The first step of the Dawnlight Plan was to establish a foothold in the Underground Ruins.
This foothold carried enormous significance. It marked a new stage in Hamlet Town's exploration of the labyrinth and the official beginning of humanity's "occupation" of it.
It would rally the adventurers, sweep away the gloom that had settled over them lately, and bolster trust in Hamlet Town's authorities.
That trust was crucial to what came next.
A person could not stand without trust, and neither could an organization.
Why had Wei Yang paid a fortune to the man who carried the wooden pole? To establish trust!
Count Hamlet's words persuaded Pan Long, who had originally planned to build a foothold in the wilderness first, following the principle of "to get rich, build roads first." So Pan Long promptly took a great pile of supplies and headed for the golden stone tablet in the Underground Ruins.
This time, he went alone, without a single companion.
For him, once he had traveled a route and knew the way, going alone was far more convenient than bringing a crowd.
After entering the Underground Ruins, he broke into a run. In just fifteen minutes, he covered the distance that had taken the group nearly two hours before, arriving at the stone tablet that glowed with soft golden light in the darkness.
He looked at the tablet, nodded, and smiled.
"I don't know which sage left you here, but after being bullied in the dark for all these years, you must want revenge on those demons and monsters. At least you'd want to vent some of that anger, right? Well, now's your chance!"
The tablet, of course, gave no answer, but its golden light flickered faintly.
Pan Long knew that sacred relics had spirits. A few were not merely