Chapter 663: Chapter 221 The Basic Situation of the Mine

The guards at Upper State Prison easily exchanged a bunch of black bread for a large bag of “Muddy War Spirit Crystals”.

It was quite a trade with no capital needed.

Leonard Churchill silently observed from the side, also pondering another question: with these crystal cores, just how many top experts could the Orlan Remnants produce?

Just by sensing the strong war intent oozing from the crystal cores, he realized that if given to a Fourth or Fifth Tier card master, there was a very high chance they could comprehend their own “Intent”.

That would truly qualify them as first-rate masters.

And the Orlan Remnants may have been mining here for many years—who knows how many experts they have secretly cultivated with these crystal cores?

Moreover, the secret treasures they possess surely extend beyond this Upper State Prison.

Thinking this, Leonard felt he had truly underestimated these people.

He had previously thought that the Orlan Remnants, having hidden for over two hundred years, must be at their wit’s end, showing up on the Lionheart Family’s radar.

Now, seeing these mines unknown to the outside world, he immediately glimpsed the tip of their power iceberg and their ambitious intentions concealed from the eyes of the world.

The foundation of the Augustus Royal Family had indeed reached a depth unimaginable to ordinary people.

Indeed!

Wherever it was, the disparity in information was an important factor that widened the gap in power and wealth.

In the treasure-laden Old Continent, those Orlan Remnants who had access to unknown information had already secretly reaped unimaginable benefits.

….

Leonard discovered the secret of the Upper State Prison, and although he knew it was “easy to get in, hard to get out”, he wasn’t in a rush to leave anymore.

Ever since he had been brought in, he had been secretly observing, and it seemed the only way out was through the Barrier Passage they had come in from.

The prison guards must have some sort of Barrier Key on them.

Now, the only option to escape was to Strong Kill a few people.

But Leonard didn’t do that.

The prison had been here for a long time, and others must have thought of this method before.

Since no one has escaped, it means this plan does not work.

Not to mention whether he could kill them or not.

Even if he managed to kill them, he would still face countless masters in the prison outside.

And… there might be other hidden dangers as well.

Instead, it wouldn’t be too late to make a move after staying here a few more days and understanding the situation clearly.

After all, it seemed the prison guards came every few days to exchange food for crystals, so there were plenty of opportunities.

With that in mind, Leonard calmly watched.

He had initially thought all the miners here were mutated humans.

But after this group of odd-looking guys had exchanged their food, some more figures crawled out of those dark mine shafts.

Although they all looked sallow with dark circles under their eyes, as if they were sleep-deprived and hungry, their state of mind was very poor.

The good news was, by appearances, they were still mostly normal humans.

Leonard looked at the clothing of these people; there were all sorts of professions.

Hunters, commoners, nobles… there were even several dressed as movers just like him.

These people seemed scared of the mutated miners, only coming out after those had finished exchanging.

And it was quite clear that these people had dug significantly fewer crystal cores, it took two or three of them to gather enough to exchange for a single black bread.

Some even came out empty-handed, only able to swallow their saliva continuously while staring at the food in the containers.

Seeing this, Leonard guessed the fact this phenomenon pointed to: “The greater the degree of a miner’s mutation, the more crystal cores they can dig up…”

The negative spiritual energy contamination of these relics was a fatal threat to half of the people.

It seemed that the stronger the contamination, the more crystal cores there were.

So the miners who were able to dig up a lot of crystal cores were also the ones who were more deeply mutated.

No wonder they used prisoners for mining.

These miners, staying in the mines long-term, were almost certain to die.

…

Leonard’s “colleagues” were already trembling with fear from this scene.

It was as though they could guess their own fate.

But at this moment, they didn’t dare speak and stood aside, only hoping that they were truly only brought in to deliver supplies.

Leonard cast a sidelong glance at “Hawk Nose”.

This guy must know by now that he’s exposed, right?

It was most likely because of him that these movers were brought in.

Others might not be like Leonard, able to remain unharmed in a mine filled with negative spiritual energy. If they were really locked in, rather than going mad from the contamination, it would be better to take a risk.

This guy had made the same choice.

Upon understanding the environment of the mine, Hawk Nose suddenly burst into action.

With a flick of his hand, a black dagger appeared in his grip, and as everyone was focused on the bread, he darted like a specter to the side of the nearest armed guard.

He was clever in not targeting the leading man in the suit, choosing someone weaker instead.

Although Leonard had spotted it early on, not even he could intervene in time, thinking to himself, “Good moves, a spy cultivated by a major power…”

He was Second Tier, but it was clear from his movement and Martial Skills that he was no ordinary hunter.

He was a well-trained professional assassin.

This strike seemed destined to kill.

Just as Leonard was wondering if this guy could actually manage to escape, suddenly, a terrifying presence surged out from the tunnel behind them.

The aura was bizarrely overwhelming, clearly filled with Killing Intention, yet it made one feel as if they were “seeing” endless torrents of blood gushing forth at a spiritual level.