In the underground world, inside the temporary camp.
The members of the exploration team who had survived the ordeal leaned against the walls, sighing with lingering panic written all over their faces.
The Baron was recounting the exploration team's encounter to Rosie and the others:
The team that had been attacked was the one heading west.
They had been searching along the ruins, and at first, nothing had happened.
Then, as they were passing through a section of collapsed pillars, over a dozen half-man-tall giant scorpions rushed out from the ruins.
Those giant scorpions were covered in armor-like carapaces, making them impervious to blades and spears.
Their front claws were like two scythes, capable of cutting a person in half in a single strike.
They lost three men, and the others managed to flee back. Fortunately, the scorpions didn't pursue them.
“They are too close to this place. I'm considering whether we should move the camp,” the Baron said.
“Why move? Scorpions are excellent food! Besides, they aren't roaming creatures. As long as we don't go near them, there won't be any danger,” the dwarf said in his booming voice.
“We can talk about the scorpions later. First, listen to what we discovered.”
With that, Rosie shared the intelligence they had gathered from the Mammothkin.
“Mammothkin? The Insectoid race?” The Baron didn't react for a moment.
Intelligent creatures actually existed within these ancient ruins?
And there was more than one intelligent race in the underground world...
Was this even reasonable?!
Rosie continued, “According to the Mammothkin, this underground world is massive. The area we are currently in is only a very small part of it.”
The female mage chimed in, “At first, I thought this was a space carved out by an ancient civilization to build an underground city. Now it seems that's not the case. This is more like a natural underground world, similar to the Underdark, and the ancient civilization merely made use of it.”
Rosie thought for a moment and added, “Is it possible that there were originally no living creatures here? That the ancient gnomes brought them in...”
The female mage nodded slightly. “We can't rule out that possibility. As long as we can enter the records room, we'll know the answer.”
Rosie looked at the Baron. “Lord Weiss, do you agree to cooperate with the Mammothkin?”
The Baron was silent for a moment, then nodded. “We have no other choice.”
He looked at Rosie. “Please go and tell them that I agree to cooperate. However, they need to provide us with food and more intelligence.”
Rosie nodded.
Her squad set off once again.
The clamor of the camp was gradually left behind, replaced by the perpetual silence of the underground world.
The four arrived once again in front of the prison building where the Mammothkin resided. That massive figure was already waiting at the entrance.
The Mammothkin was still holding that metal club, glaring fiercely at the four of them.
Standing beside him was a white rat, curiously sizing up the four of them with its eyes.
Seeing Rosie, the Mammothkin spoke directly: “Outsider, have you made up your mind?”
Ignoring his glare, Rosie replied directly:
“We have. We agree to your terms. But you must provide us with food, water, and intelligence about this place.”
The Mammothkin pondered for a moment, then let out a low rumble of a laugh:
“Very well, outsider. I can let our servants deliver food and water to you regularly. What you need to do is help us eliminate that wretched Devourer.”
“No problem,” Rosie said confidently. “We are very experienced when it comes to dealing with bugs.”
The Mammothkin's yellow eyes lingered on her face for a few moments before he said, “I must see results before I share food and intelligence with you.”
“Fine. Tell me where the bugs are, and I'll show you what we can do,” Rosie said.
The Mammothkin nodded in satisfaction, turned to the white rat beside him, and said, “You, go lead the way for them.”
The white rat immediately bowed and nodded, its movements carrying a well-trained, obsequious air. “Yes, yes, Master.”
It ran a few paces, stopped in front of Rosie, and looked up at her. “Outsider, follow me. I will take you to the Devourer's territory.”
Rosie turned to look at the other three. “It wants us to follow it.”
The dwarf's eyes widened, his gaze sweeping over the white rat twice. “What? This rat can talk?”
“You heard right. It really can talk,” Rosie said.
“Then let's follow it and see,” Anna said, her tone relatively flat.
The dwarf muttered, “Following a rat... is this really reliable?”
Knight John didn't speak, but his expression looked as if he had seen something that shouldn't exist.
Clearly, even this unflappable veteran knight was shocked by the fact that a rat could speak.
“We'll take it one step at a time,” Rosie said. “Just prepare for the worst. If they harbor ill intentions, we'll just kill them.”
Having said that, she looked down at the white rat. “Lead the way. We'll follow you.”
“Okay, okay. Follow me, follow me.”
The white rat turned around, dropped to all fours, and scurried off nimbly, its tail swishing behind it.
The four followed behind it, heading northeast, away from the prison building.
The Mammothkin stared at their retreating backs from behind until they vanished from sight, only then turning to walk back inside the prison.
At this point, the female mage suddenly spoke up, “Rosie, ask it some questions. See if we can get any information.”
Rosie nodded at her words.
She then asked the white rat, “What's your name?”
The white rat didn't look back, its voice drifting from ahead: “Name? I have no name. Servants have no names.”
“Then I'll give you one,” Rosie said. “Let's call you Little White.”
The white rat's ears perked up, and its steps seemed to grow lighter. “Little White? Okay, I am Little White. Thank you, outsider.”
Rosie nodded and asked again, “How many companions does your master have?”
The white rat's steps suddenly faltered, its voice dropping lower than before: “No, I cannot say. Master will be angry. Master will eat me.”
“I won't tell your master,” Rosie said.
The white rat scurried in silence for several paces, then shook its head. “I cannot say. Master will be angry.”
Rosie didn't press further.
She took a piece of wheat cake from her pocket and handed it to the rat.
The white rat took it, sniffed it first, then put it in its mouth to chew and nibble carefully. After finishing, it licked its paws, its eyes seemingly shining a bit brighter.
Then, she switched to other topics, asking about the state of this area, the plants they saw along the way, and what other dangerous things lurked in the desert.
Gradually, the white rat's tone grew more relaxed. Although it still wouldn't utter a single word about the Mammothkin, it spoke quite a bit about its own kind.
Rosie also managed to map out the structure of the rat swarm along the way.
Within the swarm, the Queen Rat held the highest status, responsible for reproduction.
Below her were the Servant Rats, responsible for taking care of the daily lives of the Mammothkin and the Queen Rat.
The Servant Rats were also the only ones capable of speech, and Little White was one of them.
Next were the Soldier Rats, responsible for protecting the Mammothkin and the Queen Rat.
Then there were the Worker Rats, responsible for cultivating food—the very rats Rosie and the others had seen growing mushrooms earlier.
Finally, there were the Common Rats, who knew no skills.
They served only two purposes: to act as cannon fodder outside the nest, and to serve as rations for the Mammothkin.
As Rosie listened, she translated the details for the three behind her.
After hearing this, the dwarf sighed, “Ha! They have it pretty rough.”
Rosie glanced at him. “Didn't you want to eat them earlier? Feeling sympathetic now? Have you forgotten how many rats you've killed?”
The dwarf scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly. “Well, they rushed us first. Wasn't that just self-defense...”
“Ask it why they don't resist,” Anna said.
Rosie did as she was told.
The white rat's body shrank back, as if frightened by the word, its voice trembling slightly:
“Dare not resist... Will be killed and eaten by Master... Queen is in Master's hands... Dare not resist...”
“So they controlled the Queen. Those Mammothkin are actually quite clever,” the female mage commented with a nod.
Rosie tried to ask a few other questions.
However, whether it was because the word 'resist' had spooked the white rat or not, it stopped answering any more questions.
No matter what Rosie said, it merely kept its head down and ran ahead, occasionally swishing its tail without uttering another word.
The ruins began to thin out, while the crystals overhead grew more numerous, and the light became brighter.
The female mage dispelled her light spell.
Before long, the white rat led them up to the top of a collapsed building.
Although the building had mostly collapsed, the remaining walls were still two stories high.
The group stopped on the platform at the very top and looked out.
Before them lay a vast desert plain, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Occasionally, remnants of ruins could be seen half-buried in the sand.
About five hundred meters ahead, a strange plant stood in the desert.
It was only about seven or eight meters tall, but it was incredibly thick, with a swollen trunk like a bloated giant barrel.
Its branches crisscrossed, spreading out in all directions. Each branch was thick and loaded with red spherical fruits, making it exceptionally conspicuous in the desert.
The white rat stopped at Rosie's feet, its front paw pointing at the plant as it squeaked urgently, “Devourer! Master's enemy! Destroy! Destroy!”
“That is the Devourer's territory,” Rosie translated.
Anna looked at her. “What do you plan to do?”
Rosie nodded. “We'll use our old method. I'll be the bait, and you attack.”
With that, she began to unbuckle her plate armor.
Moments later, she stood on the platform barefoot, wearing only her gambeson.
Aside from the meteoric iron sword still hanging at her waist, she had stripped off all her other gear.
“Here I go.”
She warmed up her wrists, then leaped down, landing on the sand and beginning to run.
The sand sank and shifted beneath her bare feet.
She ran several dozen meters before stopping, standing barefoot in place, completely motionless.
There was no vibration.
The sandy surface beneath her feet was perfectly still.
“Devourer! Ahead!”
The white rat's voice drifted from behind, carrying an urgent, high-pitched squeak.
Rosie frowned and continued forward.
She walked a bit further, and the sand beneath her feet suddenly began to vibrate.
The vibrations were fast and rapid, completely different from the tremors of the sandworms they had encountered before.
Something was wrong!
Rosie had no time to think. She forcefully kicked off the sand and propelled herself forward, her bare feet carving an arc across the sandy surface.
The next second, the sand suddenly bulged upward as a behemoth burst out from beneath.
A massive mouth gaped open, revealing rings of inward-curving teeth as it lunged from the exact spot where she had been standing.
The head of the behemoth alone was over five meters in diameter, covered in a dark gray carapace with jagged protrusions along its edges.
Having missed its mark, it didn't continue its pursuit. Instead, it turned to face Rosie's direction, its abdomen emitting a gurgling sound.
The next second, a jet of brownish liquid erupted from its massive maw.
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