After daybreak, the Transian players who had survived were busy clearing out the tunnels the kobolds had left behind along the second and third defensive lines.
The tunnels weren't as complicated as the ones the ratfolk had dug earlier, but each trench line had at least ten branches on average, and plenty of kobolds and gnolls who hadn't managed to escape were still hiding inside.
A shield dwarf captain sent by Lord Heather had issued the clearing mission.
It should have been a highly dangerous job. In dark tunnels, even elves with the keenest senses could be ambushed by a prepared gnoll or kobold, and humans weren't well suited to moving around in the cramped passages.
As a result, the Bloodsworn retainers weren't keen on taking the job. Their commander would rather have called in an earth priest to simply blow up the troublesome tunnels, but the Transians never turned down work.
Chenlong and Haizhu asked the shield dwarf captain what the reward was. When they learned that clearing a single tunnel would earn them several sets of dwarf chainmail, and that the shield dwarves would provide trench guns and ammunition for free, they immediately rallied the seven or eight brothers who were currently in the game, along with a crowd of newcomers eager to "make a fortune."
The retainers watched, dumbfounded, as the high-spirited group charged into the tunnels with their crude weapons.
They didn't look like people taking on a suicide mission. They looked like they'd gotten an incredible bargain.
The Transians' way of thinking was truly incomprehensible. The sages on the battlefield had given up trying to figure out what went on in their heads. Still, even the haughtiest retainers—and even full members of the Bloodsworn clans—had to admit that their courage and willpower were remarkable.
Meanwhile,