.....

He originally thought that if the Earth Dragon Immortal cooperated, he would leave it some dignity. But now looking at the situation...

Dignity?

Giving you a chance to die cleanly after getting your revenge is already generous enough.

The three of them entered the mine tunnel.

The perspective view advanced first, continuously delving deeper, passing through the mine tunnel until reaching the bottom.

A vast stone chamber that suddenly opened up appeared before them.

A blood pool about half the size of a football field came into view.

They could see humanoid monsters standing on the surface of the blood pool.

As the view zoomed in, the expressions on these monsters' faces appeared vividly lifelike, each showing distorted eeriness and agonizing torment.

It was enough to trigger the uncanny valley effect in anyone watching......

Drops of crimson blood dripped from the monsters' eyes, mouths, ears, and noses, falling onto the water's surface.

Beneath the water's surface.

A massive earthworm lay coiled, with mystical patterns winding along its body until they abruptly broke off in the middle.

Around the break, the patterns appeared noticeably fresher, with some shed skin still clinging.

But as the earthworm's enormous body quivered.

The dead skin fell off.

The mystical patterns extended forward another segment.

The Earth Dragon Immortal opened its eyes, remaining silent as faint sounds reached its ears.

It murmured: "More people have come........"

Looking back at the broken patterns on its body.

"Not long now...... soon my injuries will recover, and then...."

"Chen Yan........"

"I want you dead!!!!!!"

Its large, turbid eyes became bloodshot, expressing its deep-seated hatred for Chen Yan.

Whenever it thought about its only child dying at the hands of Chen Yan's father, and even being stewed into soup without leaving a complete corpse.

The Earth Dragon Immortal's heart ached as if being cut by knives.

Most crucially.

Its child had become nourishment for Chen Yan's birth!!!

How could the Earth Dragon Immortal not hate them for this!!

Because they wanted to have their own child, they killed its child!!!

In human terms: I may be a beast, but your Chen family is worse than beasts.

The Earth Dragon Immortal's emotions grew agitated.

It swept its tail.

"Move!!"

As the command was issued.

The standing Mineral Nodes on the blood pool's surface instantly awakened, twisting and moving their joints, crawling along the cave walls in an extremely bizarre posture to hide silently in the darkness at the nest entrance.

Blending completely with the darkness.

The fake way to stop invaders: charging out of the nest, rushing forward one by one in the mine tunnels, chasing and trying to kill unfortunate souls.

The real way to stop invaders: hiding in darkness at the nest entrance, waiting until intruders enter the nest, then blocking the exit with all monsters attacking together, while the Earth Dragon Immortal hides at the pool bottom preparing spells in advance, waiting to ambush.

When intruders arrive, the Earth Dragon Immortal's pre-prepared long wind-up attack launches directly.

This is what a true ambusher should do.

Not watching subordinates go one by one, then jumping out last.

Back in the mine tunnel.

Lu Ding and the other two came straight through.

The surroundings were terrifyingly silent. Besides the wind sounds from flying, the only thing Lu Ding could hear was Fang He's heartbeats that seemed ready to jump out of his throat.

Thump thump thump thump.

"Is there really that much to fear?"

Lu Ding's voice abruptly sounded.

Startling Fang He so badly he almost developed arrhythmia.

Sweat beads appeared on his forehead.

He wiped the sweat: "Sorry, Grand Duke Lu, for disturbing your ears."

Fang He grew up in the mines, having heard many legends about monsters like Mineral Nodes.

When he couldn't sleep as a child and his father was busy, his brother would scare him with tales of Mineral Nodes and other monsters.

'If you don't sleep now, I'll write your name on paper and throw it into the mine tunnel, letting the Mineral Nodes come find you.'

So these Mineral Nodes were among his childhood fears.

And these things were genuinely dangerous.

Having killed so many people, Fang He felt extremely apprehensive.

Zhan Tingzhou chimed in to continue the conversation: "Since you're so afraid of Mineral Nodes, why didn't you think about reporting to the 749 Bureau when problems arose here?"

As soon as these words were spoken.

The slightly eased atmosphere instantly became awkward again.

Before Lu Ding came, forget about the 749 Bureau in Xiankong Town, even the one in White Ridge didn't handle matters properly.

For small places like Xiankong Town.

If you reported upward, you'd only get responses like 'figure it out yourself' or more tactfully, 'go back and wait for notification.'

Then nothing would happen.

Zhan Tingzhou also realized he might have said the wrong thing.

He immediately shut up.

Lu Ding glanced at him, thinking you're really a conversation killer.

Fang He showed some emotional intelligence, speaking words that warmed Zhan Tingzhou's entire day: "I just thought if I could handle it myself, I should, to avoid wasting national resources."

Good!!

This response was fucking excellent!!!

If you reported upward, you'd only get responses like 'figure it out yourself' or more tactfully, 'go back and wait for notification.'

You actually have such progressive awareness?

At this moment, the gears of Fang He's destiny began to turn quietly.

Having emotional intelligence, not being a bad person, and in New City's harsh environment, still knowing to compensate victims after mining accidents.

Hmm!

After dealing with Linshan Mining, he definitely deserved to get a piece of the cake.

For no other reason than just for saying this.

Lu Ding saw his determination to improve!

This was truly an entrepreneur who benefited the people and the local area.

During the conversation, Fang He's nervousness eased again as he pointed ahead: "Grand Duke Lu, entering from there leads to the Earth Dragon Immortal's nest."

Looking forward through the dark cave entrance, they could see the spacious stone chamber inside.

Fang He was about to continue forward.

Both Lu Ding and Zhan Tingzhou simultaneously reached out to stop him.

The two didn't say much.

Two words conveyed everything unspoken: caution!

Being careful never hurt.

Zhan Tingzhou stepped forward, raising his hand to perform a technique manipulating energy. Light flashed as he projected their three shadows onto the wall.

With a point forward.

Three black shadows wriggled, stepping off the wall and moving ahead. Looking closely, they appeared identical to Lu Ding's group of three.

Lu Ding watched Zhan Tingzhou casting spells.

You really know all kinds of peculiar auxiliary skills.

The moment the three shadows entered the cave entrance.

The darkness around the entrance instantly shattered as hundreds of figures pounced out, swarming together and instantly submerging the three shadows.

Zhan Tingzhou raised his hand to attack, shouting a warning: "Mineral Nodes!!!!"

Although his reaction was already fast.

It still fell short compared to Lu Ding's.

Before his voice even finished landing, Lu Ding had already charged out at a speed completely undetectable to Zhan Tingzhou.

Reminding teammates about danger?

Killing all the danger yourself was the best reminder!!!

Lu Ding flew forward, raising his hand and pressing forward as the Way of the Jinche erupted in his grasp. The Slash Attack sliced through the darkness, cutting everything.

Dense and satisfying crisp cutting sounds rang out.