Online Game: I Started with Max Charisma and Caught the Goddess's Eye-Chapter 377: Raw Strength is Not Enough, Intelligence is Key

Quagmire stood frozen, not immediately taking the files from Luca.

"Didn't you hear what I said? You're here to assist me, so get to work."

Luca placed the files beside Quagmire and then returned to focusing on the document in his hands without saying another word.

"I am here to assist you, but shouldn't we be acting right away? We need to head to those four coordinates, don't we? I'm very familiar with those areas; there's no need to gather more intelligence. We can just leave right away."

Quagmire spoke with confidence, as if he was certain of his understanding.

Luca let out a cold laugh.

"Really? Are you that familiar with the Daskhollow region?"

"Of course! The Forbidden Zone of Life, the area where Unidentified Toxin H permeates the air. Even if we wear full hazmat gear, we won't last more than half a day there. You want to head into this area?"

Quagmire quickly recited the details of Daskhollow, proud of his knowledge.

At that moment, Luca finally looked up at him.

"It seems you're not as brainless as I thought."

Quagmire chuckled at this, feeling that Luca was giving him a compliment.

But soon, the realization hit him.

"Do you really think of me as someone who only relies on brute force?"

"Pretty much. Right now, you still come across as someone who only relies on brute force."

Luca placed the document he was holding back on the desk, not looking at Quagmire anymore.

"While you know some information about Daskhollow, your knowledge is far too vague. I've gathered more interesting details from these files."

He spoke as he led Quagmire deeper into the archive room.

A large number of clues and pieces of intelligence were separately organized and hung on the walls.

"Unidentified Toxin H manifests in the form of purple smoke, and a large number of chaotic monsters are often surrounded by this purple mist. This is no coincidence."

Luca spoke as he tore a page from the wall and handed it to Quagmire.

"Take a good look at this. It's an internal research report from your Morning Star."

Quagmire took the page.

It was indeed an internal report from Morning Star, and the person who wrote it was one of Quagmire's friends.

According to the report, Unidentified Toxin H, under certain conditions, could transform living creatures from the real world into monsters.

"So, you're saying that Unidentified Toxin H is actually released by the monsters?" Quagmire asked, frowning deeply.

Luca shook his head slightly in disappointment: "I didn't say that. I just hope you understand that the Daskhollow area is not as simple as you think. When facing such a dangerous region, brute force alone will not be enough—intelligence is much more important."

Quagmire slowly nodded in agreement, acknowledging the other's point. Then, several files were thrown at his head.

"Since you agree with my view, then you'd better start looking through them!"

Luca and Quagmire spent the entire day in the archive room. It wasn't until the sun had set that they had finished going through all the documents in the room.

Quagmire rubbed his eyes, which were already feeling dry. "Finally done! I really didn't expect to find information related to Daskhollow in some of these files that seemed completely unrelated."

"Yeah," Luca echoed, "I guess this is just the work habit of your Morning Star."

Although Luca had been working with Morning Star, it didn't mean he held their capabilities in high regard. In his view, Morning Star was just a group of ordinary people with stronger-than-average abilities.

Quagmire didn't argue, as, in his view, Luca certainly had the right to say that.

"So, what should we do next? We can't seem to find any more information. Should we head out immediately?"

"Don't rush! Are you fully prepared? My weapons and equipment have all been refurbished," Luca asked, eyeing Quagmire with a questioning look.

"I'm all set. My weapons have been replaced with the latest models. And to make sure I don't slow you down, Commander Drumph specifically provided me with two weapons that are level 60," Quagmire replied, taking out the two weapons as he spoke.

These weapons were perfect for Quagmire. Luca looked them over and was very satisfied.

"Alright, then. Let's gear up with our protective suits and head out!"

And so, Luca and Quagmire boarded the shelter's helicopter and flew towards the Daskhollow area.

Two hours later, the helicopter landed at the entrance of a canyon.

"From here on out, it'll be on foot! If you start feeling unwell, let me know immediately," Luca said as he suited up in his chemical protective gear.

"Don't worry. I'm not as weak as you think! I can take care of myself!" Quagmire reassured him.

"Good. I was just worried you might slow me down, not that I wanted to take care of you."

Once the two of them had donned their protective suits, they stepped into the purple mist.

Near the entrance of the canyon, the purple mist was still not very dense. The two of them could roughly make out their surroundings.

After advancing about 3 kilometers, the purple mist became much thicker. They could barely see more than 10 meters around them.

Additionally, their suit's HUD flashed crimson warnings.

[Toxic substances detected. Please return to a secure zone.]

Both of them were getting a bit frustrated and simultaneously turned off the smart system.

"Maybe the team members who came here before were just annoyed by the alarms, which is why they only explored for a few hours before retreating," Quagmire remarked, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.

However, Luca didn't laugh at the joke. He was vigilantly scanning his surroundings.

Although he could only see about 10 meters ahead, he had a strong feeling that something in the depths of the purple mist was watching their every move.

After a few minutes of silent progress, the distant sound of boulders rolling suddenly reached their ears.

They both came to a halt at the same time and tightly gripped their weapons.

The canyon where Daskhollow was located was rarely visited by people, and the sound of falling boulders meant that there could very likely be a powerful enemy up ahead.

Luca didn't speak. Instead, he glanced at Quagmire and signaled with his hands.

[I will move forward cautiously. You stay behind me and don't fall behind.]

Quagmire nodded.

And so, the two of them continued forward through the thick purple mist.

About half an hour later, they stopped at the edge of a large boulder.

It seemed that this boulder had only fallen by chance at this moment.

"It looks like we were being paranoid. This was just a coincidence," Quagmire said with a sigh of relief and a smile.

At that moment, Luca suddenly pushed Quagmire to the ground.

Quagmire didn't have time to react, but as he fell, he saw a monster's claw flash past in front of him.

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If Luca hadn't pushed him down in time, he would have been slashed through his protective suit by the monster's claw.

Quagmire quickly struggled to get back on his feet. He swiftly activated his weapon and fired a series of shells. However, none of them hit their target.

Luca, standing next to him, didn't even launch an attack.

"That was just an ordinary monster," Luca explained. "Maybe it's been hiding around us, waiting for an opportunity to ambush us. We stopped, and that gave it a chance. I think from now on, we shouldn't stop on the road anymore."

Luca's reaction left Quagmire very confused.

From Quagmire's perspective, Luca had been extremely cautious up until now. Why had he suddenly started ignoring the potential threats?

But Quagmire didn't ask any further questions. He quickly followed in Luca's footsteps. By the time he caught up, Luca had already moved 100 meters ahead.

They continued on for another half hour. The protective suits were already showing signs of significant damage, with many rips appearing on the outer layer.

Quagmire felt a slight worry.

"This gear's toast in twenty clicks. You wanna become purple mist confetti, hotshot? We should probably turn back now! Maybe we weren't fully prepared for this after all."

He was starting to have second thoughts. Although he had been confident before they left, being surrounded by the eerie, toxic mist had taken a toll on his nerves.

Luca stopped walking.

"Even if you turn back now, you won't be able to make it out in time. Didn't you notice how the purple mist around us has been changing?"

His words left Quagmire stunned.

Quagmire glanced around frantically.

"I don't see any changes! The purple mist looks exactly the same!"

"The purple mist has been guiding us forward," Luca said calmly. "Look ahead. There's a region where the purple mist is noticeably lighter than in the other areas. We've been walking through the lighter parts of the mist all along."

Luca's voice remained steady, but the words he spoke only made Quagmire more anxious.

If Luca was right, it meant they had already walked straight into a trap that had been set for them.

"What should we do now? Are we about to encounter the enemy?" Quagmire asked, his hand trembling slightly as he gripped his weapon. He nervously scanned their surroundings.

"You finally made the right call! We're about to encounter the enemy!" Luca tightened his grip on the Starseeker and answered slowly.

As soon as his words fell, the ground began to shake violently.

From the purple mist not far away, a massive figure gradually became visible.

"This is the most powerful artificial monster I've ever seen!" The moment the massive figure appeared, a serious expression finally broke into a small smile on Luca's face.

The appearance of the artificial monster confirmed that his series of assumptions had been correct.

There really was a Zenith Technology Company secret laboratory here—he hadn't been chasing shadows!