Mice dominate the dungeon

George's mind kept replaying the bizarre scene he had witnessed in the mine a few days earlier.

He then gazed into the depths of the mine to his left, his mind uncontrollably conjuring up a series of images.

One by one, gray rats held up bombs and blasted away the rusty monsters that had been lured out.

The rust monster, which had survived by sheer luck, was then pinned to the ground and brutally beaten by the strong gray rat!

Under the onslaught of the gray rats, the Rust Monster's shell gradually crumbled, exposing its weaknesses. The other gray rats then seized the opportunity and wiped it out!

George exhaled, shook his head, and suppressed all the absurd fantasies in his mind.

It seems I haven't been sleeping enough lately, and I've even started to fantasize about such unrealistic things... George chuckled to himself.

But given Dardo's warning to him, George felt it was necessary to explain things to Raymond beforehand.

Just as George was about to tell Raymond about the gray rat, a furry figure appeared in his field of vision at the mine entrance!

That's a giant soldier rat!

"It really is them!!" George exclaimed as he saw the giant soldier rats emerge.

George's shouts instantly caught the attention of the Gray Rat Squad.

In an instant, several gazes fell upon the giant soldier rat.

The giant soldier rat, which had just emerged from its burrow, was startled by the sudden shouts and piercing gaze, and almost raised its claws.

"Wait a minute! Why is it so big this time?!"

George's mouth gradually opened as he stared at the giant soldier rat.

The gray rats he had seen before were only a few times larger than obese rats, which was barely acceptable.

But this rat in front of us must be at least 60 or 70 centimeters long!

George couldn't help but look at Fenrir Crow, the "half-man" holding a dagger in the squad.

I'm only half a head shorter than this guy...

Is this even a rat?!

Not only George, but every member of the Gray Rat Squad looked shocked and confused, and their vigilance increased, their fingers tightening around their weapons.

In Raymond's mind, only the "marmots," monsters living on the northwestern highlands, could compare in size to the brown-furred rat in front of him.

Just as the giant soldier rats and the gray rat squad were locked in a stalemate, a slightly short figure slowly walked out of the hole.

It was an adorable mouse, its body covered in a layer of misty blue-gray fur that looked fluffy and smooth.

Her round eyes were bright and gentle, with a slight upturn at the corners. Her lips naturally had a soft curve, holding a quiet and unassuming smile.

This little mouse is the one who translated the language of the burrowing ants for Tucci – "Laughing"!

The smiling man walked up to the giant soldier rat, glanced at Raymond's group, and then gestured towards the giant soldier rat.

Upon seeing Ai Xiao give the order, the giant soldier rat left the cave entrance and headed towards the cave next to it.

As the giant soldier rat left, the cow-horse rats that followed it also emerged one after another.

Each pair of cow-horse-rat carries a strange insect covered with a hard chitinous shell, which appears to be lifeless!

"A rust monster?" the elf Elana exclaimed in surprise.

Were they the ones who caused the explosion in the cave just now?!

How is this possible?!

Countless questions arose in the minds of the Gray Rat team members; clearly, what they were witnessing was beyond their comprehension...

A smiley face, who was not far away, pondered for a moment, and then walked toward Raymond.

When the gray rat team members saw the gray rat that seemed to be the leader approaching them, they raised their weapons slightly.

The situation became tense.

Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, George didn't care about anything else and took two steps at a time from the back of the group to Raymond's side.

He then whispered a reminder:

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

George relayed Dardo's warning to Raymond verbatim.

Upon hearing this, Raymond was about to ask a question when he noticed that the blue-gray mouse had already stopped two meters in front of him.

Raymond lowered his eyes and carefully examined the strange gray rat.

For some reason, Raymond's tense nerves relaxed a little when he saw the adorable smile on the gray rat's face.

Facing the towering human adventurer before him, the smiling gray rat spoke without any fear:

"Is there something you need?"

Raymond, who had been relatively calm, suddenly had his pupils contract violently when he heard the gray rat speak.

Raymond has seen many powerful monsters, and while talking monsters are rare, he has seen a few of them.

But this was the first time he'd ever seen a non-humanoid monster speak the common language of adventurers!

Raymond glanced at George beside him and suddenly realized the warning he had just heard.

Raymond took a deep breath and slowly asked:

"Can you understand our language?"

Although the other party asked a pointless question, Ai Xiao still gave an affirmative answer.

"certainly!"

"Did you clear out those rust monsters?" Raymond pressed.

"It wasn't me," Ai Xiao paused for a moment before saying, "It was us."

As the joke faded away.

Raymond could clearly feel countless eyes staring at him from all around the mine and from the shadows.

Raymond licked his lips and said, "We mean no harm."

"I know!" Ai Xiao replied with a kind and honest smile.

next moment.

The gaze that had been pressing down on Raymond gradually faded.

After a moment's thought, Raymond tossed his greatsword to the barbarian Karen, walked up to the smiling man, and slowly crouched down.

He then took off his gloves, extended his right hand, and said, "My name is Raymond. What's yours?"

The smiling girl politely extended her pink paw and shook one of Raymond's fingers.

"My name is Ai Xiao (Love to Smile)!"

"Aisio?!"

"Hmm..." Ai Xiao paused for a moment, then casually said, "You can call me that too."

Raymond withdrew his right hand and turned to the side, introducing them: "They are all members of the 'Grey Rat Squad,' my teammates on adventures with me."

"A gray mouse!" Ai Xiao was somewhat surprised.

"Uh...yes," Raymond replied somewhat awkwardly.

He never imagined that one day he would introduce his team to a mouse as "Grey Rats".

"I'm a gray rat too!" The smile on his usually cheerful face now held a touch more sincerity. "Looks like we're destined to meet!"

Then Ai Xiao asked the same question again.

"So, may I ask what brings you here?"

Raymond paused for a moment to choose his words, then slowly explained:

"We've accepted a quest to eliminate the 'Rust Monster,' and we need its tentacles as proof that we've completed the task."

"You guys are doing 'pest control' too?!"

"Yes," Raymond replied truthfully, "We've wiped out the rust monsters on the third, fifth, and seventh floors of the Ash Dungeon."

The smiling child raised her pink paw and patted it lightly, saying:

"So humans are actually beneficial insects!"

Gray Rat Squad: ? ? ?