The Fourth Calamity: Starting with Dungeon Slimes

And so, amidst their conversation, they began their search.

"Brothers, now it's time to reap the rewards. I wonder what's inside these ruins."

At this moment, the advancing salty fish, along with several other players, began searching the surrounding area.

There are many passages inside the ruins, and these passages are filled with all sorts of traps.

"That's strange, why is there nothing here?"

Having died and been resurrected once again, the salted fish looked around at the stone corridor and couldn't help but feel a little confused.

"Yeah, we've explored so many places, how come we haven't encountered anything?" The player next to him was also very puzzled.

"By the way, what's the situation with the other teams?" another player asked.

"I asked around, and it seems the situation is similar to ours; we haven't encountered anything either." Salty Fish looked around, his expression filled with indescribable doubt.

They've played many games like this before, but this is the first time they've encountered this situation.

Because this ruin is so large, the players' initial idea was simple: to divide into 10 teams.

Each team is responsible for a specific area, and anything found in that area naturally belongs to that team.

Simply put, whether you can find anything depends entirely on luck.

At first, everyone had high hopes, but it turned out that the ruins were nothing but traps.

Many squads suffered heavy losses.

They even thought they were just unlucky, and that the place they chose didn't have anything good at all.

Then the team leaders had a private chat to try and find out what the other side was up to. What they found out was quite shocking.

Basically, none of the squads found anything.

"This doesn't make sense. The game wouldn't create a dungeon that has absolutely nothing in it."

"I also find it strange. Logically speaking, there should be at least some gold or silver jewelry in here, but there's nothing at all."

"So what should we do next? We can't just keep exploring like this. What if everyone dies dozens of times and we end up with nothing?"

Hearing the team members pondering, Salty Fish thought for a moment and finally decided to have them stop.

"Everyone, let's stop for a bit. If we keep searching like this, I feel like we might not find anything and could even suffer heavy losses."

As he spoke, Salty Fish opened the chat interface.

"I'll call the other team leaders over to discuss the situation here, and then we'll see what to do."

Everyone naturally had no objection to Salty Fish's suggestion.

Soon enough, all 10 squad leaders gathered together.

They too were filled with sorrow. A day had passed since the gates of the ruins were destroyed, and all the players had died an average of about three times.

The total profit so far is zero.

"Brothers, I think our previous thinking was wrong. Based on my guess, the treasure should only be in the core area of ​​this ruin."

"In other words, some of the passages we've discovered might be dead ends, serving no purpose other than consuming our resources."

"The passage we chose earlier was probably a dead end."

"So I think it's not feasible to follow the old approach now. First, I've done a rough calculation, and there are at least a hundred passages here."

"As for the second point, if we die this way, by the time we actually find the treasure, we will probably suffer heavy losses. And if the treasure is distributed according to our previous method, whichever team finds it gets it, then everyone else will just be a free lunch."

After hearing what Salty Fish said, the others probably understood what he meant.

Simply put, everyone went their own way, and the end result was that no one was willing to put in the effort to explore for mines, since only one team ultimately received the reward.

"Salted Fish, you mean we should cooperate?"

Salty Fish nodded in agreement, "It seems that this is undoubtedly the best solution for us right now."

However, he was interrupted by a player next to him as soon as he finished speaking.

"There's no problem with cooperating with salted fish, but in the end I estimate we won't get much out of it."

"The design of any game's dungeons follows a principle: no matter how difficult it is, the reward is a relatively reasonable number."

"Our cooperation can indeed find resources in the fastest time, but the losses will remain the same. So even if we redistribute them, in the end, we might all have worked hard but not earned a single penny."

Upon hearing what the player said, Salty Fish did not deny it.

"I know what you're saying, but I have ways to minimize the losses."

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes turned to him.

"Let me tell you this: I just asked an NPC, and the NPC in this ruin said he can buy the stones, but the price isn't high, only one copper coin per stone."

The stones in this site are regular square stones, each 30 centimeters long, wide, and high.

Apart from the outer layer which has a magic circle, the inner layers are laid out normally without any added magic circles.

However, the material of this stone is quite unusual, so its strength is still very high.

Upon hearing what Salty Fish said, everyone's eyes lit up, and they immediately guessed what Salty Fish was thinking.

Just as everyone expected.

"There's absolutely no need for us to explore in the way that conventional games do."

"This game claims to be a realistic world. In a real world, if we encounter such a relic and don't need to consider protecting its integrity, we can just demolish it all."

"Since the NPCs need to collect these bricks anyway, we'll just transport the dismantled bricks back and sell them."

"For us, this is also a benefit. The most important thing is that we can dismantle it completely, without worrying about the traps they set. They won't be left with a single hair, so there's no chance for those traps to be set. Doesn't that reduce our losses?"

"And most importantly, we've been having a lot of trouble acquiring resources lately, so this is kind of an extra source of income for us."

Hearing what the salted fish said, everyone couldn't help but ponder.

"To be honest, this price is a bit cheap, but I think it's still worth considering."

"Okay, let's do it this way."

"no problem."

And so, everyone discussed and agreed on the matter.

........

And at this moment, deep within the ruins...

A deep blue egg, about 1.5 meters long and seemingly covered in scales, floated in the air.

Beneath the egg is a mysterious magic circle.

Strands of magic flowed into the egg through the magic circle.

Inside the egg was a woman curled up with a dragon tail, long light blue hair, and scales faintly visible on her cheeks.

At this moment, the woman slowly opened her pale blue eyes.

At the same time, the entire situation of the ruins appeared in her mind.

What did she see...?

A bunch of patters?

"That's strange... I remember I clearly established the Sleeping Place on the 60th floor of the Dragon Cave Dungeon."

"But why is there a 'patter' here?"

"And it's inside the ruins?"

The woman quickly figured out the reason.

"It must have been through a long period of time, and the ruins have long since decayed."

As she spoke softly, the woman took a moment to assess her current physical condition.

"I can't believe that the injury I sustained last time hasn't healed after all this time."

She let out a soft sigh, and pale blue magic surged within her.

At the same time, many of the stone statues in the ruins that looked like ornaments all had a red glint in their eyes.

In other places, the magic circles began to slowly activate, indicating that the various things set up there had been activated.

For the woman, all she needed to do was prevent these paters from entering her bedroom.

The woman didn't intend to bother with the lively Pata in the ruins.

Ultimately, they were just a bunch of weak and mindless Pata who stumbled into this place by accident and then made it their home.

Fortunately, with this group of Pata here, they might be able to help if some ignorant monsters invade in the future, or they might allow more monsters to enter the area, providing a natural barrier for protection.

After doing all this, she slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep once again.

........

However, what the woman didn't know at that moment was that Jiang Chen was on the other side.

A group of players were gathering around him.

"I've taken a quick look at the stones over there. The quality is acceptable, but I can only offer one copper coin at most, no more."

Upon hearing what Jiang Chen said, many players immediately started discussing it with him.

"That's not a stone, it's a brick, a high-end product, so could you perhaps raise the price a little bit?"

"Yes, and it's so far away from here, it takes us a lot of time and effort to transport it here, so the price has to be a bit higher."

"Boss, we don't need much, two copper coins will do?"

.......

Hearing the players bargaining with Jiang Chen.

Lilith, who was not far away, also had her mouth slightly open.

She longed to rush up and tell this group of ignorant Pata that she was willing to offer a silver coin.

Unfortunately, Jiang Chen was keeping a close eye on her, not giving her a chance to cause trouble.

Not long ago, Jiang Chenxing came to me carrying a brick and asked if I recognized it.

Lilith was stunned the moment she saw it.

According to Lilith, legend has it that in ancient times, there was a powerful kingdom that built its war palaces using this kind of stone.

Sacred Stone.

This is the name of this type of stone.

Legend has it that this stone came from the realm of gods.

Whether the stone fell to earth due to a battle in the divine realm, the collapse of a temple, or its theft by a deity, no one knows.

However, it is certain that mining this kind of stone is extremely difficult because the stone itself is incredibly hard and also very rare.

Therefore, in most cases, these are used to build safe houses for some of the great nobles of the human empire.

Because a small underground safe house doesn't require much of this kind of stone, but even so, building such a safe house is still very expensive.

Lilith clearly remembered what happened after she told Jiang Chen about the Holy Stone.

That wretched Pata suddenly became interested after hearing about the War Palace.

He also boasted that he would build a spectacle similar to a war palace.

Then I inquired about the price of this stone in the human empire.

Then, when he said that each piece was worth at least a dozen gold coins, Pata, who had been humbly asking for advice, had already put a knife to his neck.

He also said things like, "A wise man submits to circumstances."

Only after I repeatedly assured it did the little cat let me go.

Then today, Lilith saw this heartless Pata, who actually wanted to buy this thing from those idiots for a copper coin.

Lilith originally thought that Jiang Chen, that heartless Pata, was about to succeed.

Who would have thought that those idiots were afraid of him and actually saw through Jiang Chen's plan? They disagreed with the price.

Just as Lilith thought the group of Pata was about to offer some price, the other party's two copper coins left her stunned for a few seconds.

"No... can't you guys have some self-respect?"

"Ugh...a bunch of ignorant idiots, plop!"

"Something that costs over ten gold coins to buy is only worth two copper coins here!"

Jiang Chen is truly a black-hearted scoundrel; he dares to ask for a copper coin.

And those ignorant bastards are useless too. Damn it, even if you bargain, can't you guys have some ambition? What the hell is increasing it to two copper coins?

Lilith, unable to contain her anger, took a step forward.

Then she suddenly felt her body stiffen.

Then she noticed Jiang Chen's malicious gaze.

"Ah...hahaha...I just came out for a stroll, that's all."

Lilith chuckled as she walked toward the villa.

"I'll die... If I dare to reveal this, I'll definitely die."

At this moment, Lilith couldn't help but feel that she had been too impulsive.

"Or should I sneak off to the ruins and steal a few pieces?"

The more Lilith thought about it, the more regrettable it seemed. Creating a small safe house for herself would have been a pretty good idea.

The reason this stone is so valuable is not because it is rare or because it is much harder. Rather, it is because this stone is essentially a special vessel for magic.

You can inscribe magic circles or various runes inside to give this stone different abilities.

Normally, only special magical tools are needed to inscribe magic circles or runes.

Each stone can be understood as a magical tool that can draw magic circles or inscribe runes at any time.

Most importantly, this type of stone can withstand magic arrays of up to the ninth rank.

This is also the most valuable aspect of this stone. Simply put, the stronger the magic circle you carve, the better the effect this stone can produce.

Of course, this will also be costly.

However, Lilith is certain that, given Jiang Chen's ruthless nature, he will definitely find a way to fool Moses.

"Wouldn't it be great if I could build a safe house?"

"If we encounter danger, we can hide inside immediately and be safe."

With that in mind, Lilith secretly slipped out of the settlement and headed towards the ruins.

After some time of persistent pleading and cajoling, Jiang Chen finally agreed to buy them for two copper coins each.

Thus, the era of vigorous and rapid mining officially began.