Mice dominate the dungeon

The western mining area features natural caves and a rodent enclosure.

The glowing mushroom seemed to be awakened by an underground breeze, its cold purple gradually fading into pale blue, and then slowly fading into a soft beige glow.

Patches of fungal colonies lit up in sequence, first a cluster, then a patch, and finally bathed all the building walls in warm light, illuminating the mouse park.

Inside the reconnaissance cabin.

Big Ears slowly moved its round, gray body out of the blanket.

After a quick wash, Big Ears went to the canteen for a hearty meal. Then he returned to the hut to pick up his reconnaissance equipment and a mini glowing mushroom lantern. He then dug out a few emergency dried nuts from the bottom of his hut, stuffed them into his cheek pouch, and headed toward the mining area.

The reason it had to put a few dried fruits in its mouth was because it had to stay in the mining area today and might not have time to return to the park for a meal.

A few days ago, after Boss Twitch returned from the First Division, he immediately summoned all the talking mice, and Big Ears was naturally among them.

At this group meeting, the leader assigned them an important task.

All talking mice are required to learn and master the common language of adventurers, because the mouse park has begun to make contact with adventurers on the ground!

Meanwhile, Twitch and his gang mostly observed the adventurers, recording their whereabouts, patterns, and preferences in preparation for future contact plans.

For Big Ears, the adventurers on the ground were not unfamiliar; it often encountered them while patrolling the rat trails.

During this period, Big Ears would go into the mining area early in the morning and lie in a hidden cave to observe the adventurers on the ground.

What impressed him most was the middle-aged adventurer who heard him speak for the first time.

The middle-aged adventurer was a regular at the mine; Big Ears had seen him several times before.

After observing for several days, a question arose in Big Ears' mind.

Why is this middle-aged adventurer mining in the West District every day?!

Strangely, aside from simple rest and meals, he basically never slacked off.

After a long day of hard work, the middle-aged adventurer would spend a little time picking and choosing, selectively putting the ores into his basket, while the rest were discarded and piled up in a corner.

Big Ears seriously suspects that the middle-aged adventurer has taken a liking to mining.

Even the mining rats in the park wouldn't come to the mining area to dig like he does every single day at the same time...

However, there was one thing that made Big Ears quite happy: after the middle-aged adventurer had completely left the mine, it called a few cow-horse-rat mice to carry all the ores he didn't want back to the mouse park.

Big Ears stayed there, watching the middle-aged adventurer mine day after day.

After observing for a period of time, Big Ears successfully learned the other adventurer's name from them—

George!

Today, Big Ears is going to try to make some proper contact with this George adventurer; after all, he can't just keep watching.

Big Ears chewed on dried fruit from his cheek pouch as he walked toward the area where George often mined.

Halfway through its journey, Big Ears encountered a woodlice crawling slowly by. It couldn't resist gently nudging it twice with its front paws, watching the woodlice curl up into a ball.

Then, it put the woodlice into its bag.

These woodlice are harmful to burrows, and usually Big Ears would just eat them, but today its mouth is already stuffed with dried fruit.

Before long, Big Ears silently appeared in a very narrow crack in the mine wall, which served as its observation hole.

It was just the right size to accommodate its eyes and mouth, allowing it to observe the situation inside the mine perfectly, while people outside could never see what was happening inside.

As Big Ears had predicted, the adventurer named George was already standing on the mine wall, digging for ore.

Big Ears spat the dried fruit out of his cheek pouch, mentally rehearsing his lines several times.

Just as George raised his chisel to continue mining, a crisp, youthful voice, like a gentle breeze, clearly entered his ears.

Good morning, Mr. George!

George stood frozen in place, as if he had been subjected to a human binding spell, his eyes widening like saucers, before he finally came to his senses after a long while.

Trembling, George looked into the depths of the mine and stammered:

"D...D...Lord Dardo?!"

Big Ears was taken aback at first, then remembered that he had accidentally revealed his name before.

But to its surprise, George actually remembered!

"Mr. George, it seems you still have a pretty good impression of me." Big Ears said with a smile.

How could it not be profound, since neither of us has been sleeping well for a long time... Although that's what George was thinking, he still replied cautiously:

"Your name has been known throughout our town for a long time, and I have the utmost respect and admiration for you!"

Upon hearing this, the big-eared creature tilted its head.

What do you mean by "have heard of it"?!

I've never even left the dungeon, so why do you respect and admire me so much?!

The big-eared man asked in confusion:

"I've only had a brief conversation with you once, what makes you worthy of my respect and admiration?!"

Dardo's calm tone carried a hint of accusation, causing beads of sweat to immediately appear on George's forehead.

An invisible pressure spread through the mine, and he began to feel difficulty breathing.

George, enduring the terrifying pressure, his fingernails digging deep into his palms, explained in a trembling voice:

"You are a noble Emerald-level adventurer, someone I have looked up to my entire life, and the goal I have pursued my whole life!"

"..."

Ah! Me? A gray squirrel... Big Ears subconsciously pointed at himself with his paw.

Soon, Big Ears seemed to have grasped something, and after thinking carefully, a flash of inspiration appeared in his mind.

This adventurer seems to have mistaken me for some extremely powerful adventurer!

Let it be a misunderstanding; Big Ears had no intention of telling George his true identity anyway.

While Big Ears was pondering, George felt like each day was an eternity, his body trembling uncontrollably, sweat streaming down his face like a stream.

"Mr. George! I feel like you have something to say to me?!"

As the words fell, George felt as if a giant hand was gripping his heart tightly! He felt like he was falling into an abyss!

Dardo didn't respond to his own words, but instead asked what he truly desired, which must have shown that he saw through the falsehood in Dardo's words and the sliver of deception and fantasy in his heart!

At that moment, George seemed to smell the scent of death...

George, who had been seen through by Dardo at a glance, dared not lie any longer. He could only tremblingly wipe the sweat from his face and try to steady his trembling throat.

With the courage to face death, I struggled to ask the question that had been suppressed in my heart for so long:

"Lord Dardo! Why did you scare me like that?!"