After touring the stronghold, the group returned to the council tent. Tyrosus took the main seat and, after praising Unas, announced his reward: the title of "acting" for acting Warden was removed, and his rank was promoted from second lieutenant to first lieutenant.
It all sounded like empty promises, Unas boldly asked, "Baron, is there any more substantial reward? Support with manpower or food would be fine. I guarantee you won't regret it; soon the entire Venomspider Gorge will become Argent Dawn's territory."
"Heh, I believe you can do it, but I don't have any extra manpower or supplies," Tyrosus began to complain about being broke. "The Argent Dawn's primary task right now is to join the Allied Expedition to the Eastern Plaguelands. I will lead the army out in two days. It's good that you have ambition, but for now, your duty is to hold this place firmly."
Unas completely disagreed with his superior's instructions. Offense is the best defense, after all. He wouldn't stop killing monsters to level up, but he couldn't openly contradict him, so he could only silently nod in agreement.
Seeing that he was somewhat dejected, Tyrosus stood up and said loudly, "Come on! Take us to the front lines and see the new territory you've conquered for us."
Unas wanted to decline so they could leave sooner, since the rewards had already been given, and who had time to take a bunch of grown men on an autumn outing? But Tyrosus raised an eyebrow slightly, seemingly hinting at something, so he had no choice but to nod in agreement.
Just as the group left their base, a loud bang came from the direction of the Canyon, and a horse was so startled that it almost threw its rider to the ground.
Unas immediately knew what was going on— the Goblins were blasting the mine. He had thought he would have to wait a few more days to stockpile more explosives, but he hadn't expected Perella to start so quickly.
Seeing the surprised looks on everyone's faces, he quickly called out, "Don't panic, everyone, it's just normal construction work!"
"What kind of construction could cause such a commotion?" someone asked incredulously. "Come on, take us to see."
Unas knew he couldn't hide the truth any longer, so he had no choice but to lead everyone to the mine at breakneck speed, reporting the crystal mine and explosives to Tyrosus along the way.
The One-Eyed Baron wasn't particularly surprised by the crystal mine; he must have already heard about it. However, the explosives piqued his interest somewhat.
The mine was very close to the stronghold, and soon everyone could see thick smoke billowing from the mountain wall not far away, with rumbling sounds constantly coming from it.
As the group ran closer, several rangers suddenly leaped down from the mountainside. The ranger captain was among them, and upon closer inspection, it became clear that each of them was carrying one or two dirty Goblins.
Unas came to an abrupt stop, and after the rangers landed, he called out loudly, "Perella, what happened?"
"Get out of here quickly, as far away as possible!" Perella landed and rushed over to climb onto the Warden's mount without stopping.
She was also carrying a Goblin in her hand. Unas turned around and saw it was General Manager Kraz, the little green monster who looked utterly terrified and muttered, "It's blown up, it's blown up."
Perella urged from behind, "Hurry up!"
Unas didn't have time to ask further questions. The continuous muffled sounds from the mountainside gave off a sense of danger. He turned his horse around and shouted, "Retreat!" Tyrosus and the others weren't stupid either. They all realized that something was wrong and turned back to run away.
They escaped as fast as they could, and the imagined mine explosion did not occur. The group stopped in an open space to catch their breath. Perella, carrying the goblin, jumped Goblin her horse, and the other rangers also jumped off their horses.
"What exactly happened?" Unas asked the female Elf with a frown. The Elves should be the ones who least wanted anything to happen to the crystal mine, and making such a scene in front of their superior made him lose face as well.
Perella slammed the Goblin to the ground, and Kraz's piercing scream shattered everyone's ears. "I was tricked by that filthy Goblin!"
It turned out that after on-site investigation, the Goblins ' explosive reserves were simply insufficient to blast open the gap in the mine. However, the ambitious Kraz came up with a brilliant plan: to use Fire Elemental Crystals to enhance the power of the explosives.
Fire Elemental Crystals that form naturally in mountains are relatively stable and generally do not explode on their own. However, mages can activate the energy within them, making the Fire Crystals extremely unstable. When detonated with Goblin explosives, they become highly explosive materials.
Anxious Perella was persuaded by the Goblins and ordered the mages of her tribe to activate all the Fire Crystals that had not yet been used, and give them to the Goblins to combine into more than a dozen high-explosive bombs to lay down along the crack.
Everything proceeded smoothly according to plan, but the result was quite different from what was expected. After all the bombs the Goblins had made were detonated, the explosions did not stop, and the sound of explosions continued to come from underground.
"This is likely a chain reaction caused by the explosion. The intense Fire Elemental shockwave ignited the Fire Crystal deep inside the crevice. Now there's a powder keg below, and the explosion we heard was from the Fire Crystal being ignited."
Perella was heartbroken. This was the life-saving energy source for her people. She felt incredibly guilty for ruining it because of her momentary impatience. Of course, she also felt guilty for the wretched Goblin on the ground who was groaning. If it weren't for his constant chatter in her ear, she wouldn't have made such a mistake.
The ranger captain, having found a scapegoat, was about to kick him a few times when Unas, sensing her momentum, quickly stopped her. This wasn't the time for blame. "How long will this chain reaction continue? What remedial measures can we take? We can't just stand by and watch."
"I don't know, there's nothing we can do," Perella clutched her head, Unas had never seen her so distraught before. "If we're lucky, it might stop in the next moment; if we're unlucky... it won't stop until all the crystals have exploded, and in areas with a high density of crystals, there might be a massive explosion!"
The female Elf was completely flustered. Unas turned to the Goblin: "General Manager Kraz, what's your opinion?"
The Goblin staggered to his feet, shrugged with a mournful expression, and said, "I don't know what to do either."
Damn trash, if the adults of the Argent Dawn weren't there, Unas would have wanted to kick him a few times too.
He had no choice but to turn to Tyrosus and ask for help, "Does Your Excellency have any ideas?"
The One-Eyed Baron stroked the sapphire Ring on his left index finger and said slowly, "Paladins can't handle this kind of thing; let the mages deal with it."
Amidst the flashing blue light, a subtle, slightly upturned phantom appeared before him. Everyone recognized it; it was Archmage Angela.
"Lord Tyrosus, what summons me?" The phantom bowed slightly, its voice carrying all the way here.
"The problem is a bit complicated; I'm afraid you'll have to come in person."
"It is my honor." The illusory figure bowed slightly, and the surrounding blue light grew stronger and stronger, making her figure clearer and clearer. About a minute later, the light suddenly disappeared, and the Archmage Angela vividly in front of everyone.
Unas was filled with envy, wondering what kind of spell Tyrosus had cast on Angela that made such a beautiful Archmage at his beck and call.