If that really was the case...
Elliot shuddered, not with fear, but with disgust.
It was like finding an apple riddled with worms after eating half of it.
These minerals infected the miners, parasitized them, and eventually assimilated them into the same minerals.
And they had even been shipped back to the Empire... Damn it, would burning this stuff cause any hidden problems?
And Elliot had thought of something even worse.
He immediately controlled Elsa and asked:
"I remember the soldiers have a rotation system?"
"Yes," Cora answered at once. "Any soldier who spends too long on the front line gets rotated to the rear. The same goes for mining, followed by guarding the Dock. Basically, they keep rotating between these posts."
"Then doesn't that mean every soldier has worked in the mines?"
"Not quite, but most of them have been to the Mine."
Elliot sucked in a breath.
Didn't that mean all the soldiers had been infected and parasitized?!
"Does their mutation continue after the soldiers leave the Mine?"
"No. If the degree of corruption was low to begin with, they even recover slowly. That's another reason for the rotations."
Elliot was filled with mixed feelings. The severity of the mutations had decreased, but this had also left everyone infected!
The only saving grace was that this infection seemed to be catalyzed and intensified only near the ore.
Seeing Elliot remain silent, Cora clearly misunderstood:
"Duke, you needn't worry about that. In fact, we have far fewer mines than we need. Most soldiers don't even get a turn, which is precisely why Their Highnesses hope you'll find new mines."
Find new mines?
Just looking at these mines made Elliot feel sick now.
"Right, Dream Creatures won't approach mines?"
"That's right. The Expedition Army once suspected they might fear the