*Uwaaa*

A child started crying as she was abandoned in the middle of a rushing crowd.

The employee saw it, and his facial expression changed, his body turning into a blur of lightning sparks by the surge of mana. He then rushed forward, passing through the people, and picked up the little child in almost an instant, dragging the boy to the side. “Damn it. This is getting worse.”

Meanwhile, reaching the balcony of the second floor, Lin Fang spoke aloud. “Come…” He lifted Li Liu in his arms and flew out with the wolf pup steadily sitting on his shoulder as the barrier was closing rapidly.

He wasn’t alone who jumped down, either. There were some hunters who jumped from higher floors.

When Lin Fang was about to get out, someone crashed into him. Xuan Hei landed on the ground, and Lin Fang and Li Liu got out.

“No…”

Lin Fang’s face hardened instantly as his gaze fell on the translucent barrier that just materialized while Xuan Hei was stuck inside.

Without the system’s Summon skill, he can’t forcefully bring it out, and for some reason, even with its void element and teleportation, it somehow didn’t come to him. Is it because of the beast suppression collar?

Lin Fang shut his eyes and tried to connect with the pup. He couldn’t sense it.

Meanwhile, cross the mall, and the countdown timers lit up.

114:58

114:57

114:56

Outside, Lin Fang’s brows furrowed in irritation. “Tch. We had to face a dungeon at the worst of all times. And that too, a Grade 3. Why did we come here? We should have simply finished eating at the hotel…”

Li Liu quietly whispered. “I’m sorry. I should have…”

Lin Fang interrupted her, patting her shoulder, “Not your fault. Or Zhi Yan’s either. No one would expect it. I was just worried about you, actually. You are the only one who couldn’t fight. Just stay with me, alright?”

As she nodded, Alpha spoke in his head, “This is quite strange, kiddo. The dungeon laws give the humans 90 seconds of time to escape the instant dungeons. But this closed under 30 seconds. The only way this could happen is if someone used an artifact.”

Lin Fang felt a skip in his heart, “You mean, someone is behind this? It’s not Shadow Guild, right?”

Alpha replied, “Highly unlikely. If they have the power to create a dungeon and they want to kill you, they can turn the hotel into an instant dungeon, not a mall.”

Lin Fang agreed. “I guess that makes sense.”

Unlike the dimension dungeons and the open dungeon where Lin Fang explored before, the Instant dungeon is different. It can randomly open up anywhere in the world, taking over a certain amount of space based on its grade.

When it appears, it takes 90 seconds of time for the barrier to close down, and the entire region it encompasses will be locked down, and everyone inside, once the time passes. No one can escape the exit.

People can only enter this type of dungeon.

Based on its grade, there will be a time limit for the preparation.

The Higher its grade, the greater the time limit.

And when the time limit is over, the monsters will flood the dungeon and massacre everyone inside.

Until the boss monster of that dungeon is killed, the dungeon won’t disappear, and over time, the dungeon will break completely, releasing monsters into the world…

As for a Grade-3 dungeon like the one Xuan Hei, the Luminous Nemewolf, was trapped in, it has over 25-100 meters in radius, with over 120 minutes of preparation time, and will release from 50-200 monsters.

Typically, as if the gods want to give the innocents a chance to escape, every time a dungeon appears, based on the grade, people can still escape if they act within the first 90 seconds. But for some reason, a human’s intervention, according to Alpha, there was no such time.

And that tensed him more than anything, as a human’s hand was involved in this.

Lin Fang clenched his fists and glanced at Li Liu, who was staring at the mall, just like the others.

“Liu’er, I’m getting in.” He said.

“What?” Li Liu reacted loudly. As she grabbed his hand in worry, Lin Fang looked at her and said, “It’s a dungeon, Liu’er. What happens if hunters see a lone monster without any human master?”

Li Liu froze and answered dazely, “They will treat Xuan Hei as an enemy and try to eliminate it.”

Taking a breath, she said before he say anymore, “Go.”

Lin Fang leaned toward her and kissed her on the lips, “Be careful. Don’t come in. You don’t know how to fight. Understood?”

Li Liu worriedly nodded. “Be careful…”

Lin Fang turned back and rushed back into the barrier. Seeing many people banging on the barrier from inside the mall, like a crowd, Lin Fang used flight and entered the mall, then looked down at the sea of panicked people.

“Xuan Hei…” He spoke inwardly.

*Woof*

In the next instant, the wolf pup was seen in his view, jumping to him from god knows where…

Nevertheless, he caught it and flew to the first floor and then secretly hurried toward the safe zone in panic, following the employee nearby who was guiding many people. He didn’t fly as he didn’t want attention. He had one enough hostage crisis. He doesn’t want another.

And since there are hundreds of people, perhaps thousands here… Lin Fang was confident enough to keep himself hidden even if he was spotted once or twice using his powers.

With his wolf pup together, like a normal person, he made his way to the nearest escalator marked SAFE ZONE -> CENTRAL ATRIUM.

“Please stay calm! Hunters are en route. Please move orderly!” A young employee nearby directed the traffic and tried to manage the rushing crowds, although his own voice was shaking in panic.

Around him, shoppers ran frantically, not heeding his calls at all. He got pushed by many, but he tried to manage, using his voice as loudly as possible.

*95 minutes left till the Rift activation.*

Lin Fang finally arrived at the atrium, packed with thousands of people. There was panic; screams were coming from everywhere. Some mothers lost their children, some were even injured, and many were, of course, scared as hell.

Nearby him…

“Uncle Tianzhu!” A teenager clung closer to a young man who looked barely in his 30s, her voice barely audible in this chaos. “They say it is Grade 3. That means the boss monster will be a Class-2, right?”

The man named Tianzhu held her tightly and put up a smile. “Everything will be alright. No need for panic.” After a brief pause, he looked at his nephew, who sat on her other side. His face turned a bit serious. “Theo, I know what’s going on in your mind, but you must not fight, understood?”

“Eh?” Theo was mildly surprised. “But this is an emergency. If we don’t fight, who will save these people?”

To that, the man sternly replied. “The hunters will come soon enough and take care of the monsters. You don’t need to try to play the hero. Just sit and wait like everyone else.”

Alpha then spoke in Lin Fang’s head as he was observing the family, “This man feels the same as Jin Di, kiddo. He has the Sage Core, too, but I highly doubt he had the mana.”

Feeling the gaze upon him, Tianzhu snapped his head toward Lin Fang beside him. Lin Fang immediately looked away. Tianzhu frowned when he saw Lin Fang and then the wolf pup, but he didn’t say anything or move away.

Lin Fang sneakily glanced at him and thought, “Should I leave? But it will be suspicious. Fu…”

*72 minutes left till the Rift Activation*

By this time, more than thirty hunters from Yanhui City’s Starlight Guild and another ten hunters from Haze Guild had already arrived at the mall, entering the dungeon.

The Haze Guild Hunters came down to the atrium to protect them while the Starlight Guild Hunters went to the fourth floor, where the spatial distortion was happening—meaning, it is where the rift will be activated, and the monsters rush out.

*18 minutes left till the Rift Activation*

The atmosphere was calmer now, compared to an hour ago. It is not that everyone has become calmer.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep