Under the arrangements of the five mountain chiefs, the numerous mountain people from the surrounding five mines finally came down from the mountains after many years, returning to Brettel City once again.
News of the four bandit groups' disastrous losses spread throughout the seven grand duchies. Some of the smaller bandit groups definitely wouldn't dare to come to Brettel City to fish for profits in the future. Even the seven grand duchies that were at war with each other were shocked by this news. Brettel City, a city that anyone could bully in the past, had become a taboo place after nearly ten thousand bandit corpses had been left behind.
While Brettel City was busy arranging for the mountain people to enter the city, Han Shuo once again silently disappeared from Brettel City after giving Dorcas and the others some instructions.
The magic crystal mines had all been used up in the last war. They weren't as easy to purchase as the goblin bombs used by the war chariots. This kind of rare ore had been monopolized by the various empires and was used as the main material for magic matrices. In this regard, Han Shuo ordered the departed Fabian to help him purchase them, while he himself began to think of ways to acquire magic crystal mines.
The magic crystal mine in the underground world that Han Shuo had heard of last time in the Dark Forest became the first target he thought of. After Brettel City had temporarily calmed down, Han Shuo once again went to the Dark Forest alone.
Han Shuo made a beeline for the entrance to the underground world in the Dark Forest. It didn't take him long to arrive at the entrance.
Han Shuo wasn't in a hurry to enter immediately after arriving. Instead, he released a yin demon to circle around a ten mile radius. The yin demon covered an area of ten miles, but Han Shuo didn't find any traces of the Redbud Knights. This meant that the Redbud Knights had either given up on exploring the underground world, or had already entered it.
Without much hesitation, Han Shuo didn't inform the Forest Troll this time. He entered the underground world alone. After passing through a large stretch of dark tunnels, Han Shuo gradually went deeper into the underground world. Han Shuo, whose strength had greatly improved, flew all the way down and spent more than an hour to truly enter the underground world.
Not much had changed from the last time he had left. The underground world was divided into several layers. The lizardmen lived on the topmost layer where Han Shuo lived, while the dark dragon Gilbert lived in the Black Dragon City.
The Underground World had a clear hierarchy. The races that resided at the top were the weakest, and the lower they went, the more powerful races there were. Legend had it that there were some powerful creatures that even the gods had a headache living at the bottom of the Underground World. However, it was said that those races were cursed by the gods, as if they were bound by some kind of underground power. They could never leave the dark underground world forever.
"I should have called Gilbert over. That fellow is from the underground world, and he's very familiar with the lizardmen. If he were here, it would save me a lot of effort!" Han Shuo couldn't help but think to himself. He hadn't known of the lizardmen's existence since entering the underground world.
The underground world was as vast as the surface world, with countless intricate paths. Once one got lost, it would be very difficult to find the way back. Fortunately, Han Shuo's memory was astonishing after his brain had been developed by the demonic arts. He slowly followed the path he had last met the lizardmen.
Last time in the underground world, Han Shuo had a conflict with the dark elves, but due to the existence of dark dragon Gilbert, he still recognized the lizardmen. However, just like how humans saw the lizardmen, in the eyes of the lizardmen, all humans looked the same. Han Shuo didn't know if the lizardmen still recognized him.
Following his memory, he walked to the place where the lizardmen had appeared last time. Along the way, Han Shuo did indeed encounter many strange races. There were those dark cyan-skinned gnomes, and also the damp and gloomy batmen. He even encountered a few dark elves, but not a single lizardman.
Han Shuo also released a yin demon that lingered around Han Shuo, searching for traces of the lizardmen. However, after a long time, he still didn't find a single lizardman.
When Han Shuo came to a damp and gloomy area, he suddenly heard an ear-piercing whistling sound. Han Shuo looked up and saw a row of black shadows flying towards him. It was a group of batmen attacking him.
"Human, leave everything on you, and we'll consider giving you an easier death!" One of the batmen at the very front spoke awkwardly in the common tongue of the continent and clawed at Han Shuo's head.
The batmen were a little smaller than the average human, but they had black umbrella-like wings that humans didn't have, as well as sharp claws and teeth that humans didn't have. The batmen liked to live in groups, and their reputation in the underground world was as bad as that of the Forest Troll above. Once they encountered a creature that was easy to bully, they wouldn't hesitate to brandish their claws and teeth, swarming up to tear the prey to shreds and take their belongings.
Seeing the group of batmen flying over from the dark and damp wide cave, Han Shuo wasn't alarmed, but happy instead. He let out a sinister sneer, and bloody light shot out from his five fingers. It was as if he was playing an invisible piano floating in the air. Streaks of bloody light crisscrossed like sharp swords, and the black mass of batmen flapping their wings and flying over let out sharp screams as they fell.
Han Shuo didn't touch the batman who first spoke in the common tongue of the continent. When this batman saw that his companions were slaughtered by Han Shuo without any ability to resist, his small red eyes that were as red as mung beans repeatedly flashed with a glint of fear. He hurriedly turned around and tried to leave Han Shuo, this evil star.
"Where do you think you're going?!" Han Shuo let out a soft shout and suddenly activated his mental strength. The "Soul Tremor" spell that he had recently practiced immediately surged towards that batman.
This batman, who was flapping his wings in an attempt to get away from Han Shuo as quickly as possible, crashed into the ground like a plane that ran out of fuel, causing him to see stars and become dizzy.
When this batman finally came to his senses, he suddenly saw a human face with an evil smile in front of him. This batman, whose individual strength wasn't outstanding, looked around with his bean-like eyes and immediately realized that there was no other batman around him. His wings trembled as he screamed in the common tongue of the continent, "Powerful human mage, please forgive the offense of this lowly and weak batman. Please forgive me."
"You speak the human language pretty well, or else you would already be dead." Han Shuo went up and kicked down, and this batman who had just stood up was immediately kicked into the air. The chuckling Han Shuo didn't wait for this batman to land on the ground before he appeared in front of him again. He kicked the batman as if he was kicking a ball, causing the batman to suffer unbearable pain.
"Alright, now I forgive you for your offense!" Seeing that the batman's bones were about to fall apart, Han Shuo finally stopped his abuse. He asked with a smile, "Now, I'll ask you a question, and you'll answer it accordingly. If you don't answer well, I don't mind dismantling your fragile skeleton."
The most direct way to deal with these batmen was to show your savagery and strength. This evil race that bullied the weak and feared the strong would bite the weak at all costs, but would be as docile and obedient as a dog in front of the strong. Han Shuo's actions immediately made this batman give up on the idea of running away and lying. He hurriedly screamed in a sharp voice, "Great human mage, you will definitely get satisfactory information. We batmen know everything that has happened in the underground world like the back of our hands."
"Very good!" Nodding his head, Han Shuo smiled and asked, "Have there been large numbers of humans entering the underground world recently? If so, where are the lizardmen living? I heard that the lizardmen recently discovered a magic crystal mine. Do you know the location of the mine?"
The frightened batman immediately replied after hearing Han Shuo's question, "So you are also a treasure hunter. The lizardmen have indeed discovered a magic crystal mine. Several groups of humans have entered the underground world recently, and the largest group seems to be a knight regiment. Their goal is the lizardmen's magic crystal mine. Are you with them?"
"Less nonsense, I'll ask and you'll answer!" Han Shuo was overjoyed. The Redbud Knights had indeed entered the underground world ahead of time. This might have something to do with the threat of the golden dragon, otherwise Celt wouldn't have been in such a hurry.
"Yes, yes, Sir Mage, please ask!" The batman was startled and hastily agreed.
"Apart from that group of knights, are there any other humans? Also, where are the locations of the magic crystal mine and the lizardmen? Has anything big happened recently? "Han Shuo asked again.
"Apart from that group of knights, there have been several other groups of humans who have entered the underground world. However, there weren't many of them, and they were too mixed up. We, the batman, don't know the specifics. Only the lizardmen know where the magic crystal mine is. I only know where the lizardmen live. Really! "The batman hastily replied.
Staring sharply at the batman for a while, Han Shuo realized that this was all the batman knew. He then casually asked a few other questions. This batman's information was indeed limited. After a while, Han Shuo directly said, "Alright, bring me to the lizardmen's area and I'll spare your life."
Under Han Shuo's threat, the batman had no other way to go. He obediently led Han Shuo through the winding and complicated paths, heading straight for the lizardmen's area. It had to be said that the roads in the underground world were truly full of twists and turns. Even with Han Shuo's amazing memory, he still felt dizzy along the way. If it wasn't for this underground batman leading the way, Han Shuo likely wouldn't have been able to find the lizardmen.
After more than an hour, the batman finally stopped in a valley-like area after passing through who knew how many winding caves and ravines. He pointed at the densely packed caves in front of him and said to Han Shuo, "That area is where the lizardmen live. The lizardmen love caves even more than we do. The large and small caves you see are the lizardmen's houses."
"The underground world's lizardmen all live in this place?" Han Shuo saw the batman's small eyes twinkle and asked again suspiciously.
"Great Lord Mage, this is the place where the lizardmen gather the most. The number of lizardmen in the underground world is beyond your imagination. There are tens of thousands of lizardmen living in the underground world. Don't tell me you want me to take you to every place?" When the batman saw Han Shuo squinting at him, he couldn't help but shiver and hurriedly shout.
Originally, Han Shuo had this intention, but a yin demon circling around suddenly discovered the traces of a sneaky human. Looking at this human's attire, Han Shuo, who felt that this human's attire was somewhat familiar, immediately bypassed the frightened batman and said as if he were shooing away a fly, "Scram, there's nothing for you to do anymore."
When the batman heard Han Shuo's words, he felt as if he had been granted amnesty. However, his movements were a bit stiff and his small eyes were still tightly staring at Han Shuo. He carefully flapped his wings and slowly flew backwards.
When Han Shuo saw his strange movements, he asked in surprise, "I already told you to scram, why aren't you leaving?"
Contrary to Han Shuo's expectations, the batman looked pitifully at Han Shuo and answered fearfully, "I'm afraid you'll kill me to silence me. The underground world knows that you humans don't keep your promises!"
Han Shuo was stunned and then said unhappily, "You have no value to me at all. If I don't get any benefits from killing you, I won't waste my mental strength."
Only when he said this did the batman truly let out a sigh of relief. He didn't dare continue to stay by Han Shuo's side and hurriedly flapped his wings, fleeing as far as he could.
The figure dressed as a human was bent over behind the rock. Looking at his attire and hood, Han Shuo was certain that this person was from the Dark Mantle. This was because members of the Dark Mantle were used to wearing loose clothing that covered their faces when carrying out missions.
After the batman left, Han Shuo flew out and shot like a sharp arrow to the side of his comrade who was lying behind a gray rock, seemingly one with the rock. Han Shuo's silent arrival didn't arouse the slightest bit of this person's attention. When Han Shuo's large hand slapped the comrade's body, he hastily jumped up from his hiding position like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring. He quickly chanted and cast two fireballs fiercely at Han Shuo.
This comrade, who had used a hood to cover her head and face, revealed her identity as a woman as soon as she chanted. Only her eyes that were exposed were filled with shock. When the fireballs flew out, she suddenly cried out in surprise, "Brian?"
With a wave of her hand, an unremarkable purple light flashed past and the two fireballs flying towards Han Shuo turned into sparks that scattered everywhere. Han Shuo was a bit surprised as he sized up the masked female fire mage and asked in surprise, "You know me?"
She pulled off the hood that covered her entire face, revealing a familiar young face. It was the fire journeyman mage Chrissie that he'd met last time at the Dark Mantle headquarters. The short-haired Chrissie cheered in surprise and hastily gestured with her hands, explaining, "I'm Chrissie. We met last time at the Dark Mantle headquarters. Don't tell me you've forgotten?"
With Han Shuo's memory, he wouldn't forget anyone he'd seen even once. This cheeky short-haired Chrissie was no exception. Han Shuo nodded with a smile and said, "So it's you. I didn't think I'd meet you in this underground world. What a coincidence."
"Yes, yes, what a coincidence. I heard you went to Brettel City to become the city lord. Wow, you're so amazing! You're a count now. Oh, right, shouldn't you be in Brettel City? Why are you here? Don't tell me you're participating in this mission? If that's the case, that's great. I heard you've defeated Leah Cain before … "
Chrissie couldn't hold back her chatterbox anymore. Her melodious voice asked a series of questions. The excited Chrissie didn't seem to have any intention of stopping immediately. Han Shuo had no choice but to cough lightly to interrupt her torrent of questions.
"Eh, Chrissie, can you first take me to see the person in charge of this mission? Oh, if you know where Madam Emily is, it'd be best if you could take me directly to her. " Seeing that Chrissie had finally stopped her torrent of questions, Han Shuo finally found the opportunity to speak.
Last time in the Dark Forest, Han Shuo knew that Cecilia was in charge of this mission. Emily would act as her assistant. With Han Shuo and Emily's light abilities, as long as they found Emily, they would definitely be able to obtain the information they needed.
"No problem, I know where Madam Emily is. I'll take you to see Madam Emily right now!" Chrissie readily agreed and pulled off the mask hanging on her head.
"Then many thanks, Chrissie." Han Shuo said with a smile.
Chrissie didn't continue to spy on the lizardmen's movements. She excitedly took the role of a guide for Han Shuo, weaving left and right through the intricate paths. She chattered incessantly as she introduced the current situation of the underground world to Han Shuo.
Han Shuo listened to Chrissie's narration with a smile on his face. From time to time, he would interject and ask a few interesting questions. Gradually, he began to understand the current situation of the underground world.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
