Overworld.
Yang Tao, with his hand on the table, lightly tapped it while looking at the woman sitting beside Eric.
Thump thump… Thump thump…
Eric, with tear stains still on his face, looked at his lover with deep affection, then turned to Yang Tao and said gratefully, "Yang, thank you!"
Yang Tao quickly extended his hand and said, "Wait a moment..."
He glanced at the woman next to him.
"Mary finding you has nothing to do with me, Eric. To this day, I still can't figure it out... Is your lover cheating?"
"It only took a dozen hours to run from Level 0 to Level 4, avoiding the search of nearly thousands of people, and even the investigation of the Blue Knight, Beast's subordinates, and the Blue Bird..."
"If there's a speedrunning method, Eric, you should give it to M.E.G., at least to return a favor..."
Eric showed a wry smile and said, "What speedrun... It's just that after I came home, I often picked some interesting levels to tell her as stories."
"She now knows more detailed information than most people in the Backrooms, plus a tiny bit of luck, that's why she managed to run to Level 4..."
A tiny bit of luck?
It's probably tons of luck!
She survived encounters with Entities and quickly found paths to lower levels.
"Eric, let's not talk about this for now. First, consider where to send your lover? I'll notify the others to come back first."
Yang Tao got up and left. This search for Eric's lover was not without any gain; at least he personally experienced the rampant human population in the Backrooms and the exponentially increasing Entities.
In just half a day, the Villagers found nearly two hundred Wanderers in the first two levels of the Backrooms, and the number of Entities they eliminated was countless.
At the same time, they incurred some favors.
Favors are like this: you help me, I help you, and slowly you become familiar.
Watching the Villagers returning one after another from Level 1, Yang Tao's heart stirred, and the Blue Bird appeared out of thin air on his left shoulder.
"Master, I haven't found it yet..."
The Blue Bird's tone was a bit dejected. It had been circling Level 2 for a long time, even controlling many Entities, but still hadn't found the person Yang Tao mentioned.
"No need, the person has already returned on their own."
Hearing this, the Blue Bird tilted its head slightly, looking at Yang Tao, its small eyes full of question marks.
Yang Tao could well understand the Blue Bird's emotions, because he had the same look when he saw Eric's lover earlier.
"Let's go to Stormstone Keep first. When I find the Blue Knight, I'll explain it to you..."
Leading the Blue Bird towards the Blue Knight's Stormstone Keep, Stormstone Keep is the Blue Knight's level. As soon as he arrives at Stormstone Keep, the Blue Knight will sense it.
Stepping into the fortress.
He inexplicably felt that the decorations inside Stormstone Keep were becoming more refined, but some things always felt familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere before.
"This vase..."
Before he could think deeply, he heard the footsteps of the Blue Knight behind him.
"Yang, I'm sorry, I found some Wanderers who entered the Backrooms, but I didn't find the person you mentioned..."
Looking at the returning Blue Knight, Yang Tao smiled and said softly, "The person has been found."
After briefly recounting Eric's lover's experience, even the Blue Knight found it incredible.
"Lancelot, let me ask you something. Entities have appeared in the Frontrooms where Eric is... What's going on?"
"It's just that the 'world' has glitched into the Backrooms. Their 'world' will experience various Backrooms phenomena and will eventually be fragmented into many levels. Entities are just the beginning..."
"So... that's how all Backrooms levels come about?"
"Some levels are created by people."
The Blue Knight spoke calmly about something very unbelievable. He didn't feel anything special about worlds glitching into the Backrooms.
Humans are resilient; no matter where they are, you can see them, and they quickly find a way to survive amidst the chaos.
After chatting with the Blue Knight for a while, Yang Tao left with the Blue Bird.
There was still one more thing to do, and that was to fulfill his initial promise: to open a weapon shop in the base at Level 1.
Returning to the Overworld.
Yang Tao found the Tinkers Construct Blacksmith, who was still making Iron Golems: "Help me find two experienced blacksmiths."
"All experienced!"
The Tinkers Construct Blacksmith immediately called over two blacksmiths, but since they didn't have the corresponding tinkers construct furnaces, they were all vanilla blacksmiths.
"Brave Sir!"
"Brave Sir!"
Yang Tao nodded slightly, looking at the two identical fellows, and casually pointed to one blacksmith, saying, "You go dig up your job block. I'll build you a new tinkers construct furnace."
"Huh?"
The Villager pointed at by Yang Tao showed a surprised expression, then, realizing, ran joyfully towards the village.
As long as he destroyed the job block, he would lose his blacksmith profession and become an unemployed Wanderer until he bound a new block to gain a new profession.
"Brave Sir, what about me?"
The other blacksmith looked at him eagerly.
"You want to too? Alright then, you go dig up your job block too."
No sooner had he spoken than the blacksmith vigorously churned his legs and ran towards the village, with a particularly comical air.
It didn't take long for the two Villagers who had lost their original professions to run back.
"Come with me, I'll take you to Level 1. Work hard, and next year I'll get you a new car!"
Villagers: "..."
...
"Mr. Yang."
Just as Yang Tao was sitting in the weapon shop, pondering how to set prices, someone called out to him. He looked up to see several people radiating a faint killing aura approaching. Yang Tao asked somewhat puzzled, "You are?"
The leader was about forty years old, 1.9 meters tall, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, but his body was very muscular, and his suit was bulging high.
He had the distinct feeling of a'suit thug'.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Michel, Commander of the M.E.G. Fuse Corps. It's an honor to meet you here."
The other party spoke very politely, but his slightly sharp eyes occasionally revealed a scrutinizing look.
Coupled with the white-bordered health bar above his head, Yang Tao knew that the other party did not trust him.
But this was normal. In the M.E.G. organization, most people had white borders above their heads; after all, if they didn't know you, Yang Tao wouldn't believe it if it was green right away.
"Fuse? The corps responsible for rescue and assault?"
Yang Tao looked at the other party with interest, stood up, walked out of the 'weapon shop', and smiled at Michel, "May I ask what brings you here this time?"
A Corps Commander was definitely a high-ranking M.E.G. official; after all, M.E.G. didn't have many corps in total, and most importantly, compared to civilian groups, they held absolute power, thus possessing greater influence.
The other party forced a smile, but seeing that somewhat unnatural smile, Yang Tao knew that this guy probably needed something from him.