Chapter 21: The Rat's End

"Boom—!"

That ground-shaking tremor not only resounded through the entire mine tunnel but also blew outside the mine tunnel along with the noisy smoke and dust.

Outside the entrance of the Beifeng Mine, next to a dilapidated inn under the rugged mountain road, a cargo-pulling canopy cart stopped by the roadside.

Several men looking like adventurers looked toward the top of the mountain road, casting suspicious and uncertain gazes at the rolling, rising smoke and dust.

"This is... an earthquake?"

"Doesn't look like it... I've never heard of an earthquake near Lei Ming City. And it's said that earthquakes are all in one big area; this tremor is clearly not that strong."

The experienced adventurer cast his gaze toward the forest in the distance; the birds resting there didn't take off in fright.

Obviously.

Only this mine was affected.

"Could it be someone mining?"

A long-haired youth carrying a short bow grinned, and the middle-aged man carrying a short sword next to him shook his head and said.

"How is that possible... that place became the territory of monsters eight lifetimes ago."

As the leader of this group, Jie Ke didn't speak, just frowned and weighed the pros and cons, whether it was worth wading through this muddy water for an old partner who had cooperated for many years.

Sitting on the carriage, the elderly coachman looked at Jie Ke, who was frowning, and said in a nervous voice.

"Sir... I sent them here last time; do you think I can go now?"

He was just a driver.

If it weren't for the people from the Black Snake Gang finding him, he wouldn't even want to mention that he had met the people from the Silver Scimitar last night.

Looking at the sky that was already getting late, Jie Ke finally made a decision and threw a coin into the carriage.

"You wait for me here until the sun goes down... remember, completely down."

A bitter expression appeared on the coachman's face.

Although he didn't want to join in the fun, he still had to support his family, so he didn't dare to offend this group of villains who licked blood from the edge of a knife, and could only nod in agreement.

Jie Ke waved his hand, signaling the brothers beside him to prepare to go up the mountain, but saw the oldest adventurer in the team staring intently at the inn next to him, frowning.

"What's wrong, Wei Lu, any discoveries?"

Hearing the leader's voice, the adventurer nodded and said thoughtfully.

"This inn, someone has been here recently."

Deep in the mine tunnel, the tragic slaughter had ended, replaced by a one-sided massacre.

Along the broken mine tunnel, the surging rat swarm rushed into the labyrinth covered with spider webs, looking like a black waterfall falling into the abyss from a distance.

Facing the food falling from the sky, the cave spiders lying at the entrance of the first floor of the labyrinth were overjoyed and pounced, rushing through the rat swarm and gorging themselves.

And facing the hunting of the cave spiders, the rat-men who fell into the labyrinth had no power to fight back at all, and could only be slaughtered one-sidedly.

As time passed, the rat-men who launched a charge toward the Demon King's territory soon suffered heavy casualties.

The remaining rat-men were no longer able to maintain that dense offensive, and seeing that victory was hopeless, they scattered and fled.

The rat tide was not unsolvable.

When the vast majority of rat-men were no longer being carried forward, the charge that destroyed the opponent while also destroying themselves naturally ceased to exist.

The cave spiders in the lower labyrinth of the mine tunnel were already seven or eight points full.

Facing the scurrying rat-men, they no longer continued to bite, but used spider silk to capture them, and then hung them on the spider web like wrapping zongzi to make "rat-rat dry rations."

Hoarding prey that couldn't be eaten for the time being was one of the habits of cave spiders.

Milky white spider webs flew around in the pitch-black hall like machine guns.

That scene was simply spectacular.

Some players saw their SAN values drop wildly, couldn't help but cover their jaws and retch, but couldn't vomit anything out.

And some players didn't pay attention at all, just cheered excitedly, clapping for this hard-won victory... even though the vast majority of people just acted as meat shields and cushions, and didn't kill a few rat-rats.

Looking down at the spider that kept shooting, Gou Shi suddenly showed an envious expression.

"I suddenly found... that transferring to a cave spider seems quite good."

Gai Shi Ying Xiong looked at him in surprise: "Are you sure? I feel that if I became that thing, I would scare myself to death just by looking in the mirror."

Gou Shi: "Hehe, not important."

Gai Shi Ying Xiong: "...?"

On the other side, 【Knowledge Explodes】, who had been resurrected for the umpteenth time, climbed up from near the core of the Demon King's territory and shook the mud off his body.

"Brothers! I'm alive again! Gahaha!"

Not far away, 【Gulping a Septic Tank】 also climbed up from the pile of rat-men, shaking his dizzy head.

"I'm also—"

Before he finished speaking, the dynamite on his body suddenly exploded, and the whole person instantly turned into bone ash in a flash of fire and disappeared with the wind.

"..."

Because it was too embarrassing, the surrounding players decided to pretend they didn't see him.

Luo Yan, who took the MVP, let out a long breath, supported his waist, and sat directly on a stone pier on the side.

He had just broken through the bottleneck of the Steel tier and came a high-intensity spellcasting, which tired him out.

However—

It was finally held.

The slave rats that escaped from the labyrinth finally returned to the labyrinth.

As for the new trouble brought by the cave spiders, talk about it later.

At least now, I can rest for a while.

Luo Yan opened the attribute panel to confirm, and found that he had actually leveled up.

【

ID: Luo Yan

Race: Human

Soul Level: Steel (Level Cap LV50)

Level: LV. 32 Experience: (1780/32W)

HP: (1300/1300)

MP: (110/3800)

Constitution: 13 Strength: 13 Agility: 13 Intelligence: 36 (+1)

Spirit: 38 (+2)】

【Faith Value: 79 Daily Growth: 101~120 Daily Consumption: 100】

"... After reaching the Steel tier, the attribute growth per level actually became 3."

In addition, I didn't expect that grinding monsters could also gain experience points.

Before this, Luo Yan had always thought that if a Necromancer wanted to become stronger, he could only go through meditation.

Although the players didn't seem to find it strange, this discovery was an unexpected joy for him.

After catching his breath, Luo Yan felt his spirit recover, and then asked You You to send the Nether Coins and contribution points to the players.

Watching the cheering skeleton soldiers, he couldn't help but be infected by the players' morale, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

These guys are also quite easy to coax.

Clearly, until now, he hadn't explicitly stated how many Nether Coins a bottle of undead potion needed, or how many a big treasure sword needed.

Forget it.

Let them be happy for a while.

At this time, Luo Yan suddenly noticed that the gaze on the side was a bit dazzling, so he looked in the direction of that gaze.

I saw Ke Lisi and other captives crouching behind the stone prison, staring straight at this side, their eyes wide open in astonishment.

Clearly, they didn't expect that the rat tide that made adventurers terrified would be so easily solved by him.

She suddenly admired this guy a little.

His gaze fell on the captives, and Luo Yan suddenly remembered that he still had a few "blood bags" that could replenish magic, so he raised his right hand and sucked to his heart's content without saying a word.

A Mu: "Ah~~~"

Ke Lisi: "Goo—!"

Grey Dog: "Ahhhhh!"

Lei Kesen: "..."

Feeling the exuberant energy filling his body, Luo Yan, who was originally a bit tired, became energetic again.

Comfortable! He suddenly understood why Ms. Lilith always wanted to keep a sharp-eared one as a pet.

Just when Luo Yan was thinking about what to do next, You You's voice suddenly appeared in his ear.

"Lord Demon King, your players seem to have discovered something incredible in the mine!"

"Something incredible?"

"That's right! It's a big, fat mouse that almost filled half the mine! I really don't know how it got in!"

You You's voice was full of curiosity.

Unfortunately, that place was far beyond the range of the Demon King's territory, otherwise it would have run over to see what was going on.

Luo Yan heard You You's description and immediately guessed the identity of that mouse.

Undoubtedly!

That guy was the culprit who started the rat tide!

"Can you locate the position of those two players?"

You You: "Hmm! Although I don't know the specific location, the general direction is no problem!"

Luo Yan heard this and immediately got up.

"Take me there."

You You: "Received!"

Taking out the magic wand and holding it in his hand, Luo Yan followed You You's guidance, bypassed the collapsed pit along the wall of the mine tunnel, and then manipulated "Bond," who was carrying the great sword, to jump over as well.

Just in time, a few little players saw his actions and followed curiously, wanting to see what was going on.

Luo Yan didn't stop them, but let them follow behind, walking all the way to the depths of the mine tunnel.

Soon, he saw the lone 【Pig-Headed Knight】 and 【Bull-Headed Warrior】.

The two skeleton soldiers were sneaking behind a protruding rock, looking toward the empty cave not far away.

Noticing the movement behind them, the two skeleton soldiers turned back quickly, only to see the boss of the Great Cemetery standing behind them.

"Lord Demon King?!"

"Why did you come—"

"Shh."

Luo Yan made a gesture of silence, signaling the two not to make noise, and then looked toward the depths of the cave.

I saw a bloated giant rat crawling in the center of the dark cave, making a hissing gasp in its mouth.

That sound was both full of fear and carried a hint of piety, as well as the madness of being terminally ill.

"Such a fat mouse... how many levels is this?" Gou Shi, who was following Luo Yan, couldn't help but whisper.

Ye Zhiqiu stared at the mouse carefully, shook his head and said.

"Can't tell... but intuition tells me this guy is very strong, maybe as strong as the Demon King!"

Gou Shi: "Nonsense! You still need to say this!"

Play Not: "Exactly!"

Ye Zhiqiu: "..."

Luo Yan glanced sideways at this group of players who were joining in the fun without changing his expression.

He didn't like this.

What do you mean as strong as me?

Is there such a comparison? Not caring about this group of guys, Luo Yan gently waved his magic wand and manipulated "Bond" to walk forward.

The great sword dragging on the ground made a screeching sound, soon attracting the alertness of the fat mouse in the cave.

"Who!"

Jia Qi screamed, his huge body bounced up quickly from the ground, and the fat hanging on his heels rolled like waves.

Finally seeing the man standing at the entrance of the cave clearly, Jia Qi's eyes narrowed into a slit, and a hoarse low growl came from his throat.

"It's you... you are that Demon King? The new Demon King?"

"It's me."

Under Luo Yan's manipulation, Bond made a sound like the opening and closing of a decaying coffin, raised the great sword in his hand, and pointed directly at the tip of the fat mouse's nose.

"Submit—"

"Or die."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 22 =====