Locust invasion

Four tall and burly security guards stood at the gate of the watchtower. Their neat titles and majestic aura immediately made people feel safe.

"Three more security guards!"

"We already have an expedition team, and now the security team is also sufficient. It feels so safe." Someone only then realized:

"Huh? Speaking of the expedition team, why aren't they training today?"

At this moment, the expedition team was crossing the vast grassland and heading towards the location marked on the map.

Behind me, the moss-covered stone wall receded, the buildings within shrinking until they were nothing more than a tiny sailboat amidst the boundless sky and earth. Only a few figures could be vaguely seen cultivating a narrow patch of black soil.

Several team members kept looking back, and it was obvious that they were quite nervous about the upcoming mission.

However, their new captain, Chen Yan, looked absent-minded, staring at the back of Ye Miaomiao's head in front of him, and did not respond when the team members spoke to him.

It wasn't until he stumbled over a clod of earth that he came to his senses and realized someone was calling him, "Captain, Captain? What's wrong?"

"No, it's okay." Chen Yan gritted his teeth and frowned, but kept walking forward.

The team members behind him looked at each other.

"It seems that it's because the captain's mother made a fuss last night and didn't allow him to come." Someone whispered.

"Didn't he get back to normal afterward? I saw his mother come to see him off this morning."

"Why is that? He's not like this usually. Are you scared?"

"Then we'd be in danger. The captain is the main force in attack. If he loses his focus..."

The few people who fell behind looked at each other, all with worried expressions.

Ye Miaomiao was completely unaware of these events. She stared at the specific coordinates on the map, and with Fang Yan's guidance, the group quickly reached the entrance to the dwarven cave. They encountered a few small monsters wandering the central area along the way, but they were defeated immediately, making them unworthy of mention.

As soon as he approached the cave entrance, Ye Miaomiao received a system notification——

[We have detected that you have arrived at the location of the "Side Quest - Will of the Dwarves" mission. Do you want to start the mission copy immediately? ]

Ye Miaomiao nodded towards Fang Yan.

"Rest here for five minutes!" Fang Yan immediately ordered, "Adjust your posture and be ready to start the mission in five minutes!"

"yes!"

The first time they started a mission, everyone was nervous, sitting or leaning against one side. Ye Miaomiao was no exception, but she took a few deep breaths, recalled her past dungeon experiences, and looked up again, her eyes calm again.

As soon as the five minutes were up, everyone lined up neatly, and Ye Miaomiao clicked "Start Task" without hesitation.

Then there was a flash of white light, and she felt her vision go dark as a damp and foul smell rushed into her nose like a tide.

When she opened her eyes again, the surroundings were extremely quiet. You could hear a pin drop in the huge space, as if she was the only one there.

The truth seems to be...she is the only one.

Ye Miaomiao: “?”

She looked around hurriedly - where are my teammates? Where are my teammates who are so fierce and so safe?

Fang Yan, who was standing beside her just now, and the six teammates behind her, have all disappeared at this moment!

"That damned dwarf wouldn't surrender until he died," a voice called from the side. "I'd say the chief only told us not to kill him. Let him suffer a little longer, and then we can report to the chief once we get the blueprints."

The sound came from far away and seemed to be coming towards this side.

Ye Miaomiao hurried deeper into the room, anxiously searching for a hiding place. She happened to find a food shelf stacked on the side. She quickly crouched behind the shelf, the huge wooden box completely obscuring her figure.

A few cabbages rolled out and Ye Miaomiao quickly pushed them back.

He stopped halfway and happily put it into his backpack.

There is a whole shelf of various foods here, pick them all up later.

Ye Miaomiao: It’s like free cabbages falling from the sky.

However, what is more important at the moment are the two monsters separated by a plane.

"The leader just wants to take his anger out on us. He's used every trick he can get, but that dwarf still won't hand over the forge blueprints. What can we do?"

"I don't believe he really won't speak." Another voice said harshly.

The voices of the two echoed in the cave, allowing Ye Miaomiao to hear their entire conversation clearly.

"Chief," "dwarf," "forge blueprints"... could they be referring to the dwarves? They've been completely imprisoned, and are they being interrogated?

Ye Miaomiao quietly looked outside through the gap, and then she realized that this was actually a dungeon!

The dim cave was very depressing, with only the light of a few candles visible.

Several cages were hung in front of him, the creatures inside them already dying, motionless, it was unclear whether they were dead or alive, the blood they had shed had turned the ground brown. On the left wall hung a rack, covered with various torture instruments, which gleamed with a creepy bloody light in the candlelight.

On the right, in the middle of several crooked cages, a short man was imprisoned. Behind his tangled brown beard, a pair of black eyes as big as beans stared in Ye Miaomiao's direction in surprise.

A title slowly rose above his head - "Prince of the Dwarfs: Bell"

Ye Miaomiao: “!” The target of the mission is actually right next to me.

She immediately clicked on the screen to contact Fang Yan and others, but she was shocked to find that several of the messages she had sent out had a big red exclamation mark!

I exited the chat box and took a look - the avatar was gray, and the network was disconnected.

Ye Miaomiao: "..." Rubbish game, ruining my youth!

But she knew in her heart that this was a special copy and she was doing a single-line task, so she could only rely on herself.

She moved the screen away and peeked out again. She saw the two spider-like monsters, one male and one female, selecting torture instruments. Both wore the same title: "Prison Guards of the Swamp Territory."

Both monsters have 40 HP points, which is the standard HP for a level one "Children of God".

Although Ye Miaomiao was holding an updated second-level weapon, she was alone. It was not easy to fight two people at once. If she attracted more people, it would be difficult for her to escape.

Therefore, Ye Miaomiao planned to hide in a corner first and then see what the situation was.

Unexpectedly, her eyes twitched and she saw Bell's soybean-sized eyes blinking at her.

The pair of hands that had been hanging limply on the ground suddenly made all sorts of dazzling gestures. Before Ye Miaomiao could react, the guard turned his head again just as he was about to turn around, looking like he was about to die.

But his fingers secretly made an "OK" gesture, which Ye Miaomiao finally understood.

Ye Miaomiao: “?”

Who is she? Where is she? What is she doing?

"I'll use this to treat you today, and see if you still don't confess!" The male guard untied the cage with a smug look on his face and picked up Bell easily.

The other female guard probably didn't expect that Bell, who had been tortured for a long time, still had the strength to do so. She turned her back to him defenselessly and set up the torture instruments on the side.

When Ye Miaomiao saw Bell's finger suddenly move forward, she felt something was wrong.

She seemed to realize something and quickly raised the arrow, unconsciously activating the skill [No Aim Required].

Bell grabbed the meteor hammer from the guard's waist with lightning speed. He shouldn't have succeeded. The male guard noticed it at the first moment and was about to pull him away by the scruff of the neck.

But at this moment, a cold arrow shot towards the guard's arm.

"Ah! What is that!" He screamed and dropped Bell in pain.

Bell stretched out his hand and successfully took the meteor hammer.

At this moment, a shocking change occurred. Ye Miaomiao's arrows did not stop. She took out the second arrow and shot at the guard. Since there was no need to aim, the guard's health was reduced to the bottom in just a moment, and he fell down with a bang.

The female guard stared at Ye Miaomiao fiercely and was about to rush forward when she was stopped by Bell.

Although Bell is small, he is very strong and he was able to block her sword successfully!

"Hit her!" Bell yelled.

Ye Miaomiao pulled the bow to its maximum extent, and heard a "buzz" sound.

Critical hit!

32 health points disappeared instantly, and the female guard closed her eyes forever in horror.

A pile of points and weapons appeared on the corpse that gradually disappeared...

“Perfect match!”

Bell exclaimed in admiration, but he also swallowed quietly. When did humans become so powerful? He...hadn't even had time to make a move!

Turning around, he saw Ye Miaomiao holding an extremely crudely made bow and arrow. Bell: "?"

"You... are so strong even with this garbage?" Bell stuffed the female guard's bow, sword, shield and armor to Ye Miaomiao without saying a word: "These are all our dwarven things. We can't just leave them here and let them get away with it!"

"And..." He took out a backpack from the male guard: "This is a dwarf backpack, it can hold 32 kinds of items. Here it is!"

Ye Miaomiao: “!” What kind of magic is this! All level 3 equipment!

She was "forced" to wear a three-piece suit of iron armor. Although it was a bit thick, it felt quite light on her body. She had an iron sword on her waist and a bow and arrow in her hands, which made her very comfortable.

Ye Miaomiao, who was just worried about not having enough space in her backpack and not being able to sweep the place clean like a locust, now has no such worries at all!

She looked happily at the basement which was well-stocked with supplies.

Ye Miaomiao swept all the vegetable racks into her backpack and even found a large bag of potatoes! She could go back and plant them, she thought happily. She also swept all the other equipment, including the iron bowls and chopsticks, the wine jug, and everything else, into her backpack.

Bell was speechless for a moment: "These are worthless."

Ye Miaomiao: "But I'm poor."

Bell: "..."

He suddenly remembered what his grandfather had told him before he died, telling him to wait in the dungeon for a smart, wise, powerful and enlightened lord, but his grandfather didn't mention that this lord was also very poor and stingy!

"Your companions? They seem to have started fighting." Bell's ears moved: "I heard some noise."

Without Bell saying anything, Ye Miaomiao also felt a loud noise coming from above her head.

"Not good!" Ye Miaomiao said anxiously. With such a big commotion, all the monsters would gather there! She had to hurry over to inform everyone that the main mission had been completed, and now they just needed to retreat quickly!

......

At this moment in the main cave, the swamp leader was fighting with Fang Yan.

Chen Yan's team was facing a siege by eight spider monsters. With their strength, it wouldn't have been difficult to deal with eight level one monsters. However...

Chen Yan was not among the crowd.

Without Chen Yan, the team's combat effectiveness was greatly reduced. They were beaten back step by step by several spider monsters and were on the verge of collapse.

"Captain, what are you doing! Drink your medicine!" Someone in the team shouted at Chen Yan.

Chen Yan was hanging from the ceiling by a spider thread. He had been poisoned by the spider, and his health would drop a little every half a minute. The lower his health, the more severely he would be affected by the spider venom.

It was obvious that he could quickly recover his health by drinking the medicine, but... he seemed to have given up on himself, with his hands hanging down and not moving.

He's dead, Chen Yan said to himself, he has no medicine at all, because...

Just waiting for the final death.

"Chen Yan!"

Chen Yan suddenly heard a familiar scream. He turned around and saw the girl wearing iron armor. Her small face, as big as a melon seed, looked majestic in the silver-white helmet.

"Boss!"

She raised her hand, and a familiar red flag flew out of her hand and flew over Chen Yan's head.

[You have received a reminder from player Ye Miaomiao: Be safe at all times and enjoy a happy family reunion every year.]

A familiar force came from above my head.

At this moment, Chen Yan wanted to laugh, but wanted to cry even more.

"Save Chen Yan!"

The girl shouted, then drew the iron sword from her waist and rushed into the group of spiders with the dwarf.

The power of the third-level weapon is indeed amazing, with a full 20 points of damage. Killing spider monsters is like chopping fruit, and one can be knocked down with just two swords.

"Fang Yan, catch it!"

Seeing Fang Yan still fighting with the leader, Ye Miaomiao suddenly took out an iron sword from his backpack and shouted at Fang Yan. The iron sword slid across the ground with a "swish" sound and was held in Fang Yan's hand.

He nodded to Ye Miaomiao. With the magic weapon in hand, he suddenly became much braver.

After Ye Miaomiao dealt with the first-level monster, she and Beier joined Fang Yan in attacking the leader. However, after a moment, they heard a loud "hissing" sound, and the spider leader fell to the ground and died with his eyes open in anger.

victory!

Congratulations, you've completed the side quest! The rewards have been successfully sent to your backpack. You've received 600 points, a forge blueprint, and 1 Dwarf Prince.

Congratulations on your achievement:

Villain's Sneak Attack: Take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness and attack them from the dark. Gain a permanent bonus: Damage outside the enemy's sight is 400%

Locust Crossing: You leave a dungeon without leaving any valuable items behind. Gain a permanent bonus: Strength +10

Super Thick Armor: You finish a dungeon without losing a single drop of health. Receive a permanent bonus: HP +10.

Ye Miaomiao: “…” The summary is very accurate. Don’t summarize it again next time.

Only then did she have time to look at Chen Yan, who was surrounded by the crowd, wearing a safety helmet pitifully, but refusing to take the medicine.

"What's going on? Where's your medicine? Why don't you take it?" Ye Miaomiao asked seriously.

You know, when Ye Miaomiao arrived, Chen Yan only had a little bit of life left.

Chen Yan lowered his head for a long moment, then finally slammed his fist to the ground. "My medicine disappeared this morning. I looked through my backpack's browsing history and found that my brother Zhang Shuo took it away in the early morning... I think he might be hiding something, and I'm afraid he'll be punished, so..."

"What!" Everyone was stunned...

"You...you what!"

Fang Yan stated in a cold voice as if stating a fact: "If Miaomiao hadn't arrived in time, your team would have been wiped out because of your mistake."

"S-sorry!"

Just when Chen Yan thought that his teammates were angry and disappointed with him and wanted to scold him or even beat him, he saw a bloody hand reaching out and feeding a familiar pill into his mouth - it was his teammate.

"I believe you, Captain. You saved me. You blocked the last blow for me. I saw it."

Chen Yan nodded blankly, swallowed the medicine greedily, lowered his head and quietly wiped away his tears.

He never thought that his actions almost harmed his teammates, but he was forgiven so quickly.

Ye Miaomiao's voice rang out overhead, shocking Chen Yan again:

"Your brother Zhang Shuo sold the life potion on the quest board when he left the territory in the early morning. He never returned, so my records cannot be wrong."

At this moment, his heart sank from head to toe, and the extremely complicated feeling in his heart was indescribable.

The brother he tried so hard to protect, and what he thought was a secret, turned out to be... all his wishful thinking.

"Zhang Shuo... he is actually a thief? He... he..." Chen Yan couldn't believe it. What made him even more unbelievable was what he had done: "What have I done for him..."

Hiding the truth from teammates and putting them in danger...

Ye Miaomiao sighed and stopped looking at Chen Yan's dull face: "I'm sorry, but you have to quit..."

"I understand, Lord..."

Before Ye Miaomiao could finish, Chen Yan wiped his red eyes fiercely: "I know, this is all my fault. It's my responsibility that the team almost got into trouble. I didn't know who my true brothers were. I hid such an important thing from them, and I deserve it!"

He said word by word, "I voluntarily withdraw from the expedition, I won't receive any points, and I have no complaints."

"Chen Yan, you..." The team member next to him pulled his clothes and wanted to say a few words for him.

"Okay." Ye Miaomiao agreed immediately: "But the points from the previous two days will still be given to you as usual."

"Everyone, take a break, pack up the spoils here, and prepare to return to the territory!"

......

At this moment, the "Hungry Hungry" territory welcomed an uninvited guest.