Mercury Mine

Boom!

The arrow was at least three times faster than when it was shot, and in the blink of an eye it flew back.

The person hiding behind the rocks didn't even have time to react before they heard a loud bang from the cover in front of them.

"Ah?"

The young man who was hiding peeked out and realized what had happened.

He had just fired his arrow when it struck the stone pillar in front of him and shattered into dust.

How terrifying must this power be?

The young man stared blankly ahead and saw Linsey walking towards him.

The young man's arm was almost trembling as he took another arrow from the quiver on his back:

"You... you stay away!"

He then drew back the bowstring.

Before he could even aim, he heard Linsey on the other side say:

"If you loosen your grip on the bow and arrow again—this time my reaction will not be just a warning, as it was before."

"..."

The young man remained silent.

He dared not let go of the bow and arrow in his hand.

His body was trembling violently; the power that was originally meant to propel the bowstring into attack was now being used to protect the arrow from being fired.

He sensed the powerful Essence emanating from Linsey.

Her survival instincts were warning her that she was no match for the man in front of her.

The only consequence of releasing the bowstring at this moment is death.

While young people are losing their ability to think, Linsey has already arrived:

"I'm glad you made the right choice."

As she spoke, Linsey reached out and grasped the young man's hand, pulling the bow and arrow away from his grasp.

He could feel the person in front of him trembling.

Therefore, the movements are quite gentle, and they even put the removed arrows back into the opponent's quiver:

You can call me Linsey.

Linsey glanced at the map.

This abandoned Cinnabar Mine now houses only 20 people, a rather small camp in the Wasteland.

The young people were still sweating with fear.

He glanced at the well-equipped soldiers behind Linsey, then at the Awakened one in front of him whose strength he couldn't fathom, and forced himself to speak:

"What... what are you doing in Poison Valley?"

"We only trade some Poisonous Cinnabar here; we don't have any extra food or water!"

Linsey frankly stated her intentions:

"I've come here not for your food or your water, but for the Poisonous Cinnabar in your mouths!"

The young man's expression became even more puzzled:

"You still need this kind of thing?"

In his eyes, the Poisonous Cinnabar produced in the Poison Valley could only have a slight killing effect.

Compared to the Awakened Ones before them, or those well-equipped soldiers.

These are completely different concepts!

He couldn't even imagine that someone would send out such an exaggerated force specifically for these Poisonous Cinnabar!

"This thing is very valuable, you just don't know it."

The young man had accepted reality, and his tone softened slightly:

"How much cinnabar do you want? We... no, we only need your..."

Before the young man could even state his terms, Linsey interrupted him:

"All."

"I want the whole mine!"

Upon hearing this answer, the young man's expression changed drastically.

If it were only for personal gain, he could certainly give up the Poisonous Cinnabar to protect his tribe members.

But if they take away our homes...

In the Barren Land World, this is not much different from wiping out an entire family.

But before he could fight to the death, Linsey said directly:

"Don't worry, I don't intend to drive you away from your homes. Instead, I plan to give you a long-term, stable life and job."

The young man still gripped his bow and arrow, his expression one of astonishment:

"Long-term? Stable? Life? Work?"

He could understand the meaning of several words.

But when put together, it becomes a completely incomprehensible concept.

Seeing this, Linsey shook her head and smiled.

Do you know Banyan Forest is?

The young man replied blankly:

"Have no idea."

"It's okay, you'll see later." Linsey turned and pointed to the soldiers behind her. "See? Just like them."

"Simply put, you won't have to worry about food and drink anymore. You just need to do some safe work here."

"..."

The young man was completely dumbfounded by Linsey.

He originally thought that this large army was a crisis that would lead to the extinction of his clan and his family.

But things took another twist.

It was inexplicable—it seemed to be because he hadn't fired the arrow he had just released.

Therefore, everything turned out to be in an unimaginably positive direction.

Next, Linsey led his team to quickly take over the entire Cinnabar Mine.

Twelve young people, four elderly people, and four children—that's the entire population of the Cinnabar Mine.

As for their strength...

In fact, only the young man with the bow and arrow was an awakened one.

His Na Rui, and he is Element Manipulator whose skills he inherited from his father. He is currently at the Second Stage of his skill.

Element Manipulator is a pretty good skill.

Although not as Divergence Master, there are still examples of those who have broken through the Seventh Stage.

Due to the extremely desolate atmosphere of the Wasteland, Na Rui did not understand the future of Element Manipulator. Instead, he admired those free and unrestrained Wilderness Hunter, so he used his abilities by attaching them to weapons like bows and arrows.

This is a complete reversal of priorities!

Then there are the ores stored in this camp.

As their only export commodity, these people also mined cinnabar and hid a batch of it in the underground mine tunnels.

Linsey took them all without any hesitation.

He didn't conserve the Cinnabar Mine Essence by transporting it back to town. Instead, he took it directly out of the furnace and processed it using the system at the Workbench.

After a series of actions, Linsey counted the items in her luggage:

Mercury - 40 units.

"This number is more than enough to upgrade the Town Hall!"

Linsey looked excited.

This number means that as long as he returns to the camp and waits for the required gold coins to be minted, the base can be upgraded immediately.

Then, across eras.

Thinking about the urban changes brought about by the last advancements in the times.

Linsey is confident that this era upgrade will definitely bring something worth looking forward to.

Take, for example, the technological research and development at the [Second Base].

Linsey was in a great mood.

Later, at the Cinnabar Mine, he selected managers from among his entourage, made arrangements for the soldiers, and divided the workers' working hours.

Once everything is in place.

Linsey then called Vivian over separately:

"Vivian, let's work together from now on."

Vivian looked somewhat confused:

"Work together? Me? Shouldn't I be managing the mine?"

"No, I'm going to give you a much more complicated job," Linsey said. "Next, I'll take you back to the Banyan Forest. Once we're back, you'll be responsible for leading a group of people here to establish a mature Trade Route and improve the mineral transportation process."

"So? Are you confident you can do it?"