Three dozen boring machines had drilled a massive hole in the ground with their rapidly-spinning drills. The machines then disappeared from sight. If they were fortunate enough, they could dig a hundred meters downward before needing to stop. It was likely that they would run into the wall of a building or a massive boulder from that depth onward.
Neither of these possibilities was good news for the frail boring machines.
If the machines did run into such obstacles, they would either be destroyed by the impact or stop functioning and require aid from above.
Of course, there were also those individual machines which were fortunate enough to find a winding path downward amidst all the rubble and debris.
The excavation crew quickly revealed the approximate situation of the underground space as they delved deeper and further down.
The original Steel Capital had been constructed on the towering peak of the mountain. Nearly sixty percent of the heart of the mountain had been emptied and turned into a sprawling underground network. The goblins had laid out plenty of metal beams and constructed unique rooms made wholly from metal during this process. It was to strengthen the integrity of the entire underground network.
All of the tunnels had shattered into numerous stretches with the explosion. Those metal rooms had also been distorted and shifted around.
Then the mountain itself had collapsed, burying the Steel Capital under hundreds of millions of tons of dirt and rock.
In all honesty, it was impossibly complicated to attempt to find the Steel Capital and the things contained within it from deep underground. The difficulty of the task was no lower than digging out this entire fifty kilometer stretch of mountains. The work that would need to be put in was tremendous, so much so that it would render one speechless.
However, given that this was a plan that Greem had pushed forth, the Goblin Royal Family had no choice but to grit their teeth and try their best. They invested most of the manpower and resources they possessed in this task.
The sheer number of goblins stationed in the goblin camp situated within the purified area reached seventy thousand. Several hundred machines were working day and night tirelessly to clear up the surface, pushing the debris and waste away from the camp. In just five days, they had managed to dig a hundred and fifty meters downwards. The weight of the stone and metal pieces that they had dug up totaled ten thousand tons.
In the center of this bustling goblin camp was a small and lonely tent. No goblin dared walk within a hundred meters of this tent. It was only when the excavation team found some mysterious objects that they had never seen before that they would send a messenger to inform Lord Billis, who was the overseer of this operation.
The man constantly hid himself beneath a thick black cloak even when he went outside. He never showed even a bit of skin.
Apart from a few goblin commanders in the camp, no other goblin knew the true identity of this overseer.
Billis once again returned from the goblin construction headquarters. He sat cross-legged onto his carpet. A red spot of light vaguely glowed at the center of the fist-sized crystal ball in front of him.
Billis extended a strange right hand covered in a black shell and pressed it against the crystal ball.
A familiar mental consciousness flowed into his mind.
"Billis, how are things going on the side of the goblins?" It was Greem, who was far away in the World of Adepts.
With the connection of the teleportation device to Fire Throne, magical connections between the two planes was no longer a problem.
"Master, they've dug another seventeen meters downward today. However, they've run into the remains of a massive statue and are now finding a way to blow it apart and remove it. They've also found the roof of a metal structure that stretches for one and a half kilometers. They should be able to find the remains of the ruins of the Steel Capital soon. It's possible that we will make some meaningful discoveries then."
Greem paused for a moment after he had heard Billis' report. He then continued with a question, "Then, have you found anything on your side?"
The adepts were sly and skeptical by nature. They would never have placed their hopes solely on the shoulders of the goblins. That was why Greem had stationed Billis here. On the one hand, he wanted Billis to oversee the progress of the goblins. On the other, he wanted Billis to use his unique abilities as a bug adept to search for treasure underground.
"My little babies are about to reach five hundred meters underground. They found one or two structures that resembled broken-off stretches of metal tunnels yesterday. They also found an underground warehouse today, though the warehouse was only filled with common resources. Given their current progress, it will probably take them another three or four days to reach the one-kilometer depth."
Greem finally nodded in satisfaction with this reply. He then spoke again, "The closer you get to the site of the explosion, the more careful you will have to be. You need to watch out for the existence of enemies in addition to the shattered space hidden in the earth; I have a feeling that the enemies haven't all died. Immediately inform me if you find signs of life. I will get there as soon as possible."
The two exchanged a few more words silently, cutting off the expensive long-range communication only after making sure that there were no flaws in their plan.
Bug Adept Billis retracted his right hand once the red light in the ball had faded entirely. He sat on the spot and didn't make another move. Of course, he wasn't sleeping or even meditating. Instead, he was focusing his mind on the sting scorpions deep beneath the earth.
…………
Five hundred and seventy-three meters below Billis, a sting scorpion pushed apart the dirt with its unique innate ability. It was trying its best to dig downward.
The earth before its eyes wasn't all dark and black. Its many strange compound eyes allowed it to see several odd substances mixed with the soil. It saw green branches and leaves that had yet to rot fully, metal shards glowing with the light of energy, part of a goblin's corpse, rocks of odd shapes, and countless tattered substances whose original form could not be discerned.
The thirteen sting scorpions didn't gather together. Instead, they spread out and looked in the loose dirt for any hidden passages that could lead downward.
The original tunnels might have been mostly destroyed, but there were still pieces of them left. If the sting scorpions were able to find them, it wouldn't just help them determine where they were. They could follow the tunnels in directions where objects of values were likely to be.
This sting scorpion suddenly stopped as it was digging through the earth. It started to sense closely for a strange tremor that was coming from deep below.
The source of the tremor wasn't far away. It only seemed to be several dozen meters away.
Moreover, given the frequency and extent of the tremor, it seemed that there was something secretly digging upward. The speed of that object wasn't slow either.
This unexpected discovery instantly caught Billis' attention. All thirteen sting scorpions started to covertly close in on the source of the tremor under his command. He felt as if he needed to find out the truth behind the quake before he reported to Greem!
The stong scorpions' digging speed increased tremendously now that they had a clear target.
With only ten meters between them and the source of the tremor, Billis commanded the sting scorpions to stop their digging. He then had them go into stealth mode and wait for orders. Only a single sting scorpion continued crawling forward carefully.
When the scorpion was just one meter away from the source of the tremor, a strange black claw pierced through the thick layers of dirt and grabbed the creature.
The earth then split apart, and a light flashed under the ground.
Two large silhouettes, one large and one skinny, squeezed in the narrow tunnel. The one who had grabbed the sting scorpion was the more muscular figure of the two.
The being shook the st
ing scorpion in their hand and cast off the dirt on it before opening their mouth and swallowing the creature with no hesitation. It started chewing.
The sting scorpion's shell that was supposed to be as tough as alloy seemed to be ineffective against the teeth of this towering figure. A crunching sound rang out, and the scorpion's shell cracked as blood splashed everywhere. The sting scorpion had actually been eaten alive.
Bug Adept Billis let out a pained screech. He felt an immense pain from his head.
He had a feeling that the being hadn't just eaten his sting scorpion. That thing had also devoured the sliver of Spirit that he had attached to the scorpion.
Dammit! It's him!
Billis endured the intense pain as he activated the communication crystal.
…………
Greem was dealing with a matter at hand when he received the news from Billis.
There was finally progress on that massive project of his that he had been plotting for a long time. It had taken plenty of preparation, but it finally worked.
The fish had taken the bait!
Leicester Vik. The person that had left their essence blood in the outside world and had indirectly caused Mary to be corrupted into an offshoot vampire had finally shown himself once more, after a long period of seventy years in hiding.
He had started to involve himself in the local affairs of the Vik Family after leaving Bloodcastle in Qatarselon. He was enjoying himself in the banquets of the nobles and reveling in the more physical pleasures.
That sounded like good news on the surface. However, what accompanied this news was colossally lousy news.
Unfortunately, Leicester Vik had also successfully advanced to become a Second Grade vampire.
That undoubtedly raised his position in the Vik Family to a level that was equal to several of the family elders!
It wouldn't be an easy job to capture him, even if Greem had advanced to a Second Grade fire adept a few years earlier than him. With a single misstep, even Greem could fall at his hands.
After all, everyone knew how troublesome and challenging vampire adepts could be!
However, getting Mary to conduct a blood exchange and becoming reborn as soon as possible was extremely crucial for her future development.
While Greem was silently coming up with a plan to capture a Second Grade vampire adept, Bug Adept Billis suddenly sent him explosive news.
The enemy had appeared!
Chapter 547 Negotiation Breakdown
Greem was eighty percent certain that the tall figure in the crystal image Billis sent back was Third Grade Thunder Dragon Arms, who had gone missing after the massive explosion.
It seemed he had turned into a human form once more to ease his escape from underground. Moreover, Greem could vaguely make out something else through the faint image. Arms seemed to be bringing with him his field rations.
The skinny figure obscured by Arm's body was a familiar sight to Greem. They seemed to be someone Greem knew. However, according to Greem's memory, that person shouldn't be as skinny as he currently was.
Still, Greem had already started understanding something when he saw that person's limbs. The white bones beneath them had already been exposed.
It had been over twenty days since the explosion. Even a Third Grade thunder dragon would have an impossible time surviving underground where there was no food or water. Not to mention the fact that the Thunder Dragon had been in such close proximity to the space furnace when the explosion had happened. Escaping unharmed was no more than fantasy.
If it weren't for his Dragonblood Barrier protecting him from the terrifying space storm, Third Grade Thunder Dragon Arms would already be dead. He might have survived until this moment, but he was covered in wounds and completely drained of all energy.
That was why Arms had no choice but to drag along his Second Grade dragonborn subordinate Zacha, who had, fortunately, survived the explosion as well. After all, he was buried a thousand meters underground beneath endless tons of dirt and stone. Arms had only managed to sustain himself up to this moment with Zacha's blood and flesh.
Still, while the blood and flesh gave him some stamina and life force with which to continue digging upwards, it couldn't help him recover from his grievous wounds. The injuries should have been no problem for Arms. As long as there were sufficient magical energies, the dragons would be able to recover from any physical damage with their exceptional Physique.
Sadly, the Goblin Plane was indeed a small-sized plane that lacked resources and magical energies. The immensely thin concentration of magic in the plane was so unbearable that it had almost caused Arms to break out in tears. It had been over twenty days, yet his magic energy hadn't recovered. In fact, his supply of magic energy was even steadily falling due to the hard work and bland diet he was on.
The loss of his lightning powers caused Thunder Dragon Arm's wounds to worsen each the day. His body was in such frail condition that it was almost about to fall apart.
Even so, Thunder Dragon Arms did not give up hope for survival. He dragged his 'food supply' along as he slowly shuffled towards the surface. All living beings in his path could not escape his claws. Lizards, ants, snakes and all sorts of creatures were turned into the nutrition he needed to continue going.
Unfortunately, that was why the thunder dragon had devoured Bug Adept Billis' sting scorpion.
The dragon was only six hundred and twelve meters away from the surface. That meant that he had forcefully dug his way up a distance of four hundred meters with his steel-like claws, despite the harsh environment he was in.
This distance might not sound like a lot, but it was referring to a vertical distance down into the earth!
Plenty of metal tunnels and collapsed structures stacked upon each other down there at a depth of one thousand meters. Trying to dig a way out through these mountains of metal was unbelievably difficult. Even the ordinarily loose dirt would turn as hard as steel when packed so densely under the weight of hundreds of millions of tons of debris.
In all honesty, Arms being able to make it this far had already far exceeded Greem's expectations.
Greem had expected these annoying enemies to survive with the help of some unique geography underground and that they would be waiting for death while trapped in there. He had never thought any creature would be strong enough to dig their way out with pure, brute force.
If Greem hadn't stumbled upon this discovery, Arms might have been able to escape after seven or eight more days. Of course, that was assuming that the wounds on his body didn't worsen.
However, Thunder Dragon Arms' plan to escape was fated to fail now that Greem had found out about it!
Greem had no choice but send Mary to track down Leicester while he personally hurried back to the Goblin Plane with Poison Witch Endor.
In the two days' time he took to get to the goblin camp, Arms had managed to dig another one hundred and seventy meters upwards.
Perhaps because he sensed the intense tremors from above, Arms stopped digging upwards after a short time. Instead, he started to dig in a horizontal direction, as if he intended to avoid the unknown forces waiting above.
Bug Adept Billis grew a lot more cautious after losing one of his sting scorpions. He sent two sting scorpions to follow behind the thunder dragon, quickly traveling through the earth by following the tunnels that the dragon had dug. The other ten scorpions were scattered around the thunder dragon, remotely judging his position based on the commotion from his digging. They didn't dare to get too close this time.
These sting scorpions would never have been able to escape Arms' spiritual senses if he had been in his usual condition. It wouldn't matter how much dirt and debris stood between them; thirty or forty meters of distance was nothing for Arms' powerful Spirit.
However, the thunder dragon was now barely limping by with his wounded body. His Spirit was almost completely exhausted. As such, he had failed to notice the fact that the enemy was monitoring him.
"O' respected Lord Dragon, Greem pays his respects!"
The sudden appearance of a voice in the dark tunnel shocked the Thunder Dragon. He stopped digging and turned back to look. His amber reptilian eyes immediately locked on to a small silhouette standing in the distant darkness.
An earth elemental!
It was a low-grade earth elemental that was only as powerful as an apprentice adept!
The body made of rough clay wasn't sturdy at all, but a pair of intimidating red eyes glowed in its round head as it stared at the dragon.
Dammit! Those adepts still got to me in the end!
Even though Arms actually wanted reinforcements, he knew the situation he was in and was ultimately hoping he would run into goblins. Those short and weak goblins could never be his match, regardless of their numbers and magical machines.
However, the brief appearance of the adepts before the showdown made Arms anxious!
He wouldn't have needed to worry about these low-grade adepts if he had all of his combat power. It would have been a simple matter of devouring the adepts if he ran into them. He didn't need to think about the non-existent threat they posed to him. But now…
A grave expression appeared on Arms' face as he lowered his head to look at his tattered body, covered with wounds, oozing with pus, and with scales falling off here and there. He steadily walked up to the earth elemental.
"That explosion was your doing?" Arms asked, but the expression on his face made it clear that he already had his answer.
"My deepest apologies, Lord Dragon. The original intent of detonating the space furnace wasn't to inflict any harm upon you. We only wanted to blast that damned brain to pieces. We never even expected your appearance in our original plan." A scarlet light flashed in the eyes of the earth elemental. A strange mental consciousness flux could be sensed within the elemental.
Age of Adepts c1-1513 Page 343