"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 doesn't take long to reach it. However, the fiery scene in front of us was still a bit beyond everyone's expectations - even now that such rumors have spread, there are still many workers working here, and from time to time, people wearing work hats and clothes come from the hole in the distance. Going in and out everywhere, carrying colorful and various stones.
In front of the cave entrance is a large square, with some still-operating railway tracks extending forward into the mines from the square, and then disappearing into the dark end. There are some strange and weird instruments placed on the square, and they are working there. It is not known what their specific function is, but judging from the halo emanating from the side, they are 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 small wooden house at the door. Due to the harsh environment here, the roof of 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.
"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 the 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 all his efforts, and in the eyes of people on Duan Qing's side, it became a hoarse shout.
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 troubled them was not whether to accept the commission, but whether to ask him about Yaski's whereabouts first.
"If we do this task, we will definitely spend more time here. If Yasiqi really escapes and looks for it again..."
"But it's good to complete the task first and build up a good impression. If asked directly like this, will he tell the truth or not..."
"Why didn't you tell me? Don't always think of others so badly, okay?"
"Sister, I am the owner of the Ankaras Mine. If such a big thing happened in the mine, would you report the truth and let this scandal be made public to the world, or would you cover it up first and wait until the matter is found out?"
"Is this matter...so serious?"
"Whether it's serious or not is something those in higher positions should think about, but what we know now is... this matter is now 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, tell us what's next..."
"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 Xigang, who was still shouting commands 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 door 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 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 said there are many...different types 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 Xigang's sworn reward promise, they set off immediately. They passed through the busy crowd, while avoiding the dangerous-looking equipment, and finally disappeared into the depths of the mine. If the noise around them wasn't so loud, maybe someone could still hear the excited discussions among the people in that team.
"That Xigang guy is pretty good. I looked at the spear he showed me. It seems to be pretty good!"
"I didn't get it, God knows what happened."
"I heard he said it is made from the blue iron ore here. The quality is not bad no matter what."
"If it were me, I'd rather have a good shield..."
"After we finish, come back and discuss it again. 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 let out a hearty laugh: "Ah! Are you an adventurer? You guys came just in time..."
What appeared outside the gate was still a team of players. The combination of four men and one woman, with swords and shields, was the most basic method of team formation in the current adventurer team. The leading man carried a long sword on his back and wore an imposing armor. Even in an environment filled with yellow sand, the polished armor still reflected light on its surface. He had a standard middle-parted hairstyle and led a good-looking woman in tan leather armor towards this side.
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 of... ...the names of these people.”
Looking at the list the man took out from his arms, Xigang'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 Smile 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 front of him, illuminated by a yellow torch. Xiao Hongchen, who had just finished saying that, immediately found the opportunity to practice himself. He just heard him roar, took out his giant axe, rushed forward and chopped it down with one blow.
The dull knocking sound echoed in the mine just like his roar before. Duan Qing took out his itchy ear holes, 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 was "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 If I had to say it, this thing should be a... turtle.
However, the hard shell on its back is pointed and high, looking like stone cakes stacked in layers, and together with the black torso on its front, it shows black reflections. The creature straightened its body, paused on the spot for a while, then shrank back, and suddenly started rolling.
"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 had no extra space to escape, so in desperation, Duan Qing and the other two people had no choice but to retreat and let the smiling uncle push forward. The latter raised his big shield and blocked the strange attack of the strange creature.
"This thing is probably 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, while blocking the forward movement, explained to other teammates: "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 to say..." 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." How about apologizing to that bug..."
"Forget it, forget it, our mission is to clear them, so we still have to fight what should be fought..." Before Duan Qing finished speaking, the tunnel crystal worms that had been blocked in front suddenly changed their attack. Way.
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. Cold air instantly filled the surroundings, and the smiling butcher was the first to bear the brunt - ice crystals spread from the shield at a speed visible to the naked eye, 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 the opponent's aggro range. The smiling butcher gasped and introduced other information about the monster to everyone.
"I can't stand this kind of thing... if it happens too often." He looked at his arms that were still covered with ice crystals: "I'm so old..."
"Speaking of which, how do you know so much?" The little 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 coming here to do a mission, so I checked all the information related to Lanshan Village last night..."
"Let's not talk about your professionalism." 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. It is said that the mountain on their back is The result of growing up by swallowing minerals..."
"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 must continue. Several people discussed for a while and then determined some response tactics. However, when they returned to the place just now, the turtle-like creature was missing.
"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 sight 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 at the back. A few people didn't take a few steps forward before entering 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 to fix the top of 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 them 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. Next to another hole in the distance, there are several black shadows that seem to surround the body of a crystal worm, seeming to be filling their stomachs.
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?"
