Mission in another world with my transformed best friend

Faced with Wang Kai's increasingly blatant peeping gaze, Zhang Lan sighed, recalled for a moment, then put one hand on her hip, straightened one leg and took a half step back with the other, slightly twisting her waist inward, tilting her head slightly, and brushing a few stray strands of hair from her forehead with her other hand. "My posture is only amateurish imitation of some international models," she said softly, a slight smirk playing on her lips.

"Want to see it?"

"..." Wang Kai's attention was no longer on his hearing, and he didn't react at all.

Seeing this, Zhang Lan raised her voice slightly, but still spoke in a calm and unhurried manner.

"Does it look good?"

"Ah, so...beautiful."

"Is it sexy?"

"Hmm, sex... ah?" At this moment, Wang Kai's brain cells slowly started to function.

"Did you react? Look at you, so stupid!? You've never seen anything like it in your life!"

Finally, a series of probing questions made Wang Kai withdraw his greedy gaze and turn his head away...

Seeing this, Zhang Lan lost interest in continuing the game. After putting on his pants, he prepared to further examine the girl he had pulled from the well. Wang Kai, however, for some reason, suddenly blurted out a question.

"Your words were so forceful, and you were all blushing as you struck that pose, which...it scared me a little. I wasn't really interested in watching..."

"Oh……"

Zhang Lan touched her face, which was indeed a little hot. She just frowned slightly as she replied.

"I just rescued someone from the well while upside down, and my blood is still rushing to my head. You didn't actually think I was embarrassed by that little accident, did you? But to be honest, you certainly got a good look at this 'Alice sister'. I haven't even had a proper look at her yet. Okay, from now on, I'll find a place with a mirror and..."

"You bastard!?"

Wang Kai was furious and embarrassed upon hearing this, but before he could vent his anger, it was drowned out by a heart-wrenching wail from a young girl…

"Ah, Grandma! Waaah..."

Wang Kai and Zhang Lan turned their heads at the same time. The girl who had just been rescued had perhaps regained consciousness. She turned her head to the side, glanced at the body that had been lying on the well, and tears welled up in her eyes. She then lay down on the body and cried uncontrollably...

Seeing this, Wang Kai wanted to go over and offer some advice, but Zhang Lan stopped him.

"Never mind, losing a loved one who died protecting you is the hardest feeling to bear. This girl seems to be alright now, let her cry for a while..."

As the sun shone just below the ridgeline, a newly dug grave appeared on the hillside near the destroyed village. A young girl squatted inside, covering the body of her loved one with a white cloth, placing a flower on the ground, wiping away tears from the corner of her eye with her muddy little hands, and speaking in a hoarse voice.

“Grandma, thank you for finding me in the forest, and thank you for taking care of me for nearly ten years… even at the last moment when danger struck, you saved me with your life. The kindness of you… and the other villagers of Tara Village, is something I can never repay in this lifetime. From now on… I can only pray to the gods every day for you. Rest in peace…”

Then, the girl turned around and silently filled the grave with soil, clasped her hands together and prayed softly a few times. She turned back to look at the two people standing behind her, forced a smile, and said.

"Thank you, adventurers. My name is Martha, and I'm a villager from 'Tara Village.' Although I wasn't born here, I have one-quarter orc blood. I don't have any special talents or much knowledge, except for being quite strong. I can only help my grandmother and the other villagers with farm work. Today... if it weren't for your help, I might already be with my grandmother..."

Ah, orc blood!? Wang Kai's eyes widened. The girl in front of him, with long brown hair, blue eyes, a round face, and dressed in very ordinary rural women's clothing, who looked a year or two younger than "Alice," actually claimed to be "orc hybrid."

Furthermore, since there are racial and bloodline settings, then dwarves, elves, demons, goblins, dragonmen, and the like should also exist, right?

With this setting overflowing with otherworldly elements, it's incredibly exciting! If it weren't for the tragic "village destruction" game storyline at the very beginning, Wang Kai would definitely be jumping for joy right now...

Faced with the heartfelt gratitude of the girl named Martha, Zhang Lan could only offer a sympathetic expression, step forward, and gently remove the clumps of mud from Martha's head, saying softly.

"We've done everything we can about 'Tara Village,' but we've only found you as a survivor. The others are probably all gone..."

"No... Sister, you don't need to comfort me. I already know everything. When danger came, Grandma held me and threw me into the well. All I could hear were the screams of the villagers coming from above the well. I covered my ears, afraid to listen, but when I looked up and saw Grandma's still smiling face, I wasn't afraid of anything anymore. Although she couldn't speak anymore, and the flames on her body were getting bigger and bigger, she never moved an inch from the well opening until finally her body moved and covered the well opening with her body... Later, I could still hear the villagers' shouts, but eventually everything fell silent. Just when I was gradually losing strength, thankfully you came back in time..."

Originally, Zhang Lan only intended to echo Martha's words of gratitude, but as if she had suddenly realized some key information, she took Martha's hand, thought for a few seconds, and asked.

"Wait, how do you know we're adventurers? And you just said we 'returned in time,' did he and I appear in this village before the 'danger' you mentioned?"

"Yes, sister, you came to the village with this brother a few days ago and even left a record at the village adventurers' guild. I was sweeping outside at the time and saw you going in and out of the guild. And you seemed quite excited, while this brother... seemed reluctant to persuade you about something, but you had already gone far away by then, and I didn't hear exactly what you said..."

With such a sudden influx of information, wouldn't rescuing a few more villagers further clarify the main storyline?

As Wang Kai listened, he crossed his arms and began muttering some "gamer jargon" under his breath. He immediately shut up after being glared at by Zhang Lan...

"Gurgle~" "Achoo~"

Zhang Lan wanted to continue asking questions, but suddenly a "my stomach needs to start working" sound came from her stomach, and she was forced to enter by Masa's sudden sneeze.

Both of them were stunned for a moment. Seeing this, Martha touched her clothes, which were soaked by the well water, with some embarrassment and said softly.

"I know you're anxious and have a lot to ask me, but don't rush. The sun has set. Let's go back and find some food and change into clean clothes before we continue..."

Wang Kai could never stand seeing girls pleading with such a troubled expression, so he took it upon himself to walk between the two and add to the conversation.

“Yes, you two, your white robes are so dirty you can’t tell the original color anymore, you look like refugees. And Martha, you’re soaked to the bone, your head, hands and feet are covered in mud. Now that the sun has set, why don’t we all find a place to rest… As for the other villagers, how about we bury them together tomorrow after it’s light?”

Seeing this, Zhang Lan felt too embarrassed to ask any further questions and could only silently follow the two of them down the slope...

Although some clues have emerged, continuing the investigation without confirmation will only lead to confusion.

So on her way back to the village, she seemed to discover some phenomena that confirmed certain of her conjectures, thanks to her sharp eyes.

Returning to the ruins of 'Tara Village', the black smoke from the extinguished flames had also disappeared, leaving only a few scattered remains of villagers on the dark ground.

Others may have been buried under scorched earth, or crushed under collapsed houses, or even...

Martha held back her tears, gritted her teeth, and searched for food and a change of clothes around every ruined house, but unfortunately, she found nothing.

Later, she wanted to search inside the collapsed houses, but Wang Kai quickly stopped her because wooden houses burned by flames are prone to collapse...