Chapter 197: Anomaly!
Luke had indeed explained this to Ais and the others, but none of them believed him.
Because Loki had strictly forbidden him from telling them, he couldn't provide any evidence.
As a result, they were completely convinced that it was just a form of comfort.
To be honest, Luke could have leveled up a long time ago.
During those six years, it took him over two years to increase all his attributes to the limit of 999, at which point he could have leveled up.
Unlike other adventurers, Luke didn't lack "great feats" at all.
Then, it took him another year to finally break through the limit, raising his attributes to SS1000.
His current attributes were the results of the past two and a half years since he broke the limit.
He was simply following tradition by wanting to max out all his attributes before leveling up, not because he was truly stuck at this level and couldn't go up.
"It's true that you can't be blamed for this, this unprecedented 'transcendence' is unimaginable."
To be honest, Finn was the one most troubled by this matter.
As the captain of Loki Familia, the various rumors and the wavering of several executives had made him very worried.
"But Riveria's point about the decline of morale is also what I'm worried about right now."
Finn acknowledged Riveria's point.
Even though he knew it wasn't Luke's fault, the problem in front of him still needed to be solved.
"Well... why don't you and Luke have a fight, Finn?"
Gareth thought for a moment before speaking.
"After all, as long as you prove that Luke has the actual strength of Lv6, then stabilizing morale will be quite simple."
"As long as everyone sees Luke's strength, even if he truly can't level up, he has enough prestige that there won't be any serious impact for a while."
Gareth's suggestion was indeed a method, but it only addressed the symptoms, not the root cause.
To be honest, there was really no good solution to this matter.
The problem wouldn't be solved until the day Luke leveled up.
Unless Loki gave up hiding this, they could only wait for Luke to max out his ability values.
In the end, they still couldn't come up with a solution.
…
The 50th floor was a safe floor like the 18th, but there was no town here like Riviera Street.
After all, at present, only two Familias could ever reach this place.
"Alright, let's confirm the plan going forward."
After the camp was built and everyone had eaten, Finn gathered everyone together.
"The goal of this expedition is the 'Unreached Floor,' the 59th floor."
"However, we must first complete the 'commission' before that."
"The content of the commission is to collect the specified amount of spring water from the 'Cadmus Spring' on the 51st floor."
"What a hassle… why are we taking such a troublesome commission?"
As soon as Finn finished speaking, Tiona, who had a lively personality, began to complain.
"Because the reward is reasonable, and we have a close relationship with the Dian Cecht Familia, we can't just say no."
Riveria was the one who answered Tiona.
Finn continued speaking about the plan for the commission.
"I will send two small elite teams to the 51st floor."
"To avoid wasting weapons and items, and to collect the spring water as quickly as possible and return to this base."
"Any questions?"
"Yes, yes, yes! Why split into two teams?"
"The amount of spring water requested by the commissioner is quite large. The 'Cadmus Spring' has a limited amount of spring water that can be collected. In order to reach the specified amount, we need to go to two different places."
Gareth, who was responsible for logistics, explained this time, and at the same time, he made an additional request for this operation.
"Our equipment, items, food, and water are all limited. We still need to go to the 59th floor after this, so we can't spend too much time on this commission."
"Therefore, even though we will face the problem of insufficient combat power, it's still more appropriate to act in small teams."
After listening to Gareth's additional explanation, Finn saw that no one else had any questions, so he said: "Now, let's decide the members of the two teams."
"Me! I'll go!"
Tiona was the one who spoke again.
And she immediately pulled her sister Tione and Ais, who was sitting next to her.
"The three of us are the first team!"
Ignoring the amazoness's antics, Finn nodded and approved of the three girls' team formation.
Then, he turned and said.
"Then the second team will be led by Gareth and me. Riveria, Luke, who of you two wants to stay behind at the camp?"
"I'll do it. I need to restore my mental energy in order to deal with the expedition ahead."
Riveria was the one who spoke up.
After taking over the task of staying behind, she recommended another person to Finn.
"Let Lefiya go with Luke on the first team."
Lefiya was only Lv3 now, and in theory, anyone participating in this commission should be at least Lv4.
Riveria said this probably to take this opportunity to train her successor.
As for whether or not it would affect the mission, she left that judgment to Finn.
"Hmm..."
After a moment of thought, Finn felt that it wouldn't be a problem, and he looked at Luke.
Luke knew that Finn was asking for his opinion.
As Luke had basically been designated as the leader of the first team, he certainly had the right to decide whether or not his team would take on such a "burden."
There was no need to hesitate, Luke, who understood the difficulty of the mission, nodded to Finn.
Finally, the members of the two teams were decided.
First Team: Luke, Ais, Tione, Tiona, Lefiya
Second Team: Finn, Gareth, Bete, Raul
Due to time constraints, both teams set off immediately.
This commission wasn't actually that difficult.
The 51st floor wasn't unfamiliar to the executives of Loki Familia.
The only thing to be careful of was the "Treasure Guardian" guarding the Cadmus Spring, the Strong Dragon Cadmus.
Tione and Tiona were at the front, followed by Lefiya, Ais, and Luke at the rear.
The five of them kept in a single file formation as they moved through the dungeon.
They soon approached the cave where the Cadmus Spring was located.
"Be on your guard, something's not right."
Just then, Luke, at the back of the team, suddenly spoke up, warning everyone.
"There have been too few monsters along the way, there could be some kind of unexpected situation, so be on your guard and slow down."
'It's too quiet!'
After being reminded by Luke, the others also noticed the strangeness of the environment.
Normally, the frequency of battle in the deeper levels should be very high, but the monsters they had encountered along the way could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
This could be a good thing on the upper floors, but on the deeper levels, it could very well be a sign of an 'anomaly'.
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