"Boys, bring the rope ladder, let's go straight down the cliff." Gilliam shouted at the dwarves of the exploration team.
After the exploration team joined Qin Lun and the others, the first small difficulty before them was how to get down from the cliff where they were currently to the mushroom grove below.
Originally, the way for the dwarves to pass this cliff was not to climb directly down, but to take a long detour around the mountain. However, Gilliam brought enough manpower this time, and he carried a few rounds of rope ladders hundreds of meters long, and he was eager for revenge, so he didn't want to make another detour.
The height from the cliff where they were to the mushroom forest plain was about a hundred meters high. The dwarves hung down four rope ladders and began to cling downward. Qin Lun had something on his mind, so he lagged a little behind and followed Lorraine.
"Lorraine, how did you confirm that this underground fissure can lead to the Mithral Hall mining area?" Qin Lun asked cautiously.
"It's very easy. Many of our clansmen are experts in finding mineral veins. The rock formations with large mineral veins are different from ordinary rock formations. As long as we go deep underground for a certain distance, we can confirm whether there are valuable mineral veins nearby, and Has it been mined?"
Lorraine shrugged. Now that Gilliam had agreed to Qin Lun's joining the expedition team, he put aside his concerns. He could now tell Qin Lun the information that he could not disclose to Qin Lun without any scruples.
"Is that so?" The answer was beyond Qin Lun's expectations, and the silver-haired elf asked, "But the Spine of the World traverses the northern part of the continent, it is almost tens of thousands of kilometers long, and there are countless ore veins underground. Can you confirm the Has the vein been mined by Mithral Hall before?"
"Yes!" Lorraine laughed heartily, "We dwarves are familiar with mineral veins, just like you elves are familiar with forests. The large mineral veins that have been mined will have a persistent impact on rock formations within a certain range. It is like being destroyed once. If the forest is replanted with trees, you elves can see it at a glance, right?"
"That's true!" Qin Lun was at a loss for words. Even if a large-scale felled forest is replanted, its ecological environment will take a long time to recover. Let alone elves, even ordinary people can see it.
"The Warhammer family of the Dwarf King has returned from Icewind Dale, and their knowledge of the mineral veins near Mithril Hall is like observing the veins on the palm of their hands." Lorraine said with a smile, "Although the existing shield dwarves don't remember going to the Underdark. The road to the Mithral Hall mining area, but with their familiarity with the mine veins, they will not admit it wrong."
"En!" Qin Lun replied absently, excluding the possibility that this road could not lead to the Mithral Hall mining area, then there is only one possibility that this epic branch plot needs to stay for nearly a month.
All members of the exploration team quickly gathered under the cliff and headed towards the mushroom forest led by Gilliam.
"Looking at it from here, these mushroom forests are really tall!" Idriya murmured, looking at the giant mushrooms beside her.
"I can't communicate with them, everyone be careful!" Elistine withdrew her palm from the giant fungus, slightly frowning her delicate eyebrows. On these giant mushrooms, the elves' unique elf story talent doesn't work at all.
After all, the mushroom forest is very different from the forest plants on the surface, or it may be because the Underdark is out of the scope of priesthood of Rillifane (God of the Elven Forest). Although the story of the elves is a kind of racial talent, it is actually a blessing from the forest god to the elves.
"The vegetation here is really wonderful, it's almost like a carpet." Mustasia squatted down, and stroked the dark brown vegetation like a carpet on the ground with her fingers.
Unlike the flowers, plants and shrubs in the surface forest, the vegetation here has no sunlight all year round. It grows low and dense, most of which are less than two inches in height, but it is lush and dense, and it feels as comfortable as a carpet.
"Hehe, don't look at them as harmless to humans and animals now, but if you lie here overnight, you will never be able to wake up. These carpet-like vegetation can paralyze and invade your whole body overnight. After three days and nights, you It will be absorbed without a trace, and even the hard bones can't leave any residue."
Lorraine shook his head and sighed, "For the adventurers who entered the Underdark for the first time, most of them did not die in the mouths of predators, but were silently killed by these underground creatures while resting at night." engulfed by vegetation."
Lorraine's narration made the beauties in the team shudder, and Mustasia withdrew her fingers like a power transmission, and looked at the dwarf angrily.
"Stop!" The team advanced a certain distance in the mushroom forest, and Gilliam, who opened the way ahead, suddenly stopped the team and signaled everyone to disperse.
"Are there any enemies... Damn, the fog here affects the vision of the halo!" Qin Lun's eyes lit up with a yin-yang fish pattern, but he quickly canceled it. He didn't feel it when he stood on the cliff. After entering the mushroom forest, he The field of vision is greatly limited, and it is almost impossible to see thirty meters away.
"Did you feel the ground shaking!" the shield guard from Weiss' team suddenly frowned.
"Huh? It's very faint, but... it does exist!" Qin Lun and others concentrated their attention on feeling it, and found that it was really the case. They should have noticed it long ago, but the thick layer of vegetation on the ground acted as a buffer.
"Ji... Lim..." As the amplitude of the vibration increased, a strange cry that seemed to be prolonging the nasal sound came from the air in front of the team.
"It's the mushroom man!" Qin Lun, who had the best eyesight, saw the things in front of him first, and his face couldn't help changing slightly.
The giant mushroom in front of the line was suddenly pushed away by a pair of huge palms, and a giant with a mushroom head bent down from the air, and its giant face with five senses was facing Gilliam in front of the line.
Although this fungus is bent over, it is preliminarily estimated to be more than 70 meters tall. The umbrella-shaped cap almost completely blocks the sky above the team, like a giant spirit god looking down on all living beings from the clouds.
"Roja!" The dwarf elder's expression was unusually solemn, and the veins in his right hand holding the battle ax were erect. "We have already reached an agreement with you mushroom people, why are you blocking our way at this time?"
The mushroom man named Roja tilted his head in thought, as if he was thinking about why he was here to stop the dwarf exploration team. However, it quickly thought of it, and the strange tone from before sounded again from the giant mouth.
"balance… "
The fungus man just said two words, then stopped talking, and stared at Gilliam blankly, as if he was very confident that the dwarf elders would understand what it meant.
"Understood, we will keep the old and weak women and children of the Ratman tribe!" The old dwarf's face was a little dark, and it was strange that he really understood the strange words of the mushroom man who only had two words.
After hearing Gilliam's promise, the mushroom man straightened up, let go of the hands holding the giant mushroom, and left the exploration team slowly.
Even though its walking frequency is not fast, each step can cover tens of meters, and soon the vibration of the ground tends to be weak again, and the huge figure of the fungus disappears into the pink spore fog around the mushroom forest.
"What does that thing mean?" The apostles were a little puzzled, but the two story elves, Elistin and Mustasha, were thoughtful.
"The balance that the mushroom man refers to is to let the dwarves give up the extermination of the ratman tribe and leave the old and weak women and children in the tribe." Mastacia sighed and explained to Qin Lun and others.
"Does this have anything to do with balance?" The black-robed mage in the team still didn't quite understand.
"The Ratman is an omnivorous creature. They usually eat everything, including not only the giant mushrooms, but also the bugs that harm the mushroom forest. They are an important part of the entire ecological chain of the mushroom forest, just like the wolves in the jungle. Same." Elistine explained with a smile.
Having said that, the apostles all understood. Wolves are predators, but they are essential to the jungle. Without wolves, the number of herbivorous organisms cannot be controlled. Once they flood the forest, the vegetation will be destroyed, and finally the ecological environment will be out of balance.
The Ratman killed the passing dwarf exploration team, and the fungus man could not stop the dwarves from taking revenge, otherwise the shield dwarves would come back with the goal of destroying the mushroom forest. The lesser of two evils, the mushroom man had no choice but to ask Gilliam to spare the old, weak, women and children of the rat man tribe.
In this way, the rat people can continue to reproduce, and the exploration of the dwarves will no longer be hindered.
After such a small episode, the team went back on the road, but the morale of the exploration team was obviously not as high as before, and even the most talkative dwarves were reluctant to speak.
This situation didn't last long, because the exploration team quickly followed Weiss' guidance and walked to the location of the light-sounding bat, which is the cave where the ratman tribe is located.
The Ratman Cave is located on the left edge of the mushroom forest. The terrain is slightly higher than the mushroom forest, forming a gentle slope with the ground, about ten meters high. In front of the gentle slope of the cave is a kind of off-white mushroom, the cap of which is the size of an adult's palm.
From the perspective of Qin Lun and others, it looks like a well-planned mushroom field, with only a two-foot-wide passage leading directly to the depths of the cave.
"Squeak!" A black shadow flashed in the air, and Weiss had two light-sounding bats on his shoulders.
"All the mice that attacked the dwarves have entered the cave, but there are too many forks in the cave, and the light-sounding bats can't find out the details!" Weiss pretended to report to Qin Lun, while Gilliam and Lorraine listened.
In fact, with the speed of light-sounding bats, it is completely possible to explore the entire cave before they come. But the light-sounding bat has no defensive ability. If the ratman finds out, the cave is so narrow, and it might be shot down. Weiss doesn't want to lose such a precious alchemy item here.
"I'll go!" The monkey was eager to try, and it was natural for the thieves to take part in this situation.
"I'll let another summoned beast that can stealth cooperate with you!" After such a long period of cultivation, Venus, who was severely injured, can finally summon again. Qin Lun turned his head and asked, "Master Gilliam, what do you think?" Can it be arranged?"
The dwarf exploration team does not have the rogue and ranger professions, or the dwarves who are naturally bold and unrestrained generally will not change their careers to these two combat professions.
"The stealth of thieves and shadow leopards is not very useful in the dark area, they can't get through." Hearing Qin Lun and others' discussion, Gilliam showed a strange look on his face, "Or...you really put those mice People are treated as beasts, do you think they are easy to deal with?"