Chapter 18 : Chapter 18
Chapter 18: A Record-Breaking Clear!
On the rocky flats outside the dungeon, the atmosphere was so oppressive it was almost suffocating.
Lin Tianhao’s eyes were bloodshot, and the black overcoat on his body snapped loudly in the wind.
Su Wan stood at his side, her hands clasped tightly before her chest.
At this moment, this iron-willed businesswoman was nothing more than a mother praying for her child’s safe return.
On the other side, however, Zhao Lei looked much calmer. From time to time, he raised his wrist to glance at that priceless Patek Philippe watch.
Just then—
The dungeon vortex, which had been spinning madly, suddenly froze for a moment.
It was a sign that the dungeon was about to reopen.
Lin Tianhao’s and Su Wan’s hearts instantly leaped into their throats.
In this world, when an Abyssalized wilderness dungeon reopened, there were only two possibilities.
Either everyone inside was dead, and the dungeon had reset.
Or it had been cleared.
Zhao Lei pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses.
“It looks like it’s over. Xiao Yu, get ready to enter.”
“Got it, Dad.”
Zhao Yu rolled his wrists, eager to begin.
After all, the thought of showing off his strength in front of so many important figures was enough to excite him.
At that moment, Ye Hongyu suddenly let out a cry of alarm.
“That’s not right. Look up there!”
Everyone’s eyes instinctively followed the direction of her finger.
The record that had stood unbroken for eighteen years was rapidly fading away.
【Current Best Record: 1 hour 05 minutes 22 seconds】
【Clearing Team: Xia Qingyue, Zhang Kai, Wang Meng, Liu Weiwei, Lin Mo】
“How... how is that possible?”
Zhao Lei’s expression froze. His mouth fell open, and for a long moment, he could not close it.
His son Zhao Yu was not doing any better. He stared blankly at that record.
“They cleared it? And not only that... they broke the record? In an Abyssalized dungeon, no less??”
Before the crowd could recover from this tremendous shock—
HUM—!
The dungeon entrance flashed.
Several figures slowly emerged from the vortex.
The moment Lin Mo stepped out of the dungeon, he was startled by the spectacle before him.
Several hundred fully armed soldiers, dozens of glaring floodlights, and pairs upon pairs of eyes staring fixedly at him.
“Well now, this is quite a welcome.”
Lin Mo’s gaze swept across the crowd and landed on Zhao Yu, whose expression in the distance was particularly colorful.
Raising an eyebrow, Lin Mo gave him a half-smiling wave.
“Oh? Young Master Zhao is here too? It’s late at night, and instead of sleeping at home, you came here to enjoy the wind? You really do have refined tastes.”
“You...”
Zhao Yu’s face flushed red, but no words came out.
Before Lin Mo could tease him any further, Su Wan rushed over.
“Mo’er!!”
She no longer cared about maintaining the image of a dignified corporate president. She pulled Lin Mo into a fierce embrace.
Her grip was so strong that it nearly crushed his ribs.
“You scared your mother half to death! It was an Abyssalized dungeon! Why is your fate so bitter... sob... if anything had happened to you, I would not have wanted to live either...”
As she cried, she pounded hard on Lin Mo’s back.
“Cough... cough...”
Lin Mo was being squeezed so hard that his eyes rolled back and his face turned purple. He patted his mother’s back with difficulty.
“M-Mom! Let go! If the monsters didn’t kill me, you’re going to strangle me to death!”
Hearing her son’s plea for help, Su Wan finally came to her senses. She hurriedly released him and wiped the tears from her face in a panic.
She looked him up and down, her eyes full of concern and guilt.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I was too emotional... Let me see. Are you hurt anywhere? Does anything hurt?”
“I’m fine, really. Not even a scratch.”
Lin Mo spread his hands helplessly and even showed off his perfectly intact limbs.
At that moment, Lin Tianhao strode over as well.
Although this iron-blooded commander had not lost control like his wife, the large hand he placed on Lin Mo’s shoulder was trembling slightly, exposing the excitement in his heart.
“Good boy! As long as you’re alive, that’s all that matters! That’s all that matters!”
Lin Tianhao’s gaze passed over his son and fell on the four people walking out behind him—Xia Qingyue and the others.
His eyes narrowed, and his brows drew together slightly.
Aside from some dust and fatigue, the four of them did not even seem to bear any signs of serious injury.
“What... happened here?”
Lin Tianhao asked in a deep voice.
Even if his son had a gift for fine control, in that kind of environment, protecting himself alone would already have been impressive enough. How could he possibly have brought the entire team out unscathed?
Xia Qingyue took a deep breath, stepped forward, and gave Lin Tianhao a deep bow.
“Uncle Lin, Aunt Su.”
“The only reason we were able to come out alive and clear the Abyssalized dungeon is Lin Mo.”
“If Young Master Lin had not shattered the final Boss’s shield by his own power and taken on more than ninety percent of the team’s damage output, we would have died in there long ago.”
At that point, Xia Qingyue took a bank card from her pocket and presented it to Lin Tianhao with both hands.
“Uncle Lin, we cannot accept the payment for this mission.”
“Not only were we of no real help in the dungeon, we even rode along on Young Master Lin’s experience and gained two levels, and we also took the honor of the record clear... This money burns our hands. Please, you must take it back.”
Behind her, Zhang Kai and Wang Meng nodded repeatedly like pecking chicks.
“That’s right, Commander! Young Master Lin was incredible! Truly, he carried the entire team!”
“We were basically just in there shouting and watching! We’d be ashamed to take the money!”
Hearing this string of praise, Lin Mo scratched his head awkwardly, his cheeks heating slightly.
Being praised like this in front of so many people was honestly a bit much to bear.
“Ahem... you’re all too kind.” Lin Mo waved his hand, trying his best to look modest. “I’m not that amazing. Just... moderately amazing. Nothing more.”
Looking at his son’s breezy, unconcerned expression, Lin Tianhao truly found it hard to believe.
His son had carried the entire team by himself, and in an Abyssalized dungeon, no less, even breaking a record that had stood for eighteen years.
Was his son really that formidable?
Suppressing the wild joy surging in his heart, Lin Tianhao burst into laughter and directly pushed the bank card Xia Qingyue was offering back toward her.
“Keep it! Once I, Lin Tianhao, give away money, I do not take it back!”
“Uh...”
Xia Qingyue’s hand froze in midair, still holding the bank card, uncertain what to do.
At that moment, Su Wan gently took Xia Qingyue’s hand and pressed the card back into her palm.
“Xiao Xia, if your Uncle Lin says to keep it, then keep it.”
“No matter how much Mo’er contributed this time, if you had not been up front holding the line, if you had not trusted him as his teammates, it would still have been difficult for him to accomplish all this alone.”
“Besides, you accompanied Mo’er through the gates of death. Consider this a small token of your auntie’s goodwill. Take it and buy some nourishing supplements to restore yourselves.”
“...All right.”
Looking into Su Wan’s sincere eyes, Xia Qingyue finally nodded and took back the bank card.
“Then thank you, Uncle Lin. Thank you, Aunt Su.”
“All right, all right. Stop standing here in the cold wind.”
In an excellent mood, Lin Tianhao waved to one of his subordinates.
“You there. Escort Xiao Xia and the others back first.”
...
Not far away, Zhao Lei’s face was filled with disbelief.
“The entire team came out uninjured...” Zhao Lei muttered to himself, his voice terrifyingly low. “Not only did they clear it, they all came out without a scratch.”
“Dad, how is that even possible?”
Zhao Yu stood to the side, murmuring in disbelief.
Zhao Lei let out a cold snort.
“Most likely that old fox Lin Tianhao spent a great deal of money to give Lin Mo some sort of trump card.”
As he spoke, Zhao Lei’s gaze fell on Xia Qingyue, who was preparing to leave.
“And... that little girl called Xia Qingyue doesn’t seem simple either. Do you know her?”
Following his father’s gaze, Zhao Yu nodded.
“I do. She’s from No. 1 High next door. She has A-grade water elemental affinity.”
“She’s very famous at school. Before class awakening, whether in theory scores or combat simulations, she was always ranked first in the entire school.”
“A-grade water mage, first in the whole school...”
Zhao Lei narrowed his eyes.
“Let’s go. We have no business here anymore.”
He pulled open the car door, but before getting in, he turned and coldly instructed an adjutant beside him:
“Go. Look into that girl Xia Qingyue properly. Find an opportunity to speak with her. Tell her we want this year’s top scorer of Jianghai City, and whatever compensation she wants, she can name her price.”
“Yes, Commander!”
The adjutant accepted the order and departed.
As the car window slowly rose, Zhao Lei looked at the son seated beside him, his tone turning grave.
“Xiao Yu, do not let a trivial matter like this throw your mind into disorder.”
“The reward for Jianghai City’s top scorer this time—that 【Lava Behemoth’s Heart】—is of crucial importance to your path as a Blaze Mage.”
Zhao Yu clenched his fists, and blazing fire ignited in his eyes.
“Don’t worry, Dad! This year’s top scorer of Jianghai City is mine for the taking!”
Seeing his son like this, the gloom in Zhao Lei’s heart immediately lifted somewhat.
As expected of my son, Zhao Lei thought.
Faced with a powerful rival, he did not shrink back. Instead, it only stirred an even stronger fighting spirit within him.
That was exactly how it should be. Only with that wolf-like ferocity could one stand at the summit of this world that devoured the weak.