Hundreds of years ago, the gnomes lived in isolation in this primeval jungle.

They feed on hunting and picking fruit from the jungle, and may have studied stone carving a little.

Until one day, a white sarcophagus falling from the sky brought an evil monster, and at the same time brought misfortune and destruction to the gnomes.

The ignorant gnomes regarded the sarcophagus as an artifact given by the gods, and the dwarf kings enshrined it on their thrones.

The monster in the sarcophagus brutally killed the dwarf king, and it was the monster's habit to skin and change skins, so it replaced the dwarf king and controlled the entire dwarf clan.

The skinning ritual prescribed by the monster eventually brought about the destruction of the gnomes, but before the destruction came, the monster used its skin-changing ability to change its race and identity.

It used its new identity to spread rumors about the treasure of the dwarf king among the invaders, and continued to attract adventurers to the area, and then carried out a cycle of skinning and skinning, meeting the newcomers in a different capacity forever......

Hundreds of years later, it is still alive and well, and the mystery of the dwarf king's treasure remains undiscovered.

……

……

"By the way, I had a brief conversation with this monster just now, and I got it from him."

Bai Ye took out the square gem that emitted blue light from his pocket.

Rick's eyes were immediately drawn to the gem.

"I don't have a clue about it, I just think it might be worth a lot of money."

He took the gem, took out a magnifying glass-like prop from his waistcoat pocket, and took advantage of the light of the torch to bring the gem to his eyes and examine it carefully.

"It has a few lines of text carved into it, and it doesn't look like any language I recognize."

The explorer was intrigued by the gemstones, and he took the square gems in his hand and looked them over and over again.

"Could it be related to the sarcophagus?"

Bai Ye remembered that he had just seen a square inlay hole on the surface of the sarcophagus lid, and he guessed that this square gem might have peeled off from that groove.

Rick Jones approached the sarcophagus with the gem with a suspicious face, and sure enough, he saw a square groove in the coffin lid.

He and Bai Ye glanced at each other, and they both saw in each other's eyes the madness of wanting to continue the adventure.

On that alone, he and his 'peers' could be sympathetic.

Rick stepped forward and placed the square gem in his hand on the groove, just the right size.

When the gem was embedded in the groove, the white sarcophagus in front of him seemed to emit a faint white light, and the lid of the sarcophagus emitted a slight deflating sound.

Rick tried to push the lid, only to see that the lid was so light that he could easily flip it all open.

The two people who were curious about the sarcophagus immediately stretched their necks to check, and found that there was only a lifelike but strange and terrifying sculpture lying quietly in the sarcophagus;

It is a creature covered in scales, with a head full of ugly tentacles, and a pair of rudimentary wings on its back, and the overall image of the sculpture conveys a sense of terrible fear.

Rick Jones immediately became intrigued by this thing.

"It looks old, but I'm sure it doesn't belong to any of the sculpture genres I know."

Bai Ye used a kitchen knife to re-buckle the gem on the sarcophagus lid, and the sarcophagus lid immediately seemed to have lost any energy support, and it slammed to the ground with a bang.

"It seems that this gem contains some kind of strange power."

"I have a hunch that if I can decipher the tiny words inside it, I may be able to discover the principle of this 'power'."

Rick felt more and more pleasing to the eye of this peer, and the communication between wise men often only needs to say half a sentence to the other party can fully understand.

He glanced at Bai Ye and said in an inquiring tone, "If I can bring them back to my research institute in Europe, and give me a little more time, I may be able to unravel the secrets hidden in this sculpture and gem, as well as the origin of this evil monster." ”

- You triggered the hidden side quest [The Secret of the Sculpture], do you accept it? (This side quest is a selective quest, and there is no penalty for abandoning it)

Hidden Side Quest: The Secret of the Sculpture.

Rick Jones seemed to be sure of the origin of the sculpture, so he might as well leave it to him to study, and hopefully he wasn't the kind of person who coveted petty profits. ’

Objective: Wait for a letter from Rick Jones.

The yes or no option popped up in front of him, and Bai Ye chose yes without any hesitation.

- System Prompt: You unlocked Explorer Rick Jones' mailbox (you can receive a letter from this character in the mailbox on the Prep Space Workbench).

"Great, I'll write to you as soon as I have news."

Rick Jones rarely smiled at Bai Ye.

"Now, then, let's go back to my cabin on the cliff."

……

At dawn, when the sky was white, the two finally returned to the cliff hut.

Bai Ye assists Rick in burying his companion Jimmy, as well as the hound named 'Big Bob'.

It was only at this time that Rick Jones truly accepted Bai Ye's peers.

"You say you're walking with me? But I don't remember you being on the Explorers' Guild's registration list. ”

Rick Jones asked, turning back to the cabin and packing his bags.

The mystery of the dwarf king's tomb has been solved, the pristine rainforest is no longer worth staying, the memory of his friend's murder has given Rick the idea of escaping the place, and his keen interest in the sculpture has led him to decide to return to his institute as soon as possible.

"I'm not a professional explorer like you, am I...... It may be more of a matter of interest. ”

"Oh~~"

Rick Jones looked at Bai Ye and narrowed his eyes slightly, and issued a meaningful tone particle.

Judging by his appearance, he should have regarded Bai Ye as a 'tomb robber' or something, of course, Bai Ye would not make any more moves to correct it.

"Maybe I can introduce you to the Explorers Association, with this level of identity, it will be much more convenient for you to go on any expedition in the future."

This bold bearded man seemed intent on cultivating Bai Ye to be the successor to his dead partner.

"After all, with your skill, you will definitely be able to achieve something on the road of great adventure in the future."

"In that case, then I'll thank you in advance."

Bai Ye instinctively smelled some kind of reward, and agreed without hesitation.

……

After tidying up, the two used the compass and the map of the forest to find the approximate location of the broken down vehicle.

After walking in that direction for a while, a broken down buggy was parked on a rough path.

Rick Jones is a jack of all trades, and in his own words, 'you don't know what kind of difficulties you're going to have on the adventure, so let yourself master as many skills as you can.' ’

This guy is an expert car repairer, and with Bai Ye's help, it didn't take much effort for him to get the off-road vehicle's engine back running.

After the two got into the car, Bai Ye noticed that the picture in front of him had become blurry, which represented the end of the current scene.

Immediately after, a checkout screen appears in the blurred screen;

【The game has ended】

[Heart rate detection: 60-100, your next game match interval is 10 minutes.] 】

[Plot cracked: 70%]

[Unlocks Mailbox: 'Explorer' Rick Jones.] 】

[Evaluation: Fearless.] 】

[Parlay reward: none (this game is a novice teaching mode, no parlay income)]

……