Chapter 207: If You Can’t Lead a Team, You’ll Just Work Yourself to Death

Chapter 207: Can’t Lead a Team? You’ll Work Yourself to Death

Upon entering the dungeon, Wu Yue woke up in a small wooden cabin.

"Welcome to the personal exploration resource dungeon [Seaside Mining Town]. You are a fortune-seeking gold prospector who has come to the town.

Crystal mines dot the landscape everywhere—in the town outskirts, forests, wilderness, and cliffs by the sea—awaiting brave adventurers!

Starting gear: a small knife, a water flask, and a piece of flint.

Note: SSS-tier dungeons can be saved and resumed later. Each map has a "save point."

Checking the initial items provided by the dungeon, Wu Yue scanned outside through the window.

Her cabin was located at the edge of the town, near the outskirts, with six low-level ghosts wandering in the distance.

These low-level ghosts wielded crude tools such as wooden hammers, pickaxes, and axes. Wu Yue immediately realized her goal: kill the monsters and take their weapons.

However, her current stats were those of an ordinary prospector. Her combat instincts were intact, but her physical prowess was no longer an advantage.

Surveying the cabin, she found a small bag of flour on the table, some charcoal remnants in the fireplace, a kerosene lamp, and half a bottle of rotgut.

In the corner, there were also some leftover aluminum ore.

Using the small knife, she quickly scraped the charcoal and aluminum ores into powder, mixed them with flour, and wrapped the mixture in a torn bedsheet to form an improvised explosive bundle about 20cm in diameter.

She then twisted cotton from the pillow into a makeshift fuse and inserted it into the liquor bottle.

The kerosene lamp, a critical light source for the night, was spared.

After completing her combat preparations, Wu Yue pushed open the cabin door and slipped silently toward the group of monsters.

Spotting an isolated low-level ghost, she kicked its wrist, causing the wooden hammer to fall. Without hesitation, she picked it up first.

"Congratulations! You have obtained a wooden hammer."

No time to brawl—she immediately bolted for the next target.

"Congratulations! You have obtained a wooden axe."

"Congratulations! You have obtained a wooden pickaxe."

Once she had the desired tools, Wu Yue scaled a pre-scouted tree, reaching a safe height.

Looking down at the six low-level ghosts now gathered around the tree, she tossed the dust bomb without hesitation and lobbed the Molotov before leaping onto a lower branch of another tree.

With a "boom," a blast rocked the area.

Two ghosts were instantly killed, while the remaining four were left with low health, continuously bleeding HP due to the burning effect.

As their health dropped into the danger zone, Wu Yue swiftly mopped them up and snagged the loot.

"Congratulations! You have obtained 6 Grue's Teeth."

"Congratulations! You have obtained 6 Grue's Tails."

"Congratulations! You have obtained 6 Blue Crystals (Tier 3 ore, can be traded for gold coins in town)."

"Congratulations! You have obtained 1 Succulent Roast (can be cooked or consumed directly, restores 20 HP upon consumption)."

[System Message] "Congratulations! You've obtained Luminous Jade Ore*1 (a precious first-class ore, worth a fortune!)"

[System Message] "Devastating combat prowess—wiped out six in one go!

As an extra reward, you receive a bottle of Ariadne Wine (consumption induces pleasant dreams)."

Successfully obtaining the items, unexpectedly acquiring a precious ore, and even receiving an additional reward—Sweet!

Wu Yue noticed that the loot in this instance didn’t appear as crystals. To obtain crystals, deeper exploration was required.

While lost in thought, the roar of an engine reached her ears.

Not far away, on the main road outside the suburbs, a medium-sized pickup truck drove past, heading straight for the town.

Wu Yue sprinted after it, leaped onto it, and hopped into the truck bed.

Then,

she found herself staring right back at a dazzling pile of ores.

Wu Yue's mouth went dry.

[System Message] "Congratulations! You've obtained Starlight Stone*100 (the finest ore in Seaport Town—you're rolling in it now, bro!!)"

[System Message] "Jackpot! You've obtained Starlight Stone*100!!"

[System Message] "Score! You've obtained Starlight Stone*100!!!"

....

The notifications spammed her ten times in a row—the entire truckload of Starlight Stones was now hers for the taking.

She also snagged some gear along the way:

[System Message] "Congratulations! You've obtained Premium Climbing Rope!"

[System Message] "Congratulations! You've obtained Platinum-grade Pickaxe!"

[System Message] "Congratulations! You've obtained Platinum-grade Hammer!"

[System Message] "Congratulations! You've obtained Platinum-grade Axe!"

[System Message] "Congratulations! You've obtained a Hunting Rifle with two clips!"

[System Message] "Congratulations! You've obtained High-Quality Rock Climbing Grips!"

[System Message] "Congratulations! You've obtained Full sun protection kit (8 items)!"

[System Message] "The sharpest gold rusher—Absolutely legendary!

As an extra reward, you receive a High-Powered Telescope. May you stand tall and see far!"

Wu Yue was starstruck. Was this happiness coming too suddenly?

"Today's our lucky day. No Gru (monsters) blocking the road for once."

"Yeah, usually the main road’s crawling with Gru demanding roasted meat or they'll trash the ride. Saved us a fortune in bribe meat today."

"Going around would've cost us hours. Wonder who the kind soul was that took care of the mobs for us."

"The city gates are up ahead. Got the gatekeeper's bribe ready for the officer?"

"Ready, those guys are total crooks."

"No other way, coming from the cliffside, this is the only road."

Before approaching the checkpoint, Wu Yue took her chance to jump from the back of the pickup truck into the bushes.

Observing the situation after the pickup entered the inspection station, the vehicle went in but the people didn’t get out. Instead, they handed a stack of money to the checkpoint officer from inside the car. The officer didn’t even inspect the vehicle and let it pass immediately.

Wu Yue guessed that to enter the station, bribing the checkpoint officer was necessary?

Meanwhile, another vehicle entered the station and also handed the officer a stack of money. However, after taking the money, the officer not only didn’t let them pass but also pulled out a gun and shot the driver dead on the spot, then boarded the vehicle to start unloading resources and gold coins.

Wu Yue, ...Now that's some shady business!

So bribing alone wasn’t enough—it seemed those other smugglers had their own connections.

After pondering for three seconds, Wu Yue suddenly had an epiphany.

If they could do it, why couldn’t she?

Slaving away—how could that compare to squatting here and taking the easy pickings?

The facts proved that in the past twenty-plus days of grinding dungeons solo, she’d only filled 30% of the progress meter!

Can't manage a team? You'll die grinding.

From now on, every NPC in the dungeon would be her personal goon squad!!

No time like the present. Finding a sturdy tree branch as her base, Wu Yue used the telescope to scout for suitable targets.

In just one afternoon, Wu Yue successfully scored three more hits.

Loot tally:

"Congratulations! You’ve obtained Starlight Stone*2000"

"Congratulations! You’ve obtained Glowstone*3000"

"Congratulations! You’ve obtained Diamonds (Purple, Green, Pink, Yellow)*2500"

"Congratulations! You’ve obtained Gold*3000"

"Congratulations! You’ve obtained Platinum*2500"

Score!

She upgraded all her gear, traded up to premium weapons, and all utility gear was enhanced to diamond level.

Just as Wu Yue was happily lining up her fifth heist, she suddenly noticed a commotion at the checkpoint.

Someone was shouting loudly:

"Alert all incoming vehicles—there’s a highway bandit in the outskirts!"

"Inspect your haul for stolen resources!"

"Issue an APB immediately! Screen all strangers trying to sell large quantities of resources in the city!"

"My whole shipment of purple diamonds from the deep wilderness - vanished!!"

Ducking down, she stowed the scope, Wu Yue stealthily slipped onto the "borrowed" bicycle and booked it back to her cozy little hideout.

Wu Yue,

^_^ Heh.