! Brothers!"

In the chaos, Zhou Xiao felt his arm being grabbed, and then the other person pulled him up and ran, and surprisingly, they ran quite fast.

"???"

Bronya's guards were filled with confusion as they watched the figure with eerie green eyes being led out of the passage.

"Did he... bring the wrong person?"

"Hmm...it seems so."

"And what about Lady Bronya?"

"Go find Lady Bronya again!"

...

"Lady Bronya, let's retreat first. Once we've gathered our forces, we'll assist you in reaching the lower levels... This passage is too complicated. I strongly suspect that creature with two green glowing eyes is the ghost of the miners who built the core passage!"

"Lady Bronya, are you tired? How about I carry you on my back? I, Kunzi, will definitely get you up there safely..."

Zhou Xiao listened to his Bronya bodyguard nagging all the way, which inevitably annoyed him.

"Lady Bronya? Why aren't you saying anything? Don't be afraid, with me, Kunzi, here, that miner ghost will never catch up with us!"

"Brother...no, why don't you look back?" Zhou Xiao couldn't help but say.