CHAPTER 153: CHAPTER 153: OTHER TEAMS IN THE SAME DUNGEON

Just left the dungeon.

The teleportation station was crowded with explorers.

Kane and the others hurriedly left the teleportation station, pushed through the throng, and arrived outside the Mist Station.

The sky outside had already darkened, with the setting sun hanging on the horizon.

"Kreya, why are there so many more people?"

Looking at the coming and going crowd, Lilu was a bit puzzled.

After a few days away, the temporary camp seemed to have expanded into a small town, with more explorers around than when Kane and the others had come before.

More uniformed staff and guards affiliated with the Mist Council had appeared as well.

These guards were patroling various parts of the town to maintain order. From the flags flying on various buildings, it was apparent that more forces had moved in.

But it made sense; after all, passing through this dungeon allows one to break through the copper bottleneck. The number of copper explorers stuck at the bottleneck worldwide is countless.

Kane doubted whether this dungeon could last for a year.

As Kreya walked, she said, "Dungeons that can help break through bottlenecks are very rare. More and more people will come before this dungeon is exhausted."

"The hope of breaking through a bottleneck is so alluring." Longbei couldn’t help but say.

They chatted leisurely and returned to the inn they had been staying in prior.

Upon entering the first floor of the small building, the tavern was already packed tightly with explorers. It seemed that this inn had already been fully booked, but fortunately, Kane and the others had the foresight to reserve a week in advance.

Otherwise, they’d have to find a place to camp around the island, which was probably already packed with explorers.

Kane and the others maneuvered through the crowd and returned to their rooms to clean up.

They had been fighting and traveling in the dungeon for days, with only one break and no time to clean themselves.

Moreover, they had been fighting undead and corpses, and they felt soaked in the smell of decay.

Of course, it wasn’t just them; all explorers leaving the dungeon carried a faint stench, but they’d gotten used to it and overlooked it.

Everyone cleaned themselves thoroughly in their rooms and, after changing into fresh clothes, waited at their respective doorways.

By then, it had grown dark outside, with the long-awaited moon hanging in the night sky, unchallenged by twinkling stars.

The assembled Kane and company headed to the tavern on the inn’s first floor. With rooms fully booked, it wasn’t as crammed with explorers as before.

After searching for a while, they finally found an empty table in the corner and sat down.

Once they had ordered their dishes, Kane looked up and noticed a team of explorers entering through the door.

Kreya, seated opposite Kane, saw his expression and couldn’t help but turn around: "What’s up? Do you know them?"

"Yeah, they are from the Fury Exploration Team I ran into after we split up."

"So it’s them. Their outfits are really wild."

The explorers from the Fury Exploration Team looked much more disheveled than when Kane first met them.

With their limited armor tattered, they exposed more of themselves, making them appear even wilder.

After they went directly upstairs, Kane withdrew his gaze.

Longbei stroked his beard and said, "They got out quickly, not much slower than us, it seems."

"After all, we killed all the gatekeepers. If they weren’t fast, they wouldn’t pose any threat to us."

"True."

As various dishes were served, they began their normal dinner.

"Lilu!"

While they were eating, a green orb flew over and hugged Lilu tightly.

It was the little elf, Philis.

Kane looked toward where it had flown from and indeed saw their teammates, the girl with the goat horns leading them was particularly striking.

Seeing their disarray, they probably had just exited the dungeon as well.

Their captain waved and greeted Kane and the others, then yelled at Philis: "Get back here. Don’t you realize you smell terrible?"

"Ah!"

Philis exclaimed in surprise at her captain’s words, quickly waved goodbye to Lilu.

Thinking about hugging her friend while smelling so bad made her blush.

Lilu didn’t mind and waved happily, shouting goodbye.

After they headed upstairs, Kreya continued elegantly eating her meal, saying softly, "Did you sense it?"

"Yeah," Kane sniffed, "it seems they’re the other team."

"What are you talking about behind my back?" Lilu asked urgently, seeing she couldn’t understand them.

A blue hand offered her a potion bottle.

"Smell it."

Lilu hugged the potion bottle, opened the stopper, and took a sniff as Meizike instructed.

Then she looked puzzled: "What’s wrong with this smell?"

Longbei patted his forehead, helplessly reminding her, "Think carefully if you smelled this just now."

This time, Lilu finally remembered and clapped her hands: "Yes! Philis had this smell just now."

Yet the confusion remained on her face: "What’s the big deal with this smell?"

Kane had to explain this.

Kane took the potion bottle from Lilu’s hands, sniffed it, and said, "Before we left the dungeon, I had Meizike sprinkle this powder around the landing point on the fourth floor.

Only we can smell the powder’s scent under Meizike’s control. Others can’t detect it, nor can they notice it easily."

When Kane and Meizike were performing this, Kreya and Longbei were nearby.

While Lilu was also there, her attention was entirely on the butterflies playing with her at the time.

Kane presumed explorers in the same dungeon space likely entered around the same time as they did.

After exiting, given their lodging at the town’s largest inn, they were likely to meet them.

Unexpectedly, they ran into them so easily.

After hearing Kane’s explanation, Lilu finally understood.

"So, Philis and her team were in the same dungeon with us, competing with friends, huh?"

Saying this, Lilu’s expression turned a little gloomy.

Kreya embraced Lilu in comfort.

"Don’t worry. We’re not enemies, just competitors. Though, it’s their bad luck to encounter us."