Reincarnated as a bamboo rat, it begins its extreme survival struggle.

Chapter 26 Babbling

With a familiar face recognized, the adventurers guarding the camp entrance naturally wouldn't make things difficult for Edu.

The blonde woman in armor led Edu through the camp, her steps quick, and the atmosphere in the camp was heavy.

Upon entering the camp, Bell suppressed his senses to avoid attracting unnecessary trouble. With the return of adventurers from the depths of the bamboo forest, more and more individuals Bell couldn't afford to offend were roaming the area.

As Bell expected, the Long River Adventurers already knew the information Edu possessed, and the entire camp was now on high alert.

They are gathering their strength, waiting for the advanced adventurers scattered deep in the bamboo forest to abandon their missions and return before launching a counterattack.

The actions of these large adventure groups, numbering in the thousands, cannot be kept secret.

The Blood Hand Mercenary Group actually pulled off a clever plan. They waited for the senior adventurers of the Long River Adventure Group to disperse before blocking the roads around the Bamboo Sea and concentrating their main force to besiege the Long River Adventure Group's official base.

Even if the Long River Adventurer Group reacted by then, they wouldn't be able to counterattack immediately. It would take a lot of time to mobilize manpower, during which time the Blood Hand Mercenary Group could do whatever they wanted.

“Edu, you’ve done a great job by coming here to deliver this intelligence. But for the next while, you have to stay in the camp and not wander off, okay?”

The blonde woman led Edu to a tent and then turned and left. The camp was now bustling with activity, and Edu's appearance only slightly disrupted her work.

She was efficient and highly respected among adventurers.

"She's very strong."

"Of course, Sister Jasmine is the best shield warrior in the Long River Adventurer Group."

After the blonde woman walked away, Bell sighed on Edu's shoulder, "That woman has a profound aura about her, and she has nothing to do with the word 'weak'."

Edu recounted the past of the female warrior, a woman who had always supported him and was a close friend of Edu's mother.

This female warrior, known as Jasmine, has flowing blonde hair. Any woman with above-average looks could be considered a beauty with such blonde hair.

However, Jasmine herself had nothing to do with the word "beauty." To be more precise, after having seven knife scars, three lacerations, and two burns on her face, this woman no longer fit the common concept of beauty.

She was born with an unusually large frame, and with a little training, her body became several times stronger than that of male adventurers.

With such physical talent, whether becoming a boxer or a lightly armed warrior, it's something others can only envy.

However, when Jasmine chose her profession, she became the extremely unpopular Shield Warrior.

"Someone always has to do the dirty and hard work, and good teamwork is essential for the smooth operation of a team."

This is something Jasmine often says; the 290 scars on her body are a testament to her commitment to herself.

Since Jasmine officially became an adventurer, there has never been a single death in any of the missions she has teamed up with.

This gave Jasmine a high reputation among adventurers, and her words carried considerable weight within the Long River Adventurer Group.

"What a formidable woman..."

He sighed and listened to this.

After hearing about this woman's story, he was certain that being teammates with her would be a wonderful thing.

Edu strongly agreed with this.

"What are you going to do now? Judging from the situation in the camp, the Long River Adventurer Group has already assembled most of its members, and it won't be long before they launch an attack."

"Hmm... Sister Jasmine wants me to stay here, so I shouldn't cause her any trouble."

When asked what Edu planned to do, although he was very anxious about the current situation, the little guy was also very sensible and knew that he shouldn't run around and cause trouble for others.

He stayed quietly in Jasmine's tent, holding Bell, intending to teach Bell to speak from scratch while they waited.

Many adventurers are illiterate and don't know how to write. For them, being able to speak and communicate in daily life is enough.

For Edu, who aspired to be a bard, his knowledge of language and writing surpassed that of many adults.

"Although human language sounds very complex, if we trace its origins, we will find that human language is actually composed of thirty-six sounds and rhymes. Different arrangements and combinations of sounds and rhymes form different words, and words are arranged and combined to form language..."

As Edu recounted the story, Bell compared the language of this world with the Chinese characters he remembered, and quickly began to memorize and learn them.

Fortunately, he met Edu, who was knowledgeable about languages, which allowed Bell to learn very quickly.

If Bell had encountered someone with an empty mind who could only handle everyday conversations, his learning journey wouldn't have been so smooth.

"Mr. Bell, could you try making a sound like me, bamboo rats?"

Edu led Bell, reciting slowly, one syllable after another.

While pronouncing the words, Edu wrote the corresponding letter shapes on the ground, teaching Bell the letter shapes that corresponded to different pronunciations.

After imitating and learning to speak, Bell discovered that his throat was perfectly capable of producing the sounds of human language.

I don't know if it's because he's special, or because all bamboo rats can make sounds like human language.

"I don't find the pronunciation difficult for me; I've memorized all the sounds."

After repeating this several times, Bell, possessing the "Fire-loving Wisdom," perfectly mastered the ability to pronounce words.

During this time, several adventurers in the camp came to Edu's vicinity and watched for a while what he was doing.

They weren't particularly interested in Edu teaching the bamboo rats to speak human language. They knew Edu could speak animal language, but they didn't care whether the bamboo rats could speak human language.

After all, Edu was just a little kid, and these adventurers treated him like he was playing house.

The situation between the two major powers is not good right now. It would be best if this brat Edu could stay put and not cause trouble for the adults.

After an afternoon of instruction from Edu, Bell gained a basic understanding of human language. His vocabulary was still limited, but Bell could now read quite a few words.

The intellectual boost from [Fire-loving Wisdom] allowed Bell to do things he couldn't do as a human.

If Bell hadn't been in a human camp, where he couldn't bathe in flames to accelerate his thinking, his learning speed could have been twice as fast.

"By the way, kid. I have six words in my memory, can you translate them for me?"

As today's learning drew to a close, Bell suddenly remembered something and began to recite the words he had heard deep in the bamboo forest earlier.

He was very curious about what those ridiculously strong guys had said.

Chapter 27 It's Mining Time Now

"Little kid, bamboo forest, ancient ruins, betting, exploration, team leader."

After translating all the words Bell uttered, Edu tilted his head, not understanding what Bell meant.

He recognized all the words, but when they were put together, he was a little confused.

After thinking for a while, he finally connected these words with a legend that had been circulating among adventurers for many years.

"It is said that ancient ruins are buried deep in the bamboo forest, containing priceless treasures. But this is just a legend. Although people have been searching for them, no one has discovered the ruins yet."

The words "ruins" and "treasure" piqued Bell's interest, but Edu knew nothing more about them.

Or rather, if a kid like Edu knew more specific information, then the story of the ruins in the bamboo forest wouldn't be such a widely circulated legend.

Bell then inquired in detail with Edu about the adventurer who could casually set off firecrackers with pebbles.

But Edu wasn't entirely sure either. Based on Bell's description, he guessed that perhaps only the strongest adventurers in each of the major adventure groups could achieve this level of skill.

Upon hearing this, Bell mentally made a note of it and stopped dwelling on the matter.

Without knowing the specifics, continuing to ask will only cause unnecessary trouble.

After spending a day learning the language from Edu, the senior adventurers of the Long River Adventure Team, who were scattered throughout the bamboo forest, had all gathered at the mining camp.

As dusk fell, the main force of the Long River Adventure Team set off from the camp, preparing to break through the bamboo forest and return to the adventure team's base.

Although night was approaching, this did not hinder the Long River Adventurer Group's march. Their army was assembled and their anger was at its peak. Any monsters active on the outskirts of the bamboo forest that dared to even glance at them would be considered disrespectful to this group of powerful warriors.

"Is war really going to break out...?"

As Edu watched the army depart, he couldn't help but feel worried.

Bell, however, showed little interest in this. Leaving aside the fact that he wasn't a member of the Long River Adventurers, the fact that he was no longer human meant he would naturally respect the fate of others and abandon any desire to help.

However, Bell had a feeling that these two major powers wouldn't fight to the bitter end.

He had previously heard Edu's description that the Bloodhand Mercenary Group had risen to prominence in a short period of time, with the entire group possessing formidable strength and its leadership making sound decisions.

They are unlikely to do something that would severely damage their own power in order to gain resources.

Regardless of how the incident develops, it has little to do with Bale at the moment.

After the main force of the Long River Adventure Team left the mining camp, Bell became active.

It was already night, and although he looked worried, Edu obediently prepared to rest in his tent.

Only a few adventurers remained in the entire mining camp to guard against the invasion of monsters.

Under these circumstances, Bell naturally wouldn't rest quietly; instead, he quietly slipped out of his tent, ready to start something.

"Hey, I've been looking for this piece of wood for so long, and I've finally found it here."

Arriving at several deserted tents and warehouses, the petite Bell evaded the patrolling adventurers.

When building this mining camp, the Long River Adventure Team used local materials, making extensive use of bamboo as a building material.

But there are also quite a few wooden planks brought in from outside.

Hiding in a corner, Bear grinned, revealing the bamboo rat's signature upper and lower teeth, demonstrating his determination to stir up trouble.

"Click-clack-clack~~~"

For an ordinary bamboo rat, it takes a long time to gnaw down a bamboo shoot.