Fang Senyan cocked his finger, flicking away an incoming Flying Magic Key with a sharp ding. The moment for truth had arrived; the dagger was out of the scabbard.

Fang Senyan no longer bothered to hide his intentions, forcing a grin that didn't reach his eyes as he spoke: “I saw you two let go, so I let go too. Hmm, to use a Chinese idiom: the superior sets the example, and the subordinates follow.” The Metal Tutor took a deep breath: “Based on our calculations, there is a time delay when the key activates the gate.

That’s why we let go—we intended to cover you, to intercept some of the Flying Magic Key attacks so you wouldn't suffer excessive damage and jeopardize opening the gate.” Fang Senyan chuckled: “Acting as a meat shield for others is what I’m best at. Perhaps the Guild Leader should take that role instead.” By now, the Flying Magic Keys were beginning to coalesce into the terrifying nascent form of a metal hurricane.

Many keys were already screaming as they scraped sparks off the cavern walls. The Metal Tutor suddenly said: “If you are willing to open the gate, I will trade you all ten thousand of my Universal Points.” Fang Senyan shrugged, his tone dripping with sarcasm: “If you are willing to open the gate, I will trade you all one hundred thousand of my Universal Points—Metal Tutor, what use are more Universal Points to a dead man?

You’re not exactly young; how can you not grasp such a simple truth? This door before us is inscribed with Courage, Speed, and Sacrifice.

Capturing their leader from among those keys requires courage; escorting the captive to the door requires speed—and finally, the ultimate step of opening the gate clearly demands one person exchange their life for it! I sincerely apologize; as of this moment, I lack the spirit to sacrifice myself for your grand dream.” The Metal Tutor trembled from head to toe, laughing in furious anger: “Excellent!

You are the first person to dare speak to me like that! To tell you the truth, if you refuse to open the door, I will certainly kill you once I get out.

But if you do open the door, there’s still a chance the mechanism might fail! Choose now!” Fang Senyan lowered his head in thought for a moment, then suddenly looked up with earnestness: “I’ll gamble!” The Metal Tutor let out a long sigh, but in that instant, Fang Senyan rolled aside, dodging into the recess of a nearby statue—an area clearly less exposed to the attack range of the Flying Magic Keys.

Simultaneously, Fang Senyan roared with laughter: “I gamble that I can last longer than you people!!” The Metal Tutor’s pupils instantly flushed blood red! In that moment, if she could have wielded magic, Fang Senyan would have died a hundred times over!

But just then, Nu, who was clutching the key, stood up and stared fixedly at the Metal Tutor. The Flying Magic Keys scraped across him, leaving gashing wounds, yet he seemed utterly oblivious.

He said calmly to the Metal Tutor: “It seems I am the one to gamble. I love you, Frolia!

If I die, make sure this bastard is buried with me!” Immediately afterward, Fang Senyan heard a notification in his Nightmare Imprint: Your Team Deputy Leader, Nu, has initiated a judgment against you. Nu’s attributes are temporarily reduced by 5%.

You have been removed from the team. Nu did this because if he died, the only members of the Symbiosis Society remaining would be Fang Senyan and the Metal Tutor Frolia.

If Frolia then initiated a judgment against Fang Senyan, he might actually suffer a permanent 5% reduction in all attributes! Nu’s meticulous concern for the woman he loved showed a devotion so deep and great it was truly profound.

Having spoken, Nu fiercely embraced the massive Flying Magic Key and charged directly toward the ancient, mysterious stone gate! The instant the key met the lock, a blinding light flashed.

The ancient Hebrew script on the stone door blazed blood red, seemingly bulging out from the surface. The giant Dwarf statues standing sentinel on either side of the ancient, mysterious stone door were instantly bathed in the light and suddenly manifested a semblance of life.

Simultaneously, they swung their heavy weapons downward, directly into the path where Nu was charging! “N!!!” the Metal Tutor Frolia shrieked with incomparable agony!

At this moment, she no longer bothered to disguise her voice; the sharp, uniquely feminine shriek almost forced Fang Senyan to cover his ears! In that instant, under the assault of those two powerful weapons, Nu’s body was almost instantly pulverized into twisted, deformed pulp.

Vast amounts of searing red viscera and flesh splashed across the ancient, mysterious stone door! The giant Flying Magic Key, now lodged in the keyhole, began to slowly rotate after absorbing the flesh and blood!

Simultaneously, amidst the high-pitched whine of countless speeding Flying Magic Keys, one could still hear a series of ancient, silent mechanical clanking sounds resonating from the depths of the earth—a sensation as if some ancient, decaying behemoth beneath the surface was violently choking. Then, the stone door slowly swung open.

The Metal Tutor Frolia shot Fang Senyan a venomous glare, grinding out through clenched teeth: “You will die a miserable death!” In all fairness, her combat prowess was at least several times greater than Fang Senyan’s, and she used magic damage that Fang Senyan’s innate abilities offered no reduction against. Moreover, she was significantly closer to the stone door than he was.

Once they left this hall, which possessed high-level arcane disruption capabilities, killing Fang Senyan was a near certainty. Therefore, what she said was less a threat and more a statement of an undeniable fact.

But just as she finished speaking and took a step forward, she saw Fang Senyan suddenly bend his knees, coil his strength, and leap forward, arcing directly toward her position! However, even as a Contractor, Fang Senyan could never cross the full seven or eight meters in this massive storm instantaneously to engage the Metal Tutor Frolia in melee combat.

At best, he could only reduce the distance between them to about seven meters. Furthermore, in leaping out like that, he was guaranteed to crash into the giant Dwarf statue ahead and be flung back, making it impossible for him to stop Frolia from entering that ancient, mysterious gate and escaping the hall.

But just as Fang Senyan’s forward momentum was about to exhaust itself, the Metal Tutor Frolia noticed a powerful firearm with a distinct 16th or 17th-century European style suddenly appear in his hand! The dark muzzle was aimed directly at her!

The mere seven meters separating them meant the Metal Tutor Frolia had entered Fang Senyan’s effective range!!! A bloody, gaping wound was instantly torn across Fang Senyan’s cheek with a zi sound.

Crimson beads of blood welled up, only to be annihilated and blown away by the storm before they could fall. Killing intent swept through the air like a mad tide, deep and intense as a vortex in the middle of the ocean.

In that instant, her ears even registered the phantom sound of surging tides from the deep sea! She could even smell the unique, intoxicating aroma of rum!

Song of Rum activated! This hall only exerted strong arcane interference!

But this only suppressed mental capabilities; it could not restrain the instantaneous physical effect inherent in the Song of Rum weapon itself! Though the Metal Tutor's health wasn't yet below 30%—preventing the 200% critical hit effect—this shot from Fang Senyan guaranteed a hit on top of normal damage, and would inevitably inflict at least a two-second Stun!

The colossal roar of Ambition exploded through the hall, and the Metal Tutor Frolia reacted with lightning speed. The moment she saw Fang Senyan move, her iron suit shimmered with a mirror-like sheen, followed by smoke pouring from her necklace, making her entire form blurry.

She had clearly activated two innate defensive abilities from her equipment consecutively. Even so, the Metal Tutor felt a numbness spread across her chest, followed by a massive jolt of force.

She was already turning to rush toward the stone door, so she was involuntarily thrown five or six paces sideways. In her ears rang the merciless notification from the Nightmare Imprint: “You have been struck by the enemy’s lead bullet.” “Your Metal Armor has absorbed 15% of the physical damage.” “Your passive ability Metal Body suppresses the enemy’s critical hit chance.” “You are protected by the Contractor Damage Rule of 40%.” “Your equipment ability: Refraction is active.

The enemy’s current ranged attack will be refracted; you will only receive 73% of the damage.” “Your equipment ability: Blurred Soul is active. The enemy’s current ranged attack will be forcibly reduced by 15 points.” “The actual damage received is 24 points!” “Judgment: You will suffer the abnormal status: Stun for the next duration, lasting three seconds.” “Calculating defense weight reduction, you will actually be stunned for 2.76 seconds.” “Your passive ability: Rust Resistance is active, reducing the abnormal status duration by 70%.” “Assessment in progress…” “Regrettably, the enemy’s stunning effect has priority.

You will be stunned for 2 seconds.” Fang Senyan had never expected this single shot to critically wound the Metal Tutor—though he was also surprised by how terrifyingly high her defense was, weakening 140 points of ranged damage down to a mere 24! But what Fang Senyan needed was those precious two seconds!!

Before the smoke from Ambition had even cleared, Fang Senyan had slammed into the Dwarf statue, landed, tucked his abdomen, bent his knees, rolled once, and then strode forward, arms spread wide, blocking the half-open, exquisitely mysterious stone door ahead of her. He smiled, revealing his clean white teeth stained with blood, an expression savagely feral: “Let’s see who collapses first in this damned, raging steel vortex formed by the keys, Metal Tutor Frolia!

Or perhaps you can try fighting me hand-to-hand within this metal hurricane to push me aside? My Strength is only 13, you know!”