Mice dominate the dungeon

Twitch pushed aside the clutter in the main hall of the base camp and gently placed a leather object on the table.

The object on the table was a treasure he had spent an entire autumn painting completing.

"Map of the western side of the ninth level of the Ash Dungeon!"

The entire western area is a combination of giant mine shafts and a withered forest!

This map depicts the distribution of the Mouse Park and the surrounding monster forces.

The map was made from a single piece of soft birch bark, with its edges neatly gnawed away, and its surface covered with charcoal symbols that only Twitch could understand.

Nine main passages, dozens of branch passages, outer defensive outposts, inner living quarters, barracks, and a secret escape route...

Every inch of land in the mouse park is clearly marked by Twitch.

But at this moment, Tucci's gaze was not on the park.

It's looking at territory beyond the border!

On the eastern edge of the mouse enclosure, there is a crooked, jagged line drawn—that is the territory of the burrowing ants.

Next to the jagged lines, Tucci drew two solid black stars with charcoal.

These two stars represent the strength of their neighbors.

"difficulty!"

Tucci picked up a charcoal pencil and crossed out the two stars on it.

Immediately, a mouse head was drawn in the center of the burrowing ant's territory.

Now the seven neighbors in the mouse park have become six!

At the same time, the mouse park's territory has expanded significantly to the east!

In the southeast corner of the mouse park, living next to Twitch and the burrowing ants, is a monster called the "Withered Monster".

These enlightened plants, endowed with intelligence and mobility, can draw magical nourishment from the soil and spread these withering, decaying evil wills far and wide.

The [Withered Monster] has several branches: Withered Branch Monster, Withered Needle Monster, Withered Vine Monster...

Last time, when we were fighting the burrowing ants in Twitch, it was the withered twig monster that disguised itself outside the park and launched a sneak attack after all the soldier rats in the park were led out!

Twitch drew a star representing "simplicity" on the territory of the Withered Monster.

Although the [Withered Monsters] are not strong overall, Twitch has no interest in specifically hunting them down.

First of all, these withered monsters have strong resistance to physical attacks. Swords from Savage Rats and arrows from Archer Rats are unlikely to cause any real damage.

Secondly, to completely kill them, you either need fire or some magic attacks!

Even if you kill them, these withered monsters don't hoard resources, don't drop gold coins, and even have very little magic power!

After Twitch kills them, all he can do is let the mice use their bodies as firewood.

The price-performance ratio is too low!!

Twitch doesn't want to be neighbors with these plant-type monsters that don't drop gold or resources!

Two powerful monsters inhabit the south and north sides of the map, respectively!

[Bird Demon] and [Snake-Chicken Beast]!

Twitch drew four solid black marks around their territory, representing "nightmare"!

The former, the bird demon, is a humanoid monster that always enjoys hunting and torturing, using its sweet songs to lure countless creatures and adventurers to their deaths.

While the latter, the snake-chicken beast, does not actively harm other creatures, it will provoke a fierce and violent reaction at the slightest sign of danger.

It's like he has hyperthyroidism!

These two types of monsters also share another characteristic, which is...

The recipes all contain rats!

But Tucci had no way to deal with them.

Because the territories of the bird demon and the snake-chicken beast are located in tree branches or high in the sky, and they can both fly!

For hamsters with short legs and short arms, they simply cannot touch them.

When the mouse manages to come into contact with these two monsters, it's highly likely that it's rubbing its own body against their tongues and teeth...

Or sneakily take something when they're not in their nest.

Just like the golden, thin-stemmed grass beneath my feet.

Of course, these are all temporary!

Now, both of these monsters better pray! Please, don't let me, the mouse, unlock the aerial-related soldier mouse!

Otherwise, I'll raze your house to the ground the very next day!!

"Let you run wild for a few more days..." Tucci thought to himself with a snort.

In the northwest direction, the largest circle was drawn, and...

It has three solid black stars drawn on it, indicating a "dangerous" level!

Although these monster neighbors enjoy the largest territory, they are not as ferocious as the bird demons and snake-chickens; on the contrary, they are usually quite docile.

That's the guy that's giving the dwarves so much trouble—

【Rust Monster】

A rust monster roams the underground tunnels, searching for various black metals as food!

Although rust monsters are not particularly dangerous, they often hunt alone or in small groups, and are scattered throughout tunnels and caves.

Defeating them is like playing hide-and-seek; you have to search the entire cave for them...

Tucci then looked toward the west side of the map, where a circle had been drawn with charcoal.

Inside the circle is a swamp, inhabited by a dirty, savage, and slimy creature!

【Crazy Frogman】

Their personalities are completely opposite to those of the Rust Monster!

The Mad Frogmen are monsters with hunger and evil etched into their very bones. They will use the terrain to their advantage to suppress their enemies, and they are extremely cunning and cowardly.

Most of the Frogmen know how to make simple weapons and are quite skilled at using them.

Their danger level is also three stars!

Although it only has three stars, Twitch isn't entirely confident that it can take down the Frogmen who control an entire swamp.

Once these guys see that things aren't going well, they flee back to the swamp and start playing positional warfare with the enemy!

Twitch moved south towards the Mad Frogmen, his current target being a monster of the same level as the Mad Frogmen in the southwest.

This is also his seventh neighbor!

He gave it three solid black "Beetles"!

They are insect-like monsters with thick chitinous armor. Normal beetles usually feed on carrion, but the mutant beetles rarely refuse live food.

And these creatures living in the southwest of the park are a group of mutant beetles!

Most of them are fire beetles.

Fire beetles are magical creatures that like to store magical energy; even after they die, their corpses can still emit a bright light.

Miners and adventurers familiar with the fire beetle often use this characteristic to their advantage, and some even cleverly peel off the fire beetle's pair of glowing glands to make specific magical items.

Fire beetles are good neighbors to Twitch, whether they are alive or dead!

It is also the easiest monster to handle, apart from burrowing ants and withering monsters.

As Twitch pondered, he tapped on the territory map belonging to the [Beetle] with his little paws.

A moment later, Twitch connected his consciousness to the swarm of rats and began issuing tasks!

------

The Mouse Park, the Scout's Hut.

The cabin was peaceful, and the scout rat was quietly enjoying a leisurely rest!

Just then.

A familiar voice echoed in the mind of the scout rat inside the house.

"All scout rats! Assemble in front of the plaza!"

As soon as Tuchi finished speaking, little heads began to pop out one after another from the dozens of little nests inside the house!

The scout rats exchanged glances, then immediately sprang into action, leaving their warm nests to organize their equipment.

And out of one of the little nests, a pair of big ears peeked out!

Big Ears was contemplating his life in his nest, but because his thoughts were too complex, he fell asleep...

It was the boss looking for us… Big Ears’ somewhat dazed mind gradually cleared up.

It's a little hesitant now, and also a little afraid to see Boss Tucci.

Has the boss already discovered that it can talk?

The reason we've gathered everyone here is to tie it up in front of everyone and turn it into a roasted rat!

While Big Ears was lost in thought, the other scout rats had already left the hut one after another.

Never mind... Big Ears wiped his face with his paw and followed the other rat soldiers to the barracks.