At the entrance to the mining site, the lean figure who was standing beside the hopper car took off his trench coat, revealing two short swords strapped to his waist. He pulled the two short swords and said, “Let’s go. This fellow who is of the same type as us… I’m curious to know who’s backing him.”
The medium height figure revealed a grim expression and he replied, “I keep getting this strange feeling. This fellow is probably not that simple.”
The lean figure glanced at his companion and let out a sudden burst of laughter. Without trying to hide the tone of derision in his voice, he said in a hushed tone, “Eh? Where did your balls fall to? I’ve been very curious about one thing. Did you lose your balls inside that last punishment instance dungeon?”
“Watch your words, Theodore!” A fearsome expression appeared on the medium height figure’s face. “Listen properly! The only reason I chose to enter the punishment instance dungeon last time was to find that ‘tiger’ You’d better not look at me with that kind of gaze you use to look at losers!”!
The lean Theodore sneered. “That’s right. You were ordered to go find that tiger. I was very eager to see the Earth-shattering battle that would erupt between you, the wicked dragon and that tiger. But in the end… even before you could seize that tiger’s tail, he had been killed off by someone else. You even fled back after suffering a wound.”
If someone else happened to be there at that moment, they would certainly be surprised.
Theodore’s companion, whom he was ridiculing was none other than the one who had transformed into a colossal dragon back in the punishment instance dungeon… Jacob![1]
Jacob’s eyes were gleaming in crimson as he stared at Theorore, his fists clenched tightly.
On Jacob’s shoulder, a head poked out from within his clothes. It was none other than the dragon. At present, the dragon had the appearance similar to that of an ordinary lizard. Its pair of slit eyes was staring at Theodore and it spat out, “Jacob, this fellow is insulting you. Should we kill him off?”
“Ha ha ha!” Theodore laughed before snapping, “Jacob, rein in your lizard. Otherwise, I will kill it and cook it with wine!”
Jacob cast a cold stare at Theodore.
Finally, he loosened his fists and said, “The quest is more important. First, we must finish our quest… however, when we return this time, let’s have a duel! I’ve had enough of you, you bastard! I will surely kill you off!”
“Very well. When we return after this, we’ll have a duel.” Theodore rolled his eyes before continuing. “Last time, our Guild Leader had used his authority to stop us. But this time, no one can stop our duel!”
“Good! It’s decided then! I’ve been wanting to finish you off for a long time!”
“We share the same thoughts. I have been wanting to do the same to you for a long time.” Theodore licked his lips.
The two of them stared at one another for a few seconds before turning their gazes away.
Although they hated each other to the extreme, the two of them continued to walk together through the mineshaft leading into to the mine. They walked along the iron tracks for around tens of metres before their faces suddenly contorted!
At almost the same time, the two of them reacted! They turned around and ran!
Next, a loud noise reverberated forward from the depths of the mine!
The rumbling sounds were similar to that of a series of thunders! The jarring sound echoed through the small mining passageway and even the ground beneath them shuddered somewhat!
In one breath’s time, the two of them dashed back out from the entrance and they continued to bolt out. Then, they watched as the shockwaves blasted out various sand and gravel out from the entrance!
The roaring sound continued reverberating through the mine.
Countless rocks of varying sizes fell down from above.
After a good half a minute, the activity slowly subsided. Theodore’s face sank; without waiting for the activity to fully subside, he strode back into the entrance. Jacob who noticed what he was doing gritted his teeth before following suit.
After running a distance of tens of metres into the mining passageway, they saw that it had suffered from a serious cave-in. The iron tracks laid into the ground had been buried by the rocks. As they made their way deeper inside, they saw an increasing number of rocks blocking their path. Eventually, they reached a point where their path forward was completely blocked off!
There was a grim expression on Theodore’s face and he slammed his fist down on the rocks. “Explosives! What a cunning bastard!”
“It’s to stop us from venturing deeper!” Jacob harrumphed. “The fellow inside is very cunning.”
Theodore slammed his fist onto another rock, instantly shattering it!
He then swore out furiously.
…
Deep inside the mining passageway, Chen Xiaolian dashed with all his might. After running over a distance of tens of metres, he finally stopped at a corner. He leaned upon the wall of the passageway and gasped for breath.
He wore a mask over his face. Now that the howling winds and the debris within the mine had abated, he took off the mask and turned around to head back into the central underground cave.
Damn, this bomb purchased from the Exchange System packs quite the punch!
Chen Xiaolian was naturally very satisfied with its effects. However… its power nearly buried even him!
Go fight against those intruders head on?
No way. Chen Xiaolian did not even consider doing that.
At any rate, the quest given by the system was for him to guard the mining site for 48 hours.
By now, a good portion of that time had already passed. As long as he could figure out some methods to delay more time until the countdown ended, he would have won. Why bother risking his life fighting against those intruders?
By causing the entrance to cave in, he had bought himself quite some time. Perhaps, it might even buy him a great deal of time.
As he coughed, Chen Xiaolian ran back into the main control room. There, he saw that Una was crouched in a corner, shivering.
When she saw Chen Xiaolian enter, Una jumped up and screamed out sharply, “There’s an explosion! Explosion! This place will collapse! We need to leave this place! Quick! I want to leave this place! I don’t want to stay here!”
Chen Xiaolian walked over and pulled the woman up with one hand before pinning her against the wall. Staring into her eyes, he said coldly, “I was the one who caused the explosion. This place will not collapse! I am simply stopping some people from entering. As for you, just stay here obediently and I will ensure that your survival.”
After saying that, Chen Xiaolian tossed Una to the side. Next, he moved toward the metal screen monitor and checked the fruits of his actions.
Tapping open the map, he tapped again at the monitoring screen for the entrance. To Chen Xiaolian’s satisfaction, he found from the monitors that around 20 metres of the entrance passageway had collapsed due to the explosion he set up.
In other words, around 20 metres of the passageway leading into the central underground cave had been blocked off.
Chen Xiaolian was very satisfied with this result.
This 20 metres of blockage was not something that could be easily cleared.
At present however, Chen Xiaolian was feeling very regretful. He should have made preparations back when he was entering this place.
If he had set up a remote bomb at the very entrance of the mine, he might have been able to give them even more problems. Perhaps, he might even be able to bury them alive!
Sigh… I was too careless. Why didn’t I think of that earlier?
Chen Xiaolian sighed with regret.
…
“Bastard! Now what?”
After lugging two rocks up, Theodore furiously tossed the rocks aside before staring at Jacob. He asked, “Do you have any way?”
“Did you bring Mechanical Arms? If we use Mechanical Arms to dig…”
“Idiot! After becoming a dragon, did you brain also become the same as that of a quadruped animal’s?” Theodore sneered. “Use Mechanical Arms? We don’t even know how much of the passageway had caved in. How long are we supposed to dig? Three days? Five days?”
Pausing, Theodore then spat out. “Now is the time for you to contribute! Can’t you transform into a dragon? Transform! Transform and dig a way in!”
…
“Did you lose your marbles?” Jacob retorted angrily. “Transform into a dragon? Just look at the size of the mine! After I transform, my body will take up over tens of metres! Can this narrow passageway fit my body? If I transform here, it will only cause an even bigger cave-in!”
“Then what should we do?”
“How the bloody Hell should I know?”
…
Chen Xiaolian stood before the metal screen monitor. He watched happily as the two figures in the screen argued.
He then triumphantly stretched his waist.
Unfortunately, Chen Xiaolian was unable to recognize Jacob. Back in the punishment instance dungeon, he had not been able to get a good look at Jacob before he transformed into a dragon. Otherwise, he would have been more vigilant.
“That… who are they?” Una who was behind him asked with a quivering voice.
Una watched as Theodore casually picked up two boulders and tossed them away. The sight caused cold sweat to break out all over her head.
Chen Xiaolian glanced at her but elected to say nothing. He walked to the side, sat down and continued to assess the situation.
Two minutes later, Chen Xiaolian got up, walked out of the main control room and into the underground cave.
He checked his surroundings and pondered for a moment before finally taking action.
Chen Xiaolian purchased some more bombs from the Exchange System and began setting them up.
He walked to the passageway leading to the underground river and set up a bomb on top of the passageway. He set up one bomb every three metres for a distance of around 10 metres.
After reaching the pier by the underground river, he inspected the tracks and the boat before turning back into the underground cave.
He walked around the huge furnace in the centre of the cave. However, he was unable to glean anything from it.
Before considering what happens in case of a victory, consider what will happen in case of a defeat.
Chen Xiaolian made up his mind. If the other party could make it inside before the countdown ended… if he was not a match for them, he would have to run away.
He had already considered it through. There was no need for him to risk his life here… this mine was a very precious mine. To have it was certainly a good thing, but there was no need for him to throw his life away for the sake of obtaining it.
He would escape through the underground river as a last resort.
The bombs installed in the passageway leading to the underground river was for the sake of buying time for him to escape.
These actions of his took up more than one hour.
After returning to the main control room, Chen Xiaolian inspected the monitor screen for a bit and he sighed a breath of relief. Through the monitor, he could observe the two figures digging outside.
The two of them were now sporting huge, strange looking mechanical arms. Using those arms, they dug out the boulders one after another.
Those mechanical arms appeared quite capable in terms of functions. It could seize, scoop and crush.
Chen Xiaolian was very intrigued by the strange looking equipment and he stared at it for a full five minutes.
He silently calculated the speed at which the outside party was digging and came to a very reassuring conclusion.
Judging from their progress within those five minutes, digging their way through the 20 metres of blocked passageway would take them at least 30 hours.
In other words, Chen Xiaolian would be able to make it to the end of the countdown.
Chen Xiaolian through to himself: Could God himself be helping me this time around?
This quest appeared easier than what he had anticipated.
As he sat down to rest, he suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him.
This strange feeling of exhaustion puzzled Chen Xiaolian. However, the waves of drowsiness swept over him again and again and he felt as though his consciousness was sinking. This feeling of drowsiness caused Chen Xiaolian to feel that something was out of place. However, he was unable to figure out what exactly that was.
He sat there and his head nodded off a few times before his eyes finally closed…
After closing his eyes, his even rate of breathing gradually turned heavy…
At that moment, a figure suddenly emerged from the corner.
The figure reached out with one hand, placing it on a metal pipe beside the wall of the main control room. The hand gently twisted.
A cracking sound could be heard as a part of the metal pipe was torn off.
The figure then twisted the metal pipe into something akin to a drill. There was a spiral pattern on the metal pipe and the end of the metal pipe had been twisted into a sharp tip!
The figure carried the metal pipe that had been sharpened like a screw and silently crept until it was standing before Chen Xiaolian. The figure then raised its hand, pointing the sharp tip of the metal pipe at Chen Xiaolian’s chest…
…