At the lakeshore edge, thick mist flowed like a shifting gray veil, obscuring most of the view but unable to conceal the suppressed human voices within.
"Hehe... those Rusty Key rats really kicked an iron plate this time."
A deliberately lowered rough voice sounded, carrying the thick accent of a Kure tribesman. Through the dense fog, the figure of a brown-haired warrior wearing worn leather armor and carrying a greatsword could vaguely be seen approaching.
"I heard they provoked some tough customers in the Death Swamp. Because of 'Miracle' Yano, they lost several skilled members, even 'Gray Rat' Hawk got taken down. Tsk tsk, thankfully we didn't get involved in that mess."
"Glen, it's just that 'Miracle' Yano never encountered me."
A slender figure wrapped in a deep gray cloak crouched nimbly - it was their accompanying thief, Michele.
"Rusty Key suffered heavy losses... hmph, perfect timing."
"While they haven't discovered yet that the Filthy Descendants at the entrance have been cleared out, let's hurry inside. If we dawdle any longer and wait for adventurers from guilds like 'Anvil' or 'Silver Oak Leaf' to catch the scent, we won't even get to drink the broth."
His greedy gaze pierced through the mist, firmly fixed on the dark, gaping cave entrance to the north of the lakeshore.
"Who knows who did it, probably some large mercenary group?"
"Whoever it is, while they haven't finished looting yet, let's go in first and grab our share!"
The thief urged, "Hurry up, hurry up! By Tiffany's grace, may we find something valuable!"
The two fell silent, crouching low and using the mist as cover as they quickly yet cautiously approached the dungeon entrance.
Meanwhile, in the adjacent swamp forest, a slime riding a little crocodile was stealthily peeking out.
Chen Yu's gaze fell upon the wooden boats and carriages docked at the shore.
"Did these adventurers come from the Outpost Ruins along the lakeshore or by rowing boats?"
What surprised him was,
that Death Knight really went to the dungeon.
And even cleared out the troublesome Filthy Descendants.
If Crow Count found out he wasn't making it up, he'd probably be so angry his feathers would fly off, cursing and complaining all the way.
He imagined that noisy crow standing on the serious knight's shoulder armor, wings flailing wildly and spittle flying everywhere, and couldn't help but find it amusing.
Chen Yu suddenly grew curious.
Dungeons were things that existed in countless fantasies.
He'd never actually seen what they were like inside.
It seemed like sending a clone in to take a look wouldn't be bad.
What if he discovered some novel magical creatures and treasures?
"Little Ka, follow them secretly."
"Kaka!"
As the little crocodile ran, Chen Yu focused his will slightly.
At the distant fortress construction site, two small slimes diligently "squishing squishing" compressed mud bricks suddenly froze, their bodies instantly softening and dissolving.
Immediately after, he secreted two new small slimes that dropped to the ground.
One carried "Life Drain" and the other carried "Hallucinogenic Factor."
The life slime brought along his four small stone swords, its gel body stretched round and plump, only able to slowly crawl along the ground.
The hallucinogenic slime only stuffed five Rocksteady Talismans into its belly, making it quite agile.
It picked up its chubby brother who was almost immobilized by the stone swords, placed it on its head, and went "squish squish" hopping and running toward the direction where the two adventurers had disappeared.
Soon they caught up with warrior Glen and the thief who were carefully parting the grass.
【Hallucinogenic Factor】
"Achoo!" Thief Michele suddenly and unexpectedly sneezed loudly, rubbing his itchy nose and muttering, "Damn, is it pollen from the swamp... or some moldy smell..."
Glen also frowned, feeling a bit itchy in his nasal passages that made him somewhat dizzy.
Just as the two had their attention diverted, the hallucinogenic slime used all its strength to give its round, chubby brother a strong push.
The latter rolled like a water-filled balloon, accurately landing inside warrior Glen's half-open backpack, disappearing among a pile of ropes, dried rations, and spare torches.
It itself leaped lightly, following closely inside, not forgetting to use its gel to gently pull the backpack opening a bit more closed.
Glen remained completely unaware, just blowing his nose forcefully: "Alright, alright, let's get inside! No more delays!"
Inside the backpack was pitch black. Chen Yu, through the hallucinogenic slime's perspective, curiously observed the outside scene from small gaps.
But with summer approaching, the air inside the backpack was quite stuffy and hot, occasionally carrying scents of leather, sweat, and dried meat.
Soon it became somewhat unbearable.
So smelly...
Don't adventurers ever wash their backpacks?
This was so different from the fragrant, soft backpacks of elf mages in fantasies.
The backpack swayed, the adventurers' footsteps becoming hollow with echoes, as if they had stepped into the dungeon's passageway.
Through the backpack gaps, Chen Yu saw that the dungeon's entrance passage was quite spacious, but the sanitary conditions weren't great.
The dark walls of the passage were covered with dried dark brown stains, the ground scattered with shattered shells and broken limbs - all remnants left by the Filthy Descendants.
"Hiss... so clean!"
Thief Michele raised his crudely made torch, the firelight illuminating the surroundings. He kicked aside a large fragment of Filthy Descendant shell, his face full of disappointment and annoyance.
"Damn it! Not even a single intact Filthy Descendant corpse remains. Were those cleaners reincarnated starving ghosts? They even smashed and took away the shells that could be sold for money."
Glen crouched down, examining the messy dragging marks and scattered footprints on the ground.
"More than one team. Looking at these drag marks, like there was something big... damn it, got excited for nothing! The good stuff must have been looted clean by them!"
He stood up cursing discontentedly, unwillingly poking at a pile of rubble in the corner with his scabbard.
Suddenly, thief Michele pointed sharply toward a fork in the passage ahead.
"Look over there! There's something on the ground... looks like... metal fragments? And footprints, very fresh! Not from those previous people!"
Their spirits lifted, thinking they had discovered overlooked treasures or traces of later arrivals. They immediately raised their torches and cautiously approached.
At the passage corner lay several metal fragments covered in mud stains, apparently remnants of some crude armor.
The footprints were messy, pointing toward a narrow, downward-sloping corridor.
"Let's follow them!" The thief's eyes glittered with greedy light.
Just as they were craning their necks and preparing to enter that narrow corridor—
"YAAA!!!"
A sharp, piercing, barbaric battle cry suddenly erupted.
From the depths of the dark corridor, dozens of pairs of cruel green-glowing eyes instantly lit up.
Immediately after, green-skinned figures surged out like a tidal wave, brandishing rusted short knives and wooden clubs bound with stones, emitting terrifying screeches that made one's scalp tingle.
"Goblins!!" Glen's pupils suddenly contracted, horrified beyond belief, "Weren't they driven away?! How could they be ambushing here?!!"