The Mine

As everyone knows, the Spirit Realm is a platform that can be accessed from anywhere on the continent.

The Spirit Realm Market is a platform specifically for trading within the Spirit Realm Spirit Realm Market, where you can buy almost anything.

Fran had this in mind: to go all the way to find cotton seeds and bring them back, only to have them planted. If all the seeds died, all her efforts would be wasted.

Moreover, even if they came back and started planting cotton, it would take two or three months, and Fran didn't have the patience to wait that long.

Fran completely rejected the idea of transporting the cotton back from afar, as it was simply too difficult. The journey would take them through several war-torn regions with few decent roads, and the preservation methods hadn't been proven...

Therefore, Fran plans to take a two-pronged approach: first, she will go to the Spirit Realm to find someone nearby who produces cotton, Fran will help that person by providing the Spirit Crystal needed to bring the cotton to the Spirit Realm, in exchange for a large quantity of cotton.

On the other hand, they focused on cotton production, going to the Spirit Realm or other places to buy large quantities of the Spirit Realm seeds and begin researching crop growth.

After all, we can't keep going all the way to the Spirit Realm to buy cotton.

It's important to understand that in this world, the price of ordinary crops is nowhere near that of plants with special effects. In fact, plants that can be used to make potions and alchemical products are the real economic crops in this world.

Fran even felt that if she hadn't collected this cotton, it wouldn't even be worth the price of the Spirit Crystal needed to convert it into the Spirit Realm.

Under these circumstances, Fran believed that the scale of cotton cultivation must be small, and it was possible that after she harvested two batches, there would be no cotton left to sell on the market.

In subsequent Industrial Production, large-scale cotton cultivation became indispensable, and the demand for this basic industrial material has always been high.

"I still need to study how the Alliance promotes plant growth... This is a real headache; it seems the Northern Lands Society has absolutely no information on this..."

After all, the land in the Northern Territory is as hard as stone, and it doesn't look like it could grow many crops.

Iris didn't dwell on this, because the Alliance's food production was large and cheap, at least for her, a Fourth Order Mage, so she spent a portion of her money importing food every year.

As a great nation with a long history, the Alliance naturally possesses a complete Arts of outstanding plant cultivation techniques, and even many magical methods to accelerate growth and increase yield.

These methods may not be as effective on certain crops, but they are much more effective on cotton, which has almost no special effects.

However, Fran is now facing another problem: she has no way to obtain those methods. It goes without saying that even if these methods are commonplace in the hands of specialized mages, Fran will still have to overcome many obstacles to acquire them.

"Let's get this batch of cotton sorted first... We'll probably have to rely on cotton from the Spirit Realm for a long time to come..."

"There are other industrial raw materials, Rubber..."

Thinking of this, Fran couldn't help but sigh again. If she truly wanted to expand the scale of her entire territory, she would have to find ways to acquire all these raw materials and establish numerous reliable, low-cost acquisition channels...

"I don't want to think about it too much anymore. Let's go see how the apprentices are doing..."

From a high vantage point, the scale of the mine has increased significantly. Previously, one could only see a bunch of miners toiling away in the mine, while the guards watched them work from the shade.

Now, the personnel distribution in the entire mine is no longer limited to the original mine site. Several mine sites have been opened up throughout the mine, and the number of people transporting Ore has been increased.

What has changed even more is the noise at the mine.

Byron chipped away at a piece of Ore with his tools, while his companion operated a heavy machine that made a 'thump-thump-thump' noise that made him extremely uncomfortable.

"Hey Jared, can you go somewhere else? This thing of yours is so noisy..."

Jared remained motionless, intently using the machine to chip away at the hard spots to facilitate the extraction of the Ore.

Byron's ears were still filled with that annoying sound, and when he saw Jared not moving an inch, he finally realized that his voice had been too soft.

Byron raised his voice and shouted again. Only then did Jared stop what he was doing and turn to look at Byron, but the machine in his hands did not stop, so the noise still did not cease.

"Damn it, can you please pause the machine for now..."

Jared said irritably:

"My lord guard, you've gotten so used to bullying civilians in the city, you're really having a good time. You even stopped the machinery... I finally managed to snatch this job from those Gray Robes so I could live in the wooden hut and not have to squeeze into caves with you guys..."

"Putting aside the fact that I don't know how to stop this machine, even if it really stops after all my manipulation, how do I start it again...? If the machine breaks down, I'll have to go down into the mine to mine today."

There is also a small mine pit inside the mine. Originally, the intention was to mine Ore from inside the mountain, but there was simply too much open-pit Ore outside, so it was never used after its initial construction.

The original guards used this mine to bully and punish the miners; those who disobeyed would be sent to another place to mine.

If it can be dug in the open, then it must be dug in the open. The mine is now in use, but it seems that the Knight Attendant are imprisoned inside. They specifically found that place for them to dig.

Of course, if Jared becomes disobedient as he claims, then he'll have to go down into the mine too.

Jared would never do that. He was originally a guard at the mine, and having finally escaped from the cage, he certainly didn't want to go back.

Moreover, the current situation has made him abandon the idea that the lord would come to rescue them. He has been here for a month, and he has seen and captured a number of the people sent by the lord, and none of these Gray Robes have been injured or killed.

"Damn it, can you use this machine somewhere else? It's so noisy."

Jared ignored him and said slowly:

"If you can help me move this thing to that far away place, that's fine. But let's be clear, if this machine breaks down while you're handling it, I'll hold you accountable..."

"Depend on!!"

Byron spat, but could only obediently continue working where he was. However, he still managed to say one thing.

"When will those Knight Master finally come? I've had enough of this job."

"This isn't your problem. What kind of time is this to send Knight Attendant? They're no match for those Gray Robes..."

Byron offered a few words of explanation.

"We had no idea what was going on here. Who knew there were so many Gray Robes? And that one in white robes was really powerful. The three of us Knight Attendant were taken down in a second."

Just as Byron and Jared were talking, a sound, not faint but barely noticeable amidst the mechanical noise, reached their ears.

"Did you hear anything?" Jared asked.

After careful examination, Byron's expression brightened, and he immediately exclaimed:

"That's the sound of the Knight's attack. The Knight has arrived."

"Oh..."

Jared didn't recognize the voice. He had been stationed at the mine for almost half a year, while Byron was a guard in River Valley City River Valley City and might have heard the sounds of the knights attacking there.

Upon seeing Byron's delighted expression, Jared became excited as well, raising his hands high and cheering loudly.

In their minds, the Knight Master was invincible. It's no wonder they thought that way, because there were some stories circulating in the village.

According to those stories, a powerful Knight Master could split a small hill in two with a single sword strike, and since they rarely saw those Knight Master in action, they subconsciously assumed that all Knight Master were like that.

Jared kicked the still-operating machine next to him hard, making the whole machine shake, but it had no effect.

He spat.

"Damn it, at least I don't have to use this machine anymore. The noise was making my head buzz..."

At that moment, although the two men's actions were quite flamboyant, they did not attract much attention because the structure of the entire mine was too complex and the noise from the machinery was too loud.

Because of this, a Gray Robes who was focused on supervising other miners' use of machinery did not notice their actions immediately.

Another miner nearby overheard their conversation, but his face showed no sign of joy.

Because he was a refugee, he was captured by those Gray Robes. To make them easier to manage, the refugees were separated and placed in different places.

Hearing this news made him uneasy, because he was a refugee. Even if the area was liberated, he estimated that he would either be treated as a miner and exploited to death, or he would be exiled or killed because of his status as a refugee.

Therefore, he was actually hoping that the Gray Robes would win. After all, apart from the fact that they had roughly captured him, they had not mistreated him in terms of food and shelter, and were even better off than in the refugee settlement.

The believer eventually discovered Byron and Jared's actions and gave them a severe beating. The two men dared not resist or utter any boastful words, fearing that the believer would kill them in a fit of rage.

They told themselves, "Just bear with it."

However, when the believers led them to the mine, they regretted it, for they saw a pitiful figure being dragged along the ground.

The man was at least two meters tall. His helmet had been removed, and his face was covered in blood. There were two huge, long, intersecting gashes on his chest, revealing mangled, bloody wounds inside.

The cut where the armor broke was clean, with only a few burrs, and blood stained the silvery-white armor red.

The person dragging this half-dead body was Anna, and the longsword she held in her other hand was still dripping blood.