Upon hearing Rusger's suggestion, Jiang Ran simply smiled helplessly: "That is indeed a very good joke."

That being said, kill? Gwen is the strongest fighter in their group, but this is an SSS-level world. If they fight their way through, there's no guarantee they won't encounter even stronger [near-gods]. Jiang Ran would never let Gwen take that risk.

Besides, if you really fight your way through to find the key character in the plot, do you really think they'll answer your questions?

"So it was too idealistic after all." Rusger shrugged. "Alright, let's think of some other solutions."

Jiang Ran found it rather strange. Would the Northern Alliance send someone with such a straightforward personality to be the captain? It seemed a bit illogical. If he were an SSS-level, it would be understandable, but he was only an SS-level. Even if he was very capable, he was only suitable to be a team member.

"Jiang Ran, don't you also feel something's strange?" Rusger smiled wryly. "I'm just a rough guy with no other abilities. I don't know why the higher-ups chose me to be the captain this time. Maybe they want us to assist you."

Why would the Northern Alliance send three SS-rank mystery tellers to assist Jiang Ran? Although there are many examples of cooperation between the two countries, it's strange that the Northern Alliance would give up its own chance to clear the once-a-year SSS-rank dungeon to help Jiang Ran of the Dragon Kingdom, especially since their captain was once a Dragon Kingdom citizen...

"These are all arrangements made by higher-ups, and I can't refute them."

Rusger said this.

"It's very strange, isn't it? But that's how it is. The reason I came to you in the first place was because the higher-ups required the three of us to help you as much as possible in this dungeon, and even... we didn't have to worry about whether we could clear it ourselves."

The more Rusger spoke, the more puzzled Jiang Ran became. He couldn't understand what the Northern Alliance was trying to do. If it was cooperation, it would be understandable, but unilateral assistance seemed extremely strange.

In the first scenario, Rusger is a top-notch actor, skilled enough to convincingly portray this character so convincingly that even Jiang Ran couldn't detect anything amiss.

The second possibility is true.

"Anyway, now that there are six of us, no, seven, we've officially formed an alliance." Rusger put his hand on Jiang Ran's shoulder. "Jiang Ran, you'll be the captain of this alliance. Only you are capable of doing it."

"Then you've really given me a heavy burden."

“It’s alright.” Rusger smiled. “You already have enough burdens on your shoulders, don’t you? You won’t mind adding one more.”

"Wips has changed his ability again. His current talent is called Mind Chain, which can link up to 5 people together. People in the chain can talk in real time regardless of spatial distance, and each person has one chance to instantly teleport to the location of the others."

This is undoubtedly another talent that is completely useless in solo dungeons but a godsend in raid dungeons. Wips really changes talents frequently, but his previous talent did have serious shortcomings.

“My abilities have long been exposed and are no secret; I can kill strange creatures, and so can Dejov,” Rusger continued. “The other two from your Dragon Kingdom also possess considerable combat abilities, right?”

The abilities such as language processing are extremely versatile and can certainly be used as combat abilities. As for Ye Ye, there is no need to say more; his abilities are designed for combat.

"So in order to ensure speed, we can split into five groups. Dejov will protect Wips, and then the four of us will establish a connection with Wips to maximize the strength of each individual soldier."

Rusger was only making suggestions; the final decision rested with Jiang Ran.

Jiang Ran didn't really want to split up in this kind of instance, but with Wips's abilities as a guarantee, the danger shouldn't be too great if it was just the initial exploration.

Jiang Ran couldn't guarantee there wouldn't be any danger, and no one would dare to say such a thing.

"Gwen, can you sense the locations of important characters in the story? If not, can you sense the seals?"

“It’s all a blur.” Gwen shook her head. “My abilities have been completely blocked. In fact, it’s not just me. Even if we encounter other strange entities inside, they should only have the most basic combat abilities left. All their special abilities have been temporarily stripped away!”

It's no wonder it's an SSS-level supernatural world, isn't it? But Gwen's abilities are practically cheating for this kind of level. Jiang Ran even suspects that the creator of this world added this safety net specifically to deal with Jiang Ran.

"It's okay, a little challenge now and then is fine."

Those gods who only know how to hide in the shadows, didn't they want him to participate in this SSS-level dungeon? Jiang Ran has arrived!

Most of the other ghost story writers had already started their journey, and even the slackers realized that this time the game would probably take a long time to complete, so they all went to find food first.

Aransta stepped out of the encirclement and came to stand in front of Yamashita.

"Really not going together? After all, we're the same kind of people."

The other two ghost story masters from the Sakura Kingdom gritted their teeth, but they had to admit the fact that Alansta was right. He and Yamagami were both SSS-level ghost story masters, and only the two of them could have a conversation with someone of the same level.

The mountain also looked up at Aransta.

He knew that Aransta was talking about something else.

"No need." Yamamoto also walked into the residential building with his shotgun. "Just pretend I don't exist. I was sent here by my superiors, but I don't have any mission to do here."

"What do you mean you don't have any tasks to complete? Your task is to clear the game, and if possible, kill Jiang Ran!" The Japanese ghost storyteller immediately retorted, pointing his finger at him, "Don't forget what you came here for!"

The next moment, the dark muzzle of a gun was pointed at his head!

“If you keep talking nonsense, I don’t mind wasting that precious opportunity on you.” Yamagami’s words sent chills down the spines of all the ghost storytellers present except for Alansta. “I’m not joking with you.”

"you......"

The guy ultimately couldn't utter another word.

“Alansta, those without a goal will not pray for divine intervention.” Yamagami also slung his gun over his shoulder. “So, never forget your goal.”

“Our paths will never intersect, so you don’t need to care about me. Even though we are the same kind of people, we are not truly the same kind of people.”

Shan Shangye's figure slowly disappeared into the street.