Once these burrowers draw blood, they are bound to emit a scent akin to ant pheromones, causing all nearby brethren to swarm in for a share of the rare bounty—which makes the previous suggestion by Nu perfectly logical: moving in the dark won't provoke the Devil Vines into manic thrashing, allowing the vines to retract at a much faster pace. If someone is unlucky enough to be bitten by a Scarab Beetle, they will undoubtedly become a magnet, drawing every single beetle away, thus allowing the rest of the party to pass through unimpeded.

Having burst through the area controlled by the Devil Vines, everyone felt a profound sense of relief, a feeling of having survived a great calamity. When they spotted the luminous cave walls ahead once more, they realized they had entered what appeared to be a massive, unbelievably vast artificial labyrinth formed by intersecting tunnels! Rails made of metallic planks seemed to twist arbitrarily, defying gravity, crisscrossing in such a way that it appeared as though the very earth, perhaps the entire world, had been sliced into a Rubik's Cube shape.

Right before them, a stretch of metal track, seemingly untouched for countless years, lay silent. The weathered and rusted surface of the track clearly spoke volumes: years, perhaps eons, had passed since anyone had traversed this path. On the cave walls, enormous protrusions resembling fossilized ribs spread out neatly and symmetrically into the distance. The distinct sound of dripping water echoed from all directions, coalescing in everyone's ears before fading away—a feeling of indescribable awe began to sprout spontaneously within the souls of all present.

“Everyone, take a rest,” the Metal Mentor announced as he settled down. “I’ve just scouted ahead; this place doesn't look like it’s seen recent traffic.”

He let out a sigh of relief:

“It seems we’ve beaten that lot from the Banks Gang here.”

Fang Senyan was scrutinizing the rails winding through the caverns, unable to resist reaching out to touch one. The track remained incredibly solid, allowing him to clearly sense the architectural philosophy of the ancient artisans who built this place: rough, direct, and durable. Even when rusted and broken, the metal snapped with a sharp crack, utterly devoid of hesitation. Just then, a trading request flashed across his Nightmare Mark interface—it was the Metal Mentor initiating the trade, offering five thousand General Points for free! Fang Senyan accepted without a second thought; free is free, after all.

“This is a reward for everyone’s courage,” the Metal Mentor stated, a slight relaxation of the tension and awkwardness within the small group becoming apparent now that a benefit had been distributed. Although methods relying on both threats and enticements were common, their execution here proved quite effective. The Metal Mentor nodded in satisfaction. “We are now deep within the subterranean storage vaults of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, though it seems to have been abandoned for a very long time. Reaching this point means we’re more than halfway there!”

Nu unrolled a piece of parchment that looked as if it might crumble at a touch, and in his characteristically emotionless voice explained: “The chamber where the goblins store the Philosopher's Stones is one of the three Great Vaults of Gringotts. To guard against theft during construction, they employed a truly marvelous Perpetual Magic, akin to a real-world fingerprint or iris scanner, yet far more advanced.”

“The only key to that vault door is the genetic code of the original architect, including the genes of his direct descendants. Therefore, the individuals who open the Gringotts vaults are hereditary—no one else can substitute them. Stealing the Stones through conventional means is virtually impossible—even Voldemort once believed this to be the case.”

“However, the designers accounted for a very real future scenario: if, one day, the architect’s bloodline were to be extinguished (meaning utter extinction), the vault would be sealed forever, right? So, they engineered the vault with two doors—a front door secured by the magical gene lock, and a rear door protected by layers of traps and hazards. Should the bloodline fail, the items within the vault could still be retrieved.”

“Because Gringotts was established such an incredibly long time ago, even the goblins currently in charge have forgotten these details. But Voldemort discovered this information through fragments of ancient texts, and the Metal Mentor acquired firsthand data after an arduous search. Thus, once we arrive here, we have essentially succeeded by half!”

Clearly, the information the Metal Mentor provided was solid, with little room for exaggeration. Fang Senyan cross-referenced this with the intelligence he’d previously gathered from the goblin Mr. Infinite, which largely corroborated these facts. As Fang Senyan was thinking this through, that mysterious sensation associated with approaching Gringotts suddenly surged in his mind, this time far more intensely than before!

He simultaneously felt an abnormality within his Nightmare Mark. Upon checking, he discovered that the severed finger—or perhaps it should be called the key—was heating up, radiating intense fluctuations. Had the storage space within the Nightmare Realm not been exceptionally stable, this anomaly would likely have been detected. Fortunately, this unusual state only lasted for a few dozen seconds before subsiding.

The Metal Mentor’s sequence of offering rewards followed by sharing intimate knowledge successfully reestablished a degree of cohesion. They proceeded down an adjacent, ancient tunnel, with Nu, map in hand, taking the lead. After winding through for over ten minutes, everyone began to feel thoroughly disoriented.

At a fork in the path ahead, Nu suddenly stopped, frowning deeply as he meticulously compared the parchment map. At that precise moment, Fang Senyan felt a powerful threat wash over him! He certainly wasn't foolish enough to shout a warning; instead, he secretly tensed up in defense. Yet, barely half a second later, Deko let out a piercing cry:

“Watch out! Danger!”

No sooner had Deko shouted than the tunnel walls to the left and right violently exploded, sending a shower of debris flying everywhere. Immediately, two humanoid figures, easily three meters tall, lunged out, slamming heavily into Nu’s sturdy frame. Without a sound, Nu was sent flying backward, tumbling several times before a gush of blood sprayed from his mouth, arcing spectacularly through the air.

Their attackers were two soldier-like statues, carved entirely from a white stone material. Their movements, though mechanical, were not stiff. They held shields in their left hands and longswords in their right, closing in with alarming speed. The Metal Mentor then swept his robe aside, and his metal-gloved hand moved rapidly through the air, tracing out several arcane, intersecting lines. Two fireballs, each the size of a washbasin, shot out, whistling toward the statues.

Amidst a deafening boom, the two fireballs detonated. The massive concussive force pushed both statue-soldiers backward, causing them to lose balance and fall to the ground. However, they quickly righted themselves, resuming their mechanical advance. The surface of their shields was scorched black, yet not a single crack marred them.

Fang Senyan’s eyes narrowed, and he immediately charged forward, bringing an axe down hard onto one of the statue-soldiers. A few sparks flew from the impact, but the blow only chipped away a small piece of stone from where the axe struck. The soldier countered with a swift sword slash. Fang Senyan managed to block with his axe just in time, but he heard an extremely dull Kala sound, and then his "Butcher's Bone-Shaving Axe," which had cost him a considerable price, shattered into over a dozen fragments of various sizes, scattering everywhere—utterly destroyed.

Simultaneously, Fang Senyan received a prompt from his Nightmare Mark: “Warning: Your weapon: Butcher's Bone-Shaving Axe durability depleted, destroyed. Please replace weapon immediately!!” “Warning: Your weapon: Butcher's Bone-Shaving Axe durability depleted, destroyed. Please replace weapon immediately!!” “Warning: Your weapon: Butcher's Bone-Shaving Axe durability depleted, destroyed. Please replace weapon immediately!!”

“Damn it!”

This sudden turn of events was something Fang Senyan had not anticipated. For him, maintaining his cover within the Symbiotic Society and engaging in the battle of wits with these individuals had already stretched him to his limits; he had genuinely neglected these minor details, only for the problem to surface now! A few sharp fragments of the axe scraped past his cheek, leaving a sensation of mixed heat and sharpness. The other statue-soldier raised the shield it held and delivered an incredibly fierce sweeping blow! Caught completely off guard, Fang Senyan could no longer evade. He felt as though a gale had swept across his face, causing intense soreness even in his eyeballs, followed by a dull ringing in his head as consciousness abruptly fled.

When Fang Senyan regained awareness, he found that every part of his body was in agonizing pain. He had been thrown five or six meters against the tunnel wall and bounced back. His entire left cheek was numb and sensationless! Staggering unsteadily, he managed a few steps before spitting out a mouthful of blood with a gagging sound—several teeth were mixed in with the crimson fluid. Only then did he realize his legs were weak and refusing to support him. The Nightmare Mark also sent a notification indicating he was in a 'Concussed' state, reducing his movement speed by 50%.

Upon checking his combat log, Fang Senyan discovered that the 'Shield Bash' attack had drained nearly 120 points of his health! Firstly, because he was ambushed, the additional 10 Stamina provided by the Obsidian Fossil Anchor hadn't been factored in, severely reducing his defense. Secondly, these soldier-statues had managed to inflict Crushing Damage! This indicated their Strength rating was at least 27 points or higher! Furthermore, the current Concussed status was a special effect triggered by that 'Shield Bash'.