Wei Kai slept until five in the afternoon.
When he opened his eyes, the sun had already set in the west, and the afterglow illuminated half the sky with a dazzling golden light.
Through the balcony glass, the room was also bathed in the golden hue of the setting sun.
This was his first time waking up naturally.
"Life on the surface, that's what living truly is," Wei Kai sighed, one hand propped under his head, the other picking up his phone to check it.
Tian Xiaoling had sent a message at 2:30 PM, saying that she had already contacted the person in charge of Duobao Pavilion and was searching for the relevant items.
Another message was from an unfamiliar number.
The content made Wei Kai frown.
"Hello, Mr. Wei Kai, I am Wu Qiliang, the Captain of the Foreign Affairs Group's First Action Team. Please call me back immediately after seeing this message; it's urgent."
"Official people? Could it be related to the dungeon?" He immediately thought of what happened that morning.
He had actually anticipated the dungeon's exposure.
That area was originally within the Wild Boar Forest, where a large number of Battle Professionals went daily to grind monsters and level up, so it was only a matter of time before they discovered that battlefield.
And the dungeon's light gate was so conspicuous that anyone who went in to look would quickly find it.
Since it couldn't be hidden, Wei Kai didn't bother to conceal anything.
He thought for a moment, then dialed the number.
"Captain Wu, what can I do for you?"
"Is this Wei Kai? Do you have time to meet?"
"Where?"
"The station."
"No time!" Wei Kai refused on the spot.
"Haha, just kidding." Captain Wu laughed, quickly changing his tone: "You pick a place, and I'll come to you."
"Then... the milk tea shop at the entrance of West Township Market."
"No problem, I'll be there in ten minutes." The other party said, then quickly hung up.
"But I can't get there in ten minutes."
Wei Kai grumbled at the hung-up phone, then quickly got up to wash and get ready before heading out for the appointment.
Since he had no transportation, he had to call a taxi.
Upon arriving at West Township Market, the taxi fare of over two thousand yuan made Wei Kai's heart ache for a long time.
The milk tea shop was right at the market's entrance; as soon as he pushed the door open, he saw a tall young man in a black leather jacket stand up.
"You must be Wei Kai?" Wu Qiliang said with a hearty laugh.
Wei Kai was a little surprised and quickly asked, "Are you Captain Wu?"
"Yes."
Wu Qiliang smiled and nodded, then motioned for him to sit down.
Wei Kai was not polite; after sitting down, he first glanced at the other party, then said directly, "I wonder what capacity Captain Wu is meeting me in today?"
Wu Qiliang's expression became serious upon hearing this, and he said solemnly, "Captain of the Foreign Affairs Group's First Action Team."
"Representing the officials?"
"Yes!"
"Then let's get to the point." Although Wei Kai was somewhat surprised, he still chose to cooperate.
"We want to know, how did you survive the night?" Wu Qiliang took out a notebook from his bag and sat upright, asking.
Wei Kai smiled, "I think you probably already guessed."
Wu Qiliang was noncommittal: "We have some guesses, but we still want to know more details from you."
"Then I'll tell you."
Wei Kai took a deep breath and said, "Yesterday afternoon, I was leveling up in the Wild Boar Forest, but I forgot the time and missed the chance to return to the city."
"By the time I came to my senses, it was already dark."
"Seeing it was dark, I knew I couldn't go back, so I used the last bit of time to quickly find a place to hide, preparing to get through the night."
"Did you encounter any monsters?" Wu Qiliang suddenly asked.
"I did."
Wei Kai nodded: "A type of monster that looked like a snake, covered in tentacles, not very strong."
"Mm."
Wu Qiliang nodded with satisfaction.
"Continue."
"Those monsters weren't strong individually, but there were many of them. I was quickly discovered by them and chased all the way." Wei Kai continued, "While escaping, I found a cave, so I quickly hid inside, unexpectedly finding an entrance to a secret realm within."
"I fought a big battle with those monsters at the entrance of the secret realm, but I still couldn't defeat their numbers, so I finally had to hide in the secret realm."
"Then I hid in the secret realm for one night until dawn before coming out."
"Soon after coming out, I encountered Chen Xianchi and his team."
"You should know the rest of the story."
"Yes, Chen Xianchi contacted us."
Wu Qiliang nodded and said, "We also went to investigate the site."
"The officials aren't trying to reclaim the secret realm clear reward, are they?" Wei Kai suddenly asked.
"That's yours."
Wu Qiliang shook his head and said calmly, "You discovered it yourself, and you cleared the secret realm yourself. No one can covet your clear reward."
"That's good." Wei Kai pretended to sigh in relief.
"Furthermore, as the first person to discover a wild dungeon, you will also receive a reward from the officials," Wu Qiliang continued.
"Free money?" Wei Kai asked in surprise.
Wu Qiliang hesitated for a moment, then said, "There's a small condition."
"Tell me."
"You cannot publicly disclose how you survived the night," Wu Qiliang said.
"Why?"
Wei Kai was a bit puzzled and couldn't help but ask, "The officials should have known about this method long ago, right?"
When he was recounting what happened last night, the other party's expression remained unchanged, especially regarding his method of entering the secret realm to survive the night.
After listening, not only was there no surprise, but there was even a hint of wanting to laugh.
This reaction clearly indicated an insider.
"Only a portion of the officials know," Wu Qiliang replied. "Because this method is not suitable for public disclosure. The monsters in the night are unpredictable. You were very lucky to only encounter the weakest small monsters, which is why you had the chance to find the cave and, even more fortunately, discover the secret realm entrance."
"Simply put, your survival was purely due to luck."
"I know."
Wei Kai nodded, without feeling belittled in the slightest.
"Precisely because it's luck, too many people shouldn't know about it, otherwise everyone will want to try... and that would be disastrous!" Wu Qiliang explained.
"I understand."
After hearing this explanation, Wei Kai immediately understood: "You're afraid people will try to imitate my experience, right?"
"Yes." Wu Qiliang nodded: "For fame and fortune, some people will always take risks."
"It seems I almost set a bad precedent," Wei Kai said with a self-deprecating laugh.
"No!" Wu Qiliang shook his head: "You are different!"
"You survived not only because of good luck but also because of your strength! Being able to clear the secret realm is the best proof."
"Even I almost failed in that dungeon."
"Captain Wu is being too modest," Wei Kai quickly said with a smile.
"I'm serious."
Wu Qiliang said with a serious expression, "Therefore, on behalf of the Foreign Affairs Group's First Action Team, I invite you to join us!"
"Ah?"