Lu Siya might have been an ambitious woman, and at the prospect that could bring her 300% profit, she did not mind trampling on all the laws set by Dragon City, but she was not a bloodthirsty lunatic.
Unless it was absolutely necessary, she did not want to fight against Shen Yulong, especially when she was not certain whether she could take the e victory.
Unfortunately for them, their goal was the same.
They had experienced mine explorers, and their exploration equipment and skills were about the same.
If they went down the same spirit energy ley line, it was only natural that they would often chance upon the other team in the dark maze.
The groups were incredibly frustrated because of the spirit energy magnetic field interference, and they were exhausted because the exploration was above their limits. They also had to be constantly on guard to not be ambushed by the other party. They were so wary that even their own shadows were treated as enemies.
This was especially so since Shen Yulong had a four-star gunslinger in his group.
Lu Siya had considered the complicated environment in the dark underground and thought that it would not allow guns to show their full power, so she did not get a professional sharpshooter in her mine exploration team.
It was not until they met Shen Yulong that she learned that she had made a miscalculation. She could constantly sense other people watching them from the dark. It felt as if needles were pricking their backs, and they drained their energy nonstop.
“Shen Yulong, that bastard. He knows that the underground creatures have never seen humans, so they aren’t afraid of guns and there’s no reason to bring a gunslinger,” Lu Siya cursed. “This guy planned ahead and intended to fight against his competitors. He hired a Heaven Realm gunslinger to intimidate the other humans!”
The realization came way too late.
Since they did not have someone skilled in long-distance attacks and defense, they could only spread out their sentries as widely as possible to widen their defense zone.
This method might ensure their safety for the time being, but it drained their sentries incredibly quickly.
Soon, Sharp Blade members could not handle the pressure and began to grumble.
Lin Chuan said nothing and took over most of the reconnaissance and guard duties.
He was like a machine that knew no fatigue and could work at a stable pace. He ran back and forth and climbed up and down to explore the zones where dangers lurked everywhere. He found cracks filled with pests and led the group around etherealized plants and fungus that looked like the Stone Statue Fungi and were also incredibly dangerous.
Meng Chao noticed that his vitality magnetic field was beginning to turn chaotic again, which meant he was at the verge of a breakdown.
His eyes became brighter on his pale face, and they burned with an overly excited spark.
Meng Chao wanted to persuade Lin Chuan to rest, but the Universe Corporation mine exploration team and Frenzied Saber members as well as Qin Hu occasionally popped up, which didn’t give them any chance to catch their breath.
It was a fight of wills, and their nerves were strained. They could practically hear them snapping. But no one knew which side would be the first to falter.
Fortunately, twelve hours after they ran into Shen Yulong, Lu Siya’s mine exploration team discovered the first Red Radiance Jade mine.
“This is…”
They dropped down thirty meters along a newly formed underground crack and noticed a crack horizontally.
They lowered their bodies and crawled into it. There was a wide space inside, which felt like another universe. It was a colorful, crystalline underground “palace”.
And in the northwest corner of the “palace” was a bump that looked like a raging dragon baring its teeth. It shone with light that looked like a reflection on a lake. It was the Red Radiance Jade that the group had been dreaming of locating!
The group was so happy that they cried and cheered.
They felt that all their sacrifices and torment were worth it.
They were also filled with respect and admiration for Lu Siya, because she discovered the Red Radiance Jade mine. They even forgot their grudge toward her for acting like a dictator.
Zhang Weiyan led a few mine explorers forward and carved a few runic symbols on the red stones to stabilize the spirit energy.
Then, they began carefully gathering samples.
The Red Radiance Jade raw ores gave off a dark light, so they looked like red amber. They did not shine as brilliantly as refined Red Radiance Jades, but it was still filled with a power that could capture souls.
However…
“8.2%, 7.5%, 9.1%… These raw ores don’t have a lot of Red Radiance Jade in them!” Zhang Weiya frowned.
They had already switched spots eight times to gather samples, but the raw ores they gathered all had less than 10% Red Radiance Jade. This figure caused the group, who had been really excited when they discovered the Red Radiance Jade mine, to falter.
Lin Chuan told Meng Chao that since the rights to mine a place meant extraordinary profit, the requirements to verify that someone had located a mine were very strict. They had to mine three raw ores with more than 10% of a certain ore in the same mine, but the locations in which the three raw ores were mined had to be a set distance away from each other. It was only then that they could be considered to have discovered a certain crystal’s mine.
Otherwise, if they mined a normal stone with only a little bit of crystals and were considered to have discovered all the mines within a circular area of fifty kilometers, that would make absolutely no sense.
Now, they could only be considered to have captured the tail of the Red Radiance Jade mine. They had yet to seize the right to mine the place first in their hands.
“It’s fine. We’re already very close to victory. This is definitely a fragment of a branch of the Red Radiance Jade mine. If we move along this branch, we will definitely find the main mine!”
Compared to the moment before she entered the underground mine, Lu Siya had now shrunk up, but she was even more excited than Lin Chuan. She continued motivating the people at the top of her voice. “Everyone, let’s work a little harder! We can’t let our efforts go to waste!”
The group did want to press oneward, but their bodies did not allow them to do so.
They had been moving with willpower alone for some time, and when they thought that they seized the right to mine the place first, many people sat down on the ground and their minds relaxed. They could no longer get up.
“Siya, let’s rest for a while.” When Lin Chuan saw the others, he could not help but say, “It has been three days and nights since we set out, and many people have not shut their eyes for even a minute. Even if their bodies were made of steel, they’d be about to turn into scrap metal.
“I’m going to be a little crass and say this. With our current situation, even if we discover the main Red Radiance Jade mine but are ambushed by Shen Yulong and his group, there’s no way anyone would have the strength to fight back.”
Lu Siya was stunned for a brief moment. Then, a contemplative expression appeared on her face.
“Makes sense. Then, we’ll rest for… three hours. Everyone, seize the time to eat some food and enter deep meditation. Then, check your weapons and equipment.”
Lu Siya observed the terrain around her. A thought sprung up in her mind and she said, “But we will set up two camps. The mine explorers will rest here, and the hunters will rest at the corners.
“Lin Chuan, Scimitar, both of you set up a defense formation in a secretive location. Make sure that when Shen Yulong ambushes us, we can launch a beautiful counterattack!”
Lin Chuan nodded. “Got it.”
Very soon, the camp was split into two.
They appeared to be unguarded. The mine explorers snored away with their limbs splayed.
In the meantime, the hunters from Sharp Blade lurked in the dark and remained wary as they waited for Shen Yulong’s mine exploration team to walk into their trap.
But even after more than two hours passed, Shen Yulong did not appear.
They did not know whether it was because he did not notice the crack that led to the Red Radiance Jade mine or that he found some other crack that could lead him straight to the main Red Radiance Jade mine.
Ever since Meng Chao returned to the past, it was the first time he had joined such a difficult mission. Even if he could quickly repair his body by spending thousands of contribution points in exchange for two Initial Stage Healing Skills, he could only heal the damage to his body. He could not repair his mind, which was so tense that it was about to snap.
He sat down in a meditative position in his tent and entered a deep meditative state. He had a few nightmares while resting.
In one of his nightmares, he dreamed that he and Lin Chuan had turned into two lizards living in a dark hell.
As for Lu Siya, she turned into a beautiful female serpent that commanded them to fight against another group of venomous snakes and lizards.
Lin Chuan continued shouting at the lizards across from them that they were the same kind of people.
But the lizards across them did not care. At the command of a venomous snake that had Shen Yulong’s head, they tore Lin Chuan to shreds until he was unrecognisable.
Red tentacles then crawled out of Lin Chuan’s mangled body and pieced his corpse into a deformed and ugly monster.
Lin Chuan returned from the dead, and under the light of his Undying Bird, he smiled with savageness.
It turned out that he had been infested by a Blood Flower a long time ago and now turned into an undead.
Meng Chao was shocked awake.
Then, he heard Lin Chuan’s shout outside the tent.
He could not care about wiping off the cold sweat on his brow. He grabbed his chain sabers and crawled out of his tent. Everyone had jumped up as if they were facing a great enemy.
“What’s going on?!”
“Is it an enemy ambush?”
“Lin Chuan, what did you discover?”
Lin Chuan’s expression was dark as he returned from the distance. A few fresh lacerations were on his body.
He made his flesh squirm and forced out a few bits of stones from his wound. “Someone ran, and I chased after them, but I was ambushed outside the crack. It was dark around us, and the spirit energy magnetic field interference was too strong. I didn’t manage to see who it was clearly, but he should be someone from Sharp Blade.
“I was worried about being surrounded by Heaven Realm fighters, so I didn’t dare to continue chasing. I could only retreat.”
“Someone… ran?” Lu Siya was silent for a while. Then, her gaze turned sharp. She turned to Zhang Weiyan and Scimitar and said hurriedly, “Hurry up and do a headcount of your team!”
Scimitar soon finished his headcount. There was not a single person missing from Sharp Blade.
From the other group, one Sky Pillar Corporation mine explorer was absent.
They were also missing a sample of the Red Radiance Jade raw ore they had just mined. A set of the exploration trajectory records and a tablet recording their exploration data were also gone.
“It’s Hu Peng,” Zhang Weiyan said in a regretful tone. “This guy is a good mine explorer, but he’s a gambling addict. I heard that he lost a lot of money last year in an underground gambling den and was taught a severe lesson by his family. I thought that he had turned over a new leaf and would be an honest man this year. I didn’t expect…”
“No way.” Lin Chuan’s expression was full of surprise. “Are you saying that this Hu Peng is a corporate spy bought by Universe? And now, Shen Yulong got to know about our discoveries? Damn it, if that’s really the case, I should have stopped him even at the cost of my own life!”
“Forget it. I was the one who picked him. It’s an oversight on my part, and you’re not to be blamed.” Lu Siya narrowed her eyes and said through gritted teeth, “Yu Shenlong loves playing these sort of tricks, but they won’t change the ending. Let’s go. Even if we die, we’ll die in the Red Radiance Jade mine!”
The fleeing of a corporate spy was like a huge stone full of spikes that pressed down on the group’s heart.
When they set out, the terrain became even more dangerous. The air became thinner, and just after a few steps, they found themselves feeling faint. It was difficult to breathe.
They could only advance carefully while on guard against danger that could come from anywhere.
But no matter how careful they were, they did not manage to spot the enemy ambush.
Boom!
When they were passing by a steep wall, a huge stone suddenly broke off and came falling on their heads .