Free Web NovelChapter 116: Chapter 116: Floor 19 — The Black Wind Caravan
Floor 19 was not a battlefield at first.
It was a road.
A long desert road beneath a black sky, with wind moving like living smoke. Several wagons stood nearby, their wheels half-buried in sand. Tower remnants wearing traveler robes looked toward Qin Yuheng’s team with desperate hope.
A mission panel appeared.
[Floor 19: Black Wind Caravan] freёwebnovel.com
[Main Mission]
Escort the caravan across the Black Wind Desert within 4 days.
[Sub-Missions]
1. Keep at least 70% of caravan members alive.
2. Protect cargo from raiders.
3. Survive black wind nights.
4. Identify the traitor before final ambush.
[Warning]
Not every traveler belongs to the caravan.
Qin Mo stared at the final line.
"Traitor floor."
Qin Lian’s eyes immediately began moving across the caravan members.
There were twenty travelers.
Merchants, guards, drivers, two children, one old priest, and a silent woman with a covered face.
The caravan leader, Old Ma, explained the situation.
They needed to cross the desert before the black wind season peaked. Raiders had attacked twice. Supplies were low. Someone had leaked their route.
Qin Yuheng accepted command support but did not take over fully at first.
He observed.
Day one involved sand beasts and wind shelters.
Day two brought raiders.
The raiders were human-like Tower entities wearing black scarves. They attacked at dusk, aiming for cargo, not lives. Qin Yuheng’s team repelled them, but one wagon wheel had been sabotaged before the attack.
Traitor evidence.
Qin Lian found cut marks from inside the caravan.
Qin Mo found a hidden signal charm under a cargo box.
The traitor was communicating.
But who?
The obvious suspect was the silent woman.
Too obvious.
Qin Yuheng watched the old priest instead.
The priest always prayed before attacks.
His prayers created small smoke signals in the wind.
On the third night, Qin Yuheng set a trap.
He leaked a false route plan in front of three suspected members.
Only the priest reacted.
That night, raiders moved toward the false route.
Qin Lian caught the priest sending a wind signal.
The traitor was exposed.
But he was not merely greedy.
He was bound by a black wind contract. His family had been taken by raiders in a previous loop. He betrayed the caravan each time trying to save them.
The Tower offered a choice.
[Traitor identified.]
[Options]
1. Execute traitor.
2. Exile traitor.
3. Break black wind contract and face strengthened final ambush.
Qin Mo read option three.
"Of course the moral option adds difficulty."
Qin Yuheng chose three.
Qin Mo looked at him.
"I expected it and still suffered."
Using Law-Thread Severing Eye, Contract-Breaking Talismans, and Qin Mo’s formation support, they broke the priest’s contract.
The Black Wind Raiders attacked in full force that night.
The final ambush was brutal.
Black wind reduced visibility. Raiders attacked cargo and children. Sand beasts joined the chaos. Qin Yuheng used command pulses through Silent Soul Communication Jades. Qin Yuchen led caravan guards. Qin Lian eliminated raider signalers. Qin Mo protected wagons with formations.
The priest, freed from contract, used his wind prayers to reveal hidden raiders.
By dawn, the caravan survived.
Eighteen of twenty members lived.
The cargo was mostly intact.
The traitor was saved.
The final raider captain appeared at sunrise, Level 31, wielding twin curved blades. Qin Yuheng’s team defeated him through coordinated rotation.
Settlement appeared.
[Floor 19: Black Wind Caravan]
[Main Mission: Caravan escorted — Completed.]
[Caravan Survival: 18 / 20]
[Cargo Preserved: 82%]
[Traitor Identified: Completed.]
[Black Wind Contract Broken: Completed.]
[Final Ambush Cleared.]
[Final Evaluation: SSS]
Rewards included:
S Grade Black Wind Caravan Chest
A Grade Black Wind Contract Shard
A Grade Caravan Command Token
S Grade Wind Prayer Crystal
A Grade Desert Survival Cloak
Special Mark: Black Wind Contract Breaker
Qin Yuheng knew immediately that the Caravan Command Token and Wind Prayer Crystal might support his class path.
After returning, he evolved the chest.
[S Grade Black Wind Caravan Chest]
↓
[SSS Grade Ancient Black Wind Trade Route Chest]
Opening it produced:
[SSS Grade Black Wind Route Command Token x1]
[SS Grade Skill Book: Wind-Thunder Command Step x1]
[SS Grade Contract-Breaking Law Crystal x1]
[S Grade Caravan Soul Banner x1] freeωebnovēl.c૦m
[S Grade Hidden Route Map Fragment x1]
The Black Wind Route Command Token resonated with the Beacon Command Crystal and Team Battle Formation Crystal.
Command theme strengthened again.
Now Floor 20 was next.
Second Gate threshold.
Qin Yuheng gathered the class materials once more.
This time, the fusion preview changed.
[Composite class foundation sufficient.]
[Recommended fusion timing:
Before Floor 20: moderate difficulty.
After Floor 20 gate resonance: improved stability.
During Floor 20 class resonance event: unknown but potentially higher grade.]
Unknown.
Potentially higher grade.
Dangerous.
Tempting.
Qin Yuheng looked at his father.
Qin Zhengyuan said, "Wait until Floor 20."
Qin Wanshan agreed.
"Gate resonance may stabilize what ordinary fusion cannot."
Mu Qinglan’s warning was softer.
"If the Tower offers too much, refuse what feels like a chain."
Qin Yuheng nodded.
Floor 20 would decide his first class path.
And Blood Sun Hall knew it too.
