Pressing close to the wall, Loulan planned to rest and replenish himself. Deprived of taste, smell, and pain, Loulan wasn't devoid of sensation. He could feel his now-powerful body "wailing."
The successive battles had exhausted him, and because he had vomited up everything in his stomach at the beginning, he couldn't replenish the slightest bit of energy.
He stayed against the wall to guard against a possible ambush. Developing good, cautious habits was absolutely essential!
"Can this stuff... really be eaten?"
With a casual flick of his hand, a bottle of "food" appeared in Loulan's grasp.
Why a bottle? Because the food really did come in something resembling an alchemical potion bottle. It was a yellow-brown liquid meal that flowed inside as smoothly as water.
Loulan's cheat wasn't a traditional game cheat. It was a game cheat with special mods installed.
Darkest Dungeon's ordinary provisions consisted of normal biscuits and clean water, but special mods made them decidedly abnormal. He had no idea what ingredients had gone into the food inside this little bottle.
"Forget it. Eat when it's time to eat and drink when it's time to drink. I can't taste anything anyway."
After a moment's thought, Loulan chose to eat. He gently pulled the stopper from the bottle and poured the contents straight into his mouth.
Without his sense of taste, there was no flavor, but the single bottle unexpectedly left him feeling full.
About seventy percent full. It was incredibly filling!
His body was no longer weak. The Constitution enhancing him meant he had to consume as much food as three adults eating one full meal apiece merely to keep his bodily functions at their peak!
Yet one small bottle of unidentified liquid food was enough, and it even supplied water!
With sufficient energy inside him, he felt almost fifty percent stronger than before.
Perhaps he could now hack that goddamn fungal wall to pieces!
"Generous Mr. Loulan, you seem to have encountered some trouble."
【Do none of you make a sound when you walk?】
Loulan cursed inwardly as he jumped in fright, then turned to see the dwarf Andu approaching with his party, torches held aloft.
He hadn't heard them walking at all.
【Is it a technique? No, probably not.】
Loulan didn't answer immediately. He remained seated against the wall in a relatively casual posture from which he could spring up swiftly and rejected the idea with an inward shake of his head.
The reason was simple: Andu was clad in heavy armor, carried a hammer, and had a large dwarven shield strapped to his back. No technique could prevent him from making noise as he walked.
【Magic, or something else?】
Loulan continued speculating. Only after the party came within roughly four meters did he slowly speak.
"Yeah, a little trouble. Want to take a look?"
With that, he tilted his head slightly toward the wide-open door and gestured with his eyes.
A mighty expert needed to present himself like one!
At that moment, Loulan wasn't a defeated man who had strategically retreated because he couldn't win. He was merely a victor who had encountered a tiny setback and needed a little rest!
Andu shifted his gaze and fell into thought for a moment, then gestured to the party's thief, signaling him to enter the pitch-black secret room using "Stealth" and investigate.
Only then did Andu sit against the wall around two meters from Loulan. The pieces of his armor shifted and struck one another, yet still produced no sound. He slowly spoke.
"I see that you wear no equipment, Mr. Loulan, and your clothes are in disarray. Were you a traveler passing through Coldiron City? Dragons have frequently attacked the Whiterun Empire of late. Allow this old dwarf to venture a guess: perhaps you were one of their victims?"
Loulan's clothes could indeed be described as a complete mess. They even bore a fair amount of dried vomit, monster blood, scraps of flesh, and other filth.
【Hmm, that's not a bad identity. But... dragons? Frequently? This place is dangerous.】
After turning the idea over in his mind, Loulan went along with the other man's suggestion.
"More or less. I really am not a local, but come from the distant East. I lost much of my property in a dragon attack. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to this godforsaken place."
"You have my sincere sympathy for your misfortune. A Darkest Dungeon is indeed a place where one can make money quickly. Noble bounties are generally quite generous."
Andu nodded, first expressing regret over Loulan's misfortune, then using his words to infer quite a few things.
For instance... Loulan seemed to lack a great deal of common knowledge. If he truly needed money, he wouldn't have given away a mystic potion worth a fortune.
Or perhaps he genuinely didn't care. He had lied. Perhaps he was searching for something inside this dungeon?
In short, the experienced Andu thought of many possibilities. Loulan didn't continue speaking, and the atmosphere between them fell silent as the conversation briefly ended.
Then the human thief returned and spoke without the slightest attempt at concealment.
"Boss, it's a Rampart-Creeping Fungus."
【Rampart-Creeping Fungus? That must be what they call the fungal wall.】
Loulan understood. Spreading fungus must be a broad category. The locals couldn't possibly know nothing about the species inhabiting this dungeon.
"A Rampart-Creeping Fungus? That truly is a major problem. This monster doesn't fear fire. It can be exhausted only through raw strength, and..."
Andu explained the monster's basic characteristics, not only for the two newly arrived employers in his party, but also for Loulan, the traveler.
"The wall this monster has possessed is also very likely a dungeon exit. Lord Loulan, perhaps we should cooperate for a short time?"
Loulan was undeniably powerful, so Andu changed his form of address and planned to enlist the expert's help in eliminating the monster.
There were many "exits" in a dungeon. A small portion were guarded only by little groups of monsters, most were watched over by "leaders," and only a very few appeared randomly in various locations.
Opening an exit in advance would be a considerable help during the expedition ahead. At the very least, it would give them a high-probability means of escaping this godforsaken place!
A lightless Darkest Dungeon wasn't somewhere one should remain for long. Setting aside the stress caused by claustrophobia and a dark environment, the most important point was that the dungeon was "alive." Wandering monsters could appear at any moment in a place that had already been cleared!
There was no absolutely safe ground, and the dungeon even brought you little surprises from time to time.
"Can I trust you, Andu Hammer?"
"I swear upon my family name and my honor!"
Andu struck his chest forcefully with his hand, his expression solemn. His family name and honor seemed as important to him as faith and the spiritual pillars of his life.
That emotion affected Loulan deeply, partly because of Andu's attitude and partly because of the usual characterization of dwarves in Western fantasy.
In the end, he chose to trust him!
"Very well. I trust you. In return, I'll hold off most of the monsters by myself while you and your companions finish off the big one. How does that sound?"
"It would be an honor!"