The rat infestation in Taoyuan Village has not yet subsided, and the villagers continue to disguise themselves as rats, patrolling various parts of the village.

The village has seen more new faces among the evolved beings, and fewer familiar faces.

Xia Chuhe and others patiently lay in wait outside the village.

Wang Gang didn't understand why they had to come back.

Xia Chuhe mumbled, "Something was left in the village; we need to find a chance to retrieve it."

Wang Gang didn't get to see what Xia Chuhe wanted to retrieve. He entered the instance an hour earlier than Xia Chuhe and the others, so he also left an hour earlier.

As night fell, some evolved beings began to spin the wheel, and the village chief briefly transformed back into human form.

Xia Chuhe stared at the time on his wristwatch: "It's about time. You guys help me distract the mice."

Xia Chuhe crept furtively toward the lottery wheel.

Xin Diao, Sister Diao, Wang Yan, and Lao Qin appeared casually in four directions.

The appearance of the four was like placing four fragrant little cheeses in front of hungry mice, and the mice swarmed towards them.

With only the village chief remaining near the lucky draw wheel, Xia Chuhe no longer concealed himself and ran towards the wheel without hesitation.

The village chief only saw a flash before his eyes, as if a figure had floated past. He searched carefully, but found nothing.

The mice, obsessed with the cheese, came up empty-handed.

Xia Chuhe disappeared from the instance, leaving with a spinning wheel in her hand.

...

"Huh? Lu? What are you doing?"

Xia Chuhe emerged from the instance and was greeted by Lu Dangui, dressed in a sand-proof robe, sitting cross-legged on a rock. Beside the rock lay Wang Gang, bound hand and foot and gagged.

Lu Dangui: "Waiting for you."

"Why tie him up?" Xia Chuhe asked with a smile in his eyes.

"If we don't capture his master, something might happen to you."

"We're all fine." Xia Chuhe looked at the people who came out after her. Except for Wang Yan, who had been completely turned into a rat, everyone else was safe and healthy.

"Let him go?" Xia Chuhe asked.

Lu Dangui casually untied the ropes binding Wang Gang: "Get lost."

Wang Gang spat out the rag in his mouth with a wronged expression: "Sister Xia, I will repay the life I owe you. Remember to contact me."

"Okay." Xia Chuhe nodded.

Xia Chuhe pulled a banana from the farm; the banana, which had been sitting for three or four days, looked a little wilted. She handed the banana to Lu Dangui: "Here you go."

Lu Danggui picked up a banana and stuffed it into her mouth.

Xia Chuhe was speechless: "Skin it, sister. Never mind, you can eat it when you get back, otherwise it will get covered in sand."

Lu Danggui pinched her ear; strangely, it was a little hot.

After spending seven days in the instance, the group had accumulated a lot of messages on their wristbands, which they quickly processed.

Xia Chuhe, seeing the butler's message that something was amiss with the dungeon, replied: Thank you, I'm back now.

Xia Chuhe couldn't help but wonder what would happen the second time he entered the dungeon. Perhaps... the location of the dungeon would change, and he would encounter other aggressive animals?

Butler: You didn't reply to my message, I thought you had gone into a dungeon, I just hope you came back safely.

Xia Chuhe: I have a friend who has turned out like this. Do you think there's any hope for him?

Xia Chuhe casually took a picture of Wang Yan and sent it to him.

Butler: What a huge rat! Can we sell it to Five Star Company for research? The price is negotiable.

Xia Chuhe: ...My friend turned into a limp...

Butler: Just kidding, there's hope!

Xia Chuhe's eyebrows twitched. It was hard to imagine that the housekeeper would joke, especially since it wasn't funny at all!

Butler: There are mutated organisms in the wasteland that can spread pollution. Five Star Corporation has developed a serum to remove the pollution from these organisms, but producing and extracting the serum requires a large amount of infectious agents. Have you brought the infectious agents back?

The source of the infection that caused Wang Yan's mutation was the second villager, who had already died in the instance and whose body was thrown into a water tank.

Xia Chuhe glanced at the little mice in the farm. They were all mice produced from the dungeon, so perhaps... there wasn't much difference?

Xia Chuhe: I brought some, but I don't know if they'll be usable. Do you have time to pick them up?

Butler: Wait a moment, would it be convenient for you to come to the grocery store?

The vehicle drove quietly through the underground passage. It would take several hours to drive back to the Caishi base. Xia Chuhe and the housekeeper had arranged a time.

Upon returning to the base, Xia Chuhe went straight to Sister Li's food shop, where the housekeeper was already waiting.

Xia Chuhe handed the prepared rat cage and rat to the housekeeper.

Only one male and one female mouse remained on the farm.

Xia Chuhe originally didn't want to keep the mice. In her mind, mice didn't seem to have any other use besides scientific research and seed dispersal.

Even the phenomenon of forgetting seeds only occurs in ordinary mice with poor memories. The mice forget where they stored food, causing the food to turn into seeds, take root, and sprout.

The rats in the dungeon are all incredibly cunning; they're probably only suitable for scientific research.

However, considering that rats are part of the food chain, Xia Chuhe still kept a pair of rats.

Whether it was because the dungeon was no longer there or because the mice hadn't grown up yet, the mice in the cage were small, with cute little round ears.

The butler, carrying the rat, looked apologetically at Wang Yan, the large rat behind Xia Chuhe, and said, "Miss Xia, I can provide you with technical assistance, but the cost..."

Upon hearing the hope of turning back into a human, Wang Yan abandoned his miserly image and asked, "I'll cover the expenses myself. How many points would it cost?"

"At least two or three hundred, at most five or six hundred." The butler paused, "Ten thousand."

Wang Yan, whose total net worth was just over two million: "..."

He suddenly felt that he might need to reconsider turning back into a human.

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