Chapter 370 Dead End

Unlike other mines in Van En, in the Rock Lake Mine, the relationship between a considerable number of miners and the mine supervisor is very harmonious, which is related to the local traditional customs of St. Steele and Watch City.

The St. Steele people attach great importance to kinship relations, especially in those areas close to the plains and the Isa River. Family and blood can be said to be an important link between local residents and settlements.

Van En scholars generally believe that this habit of the St. Steele people is closely related to the local bitter cold climate.

In the long ago when the concept of kingdom had not yet appeared, these residents living in the northern region often lived in groups as family units, and even established tribes based on this. If they wanted to survive in this cold and harsh environment, they would You must choose to trust and be close to your own tribe, and within these tribes, people who are related to each other by blood should be closer.

This is a very natural and very reasonable choice.

In the eyes of some scholars who specialize in studying the social structure of St. Steele, the Royal Family of Saint Steele was established on the basis of such a social structure. In fact, quite a few people believe that the reason why the Royal Family of Saint Steele is in The fundamental reason for such "longevity" and stability among the ruling class lies in this repeatedly emphasized kinship.

Watch City, which is located on the border of Saint Steele Kingdom and adjacent to the plain area, attaches great importance to this kind of kinship relationship.

There is even a very classic joke circulating in Watch City.

When a criminal is arrested and taken to the prison in Watch City, he always smiles because he feels as if he has returned home - the person who arrested him is his distant cousin, the person who guards him is his father, and the person who interrogates him is his father. She was his aunt... When he was released, no one came to take him away. He only had to take the bill to his relatives to sign it.

Although this joke seems a bit exaggerated, it is indeed a true portrayal of the kinship relationship among the local residents of Watch City.

As a former member of a large chamber of commerce, Hadera was naturally not a pure and generous person, but for the wars that had occurred in the past, for the land under his feet, and for the relatives living on this land, But he has extremely real and profound feelings.

Hadera was full of love for his motherland, Saint Steele, and extremely pious for the fire of life he believed in. However, his heart was full of nostalgia for the stable and ordinary life in the past.

If there hadn't been this war, if there hadn't been that black shadow in the sky, if there hadn't been that damn Black Sun Society...

Thoughts like this always flashed through Hadera's heart, but he also knew that in today's environment, these thoughts were just illusory fantasies, and what he was really facing was no longer what he could foresee. not the beautiful life, but those terrifying existences shrouded in the light and shadow of despair.

Among them were overseers and soldiers armed with deadly weapons.

The Black Sun Order mage who used vicious magic to kill the miner leader was one of them.

The damn baron who just took over the camp and wanted to establish his power over these miners was also one of them!

Especially this baron.

Hadra was still able to maintain the most basic composure when facing the vicious Master of the Society before, but when that young face appeared in front of him, Hadra felt an unprecedented fear - he felt It was as if his memory had been dug out. All his secrets, whether they were emotions, experiences or fleeting thoughts, seemed to have been seen through by the other party. This caused him to lose his last bit of security and his sense of the current situation. All confidence.

These naive young people were gloating about the fact that overseers were assigned to work, but Hadera, who had rich experience and understood the thinking of those "big men", was frightened by this.

He did not think that it was the thin goodwill shown by Baron Ferland to these miners, nor did he think that it was a sign that the baron looked down on the miners. In this signal, Hadera only felt an extremely strong threat.

Although the grain stored in the warehouse is of low quality, it is still a very important material. The baron chose to abandon it so casually, which shows that he does not care about the subsequent fate or life and death of these miners - all he cares about is that they can provide him with The empty rooms and warehouses used by the private soldiers, and the subsequent fortifications that can be used as battlefield defense lines, that's all!

Hadera told the miners in front of him the details he had observed and the conjectures he had made, which made everyone in the room shut their mouths. Then, the old supervisor looked at the man in front of him. A tall and thin middle-aged man.

He became the new leader of the miners' group after their previous leader died under a vicious spell cast by the Order's mage.

However, the prestige of this middle-aged man in the mine is not that high. The main reason is that this middle-aged man is not a local of Watch City. People only know that he is a soldier who retired from the front line. , maybe a soldier, maybe even an officer.

He was the deputy of the previous leader and an important adviser to him. However, within the miners' group, few people knew his specific origins, and no one even knew his real name. Everyone just liked to refer to him as 'veteran'. call him.

"Uncle Hadera, if the situation is really as you suspect, then you may be in danger too...especially since you have come to us specifically now."

Although the veteran was not a local and had no blood relationship with these miners, he still used this rather affectionate name for the mine supervisor.

In response, the old manager just shook his head: "Didn't you listen to them? The war will break out again soon. This time the situation will be more dangerous. I don't even know how many countries' armies may launch attacks on Watch City." If we attack, there will be battlefields everywhere... Our home will be destroyed, and this is no different from killing me."

He sighed: "I can feel that the baron is very serious. He really wants to do something with that list, so you must go..."

Having said this, Hadera lowered his voice: "Didn't you dig out the abandoned tunnel left by the old mine when you were digging No. 6 Mine? Just go out from there! Barca followed me two days before his death. I mentioned this secretly, and he said that you had already secretly explored this tunnel, right?"

"That's right. It can indeed move and is fairly stable. There is even wind inside...but we have no idea where it can lead."

"That's enough! Even if it leads to the sea, you must get in!"

The little old man showed some aura as an elder. He raised his hand and wanted to slap the table to strengthen his tone, but he was afraid of causing too much noise, so he had to stop his hand quickly and licked his hair. With dry lips, he said: "I kept a batch of the dry food that was not processed today, and added a few dried fish and two bottles of sweet wine to it... Don't look at me like this, that stuff tastes bad, I I don’t even like drinking!”

He stared at the middle-aged man and said: "Soldiers, you have to take responsibility and take them away, at least take most of them away, just use that tunnel... Even if you hide in there for a few days, you can think of a way. Even if you escape..."

Before he finished speaking, the middle-aged man took a step forward, bent down, and gave the little old man in front of him a big hug.

After a brief hug, the veteran let go of the supervisor in front of him and whispered: "Uncle Hadera, you have to come with us... If that baron is really as you said, he is a murderer without blinking an eye. If the miners are all gone, there will be no use in keeping you as a mine supervisor."

Old Hadera's mouth trembled. He wanted to argue, but before he could speak, the young man who opened the door for him hurriedly agreed: "Yes, uncle, you have to come with us... Veterans can't control other people, they trust you more."

At this point, it was not Hadera's final say whether he agreed or not, so the miners in the room immediately took action. They quickly slipped out of the house and headed towards the work shed where other miners gathered. He went to the house with him, and the veteran himself led a few others to dig out a pile of soft soil in the corner of the room, and pulled out a wooden box from inside.

After opening the lid of the box, a pile of weapons of various forms appeared in front of everyone.

Daggers and swords transformed from discarded shovels and pickaxes are naturally indispensable. In addition, there are also some convenient tools that miners often use when working in the mines, such as hammers used to knock rocks. A small hammer and a small shovel with sharpened edges.

And underneath these things are several real weapons.

"The wheel crystal gun is an old style. I modified it using the methods used in the army...it may not be easy to use, but it should be effective."

As the veteran spoke, he quickly checked the status of these simple firearms. After confirming that they should all function normally, he distributed these weapons to several veterans who were following him, and then came to his bed. In the corner, he broke open a wooden board and took out a cloth bag hidden under the wooden board.

"There are only so many crystal bullets, ten for each person, no more and no less."

In this way, these miners who had served as soldiers silently completed the final preparations. They filled the bullets into the magazines of the crystal muskets and armed themselves with the crude weapons distributed.

"Uncle Hadera, you have to help us open a road... It's still a bit far from here to the mine. There is a sentry on the road. We have to find a way to remove them..."

Then, the veteran turned his head and warned the soldiers fiercely: "Everyone, remember, we cannot shoot before everyone retreats into the mine, under no circumstances!"

Hadera grabbed the veteran with trembling hands: "Soldier, do you plan to save everyone?"

"Of course not possible."

The veteran shook his head resolutely: "Those who have joined the association, or those who intend to join the association, may become traitors. We...we cannot bear this risk. We will not notify these people or their location. .”

After hearing this, the old manager gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, let's leave now!"

…

For this moment, these soldiers who had witnessed the cruel battlefield had been preparing for a long time.

The previous miners leader Barcelona strongly disagreed with this preparation. He always believed that the mine and the miners are very important, whether now or in the future, and no one will destroy such an important facility - they will always Does it require some hard work?

Veterans have always been very opposed to Barcelona's somewhat naive idea, but there is no way to persuade Barcelona with just a few people.

Perhaps, when he is gradually suffocated by the vicious magic exerted by the Society Master, he will regret his past thoughts?

Warm blood sprinkled on the veteran's lips, and the familiar smell of blood returned to his world again.

The veteran's figure was hidden in the darkness behind the crystal spotlight. He covered the sentry's mouth with all his strength. The short knife that had just scratched his neck quickly turned in his hand, and then stabbed the sentry's chest fiercely. .

Once, twice...

Soon, the body bound by him became silent.

The veteran took a hard breath and pushed the body to the side in the darkness. He saw a faint light flickering on the sentry tower on the other side, indicating that the sentry on the other side had also been cleared.

This is a very, very good start, but the veterans are a little unhappy.

Prudent habits and keen intuition had saved him many times.

This is true on the battlefield, and even more so after escaping from the front line.

And now, what was happening in front of him made him feel uneasy again.

Although they have no way out now, the situation in the mine seems to be a little different from what he imagined. Although in the past, there were not many soldiers and guards inside the Rock Lake Mine at night, at least those magic The rituals should all be working, not to mention the terrifying dark dogs that stayed near the sentry post. The veterans had already been prepared to fight these strange beasts.

But now, neither the sound of the magic alarm nor the attack of those terrible dark dogs happened.

The security level in the mine seems a little... too low.

The veteran glanced at the corner of the sentry tower in confusion, and then he discovered that the metal secret instrument that was supposed to maintain the operation of the magic ritual actually had some pitted gaps on it, and it was these gaps that made the secret instrument unable to function at all. Unable to take effect...

"It was destroyed in advance? Who did it? It couldn't be a mouse, right?"