The sisters didn't linger. They quickly erased their tracks and slipped away stealthily, moving away from the battlefield.
Half an hour later, they emerged from a dense jungle, and the view suddenly opened up before them.
A rather large goblin camp appeared, constructed from crude wooden stakes and animal hides. The embers of the bonfires were still warm, and a strange, acrid stench hung in the air.
But eerily, the entire camp was silent.
Lin Xiyue crouched low, her delicate brows furrowed.
"Something's wrong. A camp this size... Where are the goblins?"
Lin Qingyue's gaze fell on the ground at the camp's entrance.
Imprinted in the mud were several enormous footprints.
Each was larger than Lin Xiyue's shield, sunk deep into the earth, with dried, dark bloodstains clinging to the edges.
"Giant Goblin," Lin Qingyue concluded. "This must have been its former lair."
Lin Xiyue's eyes widened in realization. "So the Great Goblin horde you 'swept up' earlier all came from here?"
"Most likely."
Lin Qingyue nodded.
No wonder the path had been so empty. The active monsters had all been conscripted by the Giant Goblin, only to be wiped out by her in a single wave.
The sisters remained vigilant, entering the camp in a combat formation, one behind the other.
As expected, a few scattered survivors remained deeper inside. Several goblins wielding bone clubs had just crawled out of their tents. Upon seeing the intruders, they let out strange, guttural cries.
The next moment, Lin Qingyue had already closed the distance like a phantom.
Her pink staff traced a graceful arc through the air.
Thud!
The goblin chieftain's head snapped to the side, and its body crumpled to the ground.
The remaining goblins froze.
Lin Xiyue stepped forward, shield held horizontally, and herded them together. Before she could act, several staff shadows flashed past her.
Thump, thump, thump.
With a few muffled sounds, the world fell silent.
The sisters quickly looted the camp, finding only some crude ore and semi-finished animal hides. Their points increased by over a thousand, bringing their total to 25,340, but their rank remained stuck at fifth place.
As dusk fell, the roars of nocturnal monsters echoed from deep within the dense forest.
"Sis, it's getting dark. Should we camp here or find another spot?" Lin Xiyue asked hesitantly, watching the fading daylight.
"Here is fine," Lin Qingyue decided. "The most dangerous place is the safest place. The Giant Goblin's lingering presence will deter ordinary monsters from approaching. Besides, the camp is relatively open, making it easy to spot any movement."
She paused, then added, "I'll take the second half of the night watch. You take the first. Stay alert."
"Got it!"
Lin Xiyue energetically cleared a space and set up the tent.
After a simple meal of dry rations, Lin Qingyue crawled into the tent and fell into a deep sleep almost the instant she touched her sleeping bag.
Lin Xiyue sat by the campfire, hugging the Immovable Mountain shield. Her ears were pricked like radar, vigilantly monitoring every rustle and stir in the surroundings.
-
Outside the Dungeon, at the Official Observation Center.
Hundreds of massive displays floated in the air, broadcasting real-time footage from every corner of the Dungeon.
The central main screen was locked onto a single, frozen frame.
It captured the exact moment Lin Qingyue and Lin Xiyue executed their criss-cross switch.
A middle-aged man in a crisp military uniform, with a Major's insignia on his shoulder—Zhou Zhenyun—stood before the screen, hands clasped behind his back. His expression was grave as he stared intently at the Priest in the image, the one who was supposed to be a "Support."
"Play it again. 0.25x speed," he commanded in a low voice.
An operator immediately complied, and the footage began to replay in extreme slow motion.
From the moment the Archer joined the battle, forcing the sisters to retreat, to them being backed into a "dead end," and finally to the earth-shattering instant of their position swap...
"Do you see it?" Zhou Zhenyun suddenly spoke, his voice trembling with suppressed excitement, though he didn't turn around.
He pointed to a barely noticeable trajectory on the screen.
"From the moment they detected the fourth person, their retreat wasn't an escape. It was a lure."
He pointed to Lin Xiyue's seemingly chaotic "footwork" on the screen. "It looks panicked, but every step precisely lured the pursuer into the most suitable open ground for a counterattack, while simultaneously avoiding all potential sniping angles from a distance. This is top-tier battlefield instinct."
His finger tapped sharply on the screen, pointing directly at the frame where Lin Qingyue launched her attack.
"But the most terrifying one... is her!"
Zhou Zhenyun's eyes burned with an intensity he rarely showed in public, his astonishment bordering on a loss of composure.
"Shift, step forward, turn, appear behind the enemy... The entire sequence was as fluid as flowing water, without a single wasted motion."
"Strike the knee to break their balance; smash the nape of the neck to extinguish their life!"
"Textbook-perfect execution of details!"
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, but his brow furrowed even deeper.
"But this level of killing power... something's not right."
"A special Skill? No, that's not it." Zhou Zhenyun's frown tightened. "This force is condensed but not released, penetrating the leather armor to detonate inside the joint. This demonstrates control over one's own power down to the millimeter! How could a high school senior possibly achieve this level? A family martial art?"
The replay ended, and the Shadowwind Team dissolved into white light.
Zhou Zhenyun let out a long breath and leaned back in his chair, his eyes practically overflowing with admiration.
"Perception, decision-making, timing, use of terrain... all top-tier," he remarked to his colleague beside him. "Especially that Lin Qingyue. Her combat intelligence is terrifyingly high. Despite possessing overwhelming power, she chose the most energy-efficient and deceptive tactics. And that ruthlessness, far beyond her years—eradicating the threat completely, leaving no loose ends. She's prime material."
A confident smirk touched his lips.
"Let the university admissions offices fight over them. The fiercer the competition, the better. No matter where they go, once they graduate, they'll end up in my military."
The civilian official next to him pushed up his glasses and whispered, "Sir, according to internal sources, several top universities have already contacted their parents in Yicheng through back channels, trying the family approach."
Zhou Zhenyun scoffed.
"That's to be expected. But do you really think parents who raised daughters like that will be so easily persuaded? Just sit back and enjoy the show."
-
In the latter half of the night, Lin Qingyue woke up right on schedule, taking over for her sister, who had already started yawning.
The campfire crackled, its flames illuminating her calm face.
The dungeon's night air carried a cool chill and the fresh scent of vegetation, dispelling the day's bloodshed and scorching heat.
She stoked the campfire, making the flames burn brighter as she let her mind wander.
Subconsciously, her consciousness sank into the depths of her soul.
There, the [Miss Pink Elf's Blessing] floated silently, emitting a soft, gentle glow.
Ever since she'd drawn it, the thing had been nothing more than a pretty mascot—useless aside from its looks.
However, the moment her consciousness touched the pink mark...
A line of delicate text, formed from crystals and flower petals, quietly materialized.
[Effect 1: The cute young lady ♪ who receives this blessing will find her hair gradually transforming into a splendid pink, as dazzling as scattered petals~❤]
Lin Qingyue: "!!!"
Her eyes snapped open, her consciousness instantly returning to her body. Her hand flew to her hair.
It felt the same.
She immediately pulled a small mirror from her Spatial Bracelet and held it up to the campfire.
In the mirror, her long, originally jet-black hair now showed... an incredibly conspicuous pink tint at the tips, shimmering in the flickering firelight!
It looked as if someone had smeared it with pink hair dye.
What's more, the pink was slowly spreading upward at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Lin Qingyue's hand, holding the mirror, began to tremble slightly.
It was as if a million pink elves were holding a death metal concert inside her head.
Unknown effects?
Awaiting the moment of brilliant bloom?
This is what you meant by an "unexpected turn of events"?!
I'm in a Dungeon Battlefield teeming with deadly threats, not cosplaying at an anime convention!
With my hair turning bright pink, am I supposed to be killing enemies or competing in a beauty pageant?
Am I meant to intimidate monsters or invite them to afternoon tea?!
"Miss Pink Elf..."
Lin Qingyue stared at the increasingly vibrant pink in the mirror, her expression blank as she forced the words through clenched teeth.
"I really... thank you..."
Now, staying low-key would be impossible.
She took a deep breath, fighting the urge to shave her head or find a helmet.
What was done was done. All she could do now was hope this thing had some other use besides changing her hair color.
As time passed, she watched in the firelight as the pink, as if alive, stubbornly crept up from the tips, devouring the original black.
When dawn broke, Lin Xiyue rubbed her eyes and crawled out of the tent. What she saw was a figure with their back to her—her sister, whose hair was now a brilliant pink, as dazzling as spring cherry blossoms.
Lin Xiyue: "!!!"
Her sleepiness vanished instantly. Her mouth formed a perfect "O" as she circled Lin Qingyue three times before stammering, "Sis... Sister?! Your hair... How... How did it turn... like this?"
Lin Qingyue turned her head, her expression blank, her eyes holding the detached calm of someone who had seen through the vanities of the world. "Mm. New look. Like it?"
The contrast between her sister's cool, stunning face and the fantastical pink hair was too much for Lin Xiyue. After a long pause, she offered a sincere compliment: "It's... it's so pretty! It really makes your skin look fair! It's just... isn't it a bit too conspicuous for a Dungeon?"
Lin Qingyue: "..." Thanks, but you could have skipped the part that stabs me in the heart.