Dark Sovereign

Chapter 8 The Mysterious Ruins

In the end, Zhanen agreed to Verna's request, but he also put forward his own condition - that was, if treasures were found at the target location, they must let Zhanen choose first. Not only that, those soldiers under Verna must also follow Zhanen's orders and not run around without permission. If Verna did not agree to this condition, then both parties would go their separate ways.

If this were on the surface, it would be nothing short of tyrannical terms, because it meant that Verna and her subordinates were completely working for Zhanen for free, and could only pick up what others had left behind. However, Verna did not resist this, but instead nodded and agreed very readily.

This is the "deal" in the dark realm, where the powerful have enough qualifications to gain more wealth and greater power. If Zhanen hypocritically stated that everyone was originally on the same path, and it was no big deal to help out a little... then Verna would have to be on guard to avoid being stabbed in the back by the other party.

As for Zhanen demanding command over the mercenaries, Verna did not say much. This showed that her group still had value to this necromancer - otherwise, he wouldn't need to snatch their power, just wait for this group of people to be annihilated and then control their corpses with necromancy.

After all, for a necromancer, soldiers are always readily available.

After cleaning up the bodies of the fallen, the group set off again. This time, those mercenaries were obviously much more cautious, but seeing Zhanen and Enya walking among them, the mercenaries also breathed a sigh of relief. Being able to have two powerful backers by one's side always brings a sense of security.

After being ambushed by the terror claw beasts, the group did not encounter any more attacks. But this made them even more cautious and careful. Zhanen had already hinted to Verna that they had fallen into a trap, and Verna also knew there was something wrong with the terror claw beasts. As a mercenary living underground, she knew no less about terror claw beasts than anyone else.

But now, apart from continuing forward with determination, Verna had no better plan.

"This is the entrance to the ruins mentioned by those dwarves."

After some time searching, the group quickly found the entrance mentioned by the dwarves before. It was located on a stone wall. It looked like a large hole that had been dug out. Through the thick dust covering it, Zhanen could barely see the exquisite patterns and reliefs carved on the wall.

Clearly, this place was not ordinary.

Verna made a gesture, and soon, three bear goblins stepped forward with torches, waving them as they explored ahead. Then they gave a sign of safety.

Verna didn't enter immediately but quietly waited for a moment before waving her hand. Then the mercenaries filed in, lining up on both sides, forming a defensive formation to guard against any dangers that might appear around them.

Unexpectedly, this half-elf did a good job.

Watching Verna's actions, Zhanen couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Orcs and bear goblins are a bunch of fools, and it's really a difficult task to train these guys who are dumber than one's fingers and don't know how to count, into qualified soldiers. Although bear goblins and orcs are known for their "bravery," it's more about their headless charges into battle, rather than organized and disciplined combat.

After everyone had entered, Verna then walked in with Zhanen and Enya. By this time, the other mercenaries had already lit the torches on the walls, illuminating everything in front of them.

The first thing that caught Zhanen's eye was a flat corridor. Perhaps due to the passage of time, its smooth floor had become somewhat uneven, and the damp moisture came over, mixed with a bit of the unique coldness of the underground world. The sound of footsteps echoed in the silent passage, breaking the long-standing silence.

"It looks like just an ordinary tomb."

Verna muttered to herself, staring at the long, open tombs on both sides of the wall, where one could clearly see the mummy-wrapped skeletons. However, these skeletons were completely shattered and useless. And the burial objects inside were also swept away, leaving only some broken bricks and tiles, which seemed to indicate that the dwarves had indeed made a good haul.

However, Verna was just saying that, as tombs in the underground "tombs" are always hiding extreme dangers. Because you can never know if you will awaken a terrible lich or demon while getting rich treasures. And this is also one of the reasons why underground residents complain about the "reptiles" on the surface.

Those stupid creatures living under the sun bury all their troublesome troubles underground, completely disregarding the feelings of the underground residents. I really wish those damned bastards would be roasted alive by the big fireball above their heads!

As they walked into the passage, Zhanen also released his banshee guard. Their appearance instantly lowered the temperature in the passage again, even the bear goblins wearing thick leather armor couldn't help but shiver. However, the banshees didn't care about these bear goblins; instead, they quickly passed through the walls and disappeared from everyone's sight.

"Enya, what time is it now?"

After watching the departure of the banshee guard, Zhanen then asked. Hearing his question, Enya took out the pocket watch from her bosom and glanced at it before respectfully answering.

"It's 1:12 PM and 34 seconds."

"……………I see, I understand."

Hearing the adjutant's report, Zhanen nodded, then looked at the system panel in front of him again. Immediately, a hint of worry flashed in Zhanen's eyes.

The daily task has not yet been released.

Zhanen had studied this underground city system thoroughly. The daily task is a task that players receive every day in the underground city, but the timing of the task release is particular. If the system determines that the player is unlikely to encounter any sudden events that day, it will release a daily task early, at the latest before noon.

Tasks like 【Jump into the Bottomless Abyss】 and 【Propose to Your Own Sister】 that Zhanen had received before are examples of this.

But conversely, if the system, through a large amount of calculation, believes that the player is more likely to encounter a monster siege, or other player attacks, or accidental events that day. Then it will keep delaying the release of the daily task until the player encounters the event.

These daily tasks are very dangerous, and they give players very little time (after all, every daily task will reset before six o'clock the next morning, if it is not completed by then, it's all for nothing), but the rewards are also very generous.

Although Zhanen does not know how this system that comes with him in the real world collects and calculates data, he values this feature quite a bit. It's not because of the trivial experience from daily tasks, but because it almost amounts to giving Zhanen a constant prophecy, hinting whether he will encounter trouble and danger today.

It's already past one o'clock, but the system still hasn't released the daily task, making Zhanen even more cautious. In Zhanen's memory, the most dangerous daily task he ever experienced was previously in the Demon Realm. At that time, he didn't receive a task for the whole day, and it wasn't until Zhanen received the summon from the Demon Lord and stepped into the Hall of a Thousand Demons that the system finally released a task 【Convince the Demon Lord that you can build an underground city, rather than being executed on the spot】.

One can imagine how dangerous the situation was at that time. Surrounded by brothers and sisters, Zhanen almost risked his life to assure his cheap old dad that he could build a strong and glorious underground city in the barren North, thus escaping the fate of being "secretly executed" to preserve the royal family's face.

The reward Zhanen received for the task was a map that recorded the entire Northern mines and races in detail. It was with the help of this map that he was able to build an underground city here safely without encountering any trouble or surveillance.

Unfortunately, this map only recorded those things that existed, and did not mark these ruins buried deep underground.

Zhanen originally thought he would receive a 【Explore the Ruins】 daily task, but it seems not to be the case now. Otherwise, the system would have prompted him as soon as he walked in. It's already past noon, and the daily task has still not been released, which also indicates the system's "prophecy" that Zhanen will definitely encounter trouble.

The real drama is still to come.

In the exploration of the banshees, the map originally shrouded in fog in front of Zhanen also gradually revealed its true appearance. It seems to be just an ordinary tomb, whether from the narrow tomb passages or the current structure, it seems to be part of a mausoleum.

The banshees did not encounter any enemies, but this made Zhanen feel that something was wrong. A mausoleum could not possibly have no defensive forces, especially in this world full of swords and magic. Even if there were no undead creatures guarding the tomb, traps and poison gas should be able to effectively stop those greedy eyes and actions of tomb robbers.

"This mausoleum should be a disguise."

Thinking of this, Zhanen whispered to Enya. Hearing Zhanen's words, Enya was startled at first, but then quickly calmed down.

"Does that mean we're going to encounter very troublesome enemies?"

Enya's concern was not unfounded. If, as Zhanen said, this mausoleum is merely a disguise, then it means that the real master of this place has at least enough power to create such a large-scale disguise. For Zhanen, this might not be an easy enemy to deal with.

"Maybe, maybe not."

Zhanen clenched his hand tightly. For safety's sake, it was still possible to back out of this adventure now. But Zhanen couldn't leave, this was his best opportunity to expand his power. There was no chance before, but now, if Zhanen still couldn't build a strong city after the underground city system unfolds, then his ultimate fate would be to die miserably in the ceremony that decides the successor to the Demon Lord.

Zhanen had no doubt about this.

"But we still have to move forward."

In the end, Zhanen made his decision.