Path of light

Chapter 378 379. The Third Mine

Although this assassin team belongs to the Second Mine Guard Team, it only obeys Roy's orders.

The remaining Dark Moon elves continue to work in the mine of the second mine. Their daily task is not only to monitor the group of gray dwarf miners in the mine, but also to dig out a certain amount of spinel ore.

Life in the mines has changed a lot recently, and life is no longer so difficult. Many Dark Moon Elf prisoners are looking forward to serving their sentences and enjoying the rest of their lives...

Almost every Darkmoon Elf has a little bit of hope in their lives, so they become more at ease in the mines.

The mining of gemstones in the second mine is now on the right track.

The mixed-blood elves are expanding the second mine on the ground, and the dark moon elves are watching the group of gray dwarf bandits mining underground...

Roy took a team of Dark Moon Elf assassins and sixty mixed-blood elf warriors with him to the third mine.

Roy also knew that the gray dwarves in the mine would not be mining day and night because of rum, and in order to drink more rum, the gray dwarves traded a lot of spinel ore every day. , there are so many spinel mines, part of which were dug out by the dwarves that day, and the other part were taken from the dwarves' treasury.

Once the spinels stored in the treasury are consumed by the gray dwarves, new problems may arise.

Moreover, these gray dwarves are inherently lazy and greedy. Unlike other dwarves, they are born to be a group of bandits...

In the past few days, the gray dwarves have not been as active in mining as they were in the past few days.

Roy knew that sooner or later these gray dwarves would return to their previous living conditions.

Although this is the biggest hidden danger currently existing in the second mine, Roy has to put this hidden danger aside. He needs to deal with the affairs of the third mine before going back to deal with this group of gray dwarves.

Captain Berkeley came over personally and delivered a large amount of military supplies. This was obviously a signal from the Silver Pegasus Corps headquarters in the valley camp.

The military hopes that he can take over the third mine this morning so that the guard group in the mine can escape this morning...

Before Captain Berkeley left, Roy proposed to him the plan of "taking in some gray dwarf prisoners of war."

Roy's proposal was considered feasible by Captain Berkeley, but he told Roy that such a matter must be approved by Earl Swinburne. Only with the support of the Earl, can this matter proceed smoothly, otherwise the military will be The gray dwarf prisoners of war will never be sent to the Partington plane.

…

The third mine is located at the end of the mountain range, about a hundred kilometers away from the second mine.

If the first mine is the starting point of the vein, the second mine can be regarded as the richest part of the vein, and the third mine is the end of the vein.

This spinel vein extends northward along the mountains for more than 200 kilometers. The entire vein is located in a shale interlayer 800 meters deep underground. Roy is even a little confused as to how the exploration team discovered it in the first place.

These three mines occupy the entire spinel vein. Roy's taking over the third mine means that he holds the spinel vein in the Pagisto Plateau.

Of course, the real owners of this vein are the 17th Silver Pegasus Legion and Earl Swinburne.

The mountain road between the first mine and the second mine is very easy to walk. You can reach it by walking along the ridge of the mountain. And because there are often pack teams walking on the ridge, there is even a gravel path on the ridge. .

But the third mine is located deep in the Pagisto Plateau.

The mountains are cut off by some ravines when they reach here. It is said that many of the deep ravines several kilometers long are the claw marks left by ancient dragons tens of thousands of years ago.

From the moment we encountered these ravines, the mountain road became rugged and difficult to navigate, and this place already belongs to the hinterland of the Pagisto Plateau. Although there is not much vegetation cover on the mountains, monsters such as spiny tailed lions can often be seen in the mountains here. , you must know that they usually eat meat.

When Roy led the elf warriors through the ravines covered with bushes, he could always find some spiny-tailed lions crouching on conspicuous boulders.

Although the plateau headhunters who were entrenched here were driven back to their hometown in the north by the Silver Pegasus warriors, the mountains did not become quiet because of this. Some monsters often came over to compete for this territory.

This place used to be the sphere of influence of the plateau headhunters, and the mixed-blood elves are not very familiar with the roads here...

Roy walked for two full days before reaching the location marked on the map - the third mine.

…

It seems that every mine owner likes to build the mine into a fortress, and the mine owner of the third mine is no exception.

The third mine is built on the edge of this mountain range. Further on, there is a ditch nearly 100 meters deep. This fortress is built close to the cliff...

If only infantry and cavalry were to attack the third mine along several rugged mountain roads, it would be difficult to break through this fortress.

But the Silver Pegasus Warrior is an exception.

Two thousand Silver Pegasus soldiers approached the city and blocked the sunset in the sky. The owner of the third mine fled overnight.

There is no way, the Silver Pegasus warriors have absolute air supremacy. Even if these Silver Pegasus warriors organize several rounds of volleys in the sky, the private army in the mine cannot resist them.

The hillside was a bit steep. Roy led the horse and led a group of elf warriors to the main entrance of the third mine.

There happened to be four Silver Moon Elf guards guarding the gate of the mine. When they saw Roy and his entourage walking up with their horses, their eyes showed excitement, and they asked Roy:

"Where did you come from?"

"We are from the second mine, and we are here to take over the third mine. This is the voucher."

Seeing Roy showing the letter accepting the acceptance of the third mine, the Silver Moon Elf guard naturally did not dare to delay and quickly sent the letter into the fortress.

"You are finally here, we have been stationed here for more than a month!"

Another Silver Moon Elf guard said to Roy with a smile.

Apparently he still didn't know that it was their captain's complaint sent to the military headquarters that made Roy send Adjutant Wendell back to Padstow City.

"I have just taken over these mines, and I am not that familiar with handling various affairs..."

Roy smiled and said.

Seeing that Roy was so young and very easy-going, the Silver Moon Elf guard said casually:

"Managing the mine is indeed a troublesome thing. Since we moved into this mine, the mine has been shut down. Not only can we not get a piece of gemstone, but we also have to put food into the mine every day... It's really troublesome. very!"

After hearing what the elf guard said, Roy knew that the situation in the third mine might be more complicated than the other two mines.

Not long after, the leader of the guard group came out to greet Roy in person.

…

Facing this young half-elf who was favored by Earl Swinburne, Keynes, the leader of the Third Mine Guard Regiment, had somewhat complicated emotions.

In fact, he didn't want to hand over the letter accusing Roy of malfeasance to the military...

However, the guard group has been stationed at the third mine for so long. The handover should have been completed three weeks ago. Until now, Roy has not seen any movement, and he has not even made any contact with the third mine.

Last week, an urgent document came from the military headquarters of the Valley Camp on the Queen Evenee Islands front. Their guard regiment was originally stationed on Tammy Island, a reef archipelago on the west side of the Queen Evenee Islands. When he was ordered to go out to the Partington plane for the first time, almost all the defense forces on the western reef island were transferred here.

He wanted to complete the combat mission on the Pagisto Plateau as soon as possible and quickly return to the Queen Evenni Islands...

Many things always require extremely difficult trade-offs. Keynes knew that in order to escape from the Pagistow Plateau as soon as possible, he should have offended the popular man in front of Earl Swinburne.

Therefore, when he saw Roy, he really couldn't smile, his expression was a little stiff, and even his words were a little unnatural.

However, Roy did not have any resistance to Captain Keynes. He greeted him naturally and then explained his purpose...

Captain Keynes immediately handed over to Roy.

The process of handing over the mine is also very simple. The materials in the warehouse are on the list, and all the materials are left. As for the spinel ore in the mine, they have been transported back to the valley camp. It can be said that Captain Keynes transferred this third mine When the mine was handed over to Roy, it was really a clean mine...

Captain Keynes seemed even more anxious than Captain Kepler. After the handover of the mine was completed, he actually led the guard regiment to retreat to the valley camp overnight.

That night, only eighty elf warriors brought by Roy were left in the fortress of the third mine...

Although this fortress is the smallest building among the three gem mines, with eighty elf warriors living in the entire fortress, it is still a bit eerily quiet.

The inner courtyard in the fortress is very small. After a shaft is built in the yard, it is surrounded by some flower beds and lawns. There is no hanging arm next to the mine. Instead, a large scaffolding is built with pieces of wood on the patio of the fortress.

Thick wooden beams formed a tic-tac-shape on the patio of the fortress, and the scaffolding was built on the tic-tac-shaped supports, almost becoming an integral part of the fortress.

This fortress has only four floors in total. The first floor is a warehouse, the second floor is the dormitory canteen, the third floor is the private residence of the mine owner, and the rooms on the fourth floor are filled with materials for defending the city.

A spiral staircase ran through the entire fortress. The guard group evacuated hastily. There were also large hanging boxes and some food on the hanger platform.

There has been no production in the mine lately, and the hanger platform has been kept very clean.

The guard group is only responsible for dropping some food into the mine every day...

Apparently before the guard group had time to put food into the mine, the Silver Moon Elf guards stationed at the entrance of the mine left in a hurry.

Roy led a team of mixed-blood elves to stand on the platform of the hanger, looking at the deep entrance of the mine and lost in thought.

Obviously only gray dwarves can be so tough in the mines. Their diet is very complex. As long as mushrooms are cultivated in the mines, the gray dwarves can survive well even if they are cut off from the above-ground mines.

That's why they refused to provide gemstones to the mine, out of fear.

The area of ​​the city wall at the top of the fortress is very small, and the four arrow towers are built very close to each other. Each arrow tower is equipped with a cloud-piercing crossbow. When checking the defense supplies, the mixed-blood elf Vitas also found two bed crossbows.

Captain Keynes led the guard group to disappear into the dusk, and Roy summoned the assassin team to the hanger platform.

Two mixed elf warriors were loading food into the hanging box.

Roy stood on the platform and said to this group of Dark Moon Elf warriors:

"So far, we haven't been able to get any information about the mine, so I need you to enter the mine to do some reconnaissance. You guys have to hide on the top of the hanging box and sneak into the mine secretly. Who wants to take the risk to complete this task?"

The two captains, Timothy and Tennyson, looked at each other. Timothy was about to step forward, but Tennyson stepped in first.

"Let me go. I'm better at this kind of thing than you."

Tennyson held Captain Timothy's shoulders and said.

Timothy turned around and gave Tennyson a hug: "Be careful and come up as soon as you find out the news!"

Tennyson nodded, quickly jumped onto the hanging box, holding the rope with one hand, and his body gradually became blurry...

Two mixed-blood elves controlled the scaffolding and sent the hanging box into the mine.

Tennyson's body also disappeared silently the moment the hanging box entered the well.

The scaffolding on the platform was much easier to use than the crane arm, and the crane box was quickly sent to the bottom of the mine. However, the waiting time was a bit long this time. When Roy felt that the investigation time was almost up, the two mixed elves lifted the crane box. Pull the box up.

Except for Deputy Captain Tennyson who came up with the gondola, there was nothing in the gondola.

Seeing Tennyson slowly emerging from the shadows, Roy quickly asked:

"Tennyson, how's the situation inside the mine?"

Tennyson immediately jumped in front of Roy. He lay on the hanging box and used a piece of black charcoal to draw the simple terrain inside.

"There are a total of eight gray dwarf warriors guarding the entrance of the shaft. It can be said that the entrance of the shaft is heavily guarded. In addition, these gray dwarves have shields and weapons in their hands, and they are also wearing simple armor." Tennyson whispered.

Roy was startled. In this way, the elf warriors would not have any advantage in equipment.

But then I heard Tennyson say: "Their shields are very inferior. They should be made of wooden boards. The weapons are modified with mining picks. One side is still a mining pick, the other is an ax blade, and the armor is also a thin layer of iron protection." It’s on the chest, but... it should be able to block the arrows!”

"I couldn't get past those duergar, so I came back in a hanging box!"

Sure enough, the gray dwarves took control of the situation in the mine.

Timothy on the side looked at the thick wooden beams above his head and said to Roy:

"Boss, I have an idea. You see, this hanger can at least bear the weight of three hanging boxes. Then we can try to put in three hanging boxes at the same time. Then we can send at least thirty soldiers in at a time."

"As long as we can block the first round of attacks by the dwarves, we can quickly take the initiative when the second group of warriors enter the mine..."