Mice dominate the dungeon

Keep in mind that Raymond's greatsword only costs 80 gold coins.

And now the repair costs are almost half the purchase price of the greatsword...

Raymond might as well just get a new weapon.

Upon hearing this, Uftar immediately asked, "Do you want me to forge a new greatsword, or would you like to choose one directly from the shop?"

Raymond stroked his chin, deep in thought.

The team members have just escaped death and need some time to rest and recuperate. They will not be taking on any high-difficulty missions for the time being.

"I'll be taking a short break during this time. Just forge a new greatsword for me according to the previous design."

"Alright!" Uftar handed the greatsword back. "I just acquired a batch of decent quality raw materials; I'll use them directly in your weapon!"

The so-called newly arrived batch of raw materials was actually George selling some of his good-quality hematite to Uftar!

Raymond placed the greatsword on the table and said:

"You can keep this greatsword. Whether you refurbish it and sell it secondhand or melt it down is up to you."

"Anyway, I'll exchange it for gold coins to offset part of the cost of buying new weapons."

"I guarantee the price will be fair," Uftar said.

Raymond trusted Uftar's character and skills to a certain extent; otherwise, he wouldn't have come to this store to buy weapons every time.

Raymond then gave Uftar his mithril plate armor, as well as the damaged armor and weapons from his two teammates.

After a brief inspection, most of the weapons were able to be repaired and restored to normal use.

Uftar did a quick estimate and said, "It will cost about 320 to 350 gold coins in total."

"The exact number can only be determined after your greatsword is completed."

"Hiss~" Raymond frowned and said, "It's a bit pricey..."

"There's nothing we can do. Recently, due to the border situation, the prices of most precious metals and minerals have risen to some extent."

"Can you make it cheaper?" Raymond bargained.

Uftar thought for a moment before slowly saying, "Since you're a regular customer, I can give you a discount on the labor cost."

"But you have to do one thing for me!"

"What is it?"

"Yesterday, while I was drinking at the tavern, I overheard many mining adventurers saying that the 'Rust Monsters' in the dungeons have started coming out of their caves to hunt for food again!!"

Uftar, who had been calm, began to grit his teeth and say:

"Metal has already been in short supply lately, and now these damned monsters are causing trouble at this crucial time!"

Upon hearing this, Raymond immediately understood; he knew there was a saying among the dwarves.

"I'd rather face a whole band of orcs than encounter a single rust monster."

Dwarves and rust monsters seem to be natural enemies.

Raymond had previously seen many blacksmith dwarves on the guild's quest wall paying adventurers out of their own pockets to help clear out the rust monsters.

"I can offer you a discount on weapon forging and repair, but you'll have to go to the dungeon and 'pest control' for me!"

"No problem! I'll personally lead the team to the next dungeon in a couple of days." Raymond immediately agreed.

"Your satisfaction is guaranteed!"

----------

Ash Dungeon Level 9, Rat Park.

At this moment, Twitch was sitting on the throne, raising his paw and constantly swiping the map on the system.

After observing for a period of time, Twitch discovered that if adventurers wanted to go from the ninth underground level to the tenth underground level, they had to pass through the north side of the mining area to reach the exit of the ninth level.

A group of monsters lives in the northwest of the mining area...

"Rust Monster"

These monsters are known to adventurers as "Metal Devourers" and "Underground Wanderers," mainly due to their diet and habits.

The former is because the Rust Monster has a very clear feeding preference, prioritizing ferrous metals such as iron and steel, followed by non-ferrous metals such as copper, silver, mithril, and adamantite.

The latter is because the Rust Monster is a solitary creature most of the time, occasionally appearing in pairs, and rarely forming large-scale groups.

Previously, Twitch had been too lazy to bother with the Rust Monsters because of their solitary lives.

But now the situation is different.

For Twitch to make contact with adventurers, he needs a safe and spacious base to support him, and the Rust Monster happens to live in that area.

Once a branch is established, it is inevitable that some metal buildings will be constructed within the branch.

According to the habits of the rust monsters, once they sense the presence of metal, they immediately become extremely excited and persistent, rushing towards the metal source at top speed, ignoring obstacles and threats along the way. Even sword slashes or magical attacks are unlikely to make them give up their soon-to-be-obtained 'food'!

Rather than letting the rust monsters gradually become troublesome neighbors, Twitch might as well be kind from the start and simply drive them away or exterminate them.

As for how to find the Rust Monster, it might have been a bit difficult for Twitch before, but when he has the Wall with the "Eye Stone" effect, everything becomes extremely simple.

In the past few days, Twitch has erected more than a dozen "walls" in the area where the Rust Monster lives.

Because the current "city wall" is made of ore, which does not contain any metal, the rust monsters are not interested in it, but Twitch can monitor their movements at all times.

After observing for some time, Twitch has grasped the movements of most of the Rust Monsters.

And troops were dispatched to the corresponding residential areas early this morning.

This time, Twitch did not personally lead the troops out, mainly because the Rust Monsters were not strong but too scattered.

Bringing your own troops to the barracks would actually make it more inconvenient to move around.

Judging by the time, they should have already reached the Rust Monster's stronghold in batches by now... Twitch estimated the time.

Twitch then located the outgoing soldier rats and transferred a portion of his consciousness into one of them.

As consciousness descended, Twitch's perspective gradually shifted, eventually settling on a slightly dimly lit mine.

With his "Night Vision LV3", Twitch saw four rust monsters, each the size of a small pony.

The rust monster is covered in a thick, wavy carapace, with a bony protrusion at the end of its long tail, and two feathery antennae on its insect-like head.

It has four segmented legs like an insect, evenly distributed on both sides of its body. The legs are thick and have distinct joints, with small, reverse-pointing spikes on top.

At this moment, the rust monster's tentacles twitched rapidly in front of it, like four invisible nets sweeping through every particle in the air.

It relies on its innate talent—[iron-like sense of smell]—to capture that alluring metallic scent!

Not long after.

The abandoned cast iron mine carts came into view, and at the same time, the rust monsters smelled the metallic scent that drove them crazy!

Clearly, the minecarts contain the black metals they prefer, but these metals didn't appear out of thin air.

This is exactly the "bait" that Tucci uses to catch insects!