Chapter 649.5: I'll Be the Lady of the House
Over the past month or so—
In order to consolidate gains and boost everyone's strength—
The dungeon's adventure tasks had become much more stable.
Many who wanted to accumulate merits and progress further started having ideas.
Now it's here—a new opportunity for everyone's development.
"Guys, the new mission directives are out! Go take a good look!"
The staff member's clear shout immediately caught everyone's attention.
The long-waiting crowd quickly began using various means to learn about the upcoming dungeon changes.
The magic display, announcement board at the gate, adventurer hall, and street-side bulletin boards all detailed the coming developments in the underground world and the Bay Territory dungeon's direction and tasks.
Trist took a satisfying sip of elven honey wine, examined the tasks and intel, eyes glinting with anticipation and undisguised hatred, and muttered viciously:
"Heh, we can finally make contact with the drow factions. I've got my shot at revenge."
Captain Tyrael didn't react too emotionally to Trist's blunt attitude. He began analyzing the current situation carefully:
"With our adventuring party's strength and abilities, let's temporarily ignore ordinary jobs and factory roles."
"The suitable missions for us fall roughly into three categories."
"First: logistical development missions."
"Digging ruins, building new cities, reclaiming wasteland, planting magical flora, raising magical beasts."
"This category is relatively safe and provides generous returns—plenty of resources and merits."
Seeing that none of them, including Trist, looked particularly interested in such tasks, Tyrael patiently continued:
"The downside is that the returns are fixed, the time investment is long, and it takes real focus."
"We can take them after combat missions—use them to rest and reinforce our learning."
"We must improve our power while also learning new knowledge and staying aware of the situation."
Hearing Tyrael's explanation, Wolf-Fang, who'd just finished flossing, nodded and said in a deep voice:
"Exactly. Live to fight, learn to grow."
"Boosting combat power isn't enough—we have to keep up with the territory's progress."
"I heard from some rotating staff that a new batch of magic bracers will be supplied here soon."
"Those are great gear. We've got to snatch them up fast."
Glancing at the gnoll who spoke fluent Common, Viconia, twirling a dagger, chuckled and said:
"They're great, sure—but probably expensive. Let's focus on picking the right next mission."
Tyrael caught the undertone in this drow lady's words, but casually flipped through his pamphlet and continued methodically:
"Second category: missions involving mind flayers."
"Same as before—hunt them, free the enslaved, disrupt supply lines, wipe patrols, take strongholds."
"We're all familiar with this type. High rewards—but also high danger."
"And lately, they've gotten harder—mind flayer armies are approaching..."
Having repeated these missions for months, the group wasn't exactly thrilled.
Even if Bay Territory offered better rewards for them—
The uncertainty surrounding the main mind flayer army kept them wary.
Their team was small, not ideal against flayers and their hordes of slaves. They didn't want to push their luck.
They each had a reason to live—and to live better.
Tyrael seemed to have expected this. He wasn't bothered by their cool reactions, and instead focused on explaining what was basically the only viable third option.
"Third category: comprehensive missions involving the drow."
"These include establishing contact with drow, trading with them, hunting drow units, or teaming up with drow against the mind flayer army."
"Different missions, all with rich rewards. Succeed here, and even Extraordinary-level weapons and equipment are within reach."
Extraordinary weapons and gear?
That lit up everyone's eyes.
Equipment and weapons were what they craved most—and it also meant the missions would be tough, and other rewards would be rare.
Seeing their keen interest, Tyrael couldn't help but add:
"Just as you guessed, besides the weapons and gear, all the other rewards are top-tier."
"Also, this time, contribution will be tracked with a point system."
"When the entire operation concludes, contributions in this category will be tallied. The higher your ranking, the greater your bonus rewards."
Hearing this, everyone's eyes gleamed even brighter.
They clearly understood the risks—but were far more tempted by the riches.
And the reason was simple—they trusted Bay Territory.
Bay Territory wouldn't throw them into trap-style suicide missions.
If they were assigned these tasks, it meant—with Bay Territory's help—they had the capacity to complete them.
Sure, it'd be tough—but worth the risk for such rewards.
Tyrael patiently discussed with them for a while, confirmed their consensus, then made the final decision.
"Alright. Let's start simple—first, establish contact with a drow faction."
"Here's the intel on nearby drow factions. Everyone, pick the most suitable target."
While this adventuring party debated their mission target, other teams in the dungeon made their own picks.
Many went with logistics missions—but more chose combat.
In this perilous underground world, everyone longed for greater strength.
Bay Territory was happy to encourage that.
The underground was an important test field—and fostering martial spirit was key.
If you can throw hands, don't run your mouth!
"Especially with drow, you've got to beat them hard."
"Only pain makes them respect and fear you—and earns you the right to talk with them."
"Otherwise, their arrogance will pierce the sky."
Sera had summed up the essence of befriending drow—Gatel was stunned.
He never imagined drow could be so... fascinating.
But he was happy to test things out with his fists first.
After all, Catachan warriors always preferred fists and knives.
Sera studied the intel carefully and quickly chose the ideal faction for contact.
A drow city called Suramar!
A well-known elven city.
It had many powerful drow spellcasters.
About 300,000 drow, and control over 6 million slaves.
Of course, most slaves were just laborers—only around 200,000 were combat-capable.
Sera picked this city because of its remarkable magic technology.
Suramar's long-standing arcane traditions could provide Bay Territory with valuable references to enhance its own development and diversity.
More importantly, as a spellcaster-centered drow city, they had more "wealth" than the usual drow dumps.
Dealing with broke drow meant you might have to pay.
Dealing with these "rich ladies," you could probably skim a few pounds of fat off them.
Bay Territory's dungeon was hungry—desperate to devour more nutrients and grow fast.
April 28th.
Underground world.
Dry.
Light level: 1 degree.
The massive mind flayer army surged toward the drow cities like a tidal wave.
Once their strength and numbers were spotted—
The gray dwarf remnants trembled in fear.
They hastened their escape from the underground.
To pass through safe routes, they had to offer more resources and slaves to bribe Bay Territory and Second Prince Kreiser.
Bay Territory and Kreiser happily robbed them blind and then sent them to the surface.
Just in time, the Cole Elf army was pressing in.
Those gray dwarf elites would stall them nicely.
Once the Cole Elves crushed them and drained their strength—
Bay Territory and Kreiser would hit them with even bigger "surprises."
For now, everyone was cooperating in silent understanding.
There's a battle? There's drama? Time to sit back and enjoy the show.
The mind flayer army was highly efficient.
In just a few days—
They crossed over 40 passageways and nearly 800 km to reach drow territory.
Two unlucky drow city-states held out for only half a day before being overrun.
Only a few drow families escaped with elite forces.
The rest became fodder for the mind flayers' growth.
Some became food.
Some became slaves.
Some hid in the ruins, barely clinging to life.
News of the invasion spread quickly among the border drow cities.
Yet amusingly, even with the flayers at their doorstep—
Many drow cities showed no signs of uniting or coordinating.
They just guarded their little turf.
Or kept squabbling with rivals, ignoring the mind flayer threat.
The result?
The mind flayers didn't give them any courtesy.
They crushed three more drow cities, capturing over a million slaves.
Only then did the drow cities finally wake up.
If this kept up, the flayers' numbers would reach uncontrollable levels.
They weren't sure if they'd win the war—
But if they didn't act now, the drow cities would be annihilated!
The fools reluctantly paused their infighting.
Under Mobliso's envoy's orders, they finally pitched in money, people, and effort to surround and destroy the flayer army.
The mind flayers were indeed strong.
Even facing a drow coalition of nearly a million, they didn't stop.
With their 3 million-strong slave army, they charged ahead relentlessly.
The drow forces who sat out earlier got punished hard.
They managed to kill 200,000 slaves—only to find they were the same slaves they used to control.
Drow, who relied on slave armies, took a brutal hit!
They never expected—
The mind flayers were even better at using slaves and cannon fodder.
The drow coalition failed to stop the flayer advance.
They only lasted two days before retreating due to heavy losses.
The outer layer of drow territory was torn wide open.
The hungry flayer army marched deeper.
Every drow city along the way was doomed.
Alarmed, the drow, under Mobliso's strict orders, gathered nearly 2 million slave soldiers.
They built a defensive line centered on three heavily fortified cities.
One of them was Sera's chosen target—Suramar!
With enough intel gathered and the timing ripe—
Sera lifted all restrictions and officially launched a new batch of missions.
Looking at the towering, magic-soaked Suramar, Gatel curiously asked:
"How do we contact the drow here? Sneak in?"
Sera issued commands to the fighters, then turned with a smile and casually replied:
"We just walk in. I'm a drow myself!"
"This time, I'll be the Matron Mother!"
"Ha!"