Dominic's team updated the group chat from Floor Two.
The Kamohai conflict with the lizardmen had worsened.
Border clashes.
Territory disputes.
Water mobility making the sharks hard to pin down.
But with Dominic reinforcing the line and Alexei bursting radiant pressure into the field, the Scaled Throne was holding.
Dominic wrote:
[We're not pushing too far into the lake.]
[There's something big under there.]
No one questioned that.
Phong shared Rico's intel about Josh and Emma.
Dominic answered almost at once.
[Association already contacted us.]
[Search quest.]
[We refused.]
Then he sent a voice message.
"It's Floor Three."
"Unstable."
"Mana interference."
"No confirmed signal."
"Too many unknowns."
Janet added dryly:
[And we're not volunteering as rescue mascots for billionaire drama.]
The chat went quiet for a moment.
Then Alex typed:
[Emma?]
Dominic answered:
[No contact.]
[That's what scares people.]
If Josh was missing alone, that was one thing.
If Emma was missing too—
A diver celebrity.
A Songblader.
A public figure—
Then the optics changed completely.
Phong felt a small knot of unease.
Olen's father had probably already pivoted.
Production-class repositioning.
Influence recalculation.
And now a vacuum was opening around Josh's absence.
He exhaled slowly.
"This is going to destabilize the surface."
Selena replied:
[It already is.]
Another message came right after.
[Funding shifts.]
[Security contracts being renegotiated.]
[Insurance recalculations.]
[Political noise.]
Then, quieter:
[And if Josh survives Floor Three, he won't come back the same.]
No one argued.
Floor Three was not a playground.
It was uncharted hell.
Night settled over Camp Stymphalian.
The lime-oak leaves rustled softly.
Treants murmured.
In the pond, the lizardman eggs sat undisturbed.
At Camp Harpy, rabbits rotated the night watch.
Phong looked up at the dark ceiling far above.
He had started as a level 1 farmer.
Now he was discussing macro-instability in diver politics.
Alex rested her head on his shoulder.
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
"Thinking again?"
"Always."
He looked at her.
"You know… if none of this dungeon stuff existed, we'd probably just be arguing about grocery brands."
She smiled.
"And you'd still overthink."
"Probably."
Somewhere far below, Floor Three stayed silent.
And whatever was happening there would ripple upward soon enough.
For now, Camp Stymphalian held steady.
And Phong understood something important.
He wasn't hiding.
He was building. Not just the farm. Not just physical.
And whether he liked it or not, that made him part of the larger game.
Camp Harpy looked different in daylight.
Not weaker.
Not temporary.
Settled.
Rows of carrots stretched through the surface soil.
Civilian bunnies moved in coordinated lines, watering, trimming, harvesting.
Small wooden watchtowers stood near the perimeter, carved with subtle Greencap motifs.
When Phong and Alex approached with Bruno, Nyx, and Rico trailing behind, they were met formally.
The Knight Captain stood in the center of the clearing.
Helmet tucked under one arm.
Twelve earrings glinting faintly.
The civilian rabbits were already assembled.
That alone told Phong this was not casual.
The captain cleared his throat.
"I intended to present this later."
His sharp eyes flicked toward Alex.
"But your… strawberry tactic accelerated matters."
Bruno tilted his head.
Nyx crossed her arms.
Rico whispered loudly, "Promotion ceremony."
Phong elbowed him lightly.
The captain gestured.
Two rabbit squires stepped forward carrying a polished wooden chest.
When it opened, steel caught the light.
A full half-plate set.
Elegant.
Practical.
Lightweight.
The metal shimmered faintly with mana.
The captain spoke steadily.
"You have defeated me once."
"You train under my guidance."
"You are… half my disciple."
Alex blinked.
He continued.
"A warrior like you should not remain unarmored."
Alex stepped closer.
The armor had been made for a humanoid body, but the edges curved with subtle rabbit motifs.
The chestplate had also been changed.
Instead of the Greencap carrot emblem, it bore a bird skull entwined with a lime tree.
Camp Stymphalian's symbol.
Rico gasped in outrage.
"Where is the raccoon representation?"
The captain ignored him.
"This set adjusts to your form."
"Enchanted for flexibility and mobility."
"And…"
He paused.
"It may render the wearer unseen."
Alex looked up.
"For how long?"
"One minute per day."
Nyx's tail flicked with approval.
Bruno's eyes shone.
Phong exhaled slowly.
That was not a casual gift.
That was trust.
Alex accepted the armor with a respectful bow.
She didn't speak right away.
Which, for her, meant she understood exactly how much it meant.
They didn't waste time.
She put it on.
The half-plate shifted and resized smoothly around her.
Light.
Balanced.
Her movements stayed fluid.
She raised her rapier.
Tested a shield construct.
The mana harmonized cleanly.
The captain nodded.
"Now."
He planted two spears behind him.
War banners unfurled.
One carried the Greencap insignia.
The other bore a rabbit head adorned with twelve earrings.
Pioneer Squad Twelve.
The air around him thickened.
His presence changed.
Until then, he had been holding back.
Not today.
He gripped the spear shafts. Spearheads forward. The banners swirled.
Mana surged.
The cloth burned with intent.
Alex moved first.
Rapier forward.
Vajra floating at her flank.
Shield angled.
She used the invisibility enchant at once.
Her shape blurred.
Vanished.
Rico yelped.
Nyx leaned in.
Bruno's claws dug into the soil.
A flicker.
A flash of steel.
The captain pivoted on instinct.
One spearhead caught her rapier.
The second knocked aside the vajra.
He didn't need sight.
He tracked the shift in mana.
Air pressure.
Footwork.
Then the invisibility ended.
Alex reappeared in mid-lunge.
He rotated both banners in a wide sweep.
The cloth cracked like thunder.
The blow was not meant to pierce.
It was meant to overwhelm.
She lasted fifty-two seconds.
Eight seconds longer than before.
Then—
Tap.
The flat of a banner touched her back.
Not hard.
Not enough to hurt.
Just enough.
"Dead."
He stepped back.
Alex exhaled sharply, breathing hard.
Bruno's eyes glowed with competitive frustration.
Nyx clicked her tongue, but gave a small nod.
"Still superior."
Rico had already activated his treant armor.
Wooden plates spread over his body in full dramatic sequence.
Mana lines pulsed.
He struck a pose.
"Hensh—"
Then froze.
Everyone looked at him.
He blinked.
Phong grinned.
"You forgot to yell 'henshin.'"
Rico gasped in horror.
"I would never forget something that important."
"Pretty sure you did."
"I did not."
"You panicked."
"It was tactical activation!"
Alex laughed.
Actually laughed.
Not polite amusement.
Not controlled.
Bright.
Clear.
Her lover and a raccoon arguing about transformation callouts in the middle of a knightly training field.
The captain watched in silence.
Then let the smallest twitch of amusement cross his face.
Alex removed her helmet.
Sweat darkened the line of her hair.
She bowed again.
"Again."
The captain nodded.
But this time, he smiled openly.
She was no longer just a human ally.
No longer just Camp Stymphalian's strongest fighter.
She was becoming something else.
A bridge.
Between kingdoms.
Between styles.
Between systems.
And the fact that her level 1 farmer boyfriend stood nearby laughing about superhero poses somehow made it more dangerous.
Because while others built power through conquest, Camp Stymphalian built it through bonds.
And bonds were harder to break.