The Game of Global Mining

The Blade Guest handed Chun a Magic Crystal Screen that looked like a tablet: "Take this. Any treasure you discover will be recorded on it as your achievement. If a few especially nasty Sand Demons move out, it’ll also give an early warning. Once they’re on the move, I suggest you hurry back."

—— System Prompt: You have obtained the quest item Treasure Recorder.

Uh... Aileen and I are both Initial Tier gods now, how powerful can those Sand Demons even be?

So Chun’s party walked out of the fortress courtyard, and what greeted them was a vast expanse of city ruins buried under yellow sand.

He glanced back at the fortress and suddenly noticed it was wrapped in a faint Barrier. Looking closer, this "fortress" was actually like the rooftop garden of some high‑rise, right?

Have to admit, with Rune Teleportation Arrays, Barriers, and Magic Crystal Screens, this organization’s got some real stuff.

Chun took out the old guide map Zhou Qing had given him, found the locations of several jewelry shops, compared them with where they were now, roughly confirmed the direction to advance, and then set off.

Speaking of which, Moss said he’d be here right after us, didn’t he?

Could it be he’s the one actually taking over the hunt for the Ten Lords? Him giving me this quest might also be something approved from above, basically to make up for my failed bounty hunt?

After all, trying to bounty hunt players is about as unreliable as it gets. As long as a player chickens out and logs off for a few days, I’m guaranteed to fail the quest.

Anyway, let’s get to work.

"Aileen, those Viscounts of Nightmare we captured—can the Barons move around to scout?"

Aileen said in surprise, "They can, but their combat power hasn’t recovered yet. Darling, you want to send them out? What if they run away?"

Chun didn’t give a damn: "If they’re going to run, they’ll run sooner or later. I don’t raise freeloaders."

Aileen said, "That works. Let’s just send Mina and fake Tifa out too. They can keep an eye on them and also form our local defensive line."

Chun agreed: "Darling, turn on all the Radar."

"Okay, darling."

Then Chun activated Earth Vein Perception himself.

In that instant, outlines of underground structures appeared on the map within several hundred meters around them, tens of meters under the sand.

Holy Shit!

The effect really shocked Chun a little. The last time he used Earth Vein Perception was back in Silver City’s abandoned Mithril mine prison. Back then the scouting was slow and the range tiny, nothing like this!

With the underground blocks sketched out, he compared them to Zhou Qing’s old map, and Chun’s direction became much clearer.

Very soon, a glow flashed on the map!

—— System Prompt: Your Earth Vein Perception skill has discovered Gemstone‑type Crystal Ore.

—— Quest Prompt: You have recorded and added the treasure’s location on the Treasure Recorder.

The jewelry shop’s here! And sure enough, buried gems have been found. But just like that it gets added to the quest record—isn’t this a bit too easy? How long has their camp been here and they never found it?

Chun walked to the spot directly above the jewelry shop, and the gem display became even clearer.

Chun decided to send the Vine drilling down, but the Vine was his secret trump card. There’s absolutely no way he’s using it in front of these Bitchy Chatterboxes, and he definitely can’t use it in front of Libnahi either.

Chun decided to make up an excuse: "Lady Libuna Xi, I’m going to activate an Astrology treasure‑seeking ritual. Please move away from me a bit so you don’t interfere with my Force Field."

The Third Young Lady panicked: "How far? If monsters come, will you still be able to save us, sir?"

Chun summoned his long‑absent Angel Divine Pet: "Relax! About twenty meters is fine."

Libnahi glanced around and pointed to a ruined corner of a wall some twenty meters away: "What about over there?"

"Works!"

So they all went over to the wall corner, spread out a big picnic cloth on the ground, and sat down to start eating their packed dinner.

Libnahi sat on the same cloth with them, and that intimate distance excited them enough to forget their fatigue: "Head Maid, you smell so good. What brand is that perfume?"

Libnahi looked a little embarrassed: "Palace perfume..."

It’s nighttime, we’re supposed to be grinding mobs here—can you lot not be so noisy? What smells good, seriously? This game doesn’t even have a scent system...

Anyway, Chun planned to wait until it got a bit darker, when no one could see anything, and then properly extend the Vine from under his feet.

Just then, Liya, who’d been silent all along, spoke in a whisper: "There’s something off about this Head Maid."

Oh!? The Goddess noticed it too?

Chun feigned ignorance: "What’s off?"

Liya said, "Around 10 o’clock this morning, this Head Maid’s power suddenly surged, then instantly suppressed itself again. In that instant, I sensed it—she’s very strong, might not even be human! I’ve been holding it in and didn’t dare say anything, only speaking now while she’s farther away."

Aileen added, "I feel she’s really similar to that head nurse from Oak City. Could she also be Beelzebub?"

Ah, right, that time period was exactly when my alt returned from a Thousand Years of Cultivation! Because the alt took Beelzebub’s Sealing Book and made a trip back a thousand years, it’s equivalent to Libnahi gaining a thousand years of Cultivation too. My guess was correct! But I was way too busy at the time, with no time to ask about what was happening on her side, and couldn’t ask anyway.

Chun kept probing their thoughts: "If she’s Beelzebub, how could she have infiltrated the Emperor’s palace? Don’t tell me the Emperor can’t see through her?"

Liya said gravely, "The Emperor sealed the seventy‑two Demon Gods. It’s highly possible she’s a Demon Servant who submitted to the Emperor!"

Holy Shit! That angle of analysis...

Chun kept asking, "So I just randomly pointed at the crowd and happened to pick out a Beelzebub?"

Liya said, "Then it’s very likely that a certain number of Beelzebub Demon Servants have already taken over the Palace."

Uh... so that’s how NPCs get led astray, huh?

Aileen, however, said sourly, "It’s purely because you can’t forget that Bitch from Oak City."

Uh... that actually makes a lot of sense too!

But if they knew she was one of ours—no, wait!

In that instant, a serious problem hit Chun: if she’s got a thousand years of Cultivation now, can that Sealing Book still keep her sealed? After all, that Sealing Book only seals a Clone of Eve’s soul from the Heroic Spirit Hall.

If Liya’s assumption holds, then she’s not an undercover agent at all but straight‑up the Emperor’s Demon Servant, and the consequence of that... would mean the Emperor knew about the whole process of my alt sealing her in Eve’s Heroic Spirit Hall! Her physical body got blown apart by Michael’s Divine Artifact, and she then unhesitatingly tricked and devoured those Beelzebub rookies coming for trials—that only further proves she...

Just thinking about it gave Chun a splitting headache!

The last time his head hurt this bad was when Aileen questioned Sister Bai’s loyalty! Now it’s his turn to suspect his own Demon Servant!

Liya added, "But we don’t need to panic yet. The Emperor sending such a powerful Demon Servant to follow us will at least help clear some obstacles from our path. Meanwhile, we need to take the chance to grow stronger—and then escape prison!"

Chun froze: "Escape prison? I feel like I’m being heavily favored here!"

Liya said gravely, "Favored? Even I got used as a sacrifice to be eaten—what makes you think you’ll be an exception? You’re just not fat enough yet, that’s all."