Crossing the true dragon realm, and you call me Little Locke?

"Something's not right!"

As they went deeper, the eerily quiet tunnel made Shuoyang uneasy.

While it is generally true that not receiving food for several months would weaken the earthworms.

However, the ground thorn beetles can cannibalize each other to preserve a certain number of combat troops.

Therefore, Shuoyang deliberately released two high-heat targets, Vulcan and Firewood Bug, to attract attention.

The ground beetles didn't react at all, which was clearly something was wrong.

Melanthers also noticed this.

She nodded and affirmed, "That's definitely not right."

"We also experienced sporadic attacks when we were exploring the tunnels before."

"It was when I transformed back into my true form that I scared them away."

She looked around warily and asked, "What do we do now?"

"Should we go back and gather enough manpower, or continue with the original plan to destroy the insect hive?"

"Let's keep going!"

Shuoyang put away the Vulcan and the Firefly, and asked Melanthers, "Can you transform into a bat?"

"It's most likely those with long ears that have arrived; they don't have the heat-sensing ability of the ground spiky bugs."

"Let's go down and see what's going on."

"Yes," Melanthers nodded in agreement.

She is small in stature and has the Stone Movement Technique as a backup. If a situation arises, she can cast a Stone Movement Technique on herself and Shuoyang, and they can return to their true forms.

So she and Shuoyang transformed into bats, with Shuoyang still pointing the way and her scouting ahead.

After flying for half a day, they arrived at the underground cavity they had discovered in Shuoyang that day.

Unlike the bustling scene that day, filled with thorn beetles.

The underground cavern is now empty and desolate, devoid of any living ground worms.

All that remained were scattered limbs and a few menacing, silent stone statues of ground thorns.

Shuoyang and Melanthers used the bats' echolocation system to explore the burrow and confirmed that there were no ambushes inside.

They flew into the cave and transformed into dragonborn and half-elves who could communicate.

Shuoyang released the God of Fire and the Firefly to guard him.

Melanthers then crouched down and picked up a few jagged, broken insect limbs.

She examined it carefully for a while, then said with a puzzled look, "Something's strange!"

"There were only bite marks, no signs of hacking."

"It's like a result of simple infighting."

Shuoyang did not answer; both he and Melanthers understood.

The ground thorn beetle, which has an ant-like social structure, will at most eat some of the old, weak, sick, and disabled in order to maintain its fighting strength.

It's simply impossible for them to kill each other to the point of the entire clan's extinction.

So he carefully observed the stone statues of the ground thorn insects, trying to find some clues.

There are many monsters with the ability to petrify.

Monsters like Medusa, snake chickens, and petrified lizards all possess the ability to petrify, and each has its own subspecies in the Underdark.

However, in the face of swarms of ground thorn beetles, except for a few extremely powerful Medusa individuals, none of them pose a threat.

Therefore, Shuoyang had a bad feeling about the petrified earthworms in front of him.

He asked Melanthers, "Do you know advanced restoration magic?"

"Yes," Melanthers nodded.

Her bard rank is quite high, possessing two fifth-circle spell slots.

Furthermore, the Copper Dragon's spell list already includes a high-level restoration spell that can be used once a day.

"Then let's use magic to save one!"

Shuoyang selected a young ground thorn beetle from among the stone statues.

Petrification is a permanent spell effect. Although it cannot be removed by dispel magic, it can be removed by spells such as Greater Restoration, Wish, or Miracle.

The Copper Dragon is a member of the Talkative Three Dragons Group.

Like the brass dragon and the green dragon, it possesses the innate ability to communicate with animals and monsters.

Communication with the ground spiny insects is naturally not a problem.

Therefore, with the Balloon Cat providing basic healing, exchanging a high-level recovery spell for the corresponding information is quite worthwhile.

So Melanthers did as he was told, casting a Greater Restoration spell on the thorn beetle statue that Shuoyang had pointed to.

As the light shone, stone dust fell from the young man's body.

It is accompanied by the flow of magic from the inside out.

Its bones, its internal organs, its flesh... gradually de-petrified and regained their vitality.

"Roar~!!!"

Because it had no memory of the petrification period, this young ground thorn beetle recovered immediately.

It then regarded Shuoyang and the others as enemies, and roared as it pounced.

Shuoyang didn't even lift an eyelid at this.

A blazing claw suddenly shot out, grabbed the young earthworm's head, and slammed it to the ground.

With a muffled "bang," the ground thorn beetle felt dizzy.

Then a hissing sound came from its shell.

A searing pain shot through its head, gradually spreading towards its brain.

"Yangyan, stop!"

Shuoyang stopped the fire god in time; Yangyan was the name he gave the fire god.

After all, there are true gods in this world, and we must avoid speaking ill of them.

He didn't want to be targeted and cause trouble because of a name.

Vulcan Yangyan also likes his new name.

Upon hearing the command, it immediately reduced its firepower.

Although its fiery body continued to scorch the earthworm's carapace, crackling and popping.

But the little heat left is barely enough to ignite even a single twig.

For the thick-skinned ground beetle, it's just a little hot right now, which it can tolerate.

"Hiss~, hiss!"

After his head was roasted by the sun's flames, the young earthworm's mind finally cleared.

It was pressed into the ground, looking at Shuoyang, who had transformed into a dragon, and the fire-breathing worm beside him.

It hissed urgently, "Hiss! Hiss!"

Upon hearing the call, Melanthers explained to Shuoyang, "It recognizes you."

"They're begging you for mercy!"

"Hmm~," Shuoyang paused for a moment.

Then it dawned on him that this young ground worm was the same unlucky creature he had used as bait to search for the worm's nest.

"Oh, it's you! That makes things easier."

Shuoyang smiled and pointed to the surrounding remains and limbs. "Tell me about it!"

"What's going on here?"

"Hiss~ hiss, hiss, hiss..."

Faced with an absolute disparity in strength, the young Earth Spikeworm dared not conceal anything.

It hissed for a while and then recounted the whole story in detail.

Upon hearing this, Melanthers frowned and her expression became serious.

She translated succinctly to Shuoyang: "It's the Eye Demon!"

"They encountered a drow squad allied with the Eye Demon."

"After slaughtering their tribe and learning that dragons existed at the exit, the drow squad kidnapped their lord."

"It was forced to eat all the corpses and eggs of its own kind to replenish its strength."

"And they enslaved the earthworm lord, forcing it to open a secret passage to your lair's treasure vault."

"And those few were left behind because of that bewitching demon's twisted sense of humor; he deliberately petrified them with his petrifying rays."

"Hmph," Shuoyang chuckled with a hint of relief upon hearing this.

He could only say that he was really lucky.

His treasure trove is now cleaner than his face, thanks to his professional advancement.

Therefore, the plan of this group of Drow to steal the treasure was destined to be a complete failure.

But at the same time, he had some doubts.

According to the ground thorn insect, these drow have been digging for over a week.

Even if they were crawling, they should have reached his treasure vault by now. How come his lair warning wasn't triggered at all?