Skill Extraction: Exploring Dungeons

Chapter 465 - 430: The Power of the Four Black Dots

In a somewhat dim stone house.

As it was already afternoon, the poor lighting of the stone house combined with the thick black clouds in the sky made the entire stone house seem as if night had fallen.

Kane sat beside the sofa, holding a book about machinery, reading and studying.

"Hoo~ Hoo~"

Beside him, Mina was leaning on his thigh, deeply asleep. Kane gently patted her back with his free hand to lull her to sleep.

Meanwhile, Milo, Mina’s older sister, was sitting on the carpet in front of Kane, working hard on her puzzle.

Indeed, for these little ones, puzzles were the easiest way to expend their spirit and quiet them down, though the premise was their interest.

For the playful Milo, puzzles were not that appealing.

The reason she was quietly working on the puzzle was because.

"Kane brother, look, I’ve finished it." Milo proudly handed the completed puzzle to Kane.

Kane glanced at it, confirming Milo hadn’t made a mistake, and took a plate of strawberry cake from Rosalie, who had been standing behind him.

"Well done on the puzzle, here, as promised, your reward."

"Yay!" Milo cheered.

Yes, this was why she was quietly working on the puzzle, yet another big weapon for kids — snacks, especially as a part of the reward system.

Beside them, Mina was woken by her sister’s cheering, rubbed her eyes, and got up.

"Mina, Mina, sister has finished, come over and eat cake." Milo waved her sister over.

"Finally finished? Sister, you’re so slow."

The reason Mina had been sleeping on Kane’s lap was because her sister was too slow with the puzzle; she had finished long ago and was waiting for her sister to finish so they could eat the cake.

Hearing her sister’s words, Milo was instantly displeased: "What do you mean? Are you calling your sister stupid?"

"No, Mina didn’t say that." Mina shook her head, but her expression betrayed that she did think her sister was a bit slow.

Thus, the two sisters forgot about the cake they had been eager to eat and started to squabble.

At this time, Rosalie seemed to notice something and floated towards the door. Shortly after, she opened the door and came in through the main entrance, holding a folded map.

She handed the map to Kane.

Kane unfolded it on the coffee table, examining it carefully. The map originally featured five camps surrounding the stronghold, which had expanded considerably outward.

Particularly the two routes of Kreya and Longbei.

During their three days of offensive, they had captured three camps.

Don’t underestimate the three camps; it’s because the distance between camps beyond the five camps wasn’t as short as outside the stronghold.

Moreover, the information that the red side had revived like dead ashes should have spread to all camps on the blue side.

All camps reinforced their troops and began sending large forces to besiege Kreya and her team.

Of course, Horn and his team were also besieged, with ambushes set up around the camp.

Rumor has it that at Horn’s place, a general and his soldiers were ambushed and wiped out, suffering heavy losses.

This caused Horn’s side to be locked in a tug-of-war; logically, the blue side’s forces could have destroyed the five camps and surrounded the stronghold long ago.

But as mentioned before, most of the blue side acted without fully committing, giving only symbolic military support and then pretending not to see.

Yet even this accumulated military force, little by little, made it difficult for Horn to advance. If it weren’t that Kreya’s rapid conquests attracted most of the enemy forces away to contain her, even defending would have been tough. However, it was heard that they successfully expanded outward to a camp yesterday.

Kane was studying the map and drafting the current battle situation when a voice came through the Ruby Lapel Pin from Longbei.

"Hey brother, we’re almost ready to come back; many soldiers are extremely tired."

Kane immediately replied, "No problem, come back and rest."

Since it was on the public channel, everyone could hear, and Kreya’s voice also came through: "We’re heading back too, we lost quite a few soldiers and need to return for reinforcements."

"No problem, be safe on your way back."

After communicating with Longbei and the others, Kane looked at the map in front of him and the range of their occupied camps.

They had already expanded a considerable distance outwards; if they were to continue using the stronghold as the center, each round trip for supplies would become lengthy.

It’s time to move the big camp forward a bit, and Horn had discussed this with him yesterday.

Kane went to the window and looked at the sky outside.

It was almost dusk; considering Kreya and their distance, it would be tomorrow by the time they returned, definitely not today.

So it’s indeed time to finalize the big camp’s relocation, or their pace would be dragged down.

Speak and act promptly.

Kane turned around and said to Rosalie behind him, "I’m heading out for a bit; I’ll leave these two little ones to you two."

Seeing Rosalie nod, Kane looked at the two kids again.

By now, the two girls’ faces were covered in cream, playfully squabbling as they ate.

Beside them, the Ghost Maid was chasing them with a handkerchief, trying to wipe the cream off their faces.

They turned this into a game, running around the room.

"Mimina, I’m going out for a bit, don’t be naughty, your mom should be back tomorrow."

Hearing Kane’s words, the two little ones immediately stopped and excitedly asked, "Really?"

At that moment, the Ghost Maid also caught them, wiping the cream from their faces with a cloth.

"Really."

After saying this, Kane left the house and headed towards Horn’s command post.

Just after leaving the camp, five groups of black energy rushed from behind and smashed into the back of Kane’s hand.

"Sigh."

Kane stopped, looking at the five white mask patterns appearing on the back of his right hand, sighed helplessly.

Since the Dark Servants became Spirits of Freedom, their autonomy began to exhibit.

Kane wasn’t sure what kind of training they had undergone before, only knowing that they no longer confined themselves in the rooms all the time.

Rather, they scattered in concealed corners around the camp, monitoring the situation around the camp.

Moreover, their stealth techniques, combined with their modified undead constitution, make them very difficult to detect.

Whenever Kane leaves the camp, a squad attaches to the back of his hand.

They want to protect Kane’s safety, even though Kane has said it’s unnecessary, but they are unusually stubborn in certain aspects.

Previously, there were two squads attached to the back of Kane’s hand, but after Kainder’s persuasion, it’s slightly better now with only one squad.

Kane arrived at the command center, just in time to see Horn discussing something with other leaders over the sand table.

Seeing Kane, Horn asked, "Is there something you need, Captain Kane?"

"I’d like to discuss the location of the main camp," Kane said.

"Oh, does Captain Kane have any ideas? Come, come, I happened to be discussing with them about moving the camp forward."

Kane walked over, examined the sand table in front, and then pointed to the camp among the five, on the diagonal right side.

"This camp is at a higher elevation, and is very close to the intersection of several other roads, making troop transportation extremely convenient. Moreover, a water source flows past from the fortress here."

Although this camp’s location is not excellent, it is indeed better compared to the others.

Kane had already discussed this place with Horn before, but now it needs to be finalized indeed.

"No problem, let’s expand this camp into the main camp then."

The two then started discussing some details and eventually decided to move comprehensively in two days.

Having settled matters with Horn, Kane excused himself and returned to the camp.

As soon as he entered the camp, the five mask patterns on Kane’s hand turned into black gas and disappeared.

Upon entering the house and sitting down, Kane suddenly opened his eyes.

The Angel Dice’s cooldown period was over.

Kane directly flipped open the [Book of Adventure], placed the Angel Dice skill stone from the skill stone warehouse into his skill grid.

Magic Power surged from his hand, and soon, the familiar dice appeared in his hand once again, entering a usable state under the Angel’s phantom touch.

Looking at the dice in his hand, Kane was about to use it but forced himself to stop.

He glanced at the two little ones playing not far away.

"Rosalie, take Mimina out to play for a while, come back at least an hour later."

Although Rosalie didn’t know the purpose behind Kane’s sudden action, she nodded and then, along with another Mist Maid, took Mimina out of the room.

Bad luck can indeed affect the surroundings.

After ensuring there was nothing nearby, Kane then looked at the Angel Dice in his hand and gently tossed it into the air.

The dice spun rapidly in mid-air, then fell onto the coffee table, spinning on one corner.

With a normal dice, Kane could rely entirely on his skills to throw any number he wanted, but with this dice, it had no effect whatsoever.

No skill can affect it.

Seeing that the face about to be revealed was black, Kane secretly thought this was not good.

The wobbly dice finally stopped.

Looking at the number on it, Kane’s eyes went dark.

The upward-facing side was shockingly four black dots—Ultimate Misfortune.

Misfortune directly erupted.

Kane’s body went somewhat stiff. He was pondering what kind of calamity would appear.

It’s four black dots, once this misfortune arrives, there’s no stopping it.

He sat motionless on the sofa, waiting for the arrival of misfortune.

One minute passed.

Two minutes.

Five minutes.

Half an hour.

Having waited for half an hour, Kane still hadn’t encountered any strange events.

What’s going on? Kane couldn’t quite understand the current situation.

Was his luck extremely low at the moment he threw the dice?

Misfortune multiplies based on the luck present at that moment, and likewise, luck grants multipliers based on the luck present then.

If Kane’s luck was minimal when he threw the dice, then even multiplying many times wouldn’t change much.

Perhaps this is the situation now.

For a moment, Kane didn’t know whether to be happy or sad.

Can’t harbor wishful thinking.

Kane honestly stayed on the sofa, waiting until the full one-hour mark had passed.

Finally, with only a little time left for an hour to pass completely, Kane’s face showed a smile.

Ha! Fortunately, his luck value was low back then.

This could be considered a blessing amidst misfortune.

"Crack!"

Just as Kane was celebrating, a deafening sound came from outside.

Upon hearing the sound, Kane’s eyes widened, and he quickly went to the window to look outside.

Oh no!

The ruby lapel pin on Kane’s collar was vibrating furiously.

Kreya and the others were continuously transmitting messages to Kane.

Doomed!

Celebrated too soon, underestimated the power of four black dots.