Chapter 56 – Cat Dad in Uncharted Territory

Pangu Online 2 was not a simple game with stale worlds. In this game, dungeons and cities were interconnected and never stopped evolving. Sometimes, a dungeon expanded to the point that its territory overlapped with a city or other dungeons.

Wood Ant Nest was another ant-infested evolving dungeon. One of its entrances connected to Chang’e Sanctuary while the other entrances extended to Cernun Island.

This place was a famous grinding spot for crypto farmers and bottom feeders.

The drop table was better than the gnolls. Wood Ants generally gave spiritual seeds, which could be grown into spiritual plants. Many players with farmer class NFT always came to this place to gather farm materials from wood ants and collect their carcasses for crafting level 40 elemental armor.

Secondly, the difficulty here was a lot easier to fight. The monster’s level average was 30, and they always fought in tunnels, which party fight was less complicated. They only had a hard shell and strong physical attack and defense, but they were weak against magic and fire. Thus, fire mages thrived here.

However, this dungeon could not be accessed in the early game due to its illogical entrance locations. It was originally located deep underground next to Chang’e Sanctuary, and the access point was located on Cernun’s main island, which was crowded with dangerous beasts, tree monsters, and fairies.

In Xiaomao’s previous life, after the Hegemony Patch had been launched for a few weeks, the Wood Ant expanded its nest to the Seaside Town, and the second access point opened there.

Months later, explorers discovered the connection between Chang’e Sanctuary, Gnoll Dungeon, Wood Ant Nest, and Water Slime Dungeon on the cliff. Then, they discovered something amazing.

There was a secret path that led to the Warg Lord’s boss room and the hidden treasure room, which was located next to the boss room that Xiaomao had chosen not to enter!

In short, Wood Ant Nest hid a shortcut to the Gnoll Dungeon Core room!

DING

<You are the first to enter this dungeon. Please select one of the following rewards.>

<One: Temporarily increase the monster drop rate by 50 % for 72 hours.>

<Two: Temporarily increase the acquired experience points by 50 % upon killing monsters in this dungeon for 72 hours.>

<Three: Temporarily increase your status attributes by 50% for 72 hours.>

Again, Xiaomao was the first to enter the dungeon. He got to pick a useful 3-day buff.

He already had the 100% drop rate, so the 50% drop rate buff was unnecessary. He also didn’t need the EXP booster since he wouldn’t get any EXP from level 30 monsters. The remaining choice was the status attribute blessing.

As the temporary attribute buff would be expired today, Xiaomao picked the third choice without hesitation, extending the buff for 3 more days.

Ding_.

<Your status attributes will be increased by 50% for 72 hours.>

<Will you announce your discovery to the global server? You will obtain a rare weapon summoning ticket as a reward.>

Again, the game seduced him for something useless.

“No, munya. Also, never disclose my name, munya!”

<You have chosen to hide your discovery.>

Despite Xiaomao’s attempt to hide his discovery, the game system decided to troll him. A global announcement came out.

DING

<An anonymous player has discovered a new dungeon. The detail and the location are classified.>

What was the point of hiding his discovery when the system would send out a global announcement anyway?

“At least, they didn’t announce my location, munya.”

DING

<You have left Gnoll Dungeon and Chang’e Sanctuary. All rental weapons are disabled.>

“…”

Xiaomao wiped his sweat. He closed all menus and resumed his journey to complete the Gnoll General’s quest and his primary objective of this dungeon trip – the Warg Lord’s hidden treasure room!

Following his memory, Xiaomao waltzed through the dark tunnel.

SCREE!

Unfortunately, the Wood Ant Nest was filled with giant ants with tree-bark-like shells. They spotted an intruder and screeched, calling their comrades.

A crowd of monsters crawled out of holes from the ceiling, intersections, and tunnels from below. Each of them was only 2 feet tall while the length was up to 5 feet.

Still, every monster was bigger than Xiaomao. From Xiaomao’s perspective, who was a human-head-sized cat, these ants looked like monsters from a horror movie.

“Out of the way, munya!”

Xiaomao switched to the legendary crossbow. However, a notification suddenly came out.

DING

<Warning. You may only use a rental weapon at a respective dungeon. You may not use the crossbow in another dungeon.>

He clicked his tongue before he put away the crossbow.

‘I’ll come back here to farm you later.’

Xiaomao chose not to waste time here as his inventory slots were limited. He needed to save the slots for the treasures in the Warg Lord’s hidden room. Thus, he bypassed the giant ants by flying through the tunnel.

Now, Xiaomao felt like he was playing the final mission in Ace Combat Series, navigating his ride through a small tunnel without touching or hitting anything.

Fortunately, the ants only knew how to bite. None of them had a ranged attack, and Xiaomao managed to slip through their defense.

Minutes later, Xiaomao found the exit. He left the tunnel, entering another hollowed area underground.

Unfortunately, the Wood Ant hadn’t expanded their territory yet, so the connection between the Gnoll Dungeon and Wood Ant Dungeon was incomplete. Xiaomao needed to cross another dangerous terrain to reach there, and this hollowed cave was the right path.

Below him, raging seawater bobbed up and down. Strong waves hit the dark rocks and continued filling in this hole as this place was below sea level. Yet, mysteriously, the seawater was drained away in rhythm as if there was a sinkhole nearby.

Xiaomao looked up and prayed for a certain path. Unfortunately, the ants hadn’t dug through this section yet.

‘Crap! Am I too early!? Wait, I can use the underground path, but it will be troublesome. But what was the rhythm again?’

Xiaomao flew up and caught the sharp stalactite on the ceiling. His tentacles wrapped around the rocks, and he kept the sword back in his inventory. Then, he looked down and stared at the foaming sea.

BOOM

The sea current instantly filled the hollowed cave and flooded a portion of the ant’s nest.

Some of the pursuing ants were washed by the sea currents. A few of them were pulled to the sea and disappeared into the bottom of the sinkhole.

Finally, Xiaomao lost his pursuers without a fight.

Xiaomao let out a sigh of relief. Being a squishy damage dealer like a catopus was difficult sometimes.

However, the crisis was far from over. The sea current was still raging, and it repeatedly filled the room and receded into the sinkhole.

Xiaomao tightened his grip and began counting.

BOOM ZAAAAA

‘One, Blank.’

BOOM BOOM ZAAAAA

‘One-Two, Blank.’

BOOM BOOM ZAAAAA

‘One-Two, Blank’

Ten minutes later, changes occurred.

BOOM ZAAAAA ZAAAAA

The rhythm changed. The waves slowly subsided, yet Xiaomao didn’t move from the spot. He stared at the bubbles on the seawater.

‘One, Blank, Blank, and foams. Here comes the first trap!’

A breath later, raging waves returned, but it was stronger than before.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM

Four waves crashed onto the ceiling with full force and attempted to pull Xiaomao into the sea with their absurd suction force.

ZAAAAA ZAAAAA

Again, the seawater receded and almost vanished from the cave.

‘Second trap!’

Xiaomao gritted his teeth and shut his eyes, praying for Exodia.

RUMBLE

Ten consecutive waves flooded the room and some of the ant’s nests. A hundred giant ants from the nest got pulled into the trap sinkhole of death.

Xiaomao held the stalactite with his dear life. Although the waves didn’t decrease his HP, it was a terrifying experience of being trapped in an underground cave while the sea threatened to swallow him.

One minute passed, but it was the longest minute of Xiaomao’s life.

ZAAAA

The raging waves stopped. The seawater bobbed up and down, and white bubbles vanished.

Xiaomao bit his tongue to muster his strength. He jumped down and dove into the sea!

As the catopus was a sea creature, he could see everything and breathe in the seawater. As soon as he got into the deathliest sea trap, he could see why the sea level here was so abnormal.

Below the sea was a humongous mouth of an anglerfish. Judging from his eyes, the mouth alone was at least 500 meters in width, which could easily swallow a town!

Xiaomao could also see the horrifying purple name of the monster.

Agent of Calamity, Level (????)

Again, it was another monster with four digits in level!

The massive anglerfish, aka the sealed world boss, would make its appearance when Pangu’s Agents tried to kill Cernun and unseal the monster.

For now, it was sleeping here under the island chains, snoring and chewing random wood ants from the dungeon.

Xiaomao stopped paying attention to the anglerfish. He didn’t have enough time to sightseeing.

The cat’s tentacles shrank and extended as if he was jumping. However, Xiaomao’s eyes were bloodshot as he jetted through the underwater passageway as quickly as he could.

Xiaomao swam a kilometer in less than a minute!

After crossing the most dangerous world boss’ zone, Xiaomao found a small hole on the opposite side of this gigantic sealed room. Without hesitation, the small body of the catopus slipped through the hole.

Then, Xiaomao got inside another hollowed underground cave.

However, it was a dead-end!

Xiaomao didn’t lose hope. He looked up and noticed the leaking smelly water from the ceiling and small waterways from above.

Although hesitated, Xiaomao brought out the legendary crossbow. He checked the remaining time.

A bit over 15 minutes remained.

Xiaomao looked down and checked the sea level. Currently, the white foam filled half of the surface, which warned him that he didn’t have much time left for the next waves to come.

ZAAAAA

“Dammit, munya!”

Xiaomao gritted his teeth and loaded the legendary crossbow with a bolt. Then, he made a dangerous bet.

‘Please work. Please be in the Gnoll Dungeon Area!’

Again, he prayed and activated his only archer skill.

One Man Thousand Arrow!

The designated target was the ceiling of the cave!

And he fired!

No system warning prevented him from using the bow!

He won the bet!

BOOM

The chain explosion erupted on the ceiling. Rocks and stalactites fell to the sea.

Xiaomao braced for the danger. He brought out the flying sword and accelerated it toward the ceiling.

A second later, the sea surged. The death waves returned as the anglerfish wanted more food to eat!