In the following period, Ellie attended school as usual while handling matters related to the mercenary group.
In the end, they changed their name to the Ice Cream Mercenary Group. Mainly because the ice cream made under Luo Fan's guidance tasted so good that it attracted a group of beautiful young women.
The entire previous girl adventure group joined, but they weren't responsible for specific tasks. Eventually, even Arthur was called in by Emil to become the instructor of the male mercenary team.
Sure enough, money makes things easier.
Inside the small tavern in the west of the city, several people were whispering among themselves.
"Have you heard? There's news that some kind of treasure has appeared in the Ice Shadow Dungeon. I heard it from my sister-in-law's brother's cousin, who works in the city defense army."
"Really? I've heard that too. The guild has completely sealed off that area, and there are troops stationed there as well."
"Yes, I went to check it out today. That area is now a restricted zone; no one is allowed to enter or leave freely."
What do you think it will be?
"I reckon we've found the entrance to the sixth level. It's a completely undeveloped dungeon; who knows how many treasures it might hold."
"You have to be alive to take it; I heard it's full of Shadow Crocodiles."
"But I heard that there is magic milk in the treasure, and a lot of it."
"No wonder I saw that the capital city sent people here today. Demon milk, that stuff is so damn valuable, a little bit is enough for me to live on for a long time."
Countless people discussed it, and it eventually evolved into the claim that the area contained holy milk, and that just a little bit of it could make one take off on the spot.
Many merchants, hearing the news, flocked to Sacred Heart City, while those who hadn't left sent people to investigate. The city, which had become quiet after the celebration ended, once again became lively.
After several days of development and the killing of numerous Shadow Crocodiles, the Ice Shadow Dungeon finally found the corresponding passage.
The advance team gradually ventured deeper into the cave, where the entire cave was illuminated, and countless shadow crocodiles retreated.
As they advanced several dozen meters, the scent of the demonic milk grew stronger, and everyone became excited. However, at that moment, a commotion came from inside.
The approach of the powerful human triggered the awakening of the leader, the Shadow Crocodile. The Shadow Crocodile, which had been fleeing inwards, stopped in its tracks due to the overwhelming power.
More high-level shadow crocodiles were awakened near the lake, causing the entire lake to tremble.
Some mages with keen senses had already seen what was happening behind them: an entire lake of low-level magical milk. Everyone was in an uproar.
At the Duke's mansion, Luo Fan saw Duke Simmons again, whom he hadn't seen for several days. He didn't look well. It was obvious that he hadn't had a proper rest in the past few days.
Inside the hall, Ellie and Daisy were both there, while the Duchess stood beside her husband, helping him relieve his fatigue.
"My lord, how is the situation over there?" Ellie asked curiously, having heard quite a bit of news over the past few days.
"Alas, the advance team suffered heavy losses. The Shadow Crocodiles' sneak attacks are truly impossible to defend against. Our men had just broken through to the vicinity of the lake when they were attacked by a large number of Shadow Crocodiles. There were simply too many of them."
“Those guys can also jump through our shadows, and many of them have attributes like water and earth.”
"However, we obtained several hundred kilograms of lake water containing magic milk this time, so the exploration has to be temporarily suspended." The Duke looked at Luo Fan in Xiao Xue's arms, wondering if he could let it go in again and get some more.
But after thinking about it carefully, I decided against it; it's only level 31.
"Good progress, but the cost is probably not small, especially since humans can't breathe inside for long. Sending magical pets in is just sending them to their deaths." Luo Fan looked at the Duke's expression and roughly understood what was going on.
"So what are your plans next?"
"Several martial arts masters and mages have arrived. There will definitely be a fierce battle later, but it shouldn't affect Sacred Heart City."
The Duke didn't stay at home for long. He packed some things and left, and Luo Fan took the opportunity to use his clone to follow him.
After advancing to the next level, his control over the dark element became even stronger, and he completely merged into the night after leaving.
Even in the darkness of night, the Ice Shadow Underground City was still brightly lit, as bright as day.
Temporary tents were everywhere, and many people were moving among them, including quite a few medical staff.
"Looks like the losses are quite significant!" Following the shadows of certain individuals, Luo Fan successfully slipped inside.
The atmosphere in the dungeon seems pretty good; quite a few people are chatting and laughing, and the atmosphere is much better than outside.
"A whole lake of magical milk, just thinking about it is exciting!"
"Those shadow crocodiles are so annoying, they even use the pool water to attack, how extravagant!"
"I heard that some people even got soaked in the pool water and suffered slight corrosion to their bodies. When they were rescued, they were licked by many magical pets. I can't even imagine what they looked like."
"I reckon if they weren't controlled by their masters, those magical pets would have just started talking."
"It was licked until it was a bloody mess, which was quite pitiful. But thankfully, it survived."
"Yes, injuries will be given priority in receiving a small amount of magic milk, which seems quite worthwhile. If we sell it, we can definitely make a fortune."
Without listening to what these people were saying, Luo Fan directly entered other caves and began to descend.
The entrance to the sixth floor is no longer in its original location; instead, a straight path running diagonally has appeared.
There were many people guarding both sides, and quite a few were discussing countermeasures, but Luo Fan didn't pay much attention to it.
How do we get in?
The entire passage was brightly lit with various lights, leaving almost no blind spots. However, Luo Fan soon caught a faint smell of mud.
Instead of heading this way, Luo Fan slipped towards the location he remembered. That place was now a large hole, and the smell of mud was coming from below.
There were also many lights inside the large hole, probably to prevent shadow crocodiles from coming out.
Without hesitation, Luo Fan tightened his body and, taking advantage of the guard's yawn, slid down the stone wall.
"Holy crap, there's even a magic circle. Those people are trying to fish for fish! Indeed, Shadow Crocodiles are quite valuable; he remembered that the last few they caught sold for over a hundred gold."
In the swamp, Luo Fan slithered downwards, avoiding many shadow crocodiles, searching for another way out.
After some discussion, a new task force was formed, focusing on killing the Shadow Crocodile. If the task became too difficult, the task force would be replaced immediately, with members taking turns to tackle the challenge.
Even some resistance drugs were temporarily prepared.
A new round of battles has begun, and many high-level adventurers are ready to fight in a place full of treasures, filled with passion.
The Shadow Crocodile that lunged at them was blocked by the full-body shield and instantly killed. The flying water column was directly drawn in and stored in the ring.
Even the various stone pillars that flew in were collected; these were all treasures.
At this point, the Shadow Crocodile, who had been stirring up trouble, became a veritable money-giving boy.
A series of angry roars followed, and countless shadow crocodiles pounced forward, seemingly unafraid of the surrounding light.
The battle reached its climax instantly.
"Attention, a level 50 elite monster has appeared."
"There are still level 60 enemies, follow me and kill them!" With a flick of his wrist, he unleashed a fiery slash, sending a powerful burst of blade energy towards the enemy.
The ice mage directly conjured ice, freezing the nearby lake surface to block the oncoming monsters.
However, the number of attacking monsters was too large, so the assault team fought and retreated as planned, and did not suffer too many losses.
Luo Fan continued to stealthily move forward, only feeling a slight tremor, and was not greatly affected.
"Why is it so deep?" The deeper Luo Fan went, the greater the pressure became. Fortunately, after advancing in rank, his strength had increased, allowing him to evade the Shadow Crocodile's detection.
Soon, he could smell the magic milk, a faint scent.
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