The day after the Ice Wolf battle was quieter.
Dominic's team had pulled back behind the territory held by the Lizardmen of Lake Baratok, letting their bodies recover from the brutal fight. Even with Phong's vegetables and mushrooms keeping them alive through the night, the strain of fighting a Level 54 predator had left everyone battered.
Janet sat on a broken wall stone inside the Wraith Fortress courtyard, reviewing the team's condition.
Dominic had already shaken off most of the Extreme Weakness debuff from the Berserking Strawberry.
Alexei had recovered as well, though the paladin still stretched his shoulders occasionally, testing the stiffness left behind by the strain of holding the line against the wolf.
Jake and Jack were arguing quietly over which one of them had technically landed the "coolest" strike during the fight.
Séline and Camille were comparing the damage on their armor while Joanne experimented with a small enchantment adjustment on her spell-scope ring.
Alex sat nearby with her eyes closed.
The headache from forcing the psychic drill attack without strawberry support was still pounding behind her eyes.
Janet finally stood up.
"Alright."
Everyone looked up.
"We're going to Camp Stymphalian."
Dominic nodded immediately.
"Agreed."
He looked toward Alexei.
"And you're coming with us."
The paladin blinked.
"…really?"
Jake grinned.
"Congrats."
"You passed the loyalty exam."
Alexei frowned.
"There was an exam?"
Dominic chuckled.
"The part where you didn't run when a Level 54 monster tried to eat you."
Janet added calmly,
"You also didn't ask too many questions about the farm."
"That helps."
Alexei rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"…I figured if you trusted someone that much, there was probably a reason."
Dominic clapped him on the shoulder.
"Good instinct."
Then he pointed toward the valley leading back to Floor 1.
"Let's go."
Back at Camp Stymphalian, the morning had begun with a completely different kind of battle.
Phong was standing in the farmhouse kitchen with his arms crossed.
Rico stood on the table with an empty instant coffee sticks in his paw.
"You did it again."
The raccoon looked offended.
"I did nothing."
Phong pointed to the trash bin.
Three empty instant coffee wrappers.
"Third time this week."
Rico shrugged.
"Caffeine is essential for productivity."
"You don't work."
"I supervise."
"You steal."
"Resource redistribution."
Phong rubbed his forehead.
"I swear to god…"
Rico pointed dramatically.
"You can't prove anything."
Phong opened the storage cabinet.
Inside were claw marks on the coffee box.
Rico looked away.
"…It was Nyx's."
"Uh huh?"
The argument ended abruptly when the perimeter plants rustled.
Visitors.
Phong stepped outside.
Dominic's team was already walking through the chili rows.
Alex looked tired but relieved.
Dominic waved.
"Morning farmer."
Phong grinned.
"You brought everyone."
Dominic gestured behind him.
"Plus one."
Alexei stepped forward.
"Hi."
Phong looked at him for a second.
Then nodded.
"Welcome to Camp Stymphalian."
Before anyone could say anything else—
Every phone in the group suddenly began pinging.
One notification after another.
Dominic pulled his phone out first.
"…what the hell?"
Jake checked his.
"Livestream?"
"How can all of us receive a notification at once then?"
Phong murmured. They were friends. Allies. Yes. But they also had different tastes for entertainment. So... for everyone of them to all receive a notification of live streaming at the same time was abnormal.
Alex frowned and opened hers.
The video loaded.
Then everyone froze.
The camera showed the interior of the Camp Stymphalian farmhouse.
The same room where Emma had been resting.
It was angled just right to hide any sight of mutated plants.
Emma herself sat on the bed, pale but upright.
A microphone icon blinked in the corner of the screen.
Thousands of viewers.
The livestream was exploding.
Co-streams flooded the internet.
Emma looked directly into the camera.
"My name is Emma Tannenbaum."
"I'm making this statement to address several false claims made by Joshua Harlan earlier."
The chat beside the stream was scrolling so fast it looked like static.
Emma continued calmly.
"Joshua claimed I died during our attempt to escape Floor 3."
She lifted her arm slightly.
"As you can see, I'm alive."
The camera angle shifted slightly, showing the inside of the cottage.
Nothing unusual.
Just a small wooden house.
Simple furniture.
Normal-looking plants outside the window.
Emma continued.
"I also want to address his claim about something called 'Camp Stymphalian.'"
The chat exploded again.
Emma sighed.
"There is no such place."
The viewers erupted into confusion.
Emma spoke clearly.
"Mr. Harlan appears to have hallucinated an entire settlement after sustaining injuries."
"During the incident I was rescued by a diver team led by Dominic Torres."
The camera briefly panned toward the doorway.
Where Dominic was now standing with his mouth slightly open.
Emma looked back to the camera.
"The only person living here is a farmer named Phong."
She gestured toward the window.
"He grows normal crops and lives in a small cottage."
"Nothing more."
Outside the camera frame, Rico leaned toward Phong.
"…you normal? If so then I'm a cat."
Phong whispered back.
"Shut up."
Emma's voice hardened slightly.
"There is another matter I want to address."
She paused.
"My relationship with Joshua Harlan."
The livestream viewer count doubled in seconds.
Emma continued.
"During our escape from Floor 3, Joshua used me as a shield to block a lethal attack."
The chat exploded again.
Emma's tone remained steady.
"I am formally ending our relationship."
She leaned closer to the camera.
"And I will be providing testimony regarding that incident to the Divers Association."
The reaction on the surface was immediate.
Within minutes financial news alerts began spreading.
The Tannenbaum family had begun aggressively attacking the stock positions tied to Josh's father.
Corporate retaliation.
Fast.
Brutal.
Emma had already informed her family about what happened.
Though she had carefully avoided mentioning Camp Stymphalian.
Instead she told them the simple version:
During a fight with an elite monster, Josh had thrown her into the attack.
She had survived because Dominic's team intervened.
That was enough.
The Tannenbaums did not take betrayal lightly.
Back at the farm, the livestream ended.
Silence hung in the room.
Jake finally said what everyone was thinking.
"…well."
"That escalated."
Dominic rubbed his face.
"She just nuked Josh's reputation."
Janet crossed her arms.
"And protected the camp."
Alex looked toward the bedroom where Emma had been resting.
"…she didn't have to do that."
Phong nodded slowly.
"No."
Rico tilted his head.
"Human drama very complicated. Normally boring."
He tore open another stolen coffee packet.
"But this is entertaining."
Rico raw-dogged the powdered coffee. The raccoon couldn't be bothered to boil some water.
Little Fireball chirped in agreement.
Phong stood outside the door to the small bedroom for a moment before pushing it open.
Dominic, Janet, Alex, and the rest of the team followed quietly behind him.
Inside, Emma was already awake.
She sat on the edge of the bed with a blanket over her shoulders, her ribs still wrapped with strips of cloth soaked in the Sympathy Enoki paste Rico had applied earlier. The glow of the mushroom medicine had faded to a faint shimmer, a sign that the worst of the internal damage had already been stabilized.
When she saw the entire group enter, Emma raised one eyebrow.
"Well."
"That's quite the welcoming committee."
Jake leaned against the door frame.
"You did just set half the East Coast diver community on fire."
Emma shrugged slightly.
"Occupational hazard."
Phong stepped forward.
For a few seconds he simply looked at her.
He had expected many things from Emma Tannenbaum.
Manipulation.
Strategic silence.
Cold neutrality.
But not this.
Not a livestream that dismantled Josh's credibility and protected Camp Stymphalian in the same breath.
"I didn't think you'd help me with the biggest problem I had," Phong said quietly.
Emma tilted her head slightly.
"You mean the part where your little secret garden would get invaded by every guild, government and corporation on the planet?"
"Yes."
She sighed softly.
"You're giving me too much credit."
Emma leaned back against the headboard.
"I didn't do it for you."
The room went quiet.
She folded her arms.
"I did it for myself."
Alex crossed her arms.
"Explain."
Emma nodded.
"Josh expected you to kill me."
Everyone froze slightly.
Phong frowned.
"What?"
Emma looked at him directly.
"Think about it."
"Josh knows how much you hate him."
Her voice was calm, analytical.
"He threw me into your garden like a sack of meat."
She tapped her temple lightly.
"In his mind, two outcomes were likely."
"One: You kill me."
"Revenge. Perfect excuse for him to scream to the world that the 'farmer' is a murderer running a secret base."
Emma paused.
"Two: You leave me to die."
"Same result."
She shrugged.
"Josh would have done either."
Emma looked down at her hands.
"So he assumed you would too."
Phong's jaw tightened slightly.
"But you didn't."
Emma nodded.
"No."
She looked up again.
"And that annoyed me."
Jake chuckled softly.
"Petty revenge."
Emma smiled faintly.
"Extremely— I wanted Josh to be a public clown."
Dominic leaned forward slightly.
"You also denied the camp exists."
Emma nodded again.
"Because if that story spreads…"
She gestured around the cottage.
"…this place becomes the most valuable strategic location in the dungeon."
Janet added quietly,
"And every diver guild would march here."
Emma shrugged.
"And I'm still sitting in the middle of it. It was merely self-preservation."
Alex stepped closer.
Her expression softened slightly.
"Still."
"You protected him."
Emma met her eyes.
"Temporarily."
Alex didn't blink.
"That's enough."
For a moment the two women simply looked at each other.
Then Alex nodded.
"Thank you."
Emma blinked in mild surprise.
"You're welcome."
Then Emma glanced around the room again.
"There's something else you should know."
Dominic leaned forward.
"What."
Emma pointed at their phones.
"That group chat of yours."
Dominic's expression changed slightly.
"What about it?"
Emma smirked.
"You realize no one has managed to intercept it."
Jake shrugged.
"Good encryption?"
Emma shook her head slowly.
"Not just good."
"Professional."
She looked at Phong.
"You know who set it up?"
Phong thought for a second.
Then his eyes widened slightly.
"…Uncle Long."
Memories surfaced.
The small café at Hà Nội Corner.
Uncle Long leaning over his phone.
Telling them he'd "fix the chat so nobody could spy on their nonsense."
Emma nodded.
"I checked the traffic."
"That chat is wrapped in layered encryption most corporate cyber-security teams would struggle to crack."
Dominic whistled softly.
"…our coffee guy did that?"
Emma smiled faintly.
"That 'coffee guy' knows a lot about cybersecurity."
Phong stared at the floor for a moment.
Images of his aunt and uncle resurfaced in his mind.
Their deaths.
The silence that followed.
How Long had been there to cheer him when he showed up at Hà Nội's corner.
How he never asked anything. Not about the camp. Not about the plants. Not about the talking animals Phong casually brought for coffee. As long as he could visibly see Phong getting better, standing straighter, it was enough for the uncle.
Helping him set things up without asking questions, silently, was just one of those moment.
"…he's been protecting me," Phong murmured.
Emma nodded.
"Yes."
"Long before you realized it."
The mood in the room softened.
Dominic stretched his arms.
"Well."
"That explains why nobody from the Association ever showed up asking awkward questions."
Jake grinned.
"We've been running a secret war room this whole time."
Janet smirked.
"Good to know."
Phong clapped his hands once.
"Alright."
Everyone looked at him.
"Enough drama."
He turned toward the door.
"Dinner."
Jake immediately perked up.
"Dinner?"
Phong nodded.
"You all just came back alive."
He opened the door.
"That deserves food."
The main room of the farmhouse slowly filled with warmth again.
Phong pulled out a large metal pot and set it over the stove.
Soon the familiar scent of broth filled the air.
Hot pot.
The camp's unofficial celebration meal.
Rico appeared immediately.
"Food detected."
"You were already here."
"Hush, away with your petty details."
The table filled with ingredients.
Fish traded from the lizardmen.
Crab and lobster from the lake.
Beef.
Chicken.
Mushrooms.
Vegetables from the garden.
Dominic leaned back in his chair.
"Alright farmer."
"Let's hear it."
Phong raised an eyebrow.
"Hear what?"
Dominic grinned.
"How the hell a bunch of vegetables helped us kill a Level 54 boss."
Jake raised his drink.
"To the most broken farmer in the dungeon."
Everyone laughed.
Even Emma.
And for the first time since Josh's appearance…
Camp Stymphalian felt peaceful again.