Soon, Locke's body had been completely decomposed by the digestive fluids.
‐ It became a pool of pus and blood, slowly seeping into the soil, returning to the earth's embrace.
‐ Alan took one last look and turned to leave.
‐ A mile along the mining area, the pit lay ahead.
‐ At the entrance to the pit stood a two-story building.
‐ Alan stood at the doorway and faintly heard the sounds of a man and woman making out in the first-floor room...
‐ This pair of wild lovers were in quite the mood!
‐ Alan curled his lips, kicked the door open, and rushed in.
‐ On the sofa in the first-floor office, a disheveled man and woman, a rat-man, were embracing.
‐ Hearing the noise, they looked at the stranger who had broken in, their shifty faces filled with astonishment.
‐ Five minutes later.
‐ Alan walked out.
Behind them lay a pair of lovers, their necks twisted.
Before contracting lycanthropy, this pair of ratmen had both worked at the mines.
The man was the mine manager, a married man.
The woman was the manager's secretary, also married.
A welcome office affair.
The mines were originally owned by the Warlock Academy.
After the plague broke out, order in the mining area collapsed.
Fearing infection, the miners all fled.
The manager and his secretary, their lover, were unfortunately bitten by giant rats and contracted lycanthropy almost simultaneously.
The cult leader, Marin, was drawn to the manager's experience.
He allowed him to continue working at the mines, albeit under a new boss.
The difference between working for the Warlock Academy and now for a cult was indifferent to him.
Due to a shortage of miners, they could only trick new converts into mining, resulting in a severe under-utilization.
Besides these trivial matters, Alan also learned a very useful anecdote from the manager.
During the warlocks' reign, the mines housed two special overseers.
They were a pair of powerful twin ogres.
The elder brother was called "Big Mouth."
The younger brother was called "Big Head."
The manager struck a deal with the ogre brothers.
The mines would provide them with ample food, while the ogre brothers would oversee the workers' work and punish anyone who slacked off with a stick!
The ogre brothers had voracious appetites, so where did they get their food?
The mines were full of dead bodies.
Whether they died from work-related injuries or illnesses,
the bodies were handed over to the ogre brothers, who would take care of...their aftermath.
Mines are inherently accident-prone.
A simple gas explosion or landslide could easily claim dozens or even hundreds of lives.
The ogre brothers were well-fed and plump. Unfortunately, their good fortune didn't last.
After the plague broke out, the mines ceased operations, and the miners fled.
Aside from the manager and secretary, only the ogre brothers remained at their posts.
Now, the brothers could only survive on rats, reminiscing about the good old days.
... Alan found out where the ogre brothers lived in the mine and decided to go talk to them.
He had played the ogre countless times in the meditation world, and perhaps he could get along with them.
If the negotiations went well, Alan planned to ask the ogre brothers for a small favor. ...
Outside the mine, two people stood before the collapsed ruins.
The one in the black robe was the Plague Warlock Moss.
Not far away stood the Water Elemental Warlock Jenny, dressed in a white robe.
Moss crouched down slowly, carefully observing the signs of a struggle.
His nostrils quivered as he sniffed the lingering scent on the ground.
As he sniffed, he came to a faint bloodstain.
Moss suddenly looked up at Jenny.
"Is that Locke your boyfriend?"
Jenny hesitated briefly, then nodded gently.
"Brother Locke, where are you?"
"Right here."
Moss pointed at the bloodstain on the ground, his slick tone hinting at a hint of gloating.
"He's dead, and his body was destroyed, leaving only a tiny trace of blood."
"If we ratmen didn't have such sharp noses, we wouldn't have noticed this little clue."
"Who killed Senior Brother Locke?" Jenny asked through gritted teeth.
"Only two people's presence remained at the scene. If nothing unexpected happens, the other one is the murderer."
Moss's expression was strange.
"Is your Senior Brother Locke at the late First Stage?"
"Indeed!"
"Oh, what a shame... He must have been ambushed."
"What do you mean?" Jenny asked in surprise.
"Judging by the scent, the murderer is most likely Alan Panthers, the violent warlock of ogre bloodline Spanner mentioned. He's only at the early stages of the first stage."
"Of the five sent by the Warlock Academy, Alan is the weakest. I don't think he's capable of killing Locke face to face."
Moss stood up.
"Now I'm going to track Alan down and ask him about the whereabouts of the Plague Statue. And, by the way, avenge my junior brother, Marin."
"If you also want to avenge your boyfriend, come with me."
Jenny stood there, watching Moss's retreating figure.
After hesitating for a long time, she finally gave chase.
...
Deep in the mines lived a pair of twin brothers.
Big Mouth and Big Head, two young and powerful ogres.
The brothers were both good eaters and fighters, and they were skilled in boxing and fighting!
They used to work as overseers in the magic stone mines, and the food was pretty good!
Alas, the good times didn't last, and now the brothers are unemployed.
Initially, they could still survive by catching mice.
Now, the mice in the mines are dwindling in number and becoming increasingly cunning.
The brothers can't even catch enough mice to eat, and their stomachs are growling with hunger. They're discussing moving.
However, they never expected that even with their poverty, someone would actually come to visit them, a relative!
Big Mouth and Big Head, this is the first time in their lives that the brothers have encountered such a strange thing!
A distant relative of the brothers calls himself Pretty Boy.
This Pretty Boy has a handsome face and is only about two meters tall.
He's so skinny, he doesn't look like a proper ogre! The brothers had reason to suspect that this handsome boy might be a human disguised as an ogre!
However, strangely enough, the handsome boy's accent was authentic and friendly.
He spoke fluently to them in Giant language, tinged with an ogre accent.
Even the curse words he mingled with were captivating.
He spoke with great clarity about the customs of his hometown.
These details were all from Big Head and Big Mouth's childhood experiences.
Without personal experience, one could never truly explain.
Is the handsome boy... a human, or an ogre?
The brothers' eyes were filled with small question marks.
...
In fact, "Handsome Boy" was the pseudonym Alan had given himself.
As everyone knows, it was quite fitting.
He saw the ogre brothers' confusion and activated his "Atavistic Transformation," doubling his size! "Oh, oh, oh! That's right!"
Big Head and Big Mouth's faces beamed with joy.
After his transformation, the handsome boy perfectly captured the aura of an ogre!
"Brothers, I, the handsome boy, came from another place and was bullied by the natives of this island!"
Alan complained angrily.
"Those rat-headed humans saw me, handsome, and started yelling for my life. It's inexplicable!"
"I, handsome, just ate a few big rats. What's the big deal?"
"Ouch!" Big Head slapped his thigh. "My handsome brother, you're just being naive!"
"Rat-headed people are followers of the Beast Cult!"
"Giant rats are also transformed from rat-headed people!"
"The Beast Cult knows magic, and they're very powerful!"
"Can you just eat them? You absolutely can't!"
"A few ordinary little rats won't hurt."
Big Mouth added.
Alan snorted and asked the brothers:
"Brothers, do you usually just eat little rats?"
Big Mouth and Big Head looked at each other, embarrassed.
"Hey! To be honest, handsome brother, we haven't even had any mice to eat lately!" Big Mouth complained.
"Tsk tsk! Poor you, brothers!"
Alan smacked his lips sympathetically and turned to bring a large bag.
"I, Handsome, brought some local specialties from my hometown. Brothers, try some."
The bag was opened, revealing two large lumps of black clay.
Big Head and Big Mouth's eyes, full of anticipation... instantly turned to disappointment.
"Handsome brother, your specialty... is just mud?"
"Hehe! Big Mouth, you don't know! With a little magic trick, I, Handsome, can turn clay into honey!"
"I don't believe it!"
"I wouldn't believe it, even if you beat me to death!"
The ogre brothers shook their heads.
Alan smiled faintly.
Hidden in his sleeve was a drop of honey, which he used as a lure to cast a "seasoning spell" on the clay.
The clay still looked its usual dark, dark self.
However, after the spell, it exuded a rich, enchanting honey aroma.
Big Mouth, filled with surprise and confusion, took a small bite...
Wow!!
The taste, the texture—definitely top-quality honey!
The two brothers were already drooling with greed.
They didn't care about being polite anymore. They pounced on the honey and gobbled it up, devouring two large chunks of "honey" in a blink of an eye, still licking their fingers with unsatisfied satisfaction.
"Brother, your magic is amazing!"
Big Mouth looked at Allen with admiration.
"That's right! I'm Big Mouth, because I have a big mouth!"
"My brother has a big head, so he's called Big Head!"
"Brother Handsome, why are you called Handsome?"
The brothers were curious about what Handsome meant.
"So-called handsome..." Allen smiled calmly, "It just means ordinary."
After chatting with the ogre brothers for a while, Allen got back to the point, claiming that he was being hunted by the Beast Cult.
"Brothers, if you can help me eliminate this enemy, I'll repay you with tons of honey!"
"I think so!"
Faced with delicious food, the greedy Big Mouth nodded hastily, even at the risk of offending the cultists.
Big Head, assuming he was quite resourceful, gave his brother a sidelong glance, telling him not to rush into agreeing.
He asked Alan reservedly, "How much candy will I give you for helping me this time?"
"How about a human's weight in honey?"
"Hmm... two for us brothers! Is that okay?"
"No problem!"
Alan readily agreed.
"Brothers, be warned! My handsome enemy is one cunning and brutal, the other brutal and cunning! To be on the safe side, we need to make some plans!"
These ogre brothers have limited brains.
Getting them to work together on this scheme is a bit of a hassle.
"I think this shouldn't be so complicated, right?!"
Big Mouth slapped his head and complained.
"Who cares? Just grab a stick and charge in! Kill him and eat him, easy as pie!"
"Big Mouth, you don't know!" Allen said solemnly. "My enemy uses magic. I'm afraid I can't defeat him head-on!"
"Well... okay, then I'll do as you say!"
Big Mouth compromised.
Big Head vaguely felt that the pretty boy's brain seemed more effective than his own.
For the sake of more honey, he had no choice but to obey Allen's orders, though he still expressed a hint of dissatisfaction.
"You kid! He's just a pretty boy, why are you so arrogant?"