Overlord: Start from the Goblin Lair.

Chapter 84: Ghouls Appear

"No, not really."

Ron carefully pieced the bones together while asking Driver and You to continue searching the room. After carefully comparing several bones, he made a new discovery:

"The owners of these skeletons are not very old. I can't tell exactly how old they are, but they are definitely not senile individuals. In other words, they did not die of old age."

"And I didn't see any signs of disease on it. I also didn't see any signs of the plague that the message claimed."

Even though Ron was not a forensic doctor or a clinician, he could still find clues on the skeleton. However, he was dumbfounded: there were almost no signs of disease on these bones. Fungus? Virus? Bacteria? If the owner of these skeletons suffered from illness during his lifetime, then there must be corresponding manifestations on the bones.

"Maybe it's been a long time? Maybe their mine is really not infected with the plague?" Victoria took out a piece of mandibular bone from under the bed and threw it to Ron.

But when Ron accidentally took it and put it together with a half leg bone with teeth marks on it, his hand suddenly stopped.

Sera, who was watching, immediately sneered.

"I've always thought... these tooth marks were left by zombies..." Ron was stunned as he separated the bones in his hands and put them together again, but there was no change at all.

Although both the teeth and bones have varying degrees of wear, the degree of match is sufficient to serve as evidence.

"They starved to death," Sylvia sighed, "and finally had to fall into this state."

"But no matter the victims or the survivors, they can't escape death." Ron smiled bitterly, "What happened here? Why did the last queen have to close the mine?"

The clues provided by the golden dragon now seemed unreliable. The adult golden dragon was probably just a bystander in the kingdom at the time, and the clues he got were just hearsay, and he had never been down the mine himself.

Ron did not find any trace of the plague here, and the Queen did not even consider the people inside when she sealed it off. So what exactly was the reason that made her give such an order?
"And there is another question," Victoria said, "Why are these people guarding here? Even if their compatriots won't let them out, shouldn't they go to the entrance of the mine to call for help?"

"They just accepted their fate and stayed here until they died?"

"Maybe, but they were dragged back to their lair by the ghouls and beasts," Sera shrugged. "Isn't that suspicious?"

"A normally operating mine would allow ghouls and beasts to run rampant? They are obviously latecomers."

"Alas, you smart people always like to guess!" Sera scratched her head irritably, "Why don't we just go down directly? There must be more clues down there than up there!"

"Use your brain! Your brain is used to add weight to your headbutts, not to make you waste time in this crappy place!"

"Okay, okay," Ron smiled, stood up, and dusted off his hands, "Let's go, let's get ready to go down!"

"Hey, you guys!" Driver and You were anxious, "What do you guys mean? We didn't call you here to play with dead people's bones!"

The goblin hunter kicked open a box at the bedside. The lock of the iron box had long been rusted and opened with one kick. The light of gold coins filled the room.

"Gold, gold! You guys just pretended not to see it?!" For Ron, his curiosity to explore further down far outweighed his desire for gold coins, but the goblin didn't care about that and insisted on stuffing all the gold coins into his purse.

"If you don't carry me, I will!" Driver followed angrily at the end of the team, carrying a cloth bag full of coins on his shoulder.

"It looks like this place is a gold mine itself." On the way underground, Ron and his friends occasionally saw scattered gold nuggets on the ground, but it was obvious that the creatures here were no longer interested in gold.

Driver accepted all the gold coins that came his way, and the gold bars he carried on his back became more and more numerous.

With You's help in exploring the way, he was happy to have some free time and simply concentrated on picking up gold in the back.

"Be careful, this gold is cursed, Driver!" Ivy laughed at him, "If you get corrupted by picking up gold, we will have to kill you."

"Pah, pah, pah!" The goblin bared his teeth and made a threatening expression, "I will not be corrupted! I am the most upright, loyal and indestructible Lord Driver!"

"Okay, stop messing around," Ron suddenly dimmed the light spell and led his companions into a passage on the side. "Did you hear that? There are dragging and footsteps coming up from downstairs!"

"Maybe it's getting dark outside," You went to the front and took a look around, "It's time for those ghouls to forage for food and move around."

"Are we going to kill them all? Just ambush them here?"

This is a relatively narrow tunnel. No matter how numerous and powerful the enemy is, or how ferocious they look, they will have to consult the tower shield in Ivy's hand first when they get here.

"I'll help you conceal your breath." Sylvia chanted a spell softly, and a hazy gray curtain enveloped Ron and the others.

As we waited with bated breath, the chaotic footsteps grew closer and closer. The ghouls dragged their heavy and stiff corpses up from the lower level of the mine.

"I say," Driver peeked outside, "can ghouls actually be colorful?"

"Of course," Sylvia introduced like a treasure, "Generally speaking, ghouls appear to be a corrupted gray, but due to various reasons: such as eating the flesh and blood of magical creatures, being exposed to radiation in the environment or other reasons, they may undergo different transformations and become variants."

"One type of ghoul has a pale and transparent skin. Their strength and agility are greatly enhanced, and their claws become larger. These white ghouls are usually called war ghouls. Necromancers, such as the old man who taught me, particularly like them."

"There is another type whose skin becomes swollen and pus-filled, and takes on a moldy green color. Their bodies have the ability to spread disease, so they are called plague ghouls. I guess the plague in the Golden Dragon information refers to them."

"The third type has dark red skin and is called the Famine Ghoul. They become thin and withered until they are just skin and bones, and their bites are accompanied by curses, slowly draining the victim's self-awareness. If this pain lasts for a long time, the victim will be infected with an unclean hunger for fresh meat and it will go beyond their control, and then they will be transformed into ordinary gray ghouls."

Sylvia finished introducing them in one breath: "That's basically it. What kinds did you see?"

"All of them."

(End of this chapter)