Chapter 217: Untitled

“What is your name?” Su Lun put down the map and asked.

“My Lord, my name is Bach Hammer Xiland…” the Dwarf hurriedly said.

“Bach, are you sure the Silver Mine on this map contains associated Mithril Ore?” Su Lun interrupted Bach’s self-introduction and asked directly.

“Of course I’m sure, my Lord. I used to be a miner in the Silver Mine. I once dug out a piece of Mithril from this mine, but that stingy King Thorne only gave me one pound of gold as a reward…” Bach chattered on, clearly very dissatisfied with that king.

“Good. Since you are sure there is Mithril Ore inside, then I will let you form a miner team. You will be the captain. If you can mine Mithril, then I will give you the position of city lord of Orlando City. But if you do not mine any Mithril, then…” Su Lun stared intently at the Dwarf before him.

“My Lord, please rest assured, I guarantee we will mine Mithril for you!” Bach patted his chest and promised.

“Since that’s the case, it’s decided then. If you mine Mithril, I will not be stingy with rewards. Status, money, or Vodka, all will be available. Now it depends on your performance,” Su Lun said with a smile.

“My Lord, I will go form the miner team now!” Hearing Su Lun’s promise, Bach could no longer sit still. He hurriedly left the Lord’s Castle to find other Gray Dwarves to form the team.

Su Lun somewhat disdainfully tossed that map aside. He found another piece of Parchment and copied the map onto it. Even after rinsing, that piece of Parchment still retained a pickled vegetable smell.

The map on the Parchment was somewhat crude. After all, map drawing in this world had not become a specialized field of study like in his previous life. Often, the maps they drew could only be understood by themselves. To others, it looked completely like an abstract painting. Fortunately, this map was drawn quite well. Although still simple, the general locations were marked.

Soon, Su Lun completely copied the Parchment. After comparing the two maps once more and confirming there were no omissions, Su Lun picked up the strangely smelling Parchment and threw it directly into the brazier. Flames rose, and soon the Parchment burned to ashes. He opened the window to let the smoke disperse.

After forming a miner team of fifty people, Bach excitedly led the team back to Orlando to mine the Silver Mine. The remaining two Iron Mines and the Copper Mine also needed mining. The remaining hundred-plus Gray Dwarves also formed three miner teams and went to Orlando for mining.

After the population of Zhenbei City expanded, various tools and ironware became somewhat scarce. Moreover, the army’s re-equipment required a large amount of gear. Originally, the surface Iron Mine was not very large. Before Su Lun obtained it, many tribes had already mined it. Now, the output of this mine was very low, nearly depleted. This was also one of the reasons why Su Lun was eager to gain control of the Underworld.

After several military expansions, the number of regular troops in Zhenbei City had grown to four thousand people. Among them, there were three hundred Barbarians, four hundred Centaurs, one hundred Drow Elves, three hundred Half-elves, and the rest, aside from the over fifty Spirits of War summoned by Su Lun, were humans.

If the Militia reserves, the City Guard, and the five hundred people stationed in Mirror Lake City were included, the total number of troops in Zhenbei City had reached an astonishing six thousand people. The entire population of Zhenbei City, plus the newly captured Gray Dwarves, only just surpassed twenty thousand.

One-third of the population were soldiers. Such a high ratio, no matter how you looked at it, could be called militaristic. If not for the effects under the Harvest Altar’s blessing and the large number of slaves, Zhenbei City would not even be self-sufficient in food.

Not to mention the money and various supplies and equipment needed to support so many soldiers. Previously, when the Zhenbei City army was small, it wasn’t very noticeable. Now, with the current number of troops, just maintaining the status quo required tens of thousands of Gold Nars in military pay each month.

Su Lun had always been curious how his predecessors, the transmigrators, managed to not pay the soldiers, yet still made them obey orders dutifully and fight bravely on the battlefield. With the current Zhenbei City army, if Su Lun dared to not pay wages for several consecutive months, it wouldn’t be long before there were many deserters, and even rebellion wouldn’t be strange.

If not for the large amount of money Zhenbei City gained through the White Sugar Trade, achieving this level of development would have been impossible without several years of effort.

The Zhenbei City army now needed a large amount of equipment. Moreover, besides the troops, the Centaur Tribes, due to their herding, also needed weapons and equipment to protect their cattle. Fortunately, this wave of attacks on the Gray Dwarf city allowed Su Lun to make a huge profit. Not only were all the financial issues resolved, but even the weapons and equipment could be solved.

After handling the matters in Zhenbei City, Su Lun took the Gray Dwarf miner teams and the Drow Elves back to the Underworld. He planned to restore the mines previously operated by the Gray Dwarves, and also clear out the dangerous areas around the mines.

Returning to Orlando again, the troops stationed here now were one hundred Barbarian Warriors and one hundred Centaurs. The labor was provided by a group of slave cave dwellers.

These cave dwellers were short in stature. Because they lived in darkness for a long time, their eyes had degenerated. They surveyed their surroundings using infrared sensing, so status magic like blindness and petrification had no effect on them. Most Underground Cities had cave dweller slaves. They were the best cultivators in the Underworld.

Su Lun led three teams of Gray Dwarf miners to the various mines. The Gray Dwarves discovered many ore veins, but many ore veins were infested with monsters from the Underworld. The few ore veins the Gray Dwarves mined periodically needed clearing of various monsters. If not for this, they would have mined those other ore veins long ago.

After resting for a day in Orlando, Su Lun led a team of Drow Elves and miner Gray Dwarves out of the city. They passed through narrow tunnels to the first mine.

This mine was the closest to Orlando. It was an Iron Mine, producing iron ore of very good quality, several grades better than the iron ore from Su Lun’s surface mine. The group advanced through the dim tunnels. On the way, they encountered several Clawterrors.

Clawterrors were a common type of monster in the Underworld. They had keen hearing, walked on two feet, their heads looked like vultures with small eyes, sharp beaks, and compound eyes. Their bodies were covered in a hard gray shell. They looked very ugly.

These creatures had poor eyesight, but like bats, they could emit high-frequency sound waves to determine the position of enemies.

Just as Su Lun led the team through the passageway, over a dozen black shadows suddenly dropped down from above. Su Lun reacted very quickly. Because the tunnel was narrow, he didn’t use the Purple Dragon Halberd but switched to a longsword forged by Dwarves. His hand instinctively swung the sword out.

The Clawterror attacking Su Lun never expected Su Lun’s reaction speed to be so fast. Its body could not react in time. The sharp sword swept across, the powerful force directly splitting the hard shell on the Clawterror’s body. This monster, about two meters seventy tall and weighing nearly two hundred kilograms, was directly cut in two.

The next dozen or so Clawterrors did not cause much trouble for the team. The moment these Clawterrors launched their attack, the Drow Elves dodged. As for the Gray Dwarves, these guys always wore heavy armor. The Clawterrors’ attacks on them were completely futile.

Soon, the dozen or so Clawterrors were all killed. No one in the team died, only a few Gray Dwarves sustained minor injuries. Su Lun treated them, and then the team continued on.

Exiting the dark tunnel, and passing through two desolate underground caverns, Su Lun and his group finally arrived at the first mine. After a period without mining, when Su Lun arrived, they found the mine had been taken over by monsters from the Underworld. A group of vampire bats and Underground Salamanders had made it their nest.

For this situation, the Gray Dwarves were well-prepared. They first used smoke to drive out the monsters, then everyone worked together to kill them. It didn’t take long to clear out this mine.

On Su Lun’s System Panel, the information for this mine appeared.

[Iron Mine: Ore Quality +5, Ore Output +8, Mine Accidents Reduced +5, Associated Ore Veins +2, has a certain chance to produce Xuan Iron Ore.]

Under the work of the Gray Dwarves, this Iron Mine soon resumed production. Seeing the mine back in operation, Su Lun did not linger. He led the remaining team to the next mine.

The second mine was a Gem Mine. When Su Lun arrived here, he found this ore vein looked eerie and gloomy. Outside the vein, there were some shadow-like entities.

Twisted Shadows, a type of Undead creature, formed for some reason, similar to ghosts. These things had very high physical damage resistance, and they also lived in groups, making them very unfriendly to purely physical professions. They also possessed Spell-like Ability.

If Su Lun had not come along today, this team of Gray Dwarves would probably have been lost here. As semi-energy beings, they could reduce physical damage by fifty percent. Ordinary weapons, no matter how sharp, were troublesome to use against them. Weapons with elemental damage were necessary.

What was more troublesome was that these monsters lived in groups. Their most adept attack was Death’s Touch, which could drain energy and strength from enemies. Once energy was depleted, it would consume life force. In the Adventurer’s handbook, the danger level of these monsters was A-grade. Without special countermeasures, it was best not to provoke them.

Snap!

A light sound was heard, as if someone had stepped on and broken something. Although it was a very faint sound, in this quiet environment, it became very abrupt. Those aimlessly wandering Twisted Shadows instantly noticed this place.