Chapter 338: Gilford mine
Damon nodded at the two of them. "Don’t thank me just yet. Handling these will be very tricky. Even the slightest mistake could take you down, along with the boss you want to kill. You need to be very careful and use the right precautions."
He paused, thinking about it for a moment, and continued. "If you have any skill that could grant you immunity for the next ten seconds or so, that would be the best way to go when using this poison."
Phoenix nodded. "I expected as much. I indeed have a skill like that which I am planning to use."
Damon raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Oh? Then you’re already a step ahead."
Blood Wraith, on the other hand, looked a bit frustrated. "Sis, what skill is that? I am confused. Since when did you have such a skill?" He looked at her, genuinely confused, which made Damon look at her as well.
Damon quickly realized that the poor woman had bluffed in front of him and even pulled it off. But thanks to her brother, her lying became apparent.
Phoenix looked indifferent, but he could see the faint blush on her cheeks and the anger bubbling inside her. She probably wanted to kill her brother right about now. But she controlled herself.
"Let’s talk about it later. Right now, I think we should fill Blood God in about the Gilford mine. I don’t think he has time for your idle chit chat."
Damon leaned back into his throne, amusement flickering in his eyes. He didn’t call her out, though he easily could have. Instead, he let her keep her dignity, filing away the little slip of tongue for later.
"Gilford mine?" Damon repeated.
He did not think of it at first, but now that he heard the name, he remembered that one of the mid-tier guilds in his last life was obsessed with this mine. Thundercats. Yup. They were pretty much hanging out in Gilford City all the time until finally one of the super ten kicked them out.
He had always thought it was about the dungeon in Gilford City, which had a high chance of dropping pet eggs, but maybe there was something more to it after all.
If Phoenix was telling the truth, then maybe those guys had been guarding something much bigger all along. Something they weren’t strong enough to monopolize forever.
"Interesting. Go on. What’s so special about this mine that you’re suddenly bringing it to me?" Damon calmly asked.
Phoenix nodded and quickly started explaining. "Gilford City has a dungeon and a mine. The dungeon is good, but the mine is better. The surface ores are trash, a perfect smokescreen. But the deeper tunnels produce rare mana crystals, raw, condensed nodes of energy. Refined properly, they could sell for absurd amounts of gold. Whoever controls the mine controls a steady river of wealth. Enough to fund armies."
Blood Wraith also chimed in. "Boss, we’re talking millions! And the best part? The Iron Fangs, who currently squat there in the dungeon, have no damn clue what they’re sitting on. They only see it as a low-value grind spot. Easy prey!"
"How do you guys know this?" Damon was curious.
"Bro, we saw a merchant guy who was shouting at someone, claiming that they were corrupt and cursing the heck out of them. Sis decided to ask him about it, and the man blurted out everything after taking one look at big sis!" Blood Wraith beamed proudly.
Phoenix glared at him, but the guy was completely oblivious.
"Sis just had to smile at him a bit, and the guy was more than willing to give away all the details of the mine."
Phoenix could not stand it any longer and cut in. "There is a problem, though. The mine is located quite a distance from the city, and there are some local tribal people living in the area. These people are very violent and refuse to vacate the area. They don’t allow anyone to step inside the mine either."
"The tribal clans aren’t just violent, they’re strong. They know the land inside out and fight like demons when protecting their territory. Even the Iron Fangs haven’t been able to get across them. That’s why the mine hasn’t been fully exploited yet."
Blood Wraith jumped in again. "Yeah, bro, these guys are savages! They fight with everything and are insanely strong. We tried fighting one of the guys who had wandered alone in the outer areas. Neither Phoenix nor I could take down that single guy. In fact, he came close to killing both of us."
Hmm. Damon thought about things silently. He tried to remember any details about this place, but the city was pretty ordinary, and he hadn’t really been there that much.
"Hmmm... The two of you, nearly killed by a single stray tribal? That’s saying something, considering you’re both not exactly weaklings."
Phoenix’s lips pressed into a thin line. She clearly didn’t like admitting it, but she also wasn’t foolish enough to pretend otherwise in front of him.
"They’re not ordinary mobs, Blood God. These aren’t your typical dungeon spawns or wandering elites. They are only around level 60 but they fight with precision, coordination, and skill like a warrior clan bred purely for battle. It was more like fighting a raid boss than an NPC."
Blood Wraith waved his hands dramatically. "Exactly! Dude had no weapon, just some bone spear and painted tattoos all over his body, and he moved like lightning! I swear he dodged my skills so easily! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have lost the fight."
Damon remained silent for a few seconds before nodding. "Alright. Your information seems solid enough. It’s definitely worth looking into. Come. Let’s go and check out this territory immediately. If it’s indeed a mana vein mine, then it could be invaluable and might even be enough to solve my current problem. I do need an hour or so before leaving to take care of some personal things. So I will see you both in Gilford City in a bit. How does that sound?"