Duo Leveling LITRPG | Post Apocalyptic | SYSTEM-Chapter 174 - 211+212 – The Moving Dungeon Plan

"Then, let's begin the meeting."

The Second Moon Dungeon Strategy Meeting.

After a week, the players were once again summoned to Ark. As usual, they focused their attention on Dean, who stood at the podium.

The meeting began with a straightforward briefing.

"Over the past week, we've cleared the previously undiscovered dungeons in Level 1 Disaster Zones: near Gangnam Station, the New Capital Central Wastewater Facility, and the Spirit Fire Station…"

These were Jhin's accomplishments.

After that came the report on Ringling and Tempah, who had incinerated all the Gardens of Death whose locations had been confirmed.

It had been a week of far greater gains than expected.

"…That concludes the update."

With the briefing over, it was time to move on to the most important matter.

As if he had been waiting for this, Dean's eyes glinted.

"Next, we'll share the information we've uncovered."

Various photos and pages from classified documents appeared on the screen. This was intelligence that Dean and Millie had extracted directly from the Blue House.

"First of all, the spaceship has been confirmed to exist. Fortunately, it's safely preserved within Corelandsn territory. We'll need to verify it in person, but by all appearances, it should still be launch-capable."

Yet, for someone delivering good news, Jhin's expression looked grim.

Something had gone wrong.

He pointed out the unexpected complication.

"…There's no boat?"

The spaceship was located on an uninhabited island beyond Nedroum Island, off Corelands's western coast.

It wasn't terribly far — but without a vessel, it was completely unreachable.

"No. To be exact, there's currently no vessel that can reach that location."

The screen changed to drone footage of the West Sea.

Everywhere, capsized ships had spilled oil into the water, painting it in dark, ominous swells.

"That's…"

The real problem, though, lay in the countless whirlpools spinning across the surface. Jhin recognized what they were immediately.

Sea Serpents.

E-rank monsters, starting at Level 40.

Ocean-dwelling serpents that specialized in creating whirlpools to overturn ships — that was their signature.

Even in Exodia 1, Sea Serpents were notorious among port-town NPCs and were called "the roaming reefs of the sea."

In some places, they were no different from walking catastrophes.

"Not even submarines, ironclads, or aircraft carriers would be able to pass through."

That made sense.

Even if they were just E-rank monsters, they had enough power to flip an entire ship. And most players were functionally powerless at sea.

Trying to sail through that now would be suicidal.

No vessel could withstand the Sea Serpent's devastating jaws.

Suddenly, Caleb raised his hand.

"What about helicopters? Can't we just fly in?"

"…That's not going to work. It's far too dangerous."

The skies no longer belonged to humans alone. There was no guarantee that helicopters would be safe.

And sure — if it were just four people going to board the spaceship, then a helicopter or a small boat might suffice.

But this mission required more than players. The role of civilians was equally, if not more, important.

How else do you launch a spaceship?

The crux of the mission wasn't the players — it was the engineers and scientists who would service the rocket and powerge the launch systems.

And most of them weren't players.

"At minimum, we need to move at least twenty people. All surviving scientists and engineers in Ark must be mobilized for this."

People sighed with heavy faces.

With the moon predicted to crash in three weeks, they couldn't even approach the spaceship — let alone launch it.

Caleb voiced his concern.

"Then what do we do? We can't just sit here and wait for the end, right?"

"Well…"

"Shouldn't we at least try to float some kind of boat? You never know — maybe someone will make it."

"Caleb."

Dean cut in sharply, interrupting him.

He gave Caleb a sidelong glance before speaking again.

"Let people finish what they're saying."

"…Sorry."

Jhin took a deep breath, then continued.

"While Ringling was burning through the Gardens of Death, she discovered one of the enemy's bases."

Why was Company HQ being brought up now?

Jhin grinned, as if he had been waiting for this moment.

"As it turns out, their base is at Montehigh."

"…You're kidding."

"The High River. Montehigh. There, we've located their headquarters — the Moving Dungeon, disguised as a cruise ship."

And that's when Jhin realized what alternative Park was proposing.

Indeed — if it was a moving dungeon, then it made perfect sense.

It might not be entirely immune to external attacks — aside from the entrance, the rest of it's just a regular ship — but…

The important part was that it was classified as a dungeon.

Monsters spawned by dungeon breaks fundamentally hate dungeons.

In other words, if they crossed the sea using the moving dungeon, the Sea Serpents would instinctively avoid it.

Even in a sea crawling with monsters, they would be able to pass through without incident.

But of course, one problem remained.

"We'll have to launch a full-scale assault."

"Yes. It'll be a difficult fight."

They were facing off against terrorists — whose full capabilities were still unknown — in a head-on battle.

It would be dangerous. That much was a certainty.

"But it's something we'll have to do eventually. As long as they wish for the destruction of this world, we need to uproot them completely."

He was right.

Would there ever be a time when Ark held an overwhelming advantage?

Their enemies weren't sitting back and twiddling their thumbs, either.

There's no such thing as "perfect timing."

All they could do was act — now — with everything they had.

"So before we can target the Moon Dungeon, we need to capture the cruise ship. We've already drawn up a preliminary strategy."

The screen changed to night footage of the High river.

Beneath the darkened bridge, a ghostly cruise ship drifted silently across the water — the Moving Dungeon: Cruise Ship.

"…We're running out of time. We'll launch the operation tonight."

No one objected.

The sooner they seized the ship, the sooner they could set sail across the sea — to where the spaceship waited.

How long would it take to service the spacecraft and launch it?

There wasn't a second to spare.

"…And one more thing."

Just as the meeting about the cruise ship operation was coming to a close, Dean still wore a troubled expression.

Jhin, frowning slightly, asked without meaning to,

"What is it now? Another problem?"

Jhin gave a bitter smile and nodded. Then he switched the screen and displayed a single photo.

Matris

The name was written clearly across the hull of the spacecraft in the image. A real-life photograph of the rocket.

"This spacecraft has a personnel limit."

…A personnel limit? What kind of absurd statement was that?

"Even with partial expansions, four people is the maximum. Any more than that, and the experts say it becomes too dangerous."

Which meant only one thing—

Only four people could enter the Moon Dungeon.

Someone voiced what everyone was thinking.

"…Is this operation even feasible?"

It was a reasonable question.

Even with Ark's high-level players deployed en masse, it had taken several days to clear the C-rank dungeon, "Lizardman's Well."

But now? The attack force was limited to just four, and if they couldn't conquer the dungeon within three weeks, Earth would collide with the moon.

No—less than three weeks now.

They hadn't even made it to the moon yet. What little chance they had was shrinking faster than sand through a sieve.

"…Well."

Jhin spoke up in a low voice.

Of course, everyone's eyes were drawn to him. As the top-ranked player, people hoped he might have a solution—some brilliant strategy to offer.

Sorry, but there wasn't one.

"We've got no choice. We just have to do it."

Because if they failed, it was game over anyway.

A few days earlier.

Under the unusually large, looming moon— 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

A cruise ship glided smoothly over black waters.

"...Goddamn it. That's the fifth one."

Felix muttered irritably as he stared down into a crystal ball.

Another one of his cherished Gardens of Death was burning in real-time on the screen.

"How the hell are they finding all my gardens!?"

Was there a mole?

He shook his head, denying the possibility. Joining the Company meant signing a contract with your life on the line.

If anyone had truly leaked classified information—like the location of the Gardens of Death—they'd already be dead.

No one's died yet. If there's a leak, it must be that Wayne, the one who got caught at the C-rank dungeon.

He wasn't sure. Wayne had always been tight-lipped and loyal. But then again… the person he was dealing with—

That persistent bastard, "Kyle."

Who knows what that man might have pulled.

Frankly, Felix hadn't even imagined Kyle would defeat Nazoral and take over the dungeon.

Didn't he even fight the boss monster on equal footing back then?

The guy had skyrocketed in strength over just a few days. How could any human level up so explosively every time you blinked?

Ugh… it's really starting to feel like déjà vu.

Even in Exodia 1, that bastard Kyle had come charging in late, only to one day be standing with a dagger at Felix's throat.

All the planning, budgeting, manpower—ruined by a single man.

"What a goddamn monster."

And his scowl deepened as he continued watching the crystal ball. Just who the hell was that man?

I get Bellatris. But him?

Felix had set up traps and extenders throughout the Gardens of Death in case of emergencies—and yet they were brought down by one person.

Stabbing him didn't kill him.

Hitting him with a giant blunt weapon didn't knock him out.

The man had torn apart the trigger with his bare hands and reduced the extender to a bloody pulp.

And the scariest part?

I have no idea who he is.

Was there a Heavenly Talent like that?

No matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn't find an answer.

Felix let out a long sigh and turned off the crystal.

"All the farms are gone."

And now that Ark had begun systematically wiping out the Gardens of Death, most of the Company members under his authority had started transferring to other departments.

Ridiculous as it was, the rest of the Company now saw him as a crashing stock.

"Goddamn it…"

Hands trembling, he couldn't even argue with them.

The truth was, his repeated failures had caused his standing in the Company to plummet.

And just then—

Wuuuuuuung—

The crystal he'd shut off began to vibrate.

Mid-swear, Felix's face changed completely. He turned toward the now blackened crystal and bowed his head.

Soon, dark smoke billowed upward.

"I-I greet Lady Marguerite…"

[…Croque.]

"Yes, ma'am. Your orders?"

Out from the darkness emerged a man—a striking figure with bleached-white hair and handsome features.

[Do you know why I haven't killed you, a crude artificial creature like yourself?]

The black smoke reached out like a hand, wrapping tightly around Felix's throat.

He was lifted into the air, choking and flailing as his breath caught in his lungs.

[It's because you still have some use.]

"...I—I'm sorry!"

[But if you keep failing like this, I might just change my mind.]

The smoke receded, and Felix collapsed to the floor, gasping.

Only the deep red marks on his neck hinted at what he had just experienced.

[I'll give you one last chance. Prove you're worth the trouble.]

With that, the smoke disappeared back into the crystal.

Now alone in the cruise ship's bridge, Felix muttered bitterly.

"…Ah…"

A crude artificial creature.

He was a man with the power of "Predation," and he lived for no other reason than to prove his usefulness.

Croque, the Dragon Fang Soldier.

And thanks to his master's absolute command, he could slowly erase even the deepest, most traumatic fears embedded in his mind.

"...Kyle!"