In the team, even the weakest members possessed the strength of a third-layer Awakener.
Tang Yu had already noticed that although the Heavy Armor Puppets had high defensive capabilities, their black armor strong enough to surpass the Demonized Beasts of the third layer, their charge speed only matched that of Awakeners of the Second-tier.
This was the key to his strategy.
It wasn't that his retreat was cowardly, he had valid reasons!
In a flash, the group zipped past the charging Puppets.
Those Heavy Armor Puppets, although they noticed, had already initiated their charge. It wasn't easy for them to change direction, and in an instant, Tang Yu and his people gained a significant lead.
The Awakeners following also brightened up.
"Quick, follow in their footsteps!"
They too seized the opportunity, running with all their might. However, by this time, several Heavy Armor Puppets had successfully turned and, with a bang, bang, bang, their legs stomped on the stiff stone slabs, initiating a deadly charge.
Tang Yu didn't look back, but he knew what was happening.
This was reality. The world post-apocalypse had always been cruel. In the wild, one could encounter life-threatening dangers at any moment, and in this unknown Secret Realm, the dangers were even greater. Many Awakeners who entered had mentally prepared themselves, yet still, many died.
'It's a pity, those high-quality chives... Bah, I mean high-quality talent, who knows how many will make it out alive. It's a selection process, I suppose. Those who survive this Secret Realm will undoubtedly be the finest talents.'
After skirting past the Heavy Armor Puppets on one side of the hall, they encountered another corridor entrance. It was hard to determine how much further the tomb extended before they could reach the end.
It seemed the wealthier individuals always wanted more, hence the elaborate work on the corridors.
"Boss, something's off about this corridor."
Grey Blade's gaze swept across the surroundings.
This corridor differed from the previous one. The previous was a straight path with nothing but a few lines of rune text on either side, but now...
As they rounded a corner, Grey Blade's professional instincts allowed him to detect signs of modification on the stone walls of the corridor.
It wasn't the rough work of carving out a large section of the stone wall and filling it in with wooden boards, but rather, it appeared to be a trap designed from the beginning!
Tang Yu, upon hearing this, threw out a few basic Puppets — which had already been abandoned along the way due to their inability to keep up with the speed, and by this time, were likely demolished by the Heavy Armor Puppets.
Why make it hard for Puppets?
When the small spheres unfolded, the basic Puppets landed and, with round bodies and short legs, stepped forward.
Concentrated, Tang Yu seemed to trigger some mechanism, and the stone walls on both sides of the corridor instantly revealed rows of holes from which countless arrows whooshed out.
The few basic Puppets were hit like beehives, arrows completely penetrating their bodies from one side to the other, the force barely diminishing. Such power, once directed at a person, posed a significant threat even to an Awakener of the Sixth Layer whose body had become incredibly strong.
Tang Yu felt a pang of regret. If he had known, he would have thrown out just one Puppet. He couldn't believe he casually tossed out so many.
Wastefulness is shameful.
The hole opened, and as the arrows rained down, Grey Blade flickered to the edge of the farthest hole, pulling out an unknown tool from his trouser pocket, inserting it into the hole, and fiddled with it a few times.
"There, that should do it. This mechanism is interconnected. I've jammed some nodes inside, but it probably won't hold for long. Let's move quickly."
Eileen conjured two Ice Shields, guarding the team on both sides just in case, as the group hurried through.
All along the way, a wide variety of traps kept springing up incessantly.
For instance, as they walked, the ground would suddenly give way, revealing poison-tipped spikes below, or walls would drop down at both ends of a corridor, sealing it shut and then suddenly filling it with poison gas, among others.
Traps like these weren't really a threat to Tang Yu and the others, but they were certainly annoying. It wasn't clear what the tomb's owner was thinking.
Some of these traps were one-time use, while others could be reused. The design concept was quite advanced; it just wasn't clear how many of the following Awakeners would be able to get through these traps. Tang Yu didn't care much about the others, but if Lindong's Mercenaries were wiped out, that would be a bit suffocating for him.
Wouldn't that mean his advertisement had been for nothing?
Suddenly, he spotted another set of runes inscribed on the stone wall.
"Only the bravest adventurers will claim my treasure. Continue onward."
Couldn't they write something more useful? Could it be that these traps and Puppets were just to sift through for the bravest adventurers? What nonsense!
Even so, Tang Yu did not overlook these runes. This time, pressed for time, he did not dawdle and let his followers get straight to work. Efficiency shot up significantly, and soon the slab engraved with rune inscriptions was taken down.
There's a different level of efficiency and quality when an expert is at work. The stone slab, now hollowed out, looked much better than the previous ones—neat and tidy, it was simply satisfying to look at.
"Add more engravings? No... better not waste time."
Without stopping, they charged through the passage, but once again, Tang Yu came to a halt.
Before him lay a grand hall, identical to the one they had passed through before.
Tang Yu scanned the room to see hundreds of Heavy Armor Puppets, still in the form of stone sculptures, arrayed neatly within the hall.
Normally, he would have executed a standard bait and eliminate to deal with this group of Puppets.
Yet, footsteps approached from behind; dozens of Awakeners were running at full tilt. They were the Second Group from the bear's mouth passage race group, now catching up to Tang Yu's First Group.
After all, within their First Group, there were quite a few third layer Awakeners, not much faster than the others following them.
Similarly, although the Heavy Armor Puppets could only charge at the Second-tier speed, those Awakeners could not maintain their full burst speed indefinitely; meanwhile, the Puppet's charge was at a constant pace, so the ordinary Second-tier survivors were likely to be caught up soon.
In the Second Group catching up from behind, the Awakeners were mostly third layer, with the rare Second-tier ones being quite adept at speed and dragged along by their companions, barely escaping with their lives.
There was no Third Group anymore, or rather, the Third Group was comprised of those Heavy Armor Puppets.
Tang Yu could already hear the sound of the charging Heavy Armor Puppets' tramping.
He reckoned nearly half the Puppets were headed in their direction.
With the time at hand, there was clearly no chance to eliminate this batch of Puppets that had yet to awaken.