"This is..."
Gauss sharply observed the layout of the entrance hall from within, and having recently departed from there, he could naturally confirm its appearance, still fresh in his memory.
Besides the flickering images, he could glean more information from it, including the entrance to the lower levels.
The crystal ball had fully recorded most of the information from the first five levels, and it seemed to update continuously.
"This crystal ball seems to have recorded the complete map of the first five levels of the maze..."
Noticing its function, Gauss raised his eyebrows and couldn’t help but be delighted.
With its help, Gauss’s exploration in the maze would undoubtedly become much smoother.
As for the second item, it was a small iron piece.
If it hadn’t been lying quietly next to the crystal ball, Gauss would surely have subconsciously ignored it.
Gauss leaned in to check it. Unlike the crystal ball, it showed no changes upon approach, maintaining its simplistic appearance.
"Identification Technique!"
Gauss decisively cast the identification technique.
"A certain token from the maze’s records."
"?"
Is this considered a successful identification?
Gauss tried several more times, even enhancing the identification technique, but the description did not change.
So, after hesitating for a moment, he reached to take it from the Mage’s Hand.
Upon contact, Gauss felt a surge of electricity through his body.
Soon, a string of digits appeared on the previously unremarkable iron piece.
"2.13%"
What does this mean?
Looking at the digits that appeared, Gauss pondered for a moment.
After ruling out the divine factor due to the mismatch in quantity, Gauss surmised it should be related to the maze.
After all, this iron piece surfaced within the maze.
Suddenly, a conjecture flashed in his mind.
"Could it be some sort of maze exploration percentage?"
This conjecture wasn’t baseless; rather, it was partly linked to his previous life gaming experience and partly connected to his relationship with the maze and the results of the identification technique. Although he had entered the maze once before, his personal exploration level in the ever-expanding complete maze was definitely at a low level. The iron piece, being a recording token—recording exploration level—was a very reasonable association.
After proceeding to explore for a while, checking the number’s change should verify the hypothesis. Gauss had a plan in mind.
He then set his sights on the Insect Man statue.
The two items lay quietly before the statue, suggesting that coincidence wouldn’t be that simple.
This statue should be equally significant.
After informing his teammates of his conjecture, Gauss cast the Flying Skill, floating to the front of the Insect Man statue, always cautious, ready to use the spell at hand if anything unexpected happened.
However, as he flew beside the statue, there remained no movement.
Cautiously, he reached out, letting magic power first touch the statue.
As he approached, the iron piece in his hand warmed slightly.
"...insufficient..."
"Unable to obtain reward..."
Fragmented information abruptly surfaced in his mind.
Gauss looked at the glowing iron piece.
So, is it due to insufficient exploration level, thus unable to trigger the reward?
Gauss was perceptive.
2.13% was indeed low; how to enhance it? Exploring maps? Slaying demons?
Contemplating these questions, he surveyed the surroundings once again. Gauss discovered that though lush green plants grew nearby, there were no animals present—neither ordinary beasts, insects nor demons.
Moreover, he could see that buildings and installations once existed there, but had gradually collapsed over time.
This seemed to be a particular "interlayer space."
Gauss took a brief walk, quickly arriving at the map’s boundary where a sheet of rolling black fog lay.
Clay Spiders, upon entering, would soon disconnect, and the magic and mental exploration entering it would rapidly be consumed.
Considering the danger it presented, Gauss had no intention of personally checking inside.
After all, adventure and courting death are not the same thing.
"Let’s leave."
After being unable to find any other useful items, Gauss expressed his intention to exit.
If they stayed in too long, the members of the Red Dragon Team outside would grow anxious.
Only as they retraced their steps did Gauss and the others realize the path had vanished.
"Gone, the stairs leading up have disappeared."
"So how do we get back?"
"Could this be a trap set to imprison us here?"
Ying furrowed her brow slightly, and the others recognized the emerging trouble.
Her two shadow duplicates rapidly searched around but failed to find an exit.
Then, Gauss, who had been silent, felt a prompting and looked at the iron piece clutched tightly in his hand.
"Grab my hand."
"..."
His companions looked at him upon hearing his words.
Albena fidgeted, playing the part of a demure young lady.
"Lord Gauss, I’m not afraid, but if you want to comfort me..."
"What are you thinking? I can get you out."
Albena showed a hint of disappointment upon hearing this.
As the group placed their palms on Gauss’s arm, Gauss closed his eyes, focused, and decisively activated the departure energy transmitted from the iron token.
An energy ripple instantly enveloped them and, after about ten seconds, Gauss and his companions disappeared from where they stood.
...
Outside, the Red Dragon Team members in the hall noticed the disappearance of the Green Pavilion immediately.
Led by Luna, several individuals quickly launched a search of the surroundings.
After the Green Pavilion vanished, the ground below became solid, as if the pavilion had never existed.
"We need to find the leader and the others."
"Perhaps it’s some internal maze teleportation formation, transported to another part of the maze."
"..."
"Don’t panic! Stay put and wait. If we haven’t seen Captain Gauss and the others return in three hours, we’ll start a search from here as our starting point."
Luna promptly interrupted the panicking Red Dragon Team members.
As a Level 9 Warlock, her presence helped maintain basic order among the members of the Red Dragon Team, who had been without Gauss. At least, they weren’t in complete disarray.
Yet for some reason, the members of the Red Dragon Team still felt empty inside; even those from the original Gray Wolf’s Fang faction felt this way, subconsciously worrying about the missing Capitan.
While everyone waited silently.
Several figures suddenly appeared overhead.
"Ah!"
"Thank you!"
The quick-handed Gauss immediately applied several Levitation Skills to his teammates.
Despite that a few meters of height won’t cause any real harm, it might still be embarrassing.
As Gauss and his team descended slowly like feathers, others quickly gathered around.
"Captain, are you all right?"
"Where did you go, Captain? As soon as you stepped onto the stairs, the pavilion disappeared."
"Next time, bring more people along."
After being teleported, Gauss smiled to reassure everyone.
Though internally, he pondered, having an additional means of escape.
It was just that the ten-second wait was a bit long and, to take others, physical contact was necessary, greatly limiting the number of people who could simultaneously be transferred.
In his perception, he could still return to that relic space at any time.
And that space was evidently exceptionally unique within the maze.
Otherwise, items like the maze-bound crystal ball and the special teleportation token wouldn’t appear.
Gauss even suspected it might be closely connected to the maze’s origin or creator.
"Let’s continue exploring the maze next."
Gauss took out the map crystal ball and quickly saw the location of the entrance to the third level.
Although he and the Red Dragon Team didn’t arrive at the maze too early, perhaps lagging behind the adventure group from Barry in terms of progress, possessing the crystal ball made him akin to a cheater, and he planned to show other adventurers what "being first isn’t always fast" means.
Based on the map information in the crystal ball, he swiftly configured a relatively safe and speedy route in his mind.
Then, he would quickly catch up to the first echelon.
Following that, he would find the Maze Lord and implement his second pre-departure plan: Surround and annihilate those numerous maze demons through targeted actions.