Mice dominate the dungeon

George licked his dry lips and bent down to untie the drawstring on the bag.

With the help of a sliver of light filtering through the cave entrance, he saw that inside the bag lay pieces of dark red minerals of varying sizes, shaped like kidneys.

This is......

Having a suspicion in mind, George quickly picked up a piece of ore and slashed it at a whiter patch of ground.

A bright cherry-red mark was left where the ore had passed!

Hematite! !

George's eyes gradually lit up, and he then rummaged through the linen bag in front of him, picking up a few pieces of ore to examine them closely.

To their astonishment, the bag was filled with hematite!

There were even a few pieces of hematite inside with an unusually bright and dazzling color, indicating that its purity should be above average!

George stood up, reached out and grabbed both ends of the bag, then lifted it to feel its weight.

Conservatively estimated, this large bag of hematite could fetch over twenty gold coins!

Tsk tsk tsk~~~

"As expected of a high-level adventurer, he's really generous..." George thought to himself.

The price of this bag of hematite alone is equivalent to the income of his entire family working themselves to the bone for two months.

Furthermore, the recent border unrest, with daily skirmishes between humans and demons, has caused the prices of ores and precious metals to rise steadily!

Selling hematite now will definitely yield a premium...

At this moment, George could no longer hide the smile on his face.

For some reason, compared to the "500" gold coins quoted by the tavern owner, Cavill, this bag of hematite, worth only twenty-odd gold coins, made George much happier!

Perhaps it was because Lord Dardo did not give him twenty gold coins directly, but instead rewarded him with hematite of equal value.

This move neither hurt his self-esteem nor hindered his current predicament!

George suddenly remembered Lord Dardo's "Purple Guard Squad," which frequently interacted with the kingdom's nobles.

No wonder Dardo's way of paying him made him feel so comfortable!

However, there was one thing that George couldn't understand...

That's Lord Dardo! Where did he get so much readily available hematite?!

He had previously thought that Lord Dardo would tell him the location of the rare ore in the western mine and then let him dig it up himself.

Unexpectedly, Dardo simply placed the hematite that had already been dug up in front of him...

Could it be that Lord Dardo went mining deep in the mine yesterday?!

George shook his head, suppressing the absurd idea.

It's clearly impossible that Dardo dug it up himself...

It is highly likely that Lord Dardo acquired a batch of hematite on a whim, and now that he no longer needs it, he gave it to Dardo as a reward.

Thinking of this, George couldn't help but sigh.

The scraps scraped off by a high-level adventurer's fingernails are enough to feed a whole family of a low-level adventurer!

After calming down, George put the hematite back in its place and then slowly looked around.

It now appears that Lord Dardo did not fail to come to the mine to keep the appointment, but rather had important matters to attend to, so he did not waste time waiting for him in the mine.

"It's all my fault for being too slow..." George thought to himself.

George put the linen bag containing hematite into his basket, then picked up a pickaxe and began to pretend to mine.

The clanging and tinkling sounds echoed through the mine.

After several hours of disguise, George slowly put down his pickaxe and sat on the ground to recover his strength.

George turned his head, focusing his gaze on the dark depths of the mine.

At this moment, the secrets that Lord Dardo had told him yesterday echoed in his mind.

George's mind began to race...

What unknown secrets are hidden in the western mine of the ninth floor?

Is it possible for me to see through the disguise and uncover a glimpse of the truth?

The tavern owner, Cavilion, once asked him what Dardor's purpose was in coming to the Ash Dungeon.

Could this be related to the western mining area? Or perhaps the entire Nine Levels?

A moment later, George slowly stood up. Having regained his strength, he carried the wooden basket on his back and walked deeper into the mine.

Taking advantage of the extra time he had today, he planned to explore this familiar yet unfamiliar mining area on his own.

In the past, George had always stayed in the shallow areas he was familiar with to mine. Those areas had been repeatedly surveyed by him and were considered to be relatively safe mines with a certain output.

George will only move on to a different mining area once the ore in that area has been almost completely mined out.

Now, George was exploring the mining area deeper into it, as if he were re-examining a new mine.

Half an hour later.

George arrived at a mine with a network of tunnels leading in all directions, with four passageways in front of him leading to unknown destinations.

Just as George was hesitating about which tunnel to choose, a rustling sound of footsteps came from the leftmost tunnel.

The sudden sound made George tense up, and he quickly moved away from the left-hand passage, hiding in a secluded corner.

Before long, a group of short figures came into George's view.

Upon closer inspection, it was a group of...

Gray squirrel!!

A dozen or so short, stocky gray squirrels were carrying stone blocks several times their own height on their backs, heading in one direction!

The direction we are walking is the second tunnel on the right.

Watching the gray mice move in unison and with a clear goal in mind, George blinked hard, wondering if he was hallucinating.

This...this...it looks like these gray squirrels are actually working!

Suddenly, George remembered seeing a group of gray rats mining behind the mine wall a long time ago.

Then he remembered the advice Lord Dardo had given him yesterday!

"Don't offend those rats, be friendly to them..."

George could manage not to offend the rats, but as for friendly contact, well, he didn't even dare to approach these gray rats now!

From his hiding place, George watched from afar as the group of gray rats walked step by step into the right-hand tunnel and headed in a direction he didn't know.

After all the gray rats carrying stone blocks entered the cave, the last gray rat in the line slowly turned its head to look at the shadowy spot where George was.

When their eyes met, cold sweat instantly appeared on George's forehead.

We've been discovered?!

Then, George saw the gray rat slowly raise its paw and wave it at him.

It seemed to be a greeting to him...

For a moment, George was at a loss. He could only leave the shadows and wave back at the gray squirrel, just like the gray squirrel had done.

Seeing that George had responded, the gray mouse turned and left.

As he watched the figure gradually disappear into the cave, George wiped the sweat from his forehead.

What a keen sense of perception!

And that gray rat just now seemed to possess a high level of intelligence!

George knew he couldn't explore any deeper; it was better to stay in the shallower parts of the mine. He knew he couldn't predict what other strange things he might encounter.

George didn't linger and quickly returned the way he came.

George was much faster on the return journey than he was on the exploration.

When they returned to the safe mining area, George opened his pocket watch, and the minute hand was already approaching the agreed time.

George covered the hematite with the ordinary iron ore he had dug out during his previous camouflage, thus concealing it.

He left the mine only after making sure that his overall load looked normal.

When George returned to the designated waiting point, he saw Elana the elf and another Gray Rat team member cleaning up the monsters they had just hunted.

Seeing George return to the group, Elana glanced at the time and then said:

"It's almost time! Everyone, prepare to head back!"

George looked around but couldn't find the hapless-looking novice adventurer.

After a slight hesitation, he said to Elana, "It seems there's still a new guy who hasn't rejoined the team."

The Gray Rat team member, with a dagger hanging from his waist, responded with a smile:

"Old George, you're not new to the dungeons. Aren't you tired of this never-coming-back story?"

"He must be a newcomer from out of town, and he might have been delayed by something new and interesting here."

Elana looked at her old acquaintance George, thought for a moment, and then said:

"I'll wait five more minutes at most."

"Thank you!" George nodded to him.

"Old George, you're too soft-hearted," the Gray Rat team member said mockingly, twirling his dagger. "No wonder you never get rich!"

"Shut your jinx!" George said irritably. "That guy still owes me a drink! If something happens to him, I'll be in big trouble!"

That being said, George wasn't the kind of hot-blooded, naive young man who had just graduated from high school, so he wouldn't impulsively go to the ninth floor alone to look for Worth.

All he could do was make Elana wait a few more minutes.

Five minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

Poor Walls still did not return.

Judging from this, things look grim... George shook his head, muttering to himself.

"Old George, your drinks are ruined!" The Gray Rat team member teased, putting his arm around George's neck.

"It's all because of your jinxed mouth!"

"How can you blame me for this...?"

---------

Black Forest Town, Exit of the Underground City.

Compared to the considerable number of adventurers in the morning, the current rideshare team only has six adventurers left, while the rest of the adventurers have stayed in the Ashes Dungeon.

Even with the Gray Rat team clearing the way and leading the way, casualties will still occur.

This is what a professional adventurer is all about!

Every day they live on the edge, never knowing when they'll meet their end in the Ashen Dungeons or the Dark Forest...

George and the hitchhikers headed to the Adventurers' Guild. While waiting for the team to assemble, he glanced at the guild's quest wall.

Among them were several bounty notices for tasks involving the collection of hematite!

George planned to check if those missions were still available, and if so, he intended to take them on.

The group strode towards the guild. As evening approached, the temperature in the town dropped rapidly, and no one wanted to stay outside any longer.

--------

George pushed open the guild door, and the heat wave mixed with the noise drove away the sticky chill that had just settled on him.

He then walked to the wall covered with many missions, his gaze falling directly on the bottom two rows of missions, and began to examine them carefully.

When he saw that no one else had taken on the quest about "hematite," he began to examine it carefully.

After a simple comparison of the prices for hematite purchased at the guild and the blacksmith's shop, George found that the difference wasn't actually that significant.

Overall, the prices for guilds are a bit high.

After all, if a reward is posted on the wall, the situation is quite urgent, so the offer is naturally higher than usual.

Normally, George usually prefers to sell all his hematite to the highest bidder.

However, he now possesses far more red iron stones than before, and if he were to give them all to the Adventurers' Guild, it might attract the attention of others.

After a brief consideration, George decided to sell a batch of mediocre hematite through the guild as part of the quest.

In any case, the guild's missions do not require a high quantity or quality of hematite.

Receive and deliver immediately.

George immediately handed over one-third of the hematite to the guild and received eight gold coins in return!

On the other side...

As Elana entered the guild and prepared to walk to the guild's front desk, she suddenly caught a glimpse of three exhausted-looking adventurers sitting at a table.

"Hey! Captain!"

Elana's expression changed, and she quickly walked towards the table.

A human warrior, nearly two meters tall, slowly turned his head and waved to Elana.

This man was none other than Raymond, the captain of the Gray Rat Squad—a Gold-level adventurer!

Raymond had an old scar on his face that ran from his brow bone to his jaw. Although the scar was grotesque, he wore a faint smile and had a gentle gaze.

Upon seeing Elana approach, he even moved his chair to make room for her to sit down.

Elana didn't sit down immediately, but instead frowned and looked at her captain.

"Didn't you take on a quest to kill goblins in the Dark Forest today? How did you end up like this?"

Raymond's once gleaming mithril rune plate armor now bears several jagged blade marks.

The greatsword leaning against the table also had a crack!

A puzzled Elana asked:

"You've run into the 'Goblin Warlords'?"

"It's even worse than that!" Raymond said with a wry smile. "Our luck has been absolutely terrible today! We've run into the Abomination Serpent Man, who's hunting with the Cursed Serpent Man..."

"Abomination Serpent People?!" Elana exclaimed, her eyes wide. "Aren't these guys supposed to be hiding deep in the Black Forest?"

"We were so close! The three of us would have perished in the Black Forest!" the barbarian Karen wailed weakly beside her.

"Elana, I should have gone to the dungeon with you today!"

Next to the barbarian Karen was Lina, a red-haired mage wearing a velvet robe.

At this moment, she seemed completely drained, her cheeks had become thinner, clearly due to the depletion of her magic power.

Seeing this, Elana took out a small bottle from her pouch, and without saying a word, pried open Lina's mouth and poured the magic potion inside the bottle down her throat.

Seeing Elana's nervous expression, Raymond, who was half-reclining in the chair, smiled slightly and then picked up the greatsword with a chipped corner next to him.

Judging from its condition, this newly purchased weapon seems to be unusable again...

Raymond is planning to get himself a new weapon!

So here's the question!

What should I do with the old ones...?