Chapter 1099 - 892: Disaster Redirected East

Rodrick and the remaining wizards hid in the abandoned mine tunnels on the outskirts of the mining area for two whole days.

Their last operation was quite rewarding; except for two companions responsible for creating chaos who fell on the east side of the mining area, everyone else withdrew safely.

Rodrick himself even managed to bring back a large amount of high-purity Philosopher’s Stone ore from the core vein, with his score soaring by over seven hundred thousand.

The other wizards who followed him into the mining area also received a good share of the ores, and their scores increased by at least hundreds of thousands.

At this moment, they lay hidden in an abandoned mine tunnel situated in a deserted shallow mining section on the southwest side, with the entrance half covered by fallen rubble, yet the interior had quite a distinct landscape.

Rodrick sat against the rough rock wall at the deepest part, carving the patrol schedule of the mining area’s relief shifts onto a flat stone slab knocked off from the rock wall with a dagger.

His memory was excellent, and from these two days of observation, he had figured out the patrol patterns of the mining area with precision.

Several wizards sat around him, one counting the remaining ore in his Space Ring, while another vigilantly stared at the direction of the tunnel entrance.

"Duke’s score has increased again," the wizard counting the ores suddenly spoke, his voice tinged with barely concealed astonishment, "another ten million; his total score is almost thirty million now."

The tunnel fell silent for a moment. The tall, thin witch responsible for keeping watch put down her short staff and turned her head to glance at the Divine Revelation Mark light screen in her companion’s hand.

She was silent for a while before she spoke in a highly complex tone, saying softly, "What exactly is Duke up to?"

"Who knows," Rodrick didn’t lift his head, the dagger in his hand continued carving the next groove on the stone slab, "but regardless of what he’s doing, we’ve figured out the patrol patterns of the mining area’s outskirts. Rest for two hours, and then head to the eastern side branch."

The wizards sitting nearby exchanged glances, hesitated for a few moments, but ultimately, no one dared to voice any objections.

Meanwhile, Duke crouched atop a wind-eroded rock pillar, watching all of this unfold clearly.

He had been lurking here for quite some time, witnessing several adjustments to the mining area’s defense system firsthand.

Those Level 4 Clan Leaders, after suffering two major losses in a row, finally changed their strategy.

On the surface, the patrol frequency on the mining area’s outskirts seemed to have loosened, and the guard presence on the outer branches was noticeably reduced.

But from Duke’s long-cultivated experience, along with his keen sense for Life Rules, he identified several apparent anomalies.

Firstly, behind the seemingly lax outer defense lines, the distribution of Life Energy showed an extremely unnatural concentration at key choke points and paths leading to the core veins, indicating someone deliberately concealing their presence in ambush there.

Secondly, while the rotation of the Level 4 Clan Leaders appeared to maintain a conventional pattern, every time at the shift change, the aura of a Level 4 powerhouse would linger longer than usual in the core area of the mine, while the perceptive ranges of the other Clan Leaders would subtly extend toward the outskirts.

This setup was more about lying in wait than comprehensive defense.

Duke was almost certain that these indigenous tribes had tailored a trap specifically for that ore thief who had repeatedly emptied two major sections of the primary veins.

What they really wanted to catch was him; Rodrick and his group were merely small fry darting around the trap’s edge.

After grasping the essence of the situation, Duke not only did not recoil but instead spawned a bolder idea.

He did not rush to act and continued lurking, meticulously figuring out every patrol shift change on the outskirts of the mining area, every perceptive coverage and overlap region of the Level 4 Clan Leaders, and that extremely brief perceptive blind spot during their shifts.

Then, he chose a dawn during Byron’s rotation, deliberately exposing a trace of highly restrained aura in front of an outer patrol squad on the east side of the mining area.

The aura flickered briefly but was sufficient for Byron at the lookout tower to sense, and enough to invigorate the lurking Level 4 Clan Leaders behind the choke points.

Zaied of the Gray Bone Tribe darted out from the shadowy mine tunnel, and the Clan Leader of the Black Stone Tribe raced in from the settlement direction, while the tall, thin man with a longbow simultaneously pursued the direction where the aura dissipated from the rocky high point.

Duke timed it precisely, just before the four Clan Leaders encircled, to cover his entire body with World Tree aura, instantly switching to Earth Elemental Form, and burrowing deep underground.

His final trace of aura precisely pointed towards the direction of the abandoned mine tunnels on the southwest side of the area.

Rodrick, in the depths of the mine tunnel, put down the stone slab he was still carving the patrol schedule on as soon as he heard the first horn blast.

The second horn followed closely, then the third and fourth sounded simultaneously from different directions, their echoes resounding between the mining area’s rock walls, shaking rock dust from the tunnel’s ceiling.

The tall, thin witch on lookout turned pale, she pressed against the rock wall inside the tunnel entrance to peer outward, then quickly retracted her head, shouting into the depths of the tunnel in a low voice, "Torches coming from all four directions, all heading this way! The leader is at least Level 4!"

"How were we exposed?" The voice of the wizard counting the ores changed pitch; he looked bewilderedly at Rodrick, then at the tunnel entrance direction.

"Shut up!" Rodrick snatched up the short-handled warhammer placed beside him, this warhammer was the backup weapon of a stout wizard who sacrificed himself on the east side of the mining area previously, although not as handy as his own cutting short blade, there was no time to care about such things at the moment, "Go! Use the backup retreat route to exit the tunnel!"