CHAPTER 440: CHAPTER 408: BIG TROUBLE

Ilya Kingdom’s New Continent colony, Glendale.

A hidden secret mine deep within the mountains.

"Hey, Vito! Do you think this little stone is worth tens of thousands of Golden Lions?"

In the mine’s treasure vault, guarded by multiple posts, two guards were staring intently at the large diamond enclosed in a transparent glass cover.

It was a super pink diamond weighing 20 carats, named "Artemis," that was yet to be cut!

"Of course! Didn’t the appraiser in the mine say it’s a world-class treasure diamond?

It’s a pity that this mine producing precious pink diamonds has already belonged to Nierco.

Otherwise, if we were to present such a beautiful diamond to His Majesty the King, he’d be so pleased that he might even grant us each a lordship rank."

Guard named Vito, feeling a bit bored from being stationed there, was prompted by his companion’s words to speak a bit more.

"Shh—! You’re really asking for trouble. Don’t you realize this country might soon belong to Nierco?

If you dare speak recklessly again and those ’Cyan Skin Ghosts’ hear, you’ll be eaten alive without a chance to protest."

The initially speaking guard was so frightened that he quickly covered his companion’s mouth, trying to stop his reckless behavior which might implicate himself too.

Hearing his companion mention the "Cyan Skin Ghosts," Vito shivered involuntarily and immediately stopped speaking, not daring to utter another word.

Clearly, the simple term held a formidable deterrent force.

Glendale might be an Ilya colony, but its condition was very similar to the turbulent situation back home.

With the Royal Family withdrawing their forces, they gradually lost control over the kingdom.

Especially the New Continent colonies, far and isolated, producing far less compared to the Southern Continent, were the first to suffer.

The Governor may still appear to be the highest authority, but has long been sidelined. If it weren’t for the need to liaise with other allied countries, he might have been overthrown by his subordinates.

Understandably, Glendale has already been infiltrated by new noble forces led by Earl Wright and Viscount Jerome, and even the discovery of a valuable diamond mine has remained unknown to both the Governor and the Royal Family.

Moreover, this is not merely a regular diamond mine.

While most of its yield consists of ordinary diamonds, due to special formation conditions, a sparse amount of colored diamonds are included!

Among the colored diamonds, yellow, brown, and green ones are relatively common, while pink, red, and blue diamonds are extremely rare and highly sought after.

In this mine, while ordinary diamonds and yellow diamonds are produced, it also yields a very small number of pink diamonds.

Each pink diamond produced is carefully watched over, with a stay in the mine not exceeding two nights, before being escorted away by specialized guards.

Not to mention the current output, the largest pink diamond king in the mine?

The two guards could only be considered entry-level, as the true security force of this mine consisted of those powerful, oddly spirited individuals outside, known to regular guards as "Cyan Skin Ghosts."

Yes, people who enjoy eating others.

"Alright, since we’ve already turned our backs on His Majesty, and pledged allegiance to the Earl.

Stop thinking about unrealistic things and just honestly perform our duties as guards."

"Under...stood."

And just then.

Clip-clop...clip-clop...clip-clop...

The hurried sound of hoofbeats reverberated through, reaching the warehouse door without any hindrance, and entered their ears.

The two guards exchanged glances, seeing astonishment in each other’s eyes.

"It’s here so quickly! Not even a day?"

Pricey treasures, evidently, aren’t something anyone can remain indifferent about.

They dared not delay and hurriedly went to unlock the vault from inside.

However, neither noticed that when their gaze was momentarily diverted from the precious pink diamond.

The "Artemis" remained in place but subtly changed shape, with its color fading imperceptibly.

Yet if they were to look back, they might not detect any difference.

Bang—

Having just opened the heavy latch, the two doors were forcefully pushed open from the outside.

Though it was summer outside, a wave of chill rushed in, making both shiver.

Rap-tap...rap-tap...rap-tap...

A group of ten figures, clad in hooded cloaks of flaxen geometric patterns, pale blue-faced with a cold and severe demeanor, stepped in orderly, led by a youth with frost-white hair and sapphire eyes.

However.

As soon as the youth’s gaze fell on the "pink diamond" under the glass cover, a blue light flashed across his eyes.

His brows furrowed deeply as he turned to look at the two guards who’ve been with the diamond, his voice icy as though frozen for thousands of years:

"Are you sure this is the pink diamond ’Artemis’?"

Without waiting for their response, he swiftly lifted the glass cover and picked up the seemingly unchanged "diamond."

Crack!

It shattered instantly in his grasp.

Under the remaining guards’ petrified gaze, he twitched his nose then called back to his ten comrades:

"Someone else’s been here, pursue!"

...

Meanwhile, outside the mine, in the broadleaf woods.

Whirr—

A gale of colorful Spiritual Wind passed by.

From the air emerged the graceful, tall silhouette of a young lady.

It was a young girl dressed in a fitted hunting outfit.

Her long black hair was neatly tucked into her hat, with only a strand falling down like jade beside her cheek.

Boots on her feet, a hunting knife at her waist, and a beautifully crafted hunting rifle slung over her shoulder.

If it weren’t for her overly delicate appearance and spotless attire, she would have quite the demeanor of an elite hunter or adventurer.

At this moment.

Plop—

A shiny pink object the size of a fingertip was tossed and caught by her slender white hand adorned with a Ruby Ring, her face beaming with a joyful smile:

"Hahaha, I was indeed born to be an adventurer.

Even though I’ve been running with these hurried ghouls in the woods for most of the day, who would have thought I’d end up with such a find?

These country bumpkins don’t see the value, this is not just an ordinary pink diamond, but a priceless ’Gem Star’!"

As an essential spellcasting material, the "Gem Star" is not judged by its size, purity, or cut as ordinary people would, but by the spiritual essence and energy it contains.

Its value to a wizard cannot be measured with Golden Lions.

Clearly, this group, who concealed a diamond mine, operating secretly right under the governor’s nose, happened to be discovered by the young lady as "Adventurer’s Blood" flared up and led her here, resulting in a classic swap.

"Hehe, the Glendale Colony owes the Aimoer family two years of shipping costs, it seems they’ll never be able to repay it.

Let’s use this to settle the debt, though its value might be a tad excessive...

Since even the staff’s emblems have all been changed to the White Egret Family Emblem, it seems the governor won’t mind."

The joy was almost overflowing from the girl’s sapphire-like eyes, looking very much like a little fox that had just snagged a chicken.

Directly stealing something has the least sophistication. Being an inheritor of the "Gem School", it’s quite easy to forge a fake diamond with no power.

Then, at the cost of sacrificing a whole Spinel of no less than 30 carats, she enacted a spatial displacement, easily obtaining the real treasure.

If luck is on her side, if no experts timely discover the trick, even after bringing it back home as a treasure, it might remain undiscovered.

By that time, the girl would have long since vanished, leaving no traces to find.

And why is she so adept at this "debt collection"? Ahem... don’t mind these little matters.

However.

The "owner" this time was obviously not so easily fooled, as the girl, moving at a swift pace, had just left the mining area by less than two kilometers.

Thud.. thud.. thud..

The urgent and rapid sound of hooves thundering like a storm was already audible from far away.

The light-hearted expression on her face slightly shifted:

"Discovered so soon? Is there really that troublesome a member among these monsters?"

Without any hesitation.

She pulled out a three-sided prism crystal pendant like a rainbow from her neck, it was a vibrant, transparent Tourmaline.

She gently uttered a syllable:

cela—

A glint of colorful Spiritual Light flickered, and the hunting-outfitted girl had completely disappeared into thin air.

Whoosh!

Only a series of light and swift footsteps were heard racing towards the control area of the Phaletis Kingdom bordering the Glendale Colony of the Ilya Kingdom.

...

The sea breeze was gentle, and the sea birds were flying.

Swish, swish, swish...

In front of the "Storm Horn", the penultimate destination of this journey, Kabushir, was already in sight, and the warship slowly began to furl the sails and decelerate under the command of Sailor Vid.

Although the weather was quite hot, the captain, Aiven, and Chief Navigator Milan were hanging on the stern rail like street gangsters, enjoying the rare bright sunshine of this period.

Aiven and his crew experienced the rainy season of the New Continent for the first time, and the continuous drizzle almost made one grow moss.

Glancing at the approaching port, Aiven sighed slightly:

"So, being the sub-chief of this garrison isn’t as easy as it seems.

Along the way, everywhere we’ve been, we’ve faced accumulated murder cases, thefts, disappearances, embezzlements... all coming to us.

No wonder Major General Christopher was so enthusiastic, evidently treating us as conscripts.

I hope everything goes smoothly at Kabushir, and after picking up Sub-Lieutenant Roddy Arman, no more unexpected situations arise.

My only dream now is world peace!"

After leaving Hatrafa Port and switching back to his true identity.

Aiven led his crew to visit Major General Martin Christopher for the first time since taking office as the deputy chief of the Garrison, whom they had never met before.

They were warmly received and then embarked on a journey of inspecting each outpost and receiving additional recruits.

However, the journey that Aiven initially thought would be easy proved otherwise.

At each outpost, which served as a sort of police station, they encountered challenging cases piled up beyond the local capabilities, most involving strange extraordinary abilities or sensitive figures.

Cases of evil spirit murders, thefts of heirloom antiques, collective disappearances of settlement inhabitants, embezzlement by deputy governor-level figures... and more.

Fortunately, for Aiven now, these cases were troublesome but not particularly dangerous. Unless they were too old, the rest, with the assistance of Milan, the "Prophet", were successfully resolved.

Normally, these tricky cases would likely require General Christopher himself to intervene.

But since Aiven was bearing the deputy chief title, he had no choice but to be conscripted this time.

His words had only just finished when Milan, shuffling a deck of Tarot Cards beside him, raised an eyebrow in some schadenfreude and said:

"Hehe, quite the opposite!

The Tarot Card ’Nine of Swords’ implies: What you worry about will come true, your trouble... is big!"