What malicious intent could NPCs possibly have? C20.1

Hey, first of all, thanks for reading my lousy Machine Translation. To be honest, I’d really like it if you guys corrected the mistakes I made. But please speak nicely and politely. My heart is not strong enough to read your too-harsh comments. Have a nice day. 🙂

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Chp20. part1

This dungeon wasn’t just indoors, it actually had an outside.

Ning Ge and the others climbed out through a small door in the rooftop ceiling and found themselves in a strange place.

It was pitch black, like nighttime. Having just come from a bright place, Ning Ge felt as if she were blind.

After a while, Ning Ge realised that the building they had crawled out of was actually a giant metal Sphere.

The group was now standing on top of this giant Sphere.

Ning Ge looked down. “Could this be the Mother Sphere they were talking about?”

Owen saw the large Sphere at his feet and immediately tried to scan it.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work. Whether this Sphere was the Mother Sphere or not, it wasn’t an anchor point.

Pei Han rummaged through the cleaner’s equipment bag, put on his helmet, and turned on the helmet’s light.

By the light, everyone could see that the giant Sphere looked quite old. Its entire surface was covered in mottled vines, overgrown with weeds, and slippery moss.

The giant Sphere seemed to be half-submerged in a swamp-like black water, the depth of which was unknown and bottomless.

Further ahead lay a vast, dense forest. The trees were extremely tall, standing atop the Sphere, it was an endless expanse of darkness.

From the black forest came occasional low roars, the source of which was unknown, suggesting the presence of a truly terrifying monster.

This place was dark and cold, harbouring unknown terrors, a world apart from the warm and bright inside the Sphere.

No wonder the management staff were hiding inside the Sphere, refusing to come out.

The giant Sphere was submerged in water, and vegetation grew wildly along its surface, creating a chaotic mess. Some areas had been cleared, like a bald head, exposing the metal beneath.

However, rows of latitude and longitude lines were still faintly discernible, forming countless grids on the Sphere’s surface.

These were the grids the management office staff had assigned to clean. Each person had to clean ten from top to bottom before returning to report.

The Sphere’s curvature allowed for standing, but the moss was too slippery. Everyone secured their safety ropes to the metal railing beside the small gate, donned their safety harnesses, and carefully began scraping away the moss and vines along the surface.

Pei Han was to Ning Ge’s left, suspended on the safety rope, a beautiful silhouette against the night.

“You go up,” he said. “I’ll do it.”

Ning Ge grabbed a thick vine clinging tightly to the Sphere, ripped it off, and tossed it into the black water below. “No need, it’s easy to clean, I can do it.”

To Ning Ge’s right was Jiang Jin, silently scraping away the moss with the speed and dexterity of someone wielding a knife.

The grids weren’t very large, but the plants on them were dense and sturdy, making them difficult to clear. Ten grids per person, and finishing within three hours wouldn’t be easy.

Ning Ge pulled and shovelled, clearing half a grid before her hands went numb.

She stretched her aching arms, felt thirsty, and climbed back up the Sphere using the safety rope.

After drinking some water, when she came down again, Ning Ge saw someone in her grid.

Pei Han had come to help her clear the vines while she was away.

The problem was, there was someone else.

Jiang Jin had also moved to Ning Ge’s grid and was on the other side, deftly shovelling moss for her.

Ning Ge: ?

What’s going on?

As Ning Ge descended, she heard Pei Han coldly say to Jiang Jin, “I’ll help her.”

Jiang Jin completely ignored him.

Her knife was too fast, it cut without warning, and even Pei Han was somewhat wary of her. Pei Han didn’t want to argue with her directly. “Time’s limited, I’ll be faster.”

Jiang Jin remained silent, her hands still moving.

In the darkness, Ning Ge couldn’t see Pei Han’s face, but she knew that, facing someone who wouldn’t utter a word, the powerful Pei Han must be furious.

Would they start fighting?

Ning Ge quickly went down to her own grid. “Neither of you need to, I can manage myself.”

Finally, she had sent these two troublesome figures home.

After clearing the second grid, Ning Ge went up to get water, and Jiang Jin followed.

She also grabbed a bottle of water, sat down a step or two away from Ning Ge, gazed at the dark forest in the distance, silently took a sip, and remained silent.

Sitting like this in silence was a little awkward, so should they talk?

Ning Ge couldn’t decide, afraid of being rejected like Pei Han.

Jiang Jin was like an ice wall. If you tried to talk to her and she didn’t answer, it would be even more awkward than simply remaining silent.

Jiang Jin suddenly leaned forward.

She patted Ning Ge’s pants twice, then casually withdrew her hand and continued drinking water.

Ning Ge looked down and noticed a large patch of moss that had been there, which Jiang Jin had brushed off.

So this was a gesture of goodwill?

Ning Ge mustered her courage and spoke, feeling it was even harder than striking up a conversation with a boy she liked, “Tired?”

“Not bad,” she said, her voice hoarse.

Although it was only two words, the fact that she answered was a much better treatment than she had given Pei Han.

Encouraged, Ning Ge continued, “You’ve done a lot of dungeons, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” Jiang Jin said, then, as if feeling it was too brief, added, “A lot.”

She put down her water bottle and rubbed her wrist.

“Are your hands sore?” Ning Ge asked.

“No, it’s an old problem. I was injured before, and it hurts when I get cold.”

“Injured outside the dungeon?” Ning Ge tried to continue the conversation.

“Yes.”

She said, Then she fell silent.

She finished the remaining water in the bottle, stood up, and prepared to go down again, looking up at Ning Ge.

She seemed to pause for a moment, then suddenly said, “I have a younger sister.”

The sentence ended there, without a follow-up.

Ning Ge didn’t speak, her mind racing. Subconsciously, she felt that in this place where death was more common than food, she shouldn’t ask about her sister.

In a moment of distraction, Jiang Jin had already gone down the rope.

Ning Ge sat there, realising she was completely wrong.

From the moment they entered the dungeon, Jiang Jin stepped on the scale before her, gave her the crystal ball, and later cut off Jing Yao and the others’ wild thoughts, proactively clearing her inventory slots—none of these was strategies for protecting lower-level players in a cooperative dungeon. There weren’t many thoughts or strategies involved.

She simply wanted to be good to her.

Perhaps she had once had a younger sister like that, with thin arms and legs, who couldn’t even use a knife.

Ning Ge stared blankly at the dark treetops in the distance.

Suddenly, a strange sound came from the air, like something flapping its wings.

Ning Ge looked up.

A huge black shadow descended from the sky.

It looked like a large bird, yet it wasn’t quite like one. Its neck was thin and curved like a snake, but its head was enormous, with a sharp beak protruding, and its outstretched black wings were as long as an entire room.

It glided down like a bomber, diving directly at Ning Ge below.

Only one thought crossed Ning Ge’s mind, Was this a pterosaur?

This thing, which should belong in a museum, had its mouth agape, clearly treating Ning Ge, sitting on the dome, as a snack.

The metal doors were just a few steps away. Ning Ge didn’t even stand up before rushing forward and darting into the goal.

A high-pitched scream echoed overhead.

Ning Ge felt the wind whipped up by the bird’s wings above her and smelled the bird’s distinctive, fishy odour.

However, it missed.

The bird’s sharp talons barely grazed Ning Ge’s head.

Having missed its target, it rose again, circling back and forth above the Sphere.

Pei Han and the others were all hanging outside the Sphere, their movements restricted, their situation much more passive than hers. If the bird couldn’t catch her, it would go after someone else.

They absolutely couldn’t let it change its target.

Ning Ge emerged again from the metal door, frantically waving at the bird in the sky, “Come on! Come here!!”

The bird, seeing that the little escapee had emerged from the Sphere again and dared to howl at it, immediately swooped down once more.

Ning Ge swiftly retreated.

The large bird, with its fiery temper, simply landed this time, standing by the door and scratching wildly with its claws inside the small doorway.

Unfortunately, the door was too small, it couldn’t reach it at all.

It scratched at the metal ladder inside a couple of times in frustration, then flew up again.

Advance when the enemy advances, retreat when the enemy retreats.

Ning Ge also poked her head out again, “Why did you leave? I’m out! Come on!”

At a glance, she saw Pei Han and the others all climbing up the rope.

Jiang Jin drew her dagger, twirling it rapidly in her hand. Pei Han rolled up his sleeves, looking like he was about to catch the bird.

But the bird was too big, they might not be able to defeat it.

Just then, a person suddenly appeared from the other side of the Sphere, holding a large, blazing torch high, and swung it at the bird’s claws.

With a whoosh, the flames almost scorched the bird’s claws. The large bird cried out, flapped its wings, and soared several meters into the air.

The man persisted, waving his torch and yelling at the bird in the sky, “Come down if you dare!”

The bird didn’t dare.

It circled once, but ultimately feared the fire, turned and flew towards the dense forest, disappearing in a moment.

Ning Ge had already seen clearly that this suddenly appearing saviour was a young man.

He was dressed strangely.