The Shelter Game: Me, Starting with a Tenfold Drop Rate

"Why would the Night Blades set a trap here?! I clearly confirmed that there were no Night Blades' bases in the area! Where on earth did these Night Blades' rats come from?!" James furrowed his brows and spoke to himself in an angry tone as he stared at the trap in front of him.

After saying this, James quickly lifted his head and nervously scanned his surroundings. The area around the trap was a small patch of woods. While some of the trees were quite tall, the forest itself was not extensive. This meant that it was impossible for a large number of Night Blades members to be hiding within.

This led James to arrive at a conclusion that was difficult for him to accept: There must have been a secret base of the Night Blades around the castle all along. His previous searches had yielded no results whatsoever.

"Should I tell Irving about this? If I inform him, will he think I'm completely incompetent?" In normal circumstances, James would have definitely reported this situation to Irving. However, after a series of crises, James now had a personal agenda.

He felt he needed to demonstrate sufficient capability in front of Irving. Therefore, James decided to handle the matter himself for the time being. If he felt he couldn't manage the situation, only then would he inform Irving.

After making this decision, James took out a rare weapon. This rare weapon was a mirror, and the area illuminated by the mirror could extract useful information.

As James pointed the mirror at the trap, a line of text appeared on its surface: "Thirty kilometers southeast."

At that moment, James's expression finally relaxed a bit upon seeing those words. He then turned his gaze southeast. "There should be a cave thirty kilometers to the southeast. Could it be that the Night Blades' secret base is inside that cave? I need to hurry over and check it out!"

After preparing himself, James swiftly headed in the southeastern direction. He spent less than fifteen minutes to cover the thirty kilometers. To achieve such an impressive speed, he used all of his available acceleration items.

When James arrived near the entrance of the cave, he had already exhausted most of his stamina. "There are no traces of humans around the cave. Have the Night Blades members hidden all their tracks?"

Although James was feeling somewhat fatigued, he did not take a break.

After arriving at the entrance of the cave, James quickly began to assess the surrounding situation. After a while, he felt that there were no useful clues around the cave entrance. So, he decided to enter the cave directly.

James was an inherently impulsive person, and in the face of a crisis, he became even more impatient. Normally, any player of a shelter game would hesitate to recklessly enter an area they had never set foot in before. James was certainly aware of this rule, but his overwhelming sense of urgency made it impossible for him to adhere to it.

Without any preparation, James stepped into the cave. The moment he crossed the entrance, he suddenly felt a chill sweep over his body. Instinctively, he drew his weapon, but before he could act, he found himself unable to move at all. It was as if his entire body had been frozen.

"What is happening? Is this cave also a trap?!" Although James's body was immobilized, his mind continued to function. He rapidly concluded that he was in a perilous situation.

Just then, a young man in a black robe slowly emerged from the cave. With a smile, he looked at James and spoke in a calm tone, "You guessed it right; this is indeed a trap. However, this trap wasn't set for you. Your stepping into it was truly beyond my expectations."

James was even more shocked upon hearing this. He had not spoken a single word or made any move, so how could this individual know what he was thinking? The man's earlier comment indicated that he was aware of James's thoughts. Could it be that he had telepathy?!

As James was forming this speculation in his mind, the young man in the black robe smiled again and said, "You guessed correctly; I do possess telepathy. However, my level of telepathy isn't very high, so I can't extract all the information from your mind."

As he spoke, the man began to approach James. Although James felt that this proximity posed a significant danger, he found himself powerless to respond.

At this moment, not only was James's body frozen, but he also felt his thoughts becoming increasingly sluggish.

"But you don't need to worry. I will take you to my master. My master can extract all the information from your brain. Then we will know what Irving's weaknesses are! You don't have to be too afraid because this process won't cause you much pain. Once my master has completed his work, you won't feel any pain at all."

The man's words filled James with even more fear. However, his condition was deteriorating rapidly. He had even reached the point where he struggled to comprehend what the man was saying.

"It seems you can no longer hear anything I'm saying, so there's no need for me to waste any more time here," the young man in the black robe stated.

He took out a square object made of crystal. The moment the object was revealed, James found himself sealed inside it. The young man in the black robe quickly retreated deeper into the cave.

Meanwhile, back at the castle, an hour had passed since James had left. Members of the Green Ivy Group began to gather in small groups to discuss the whereabouts of their leader.

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"Do you think the leader went to see Irving? But why didn't he tell us before leaving? The leader isn't the kind of person to be so careless."

James's most trusted subordinate had summoned nearly all of the stronger members of the Green Ivy Group. He openly expressed his concerns to the group.

"I think the leader might be doing this on purpose. He could be testing whether we can adapt when faced with a crisis."

One of the stronger members of the Green Ivy Group shared his opinion. After hearing this, others nodded in agreement. They believed that James was indeed capable of such a thing.

"Is that really the case? I find it hard to believe. The leader once told me that building the defense infrastructure is the most important task. He would never test us while focusing on constructing the defense infrastructure," another member of the Green Ivy Group said, his tone somewhat hesitant.

While the members of the Green Ivy Group were discussing the situation and feeling lost, Aron approached them.

"Where is James? I've completed the construction of two defense infrastructures. Where should I build the next one? He hasn't informed me in advance," Aron asked the members of the Green Ivy Group.

The members exchanged glances, unsure of how to respond to Aron's question. They also hesitated to inform him about James's sudden disappearance.

As everyone hesitated, Aron spoke with a hint of impatience in his tone. "What's going on? If you don't tell me where James is, or if you can't find him, I will contact Irving directly. We can't afford to waste time."

Aron's words ultimately convinced the members of the Green Ivy Group to speak up. "We've lost contact with the leader. He left the castle an hour ago, and we have no idea where he went."

Upon hearing this, Aron's expression changed dramatically. "Why didn't you say so earlier?! This is crucial information!"

After saying this, Aron turned and left. He sought out Anna and Nick, telling them about the situation. Both Anna and Nick were taken aback by the news.

"James must not have disappeared around the castle, right? I've been to the castle before with Irving, and I carefully checked the surrounding area. I don't think there's much danger around the castle," Nick immediately said to Aron and Anna. After all, it was Aron and Anna's first time at the castle, while Nick had already been there once with Irving.

Aron nodded. "You might be right, but I need to inform Irving about this. The situation has gone beyond what we can control."

After saying this, Aron contacted Irving directly. At that moment, Irving had just finished dealing with all the defense vulnerabilities around the original shelter with three others. When he heard from Aron that James was missing, his expression quickly darkened.

"Do you have any other information? Is the area around the castle still safe?" Irving asked Aron in a low voice, urgency in his tone.

"I only know this much: the castle is still safe for now, and most of the members here have not encountered any attacks," Aron replied quickly. However, as he spoke, another thought crossed his mind. "By the way, a large number of traps suddenly appeared around the castle not long ago. James left the castle to investigate this matter.

It's very likely that his disappearance is related to the traps around the castle."

The information Aron provided led Irving to form more suspicions. However, Irving was not one to make hasty judgments, as he felt he didn't have enough information.

"I understand! I will head to the castle as soon as possible! Before I get there, you need to ensure the safety around the castle for now!" After saying this, Irving abruptly terminated the communication with Aron.