The next day, they went out and purchased a large stock of smoke grenades.

Ordinarily, smoke grenades only have the effect of blocking vision. But the kind they bought would release a large volume of severely irritating smoke, so users also had to equip gas masks.

Yuri used a rough layout of the mine that Natasha had obtained from a friend to sketch an approximate map of the mine shaft, and he had also drawn up several combat plans.

Because the mine was very deep with a relatively enclosed space, it was highly suited to using smoke grenades as offensive weapons. With some thought put into placement and technique, they could wipe out all the monsters in the mine without much effort at all.

That said, the volume of smoke grenades needed would have to be tested.

They shut the doors and windows, closed all the interior doors, and left only one window at the far end of the second-floor hallway open — pretending the villa was one of the caverns inside Death Mine. Then, gas masks on, they tossed in a single smoke grenade —

A vivid orange smoke burst forth instantly, flooding the entire house. Even those standing side by side couldn’t make out the person right next to them through the dense clouds.

“The color is actually quite pretty,” Bai Youwei whispered.

A’da said: “They also come in pink. I feel like you could use them for a proposal.”

Bai Youwei felt a small pang of wistfulness. “What a shame~ I’m already married so they’re no use to me.”

Shen Mo: “……”

Natasha, now swallowed by the smoke, heard this and laughed despite herself: “What are you all even going on about.”

Yuri had been keeping track of the time throughout.

After a full ten minutes, the orange smoke finally began to dissipate.

Everyone threw open the doors and windows, walked out into the courtyard, and pulled off their gas masks to breathe.

A’da remarked with feeling: “If you throw this thing out there, the monsters won’t be running anywhere — and neither would I! I couldn’t even see where the ground was!”

“That’s why we need to time it,” Natasha said. “Use the smoke grenades in advance — throw them into the mine shaft, wait ten minutes, then go in. By that time the monsters will be at their most vulnerable, and taking them out will be easy.”

Shen Mo asked: “Based on the dungeon’s backstory setting, these monsters have lived underground for years — they should be especially sensitive to light sources, right?”

“Yes, extremely sensitive to light and with a strong aggressive reaction to it,” Natasha said. “But we can’t go in without light — it’s pitch black down there. So the best approach is to wait for the smoke grenades to do their work before entering the mine shaft…”

Yuri said: “If the information we have is accurate, this dungeon isn’t especially difficult. Everyone can relax.”

A’da remarked acidly: “Well, naturally — they wouldn’t give us walkthroughs for the difficult ones~”

Natasha’s expression shifted slightly and looked a little uncomfortable.

A’da curved his mouth and said awkwardly: “Pretend I didn’t say anything.”

Just then, a voice called out: “Natasha, there’s a delivery for you!”

Everyone turned to look, and saw a young man in a hooded sweatshirt standing at the courtyard gate, a cardboard box in his arms.

“Who would be sending me something?” Natasha said, baffled, and walked over to open the gate.

The hooded man gave no answer. He set the box down at the gate, turned, and left in a hurry.

Natasha picked up the box with a puzzled look. “Could it be something Aisha sent over…”

Shen Mo’s brow furrowed deeply. Something felt wrong, and on instinct he took Bai Youwei’s hand and stepped back. He said to Natasha: “If a friend sent it to you, there should be some kind of message with it. You should put that box down…”

Yuri heard this and his expression changed immediately. He also noticed that the hooded man in the distance was moving at a very fast pace — and with a flash of a certain thought through his mind, the color drained completely from his face!

“Natasha! Throw it! Now!” Yuri suddenly roared, and launched himself forward — throwing himself over Natasha!

In the same instant — a deafening explosion. A thunderous boom. Everything before them was torn apart!

Smoke and dust blasted across Bai Youwei’s face. Her ears rang. Shen Mo’s hand covered her eyes. When the dust finally settled, she heard A’da somewhere in the chaos, cursing heaven and earth with the most vile language he knew.

—