"Oh, adventurers! You came just in time..."
The Ankaras Mine is located at the foot of the Ankaras Mountains. Since the location is not very high, it can be reached in a short walk. However, the fiery scene in front of you is still a bit beyond everyone's expectations - even if there are such rumors.
Nowadays, there are still many workers working here. From time to time, people wearing work hats and clothes come in and out of the cave entrance in the distance, transporting colorful and various stones.
In front of the cave entrance is a large square. Some still-operating railway tracks start from the square and extend forward into the mines one after another, and then disappear into the dark end. There are some strange equipment placed in the square.
They were working incessantly, and I don't know what their specific function was, but judging from the halo emanating from the side, they were probably high-end goods powered by magic.
At the entrance of the mine square, there is a sign that reads Ankaras Mine, hanging on an iron arch. There is a wooden house at the door. Due to the harsh environment here, the wooden house has been covered with dust and turned khaki.
A sturdy man with his hands on his hips was standing at the door of the wooden house, shouting at the people in the square. After Duan Qing and others passed by, he immediately put on a smile again.
"We have trouble in our mines! There are a lot of tunnel crystal worms there again! We need help!"
The man who seemed to be the owner of the mine made his request straight to the point before Duan Qing and the others could speak. Due to the loud noise in the square, every word he said seemed to be put into Duan Qing's side.
In the eyes of the people, it became a shouting at the top of one’s voice.
The momentum was indeed amazing - several people were shocked by his sudden shout for a long time, and then they came back to their senses and figured out the current situation.
"what to do......"
After asking the mine owner named Xi Gang to wait for a moment, several people gathered together and began to discuss. What made them confused was not whether to accept the commission, but whether to ask him about Yasiqi's whereabouts first.
"If we do this task, we will definitely spend more time here. If Yasiqi really escapes and we look for it again..."
"But it's good to complete the task first and get a good impression. If I ask him directly, will he tell the truth or not..."
"Why not? Why don't you always think so bad of others?"
"Sister, I am the owner of the Ankaras mine. If such a big thing happens in the mine, will you report the truth and let this scandal be made public to the world, or cover it up first and wait until the matter is found out?"
"Is this matter...so serious?"
"Whether it's serious or not is a question that those in higher positions should consider, but what we know now is... this matter is currently being concealed." Duan Qing said in a suppressed voice, in an environment with huge noise.
, his voice was very difficult to distinguish: "Otherwise, we wouldn't have heard those... rumors until we came here."
Several people were silent for a while, and finally laughed at Hongchen and scratched his back: "Okay, okay, don't ask these questions anymore, let's get on with it quickly..."
"Let's go in first." Duan Qing said directly: "To be cautious, let's help this Xigang first. Anyway..."
"When we get in, we can continue to inquire and investigate."
After the agreement was completed, several people found Xi Gang, who was still shouting instructions towards the square, and then said: "We accept your request, let's talk about the specific situation..."
"Oh, thank you very much!" Xi Gang showed an overjoyed expression, and then pointed to the entrance of a mine opposite the square with frequent entrances and said: "That's it, Mine No. 2. There have been a lot of bugs there recently, and there are
Lizards, poisonous snakes, all kinds of strange reptiles..."
"Stop, stop, stop!" Duan Qing raised his hand to stop him, and then looked at him suspiciously: "You have a lot of... different kinds of monsters there?"
"Uh, yeah, yeah! I know it sounds weird, but it's not the first time..."
A few people got to know the situation a little bit, and after getting Xi Gang's promised reward, they immediately went out. They passed through the busy crowd, avoided the dangerous-looking equipment, and finally disappeared into the mine.
deep inside. If the surrounding noise was not so loud, someone might still be able to hear the excited discussions among the people in that team.
"That Xigang man is pretty good. I looked at the spear he showed me. It looks pretty good!"
"I didn't get it, God knows what will happen."
"I heard it was made from the blue iron ore here, so the quality won't be bad no matter what."
"If it were me, I would rather have a good shield..."
"After we finish, let's discuss it when we come back. Maybe there will be a chance..."
Xi Gang, who was standing at the door, did not continue to yell at his men as usual, but squinted his eyes and watched the pair of people gradually disappear into the darkness. Then, he heard a call from behind.
"Sir, are you the person in charge of this mine?"
Xi Gang turned around and laughed heartily: "Ah! Are you an adventurer? You guys came just in time..."
What appeared outside the gate was still a team of players, four men and one woman, with both swords and shields. This is the most basic routine of the current adventurer team squadron. The leading man carried a long sword on his back and was dressed in a rather stylish outfit.
The imposing armor, even in an environment full of yellow sand, the polished armor surface still reflects light. He has a standard middle parting, leading a good-looking woman in tawny leather armor.
Come this way.
There is a name on his head: codename Aqiang.
"We were entrusted by the Council of Mages to investigate some matters." That Aqiang did not change his attitude because of Xigang's enthusiasm, and still said in his usual serious tone: "I wonder if you have heard...
..the names of these people.”
Looking at the list the man took out from his arms, Xi Gang's eyes narrowed again.
******************
"Blue iron ore, why isn't it blue?"
"Who told you it must be blue... Blue Mountain Village is not blue, and the Ankaras Mountain we saw when we came here is not a blue mountain either...
"
"I'm just a little curious, and..." Miss Mengzhu still asked with great interest: "In that case, why do you call him Blue Iron Ore?"
"About this..." This time, the smiling butcher on the side answered the question: "It is said that after these ores are resmelted, they will change their color, so the weapons and equipment made from these iron ores,
They all have the deep blue color of the deep sea, so..."
"These minerals..." Holding a torch in one hand, Duan Qing picked up a stone and observed it under the firelight for a while: "It actually has such characteristics, but you can't tell..."
"Everything on the Free Continent has all kinds of peculiar characteristics." Uncle Smiling said, "This is true whether it is a dead thing or a living thing."
"Well, I feel the same way."
"Me too."
"Everyone of you, please don't be so cowardly. If you encounter any strange creatures, you should act recklessly first!"
A slow-moving creature suddenly appeared in the front illuminated by the yellow torch. Xiao Hongchen, who had just finished his sentence, immediately found an opportunity to practice himself. He just heard him roar and took out his giant axe.
Rush up and chop it down with an axe.
The dull knocking sound echoed in the mine just like his roar before. Duan Qing took out his ear holes that were itchy from the shock, and then reminded helplessly: "Don't be so impulsive, and...
...Don't scream so loud, what if the mine collapses..."
"It's not such a coincidence. But what the hell is this..."
The hard-shelled creature that had been "knocked" by the ax slowly turned around and seemed to point its head this way - under the light of the fire, several people could not see where the creature's head was.
If pressed, this thing should be a... turtle.
However, the hard shell on its back was pointed and high, looking like stone cakes stacked in layers, and together with the black torso in front of it, it showed black reflection. The creature straightened its body and paused for a while.
, then shrunk and suddenly started rolling like this.
"Holy shit, it's really a turtle!"
In a hurry, several people took cover one after another. However, the mine tunnel was not wide, and they did not have extra space to hide. So in desperation, Duan Qing and the other two people had to retreat and let the smiling uncle get to the front. The latter pulled out.
His big shield blocked the strange attack of that strange creature.
"This thing is the tunnel crystal worm that Xi just mentioned." Duan Qing said from behind: "It looks a bit... difficult to chew."
"No wonder there are no miners here anymore. They have already moved to such a forward place..." Mengzhu said hiding on the other side.
"This kind of creature will not take the initiative to attack." The smiling uncle in front explained to other teammates while blocking the forward movement: "According to our concept in the game, they should be called yellow-named monsters.
As long as we don't move it, it won't touch us."
"That is..." Several people looked at Xiao Hongchen who was hiding aside. The latter waved his hands hurriedly: "Ah, hahaha, I didn't mean it. Give me a chance and I'll go and talk to you."
Can that bug apologize..."
"Forget it, forget it, our mission is to clear them out, so we still have to fight what needs to be fought..." Before Duan Qing could finish his words, the tunnel crystal worms that had been blocked in front suddenly changed their attack method.
It no longer tried to topple the strange iron plate that seemed to never retreat, but raised its head and exhaled a breath of ice. The cold air instantly filled the surroundings, and the smiling butcher took the brunt of it - the ice crystals were visible to the naked eye.
Visible speed spread from the shield and gradually began to cover his arms.
"Quickly retreat!" Duan Qing shouted, and several people hurriedly retreated into the tunnel they came from.
"Crystal worms like to eat minerals, and then decompose and absorb the elements in the ores to turn them into their own special abilities. There are so many blue iron ores here, it seems that what they have learned is the ability to spit out ice crystals..."
The turtle-like creature moved very slowly, so they didn't run far before they were out of each other's hatred range. The smiling butcher gasped and introduced other information about the monster to everyone.
"This kind of thing... I can't bear it if it happens too often." He looked at his arms that were still covered with ice crystals: "I'm so old..."
"Come to think of it, how do you know so much?" The girl raised her own doubts: "I remember that you came from Novice Village like us, right?"
"I always like to check information, I'm used to it." The smiling uncle kept smiling: "I heard that I was going to do a task here, so I checked all the information related to Lanshan Village last night..."
"Ignore your dedicated spirit." Duan Qing also calmed down: "Are these players so crazy now? They have figured this out so quickly..."
"I don't know about that." Uncle Smile said helplessly, "But from now on, it seems that the information they released is still very accurate. At least the appearance of the crystal worms is correct. According to the hillock on their back, they are swallowing food.
The result of mineral growth..."
"But now that I think about it, this creature is still very...cute. I wonder if it can attack in other ways..."
No matter what, the mission still had to continue. Several people discussed it for a while and then decided on some response tactics. However, when they returned to the place just now, the turtle-like creature was gone.
"Huh? Where did you go?"
"I do not know......"
"Are there other players also doing this task?"
The atmosphere of doubt gradually dissipated in the team. Several people looked at each other a few times, became alert in unison, and then slowly moved forward.
Then, the scene ahead made them more suspicious.
Due to the scattered distribution of ore, the walls of the mine tunnel are irregular. Some places may become very narrow, and some places may become very spacious due to hollowing out the back. A few people did not take a few steps forward.
We entered a relatively wide space.
Perhaps because this place is too wide, some oil lamps specially designed for the mine are hung on the wooden brackets used for fixing the ends above the mine. The place is illuminated very brightly, and the surrounding area is also reflected very clearly.
Several railway tracks extended from the road Duan Qing came to, and then dispersed in this space, paving in different directions. Several abandoned mine carts were scattered in the corners of the space, and one or two were still on the tracks.
But from the looks of it, no one had used it for a long time. One of them was parked near the entrance to Duan Qing's side. Next to the mine cart, they found their previous opponent.
The crystal worm had just died.
Not far away, the light of the oil lamp reflected more corpses of crystal worms, scattered here and there. At a rough count, there were about six or seven. Near another cave entrance in the distance, there were several
A black shadow seemed to surround the body of a crystal worm, seeming to be filling its belly.
Hearing the abnormal noise coming from another cave entrance, they stopped eating and stared at the people here with their strange blood-red eyes, making Duan Qing and others' hairs stand up.
"What's happening here?"
This chapter has been completed!