At the west gate of the Earth Fire Furnace Fort, fifteen Diamond Mountain Demon Lizards more than three meters long were lined up.

The Diamond Mountain Lizard has short legs and a long body, its mouth protrudes forward like a crocodile, its body is covered with hard armor, and a sharp horn on its head is like a drill bit. They are underground monsters domesticated by the dwarves and mounts of the dwarven cavalry, and their ferocity is far higher than that of the orcs' wolves.

This was the first time Joan had seen a Diamond Lizard, and she ran over curiously and stroked its hard gray-brown scales with her hands.

A stout dwarf with a big head stretched out his hand to Arthur, "Lord Arthur, welcome to join the exploration team, I am Steel Bean, and I will lead this exploration of the underworld." ”

The team in front of him is the newly formed exploration team of the Dwarf Kingdom, in addition to Arthur, Joan, Arnold and Toruń, there are eleven dwarves, and it is the steel bean in front of him who leads the team.

Arthur couldn't judge the strength of the steel bean, but Toren obviously knew the steel bean, and his eyes were full of excitement. Steel Bean is the nickname of this dwarf, because he is the hardest dwarf in battle and will never be crushed.

Arthur replied with a smile: "Captain Steel Bean, I have to trouble you to take care of it all the way, we can set off at any time." ”

"Okay, let's go. "Steel Bean stepped onto the Drill Mountain Lizard at the front.

Arthur and the others were in the middle of the group, these drill lizards were very tame, although they were vicious, they were very tame, and they had saddles on their backs, and after sitting on them, they quickly crawled forward with a flick of the reins. Although the legs are short, the crawling speed is very fast, and because of the low center of gravity, it sits on it very smoothly.

There is a vast underground world outside of the Earthfire Furnace Castle, and Steel Bean has chosen a path that goes all the way down this time. The first destination of the expedition is a place called the Underground Jungle, which is the main hunting ground for the dwarves on a daily basis.

Along the winding passage, the exploration team passes through dark and deep caves, crosses wide underground rivers, and passes through colorful stalactite forests, and the scenery of the underground world is constantly changing.

After the exploration team traveled for a whole day, the underground world in front of them suddenly opened up, as if from the cave to the vast outside world, the fire could not shine on the top of the cave, and the front was a stone pillar of different shapes and thicknesses that poked out of the ground, forming a vast stone forest.

This is the Underground Jungle, the destination of the exploration team.

There are countless underground streams like meridians flowing through the jungle, the humid environment has given birth to a large number of mosses, gray algae, rock mushrooms and other plants that do not need sunlight, and the rich plant resources have fed a large number of phytophagous, and the gathering of phytophagous organisms has attracted underground carnivorous organisms.

Once in the jungle, all the dwarves became vigilant, as there were not only common prey, but also the occasional large monster that preyed on.

"Did you get attacked here last time?" Arthur asked Toren suddenly.

"Deep in the jungle, the fire monkeys never go near the periphery of the jungle. ”

Before Toruń's words fell, a cacophony of voices sounded in the jungle ahead, and the entire exploration team immediately stopped advancing and prepared for battle.

The sound was getting closer, and the squeaks and shouts could already be heard.

"It's the fire monkeys, all ready to fight. "The steel bean gave a warning of battle.

"Run, fire monkeys are crazy!" a dozen dwarves ran from the jungle ahead, looking back in panic as they ran.

Behind the dwarves there was a line of fire in hot pursuit, and when you got closer, you could see that they were fire monkeys with dark red fur, little things baring their teeth and roaring, and they pounced quickly on all fours.

Judging by the size of the line of fire, there were at least hundreds of them, and the dwarves who ran last were immediately devoured by these fire monkeys as soon as they fell or were caught up.

"Axe ready!" The team immediately split in two to move out of the middle passage, and all the dwarves took out their short axes, which were only the length of their forearms.

"Shoot!" With a command from Steel Bean, twelve axes spun and threw at the group of fire monkeys.

Projectile axes are a must-have skill for all dwarven warriors, and with a bang, twelve axes shatter the heads of twelve fire monkeys.

This was followed by the second and third rounds of axe throwing, and another fire monkey fell to the ground.

The dwarves who were being chased took the opportunity to run through the passage left in the middle of the exploration team, and the exploration team immediately closed together and rushed towards the fire monkey group.

The huge body of the Drill Mountain Devil Lizard threw itself into the group of fire monkeys, and knocked down two or three fire monkeys with a single pounce, and bit off these small things with a big mouth.

The dwarven warriors on the back of the mountain demon lizard stood up one after another, swinging the sledgehammer and giant axe in their hands and smashing them into the surrounding fires. The dwarven warrior was naturally powerful, and coupled with the impact of the heavy blade in his hand, he almost smashed the fire monkey upside down one by one.

"Let's help too!" Arthur rushed forward with the Starfall Greatsword, slashing horizontally and vertically, two or three in one sword.

Joan and Arnold stood at the back of the line. Joan threw bursting fireballs the size of a human head into the dense crowd of fire monkeys, and one fireball exploded and blew over five or six fire monkeys around them. Seven or eight black tentacles stretched out in front of Arnold, and these tentacles were as flexible as arms, rolling out of the group one by one and slamming them on the surrounding stone pillars.

These fire monkeys were too weak for this elite dwarven exploration team, and most of them were killed in the blink of an eye, and the rest squeaked and fled in all directions.

The expedition team didn't continue to hunt after them, after all, their purpose was not to hunt these fire monkeys.

Arthur and the others began to examine the corpses of the fire monkeys, and Arnold finally grabbed two alive with his dark tentacles.

"These fire monkeys all have a dark elemental aura on them, but they don't transform into necromantic creatures. Arnold rummaged through several fire monkey corpses and said.

"And what about the effects of the dark elemental on them?" Arthur asked, teasing a fire monkey bound by dark tentacles.

"Aside from being a little more irritable and having a stronger instinct to attack, I don't see the effect of the dark elemental on these creatures for the time being. ”

"Could it be that a dark mage is behind them?"

Arnold shook his head, "I don't see it, these creatures are alive and conscious, and as far as I know, no dark magic can manipulate creatures in this state. ”

"That's weird. ”

"We can only move on, and perhaps find the reason why they have been corrupted by the dark element. ”

The exploration team continued to go deeper into the underground jungle, and along the way, they encountered several groups of fire monkeys that had been corrupted by the dark element.

Although they still haven't been able to find a cause, they have discovered that there are no other creatures in the Underground Jungle that are in a similar situation other than the fire monkeys.

"I know why only the fire monkeys are being eroded?" said Torn.

All eyes were on Toruń.

"Fire monkeys are migratory creatures that forage in the Underground Jungle, but their territory is not actually here. ”

Arthur nodded knowingly, "You mean that the fire monkeys came here to feed after being eroded elsewhere, and where is their territory?"

"A resting place below. ”

As soon as Torun spoke, the faces of all the dwarves turned unnatural.