"As for those people that Shan and the others rescued... well, how should I put it? Although it's a bit difficult to find a suitable place to stay, and I don't really want them to be too close, I still tried to make them a simple rain shelter with vines, so at least they won't get too wet."
I looked at him, puzzled. "Did something happen?"
Sheng paused for two seconds, then quickly resumed his work, shrugging slightly: "What? No, we just walked normally for a while, and then everyone slept separately."
It was obvious that something had happened.
Of course, rather than judging it as a full-blown fight, it's more likely just some minor friction, such as a verbal argument with someone, or a disagreement on some choices.
However, this is also a bad sign.
In the brief silence, I first summoned flames, feeling somewhat relieved as I sensed the gentle flow of magic within my body. While drawing away most of the moisture from the tree hollow, I allowed the not-too-hot flames to quickly evaporate the remaining moisture on Sheng's body.
Then, I decided to ask more probing questions: "Did you two have a fight?"
"Who wants to argue with those freeloaders?"
Surprised, Sheng repeatedly touched the now-dry clothes and quickly retorted, but soon realized her slip of the tongue and looked to her right: "Uh... no, I mean, we didn't have a fight."
I shrugged nonchalantly: "It's normal to argue. Haven't we all argued our way through life? There have even been times when we had completely opposite opinions."
After all, they weren't like Sheng, a hardcore fan who had thoroughly studied the game and knew every detail of every side quest. In addition, due to other uncertain factors, although this team had come this far without experiencing a large number of survivors dying like they did on the tenth mission, they had still had several intense disagreements and arguments along the way due to differing opinions and judgments.
Fortunately, everything was resolved quickly by majority vote, and the backup plan to prevent any unforeseen circumstances also ran smoothly, allowing us to get to where we are today without any major incidents.
As for the guy chosen as the game's protagonist, he was also a self-centered jerk who came and went as he pleased. Even Sheng, a hardcore gamer, would occasionally show his dislike or inability to agree with him. Fortunately, due to the previous agreement and the fact that the guy left exceptionally quickly, a more intense conflict was averted.
In conclusion, "it's best to resolve any disagreements as soon as possible."
I observed Sheng's expression and offered my suggestion as calmly as possible: "Or we could simply place them in a safe location and wait for the dungeon to be broken, after which they would naturally return to their original positions."
"Since they're not companions who have to walk with us forever, shouldn't we distance ourselves from each other sooner rather than later?"
We'd had a few previous experiences venturing into the same dungeon with other randomly encountered teams, and after several coincidental explorations, we discovered a common rule among these dungeons:
Unless there are special circumstances, as long as one team successfully completes the raid, the dungeon will automatically dissipate, and other teams that entered will be immediately ejected in their original state. Injured teams remain injured, and dead teams remain dead. Only the team that successfully completes the raid and obtains the reward will have most of their depleted health restored due to the reward, making one marvel at how considerate the dungeon is.
This will be further verified as the main storyline continues and the scale of the dungeons expands.
Therefore, it is possible to find a safe place to settle the rescued people and then quickly pass through the level.
Moreover, according to Sheng himself, who has finished reviewing, the safest place right now is near the area where we rested earlier.
"...Although I agree with this point, I still feel a little uneasy."
However, Sheng suddenly frowned and sat cross-legged among the dried grass leaves: "Although many squads did enter the dungeon with us at the time, it couldn't have been more than a month apart. Their faces weren't the kind I was familiar with, at least not in my memory."
I listened quietly to his analysis.
“Ah, of course, they could also be real people, not characters from Tartarus,” Sheng quickly added, “but I still feel something is off.”
"Did you notice something?" I asked.
“Oh, no, it’s just that we found daggers on those guys,” Sheng said. “Even though their clothes were very worn and dirty, finding daggers hidden in places you wouldn’t normally notice makes me feel like something is amiss.”
"Do you want to confiscate all the weapons from them and put them under control?"
"What? No? That's too much trouble. I just wanted to confirm."
He muttered to himself, reaching out to catch the falling pale green light, his gaze fixed on the outside of the tree hole: "Moreover, it was the Shadow Butterfly who first discovered and proposed this matter, but the other party did not agree and even expressed strong opposition."
"Then those people said this was their last line of defense? They even worried that we would harm them if it were taken away?"
"Yeah, how did you know, brother? It was already late, and we were planning to go to rest after confirming everything, but things didn't go very well for everyone. Then it suddenly started raining heavily, so we ended up splitting everyone up."
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