The atmosphere in Fanggang became extremely strange.
The supply of Star Spirit Stones, which had previously been normal, was suddenly cut off.
People in Fanggang began to feel suffocated. They knew that these outsiders had disobeyed, which would surely provoke the anger of the person in charge of the mine.
Xiaoxiao did not appear again.
The owner of the mine did not appear either.
Not even Lu Yu came out.
Everything seemed as if nothing had ever happened.
“It’s over,” everyone suddenly recalled a sentence Lu Yu had once said, and instantly felt cold sweat pouring down their backs.
The first time Lu Yu brought Star Spirit Stones to Lin Ting for trade, he had warned them,
“You can buy them. But better not to rob, nor to have any crooked ideas. Once you do, the supply of Star Spirit Stones will end! Unless you capture that person and personally deliver the corpse to the edge of the mine, understand?”
When many people recalled this sentence, they finally realized that Lu Yu had not been joking at all.
This was the mine owner ordering them to eliminate the trouble themselves.
Either they would have to capture the mine, or they would have to kill everyone involved in harming Xiaoxiao and deliver their corpses to the edge of the mine.
The atmosphere in Fanggang shifted from strange to tense.
The elite forces from the two cities who had initiated the attack began to sense something wrong. After a little investigation, they were instantly stunned.
“Damn it, is the person at the mine a madman?”
“This is too ruthless! Who came up with such a vicious trick?”
“Whoever thought this up wants us to fight against the entire city!”
“Hurry up and find a way to explore the cave before these people unite and leave this city!”
This group of more than a hundred people became panicked.
They were still human, and no matter how powerful, they couldn’t possibly fight against tens of thousands of people in an entire city.
If they could unite all the outsiders who had come to this city, maybe they could resist the attack.
However, the goals of those who had come to the city were almost the same—pursuing their own interests—making cooperation unlikely.
Many organizations probably hoped even more for their deaths.
Weighing the difficulty of capturing this city and mine against the deaths of these hundred or so outsiders, it was worth it.
Of course, among the teams from various cities, some people had not even stayed long in the city beyond the issue of the mine.
It wasn’t just about the mine; their main goal was the wilderness!
An ancient cave, an ancient ruin, where one might find unexpected treasures.
Their search attracted the attention of other teams, and some who learned of it began searching in the wilderness as well.
However, just at this time,
a team from one city suddenly announced they were abandoning their search in this city, even publicly declaring they would leave soon.
“Zhao Long, what do you mean by this?”
Some teams were stunned.
Zhao Long came from a large city located near the southern coast, a city with a population of over three million.
They had brought seventy-six people in total, six of whom had already reached the peak of the second level in all three attributes. Among all the teams, this team ranked in the top five in terms of strength.
These seventy-six people were worth thousands of ordinary people.
If they attacked the mine, they would be the most powerful faction.
This sudden withdrawal left many people feeling uncertain.
Zhao Long was a young man around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with a sinister and arrogant gaze.
Likewise, many people knew he was ruthless.
On the very first day they arrived, they had clashed with a team from another city.
In fact, the teams from the various cities were not just randomly sent by any organization.
Because being able to leave the city required strength.
And strength was largely determined by the control of the Star Spirit Mine.
Therefore, these teams were all subordinate to the owners of the Star Spirit Mines.
The warriors of those who controlled the economic lifelines of a city were naturally not weak.
When warriors from two cities met, neither side would yield to the other.
That battle was probably the most brutal one that many people in Fanggang, or even other cities, had ever witnessed.
Zhao Long’s team lost six people, including one peak-level warrior with all three attributes at the second level, and twelve were disabled.
The other side was completely wiped out.
Some tried to escape, but Zhao Long chased them down, hanging them on a building and executing them by flaying alive.
That night, the entire Fanggang seemed to hear the screams of those men.
Because of this, this young man became terrifying and cruel in the eyes of many.
Zhao Long had the least reason to retreat.
Yet he was indeed the one who withdrew at this moment.
“Reason? No reason!” Zhao Long was the absolute leader of this team, so no one dared to oppose him.
As for the inquiries from others, he didn’t even want to explain much.
“Better they leave. Our pressure will be less, and our chances will be greater,” some organizations secretly hoped for Zhao Long to leave.
Zhao Long’s people were packing up, having traded some things in the city.
Since they were leaving, they had to take everything with them.
“Brother Zhao, they’ve found the cave,” just as these people were preparing to leave, someone rushed over excitedly to report.
“I told you, this city isn’t ours. The leader said, if you encounter—never mind, you wouldn’t understand,” Zhao Long shook his head coldly and said, “Let’s go, leave this place.”
Someone said, “But Brother Zhao, the brothers aren’t willing to leave like this. We finally made it to a city like this, and now we’re just leaving. Even if there’s no mine, at least we could go check out that ancient cave.”
“Yeah, Brother Zhao. We all follow your lead. You said not to fight, so we won’t. But at least let us go take a look.”
One by one, his subordinates spoke up, begging Zhao Long to let them join in the excitement.
Zhao Long hesitated for a moment and said, “Fine. You can go take a look, but no fighting.”
“Great!”
Everyone shouted in unison.
If they couldn’t obtain it, at least they could take a look, right?
They didn’t know why Zhao Long did this.
But when they left, their leader had personally instructed Zhao Long about some things and ordered them to follow Zhao Long’s command.
This was an order no one dared to defy!
The methods of their leader were terrifying beyond imagination for those back home.
After Zhao Long and others learned the direction, they also headed toward the outskirts of Fanggang.
On the way, they saw at least six or seven teams, nearly three hundred people, quickly approaching.
The wild grass was already nearly human height.
In the grass, unexpected monsters could suddenly leap out.
The grass rustled in the wind, masking most of the sounds made by the monsters.
Precisely because of this,
the wilderness was especially dangerous.
Because danger could be right beside you, and you wouldn’t even realize it.
“Roar!”
Two Blood Demon Bears leapt from the grass, exuding a fierce killing intent that made people gasp for breath.
“Peak-level first-tier Blood Demon Bears, everyone be careful,” someone shouted.
Due to their size and beastly nature, even a peak-level first-tier Blood Demon Bear was much stronger than a second-tier peak human.
Only in terms of agility did humans surpass beasts.
After the battle, several people were slightly injured, and the two Blood Demon Bears were killed brutally.
For humans nowadays, killing these peak-level first-tier Blood Demon Bears had become quite easy.
The spoils of war made many people smile.
“Do you know? There’s a passage in the center of the mine leading to a special space. In that passage, all buyers must use Star Spirit Stones,” one person said while holding a soldier’s soul dropped by the Blood Demon Bear. “In there, a soul dropped by a peak-level first-tier Blood Demon Bear is worth at least five Star Spirit Stones.”
“That’s right, I’ve heard about that place too,” someone said with envy. “Only the owners of the mines have the qualifications to enter there. It’s a high-end place we can’t even get into.”
Another person boasted proudly, “Our leader has been there. In there, all items are of much higher quality than outside. Not even a single Star Weapon with less than four thousand attack power is worth taking out.”
“Our leader spent three hundred Star Spirit Stones there and exchanged sixteen soldier souls, one of which was dropped by a second-tier monster. The weapon properties it produced were truly, wow—”
As the people collected their spoils, they happily discussed the rumors of the special space.
Their dream was to have the opportunity one day to enter and exchange for something.
The area in the far north near the cave clearly had more monsters than other areas.
“It must be here.”
“Yeah, only a place like this would gather more monsters.”
Excited, the people began to rush forward eagerly.
Two hours after leaving the city, they finally found the ancient cave, and the skull-like entrance caused everyone to burst into cheers.
At this point, the group had grown to ten teams, nearly five hundred people crowding in front of the cave entrance.
These people were afraid of being beaten to it by others and afraid of being stabbed in the back, so no one dared to go down first.
“I think, before going in, it’s better if everyone stays calm,” one person suggested. “We’re all here for the treasures inside. But no one knows what dangers await. Before seeing any treasures, maybe we should cooperate.”
Many people fell silent for a moment, then nodded one after another.
“That’s right. Our leader encountered a second-tier monster in a cave like this, and we lost over a hundred people before successfully killing it.”
No one opposed.
Everyone began to enter one by one.
After all, the passage was too narrow; even if they wanted to rush, they couldn’t.
The first to enter were the leaders of the ten teams.
As they began to slowly descend the passage, they suddenly froze.
“Something’s wrong!”
“Damn it, someone got here before us!”
“Hurry up!”
The ten people no longer cared about any danger and rushed down the passage frantically.
At the flat passage before the steps, they saw corpses, already decayed for quite some time. Many places had already exposed bones, with maggots wriggling around.
Their hearts tightened, trembling as they thought, “At least a month ago, could it be—”
They quickly looked toward the entrance of the passage.
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