Chapter 1113: A Chemical Reaction with Blackrock Depths (Third Update)
Speaking of Blackrock Depths, this was another dungeon that made people feel like they were getting screwed over by the system. Just finding the entrance alone was enough to make you question your life choices.
If it weren't for the fact that Qian Kun had seen the dungeon's design blueprints, there was no way in hell he would have ever thought to step onto those thick iron chains, twist and turn through them, and finally locate the entrance.
The first time he walked those iron chains, Qian Kun's legs almost turned to jelly. He had to force himself not to look down, and every time he crossed, he needed to pop two quick-acting heart-saving pills.
As for the dungeon's Shadowforge Key, that was even more infuriating. You had to be in ghost form to talk to an NPC to even start the quest. After that, it was a full-service package of killing monsters and running around, basically clearing out most of the outer areas of Blackrock Depths before you could finally get the key.
Of course, compared to later key quests, this was already quite merciful.
Maybe the only truly difficult part was that Blackrock Depths was just too massive. Most people didn't die to the bosses—they died from getting lost…
...
The group stared at the lava below the platform, some of them asking doubtfully, "Captain, are you sure we're supposed to jump down from here?!"
Qian Kun forcefully suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Every time he led a team through Blackrock Depths, he had to explain the correct route to these newbies.
"That's right, I'm absolutely, positively sure. Jump."
Qian Kun pointed again at the churning lava below, where a floating island sat in the distance. "Jump into the lava and swim like crazy. Swim to that floating island, and you'll be safe."
A few teammates, afraid they hadn't seen clearly enough, even crouched down to get a better look at the route. Sure enough, there were floating islands at intervals beneath the lava, but… every single one of them was packed with fire elementals, and elite ones at that.
Qian Kun took a step forward and jumped down first, leading the way.
The other team members had no choice but to follow. The priest in the group was the most timid, practically gritting his teeth and closing his eyes as he jumped.
"Splash!"
After plunging into the scorching lava, everyone's first reaction was the heat!
Although the matrix game pod strictly limited the players' sensations, it only reduced the intensity—the feeling itself remained unchanged. While the lava's perceived temperature wasn't high, at most like a hot bath, the burning pain was still faintly there.
Several of Qian Kun's teammates were howling from the heat, frantically swimming toward the floating island.
Qian Kun, on the other hand, was very calm. This wasn't his first time jumping in. He'd wanted to complain before—deliberately designing a route that required swimming through lava was definitely Chen Mo's twisted sense of humor…
"I feel like I'm being roasted. I wonder if grilled dwarf tastes good…" the dwarf priest in the group muttered as he cast shields on each teammate while swimming.
"I feel like my eyes are going blind. It's so blinding, everything is red lava. Oh crap, I think some accidentally splashed into my mouth…" the warrior in the group started to say before quickly shutting up.
The elf druid had switched to aquatic form and was swimming quite comfortably. "Warrior, are you serious? Breaststroke is bad enough, but you keep your head above water the whole time. Don't you think that's slower? The sooner you swim over, the less you get burned… Look at the captain, doing freestyle. He's probably swallowed a few mouthfuls of lava by now…"
The dwarf priest was casting healing over time on each teammate. "Well, what can I say? The CEO is so calm. Look, I only dare to do backstroke, but he's doing freestyle in lava. I wonder what lava tastes like… Pfft, ugh, okay, now I know…"
The group fought monsters as they swam. Although there were floating islands at intervals along the way, it was still tough. Being in the lava meant constant health loss, and as soon as they got ashore, they had to fight immediately. If the tank didn't hold aggro well or the healer couldn't keep up, someone dying would be a real problem. Fortunately, the healer was a priest with both shield and restoration skills, so the group managed to make it ashore safely, albeit narrowly.
Well, aside from swallowing a few mouthfuls of lava, everything went smoothly.
After clearing the monsters on the shore, the warrior looked curiously at the dungeon entrance on the right. "Molten Bridge? What kind of place is that?"
Qian Kun was eating and drinking to recover as he replied, "A place we can't go right now."
"Really? Then I definitely have to check it out!"
As soon as the warrior heard they couldn't go in yet, he got even more excited and scampered inside.
Thirty seconds later, the warrior came back out.
The dwarf priest asked curiously, "How was it?"
The warrior: "Heh. Two guard mobs at the entrance. 129,000 HP each…"
Qian Kun was used to this situation by now. Every time he led a group of newbies into this dungeon, he had to explain all sorts of precautions.
For example, the mobs in the Hall of Learning were endless—you had to clear a path, get the Shadowforge Torch, and light two braziers to open the gate. In the Iron Vault, you had to dodge the flame traps, or you'd die horribly. In the Emperor's Seat, you absolutely had to painstakingly clear every single group of mobs one by one, or the boss would instantly teach you a lesson when you pulled it…
Yeah, just like in the Scarlet Monastery.
After finally slogging through and killing Emperor Thaurissan, all the teammates happily ran to the throne and took turns taking photos with it.
"Wow, look how handsome I am! Too bad the Ironforge princess standing next to me isn't very pretty."
"Can I take this throne home?"
The teammates were all taking turns sitting on the throne for photos. The dwarf priest said he was finally done and was going to leave the group. Only Qian Kun felt like something was off.
What… was he here for again?
Right, he was here to do a quest…
But after killing Emperor Thaurissan, there was no quest item?
Qian Kun pulled out his adventure journal and carefully read the quest description.
"Kill… General Angerforge and the Puppet Commander Agmangchi???"
Qian Kun nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. Those two bosses were also in the first half of the dungeon!
The quest only said to retrieve Marshal Windsor's intelligence. Qian Kun hadn't bothered to check which mob actually held it, and he'd instinctively followed the speed-clear route. Now he realized he'd drunk all that lava for nothing, because he'd taken the wrong path from the start…
To kill those two bosses, he had to take a different route!
Qian Kun: "Everyone…"
Before he could finish, the team members had already left the group one by one and used their hearthstones.
Qian Kun: "...Motherf*cker."
...
After another run through Blackrock Depths, he finally got the quest item—the intelligence.
Qian Kun felt like he was developing some kind of special chemical reaction with Blackrock Depths. Specifically…
The sight of dark iron and lava made him want to vomit…
After obtaining the intelligence, Qian Kun returned to Marshal Windsor. The marshal, wearing nothing but his underwear, asked Qian Kun to escort him to retrieve his equipment and then get out of there.
Even though the marshal was practically naked, he still waved his fists and tried to help, which Qian Kun found quite touching.
"Alright, CEO of Thunder Entertainment, thank you for your help! Go back and find Marshal Maxwell. Tell him what's happening here. Then we'll meet at the gates of Stormwind and expose the black dragon's conspiracy!"
With that, Marshal Windsor turned and walked out of the dungeon.