After about half an hour, Qi Yuan's injuries were completely healed, and he also replenished the liquid metal in his body. Only then did he leave the ruins leisurely.
A gust of night wind blew past, and more than half of the gray ruins collapsed in an instant. Large pieces of gray stone walls turned into dust and drifted away, leaving only the broken walls trembling in the wind, as if they were wailing in the night sky.
The dark sky slowly faded away, and the gray sky once again covered the wilderness.
Qi Yuan rode on his insectoid mount and brought the Blazing Angel with him as they approached Red Copper Valley.
The Iron Chariots' Black Gold Trading Firm was in a mess.
"Missing?
You said Qi Yuan is missing?! "
Night Owl grabbed Blind's collar and lifted him up from the ground, roaring angrily.
Blind didn't dare to dodge, and could only lower his head and explain under the impact of Night Owl's saliva.
"He hasn't come back since he left yesterday, and the people I sent to follow him also disappeared. There's no reply until now, so it's very likely that something has happened to him."
"I told you to send people to follow Qi Yuan, and he's been missing for almost a day, why are you only telling me now?!"
Night Owl roared and pushed Blind forward, causing him to hit the wall heavily.
Blind stood by the wall with his head lowered, and didn't dare to refute. He could only silently endure Night Owl's storm-like rage.
"Who's following Qi Yuan?" Night Owl asked.
"Mustard."
Night Owl frowned. As a stage 3 ability user who controlled the shadow force, Mustard's strength wasn't very strong, but when it came to tracking, there was almost no record of him failing, even when he was tracking a peak stage 3 target a few times.
Mustard's loyalty was very high, and the possibility of him betraying was very low. His consciousness had already been tampered with, and if he was forcefully enslaved or controlled, his consciousness would instantly collapse, and he would never reveal any secrets.
This was a simple mission, but Mustard actually lost contact with them for almost 24 hours without replying, which basically meant that he had met with an accident.
Mustard was a loyal stage 3 ability user who controlled the shadow force, and it was very difficult to find him. His disappearance was a loss to the entire Black Gold Trading Firm.
But for the Night Owl, the loss was even more serious. Apart from the mustard, there were a total of 500 energy cores. Although they were all grade one, it was still a huge sum of tens of millions.
After the collapse of the Xu family, the days of the Black Gold Merchant Guild became much more difficult. Such a huge sum of money was not a small sum for him.
More importantly, he had no way of explaining himself to the person below!
If that person was truly angered, he might not even be able to keep his life!
If it had been before the collapse of the Xu family, such a serious mistake would have been enough to cost him his life. Even now, with a shortage of manpower, it was hard to say that he would not lose his life because of this.
Ye Xiao's eyes were gloomy. Qi Yuan was not only a hunting target, but also an enemy marked by Bloodline Vengeance. He was an enemy that had to be killed.
Now, the trap at the Red Copper Valley had already been set. If the trap failed because of him and Qi Yuan managed to escape, Ye Xiao did not know what kind of punishment he would face.
After a long silence, the Night Owl walked into the elevator with a gloomy expression and once again came to the secret underground room at the bottom.
In the dark secret room, three lit candles were the only source of light. The moment the Night Owl walked out of the elevator, the black-robed man, who had been sitting on the floor in the middle of the secret room with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes.
The Night Owl stood behind the black-robed man with his head lowered. He described what had happened in detail and then waited for the punishment to come.
After waiting silently for a moment, the black-robed man did not move. The expected punishment did not appear, but the Night Owl became more and more uneasy.
The black-robed man seemed to have forgotten that there was someone behind him. He just stared blankly into the darkness in front of him.
Time passed slowly. After an unknown amount of time, the black-robed man suddenly let out a long sigh.
He had been discovered in the end!
A sudden wind blew in the room, causing the candles to sway. One of the three burning candles instantly went out.
The Night Owl noticed the extinguishment of the candles and looked up in shock. He seemed to want to say something, but the black-robed man suddenly stood up and spoke in a low voice.
"Wait for me here!"
The Night Owl was slightly stunned. It was not until the black-robed man walked into the elevator that he realized that the black-robed man wanted to leave.
He actually dared to leave the basement!
As a Tier 4 fugitive who had escaped from Quicksand Shelter, Black Robe was not a nobody. He was on the Quicksand Shelter's wanted list, a famous person on the list!
Once he was discovered, even the Black Steel Shelter would send people to hunt him down!
The Night Owl did not react until the black-robed man disappeared from the basement. Why did he suddenly decide to leave? The sudden change made the Night Owl feel a little uneasy.
The black-robed man left the Black Gold Merchant Guild's encampment. His black hood covered most of his face. He turned his head to look in the direction of Ling You's residence and only saw a flash of blue lightning.
"Tier 4!
Ling You actually stepped into Tier 4!
No wonder she could find me! "The black-robed man murmured, then slowly walked out of the Iron Chariots.
Ling You was already waiting for him outside!
As a Tier 4, sneaking into the Iron Chariots was an affront to Ling You. From the moment he was discovered, a battle was inevitable.
The black-robed man walked away from the Iron Chariots until he was dozens of miles away. Finally, he saw Ling You, who had been waiting for him.
Ling You turned around and looked at the black-robed man coldly.
"Xu Yue!
I haven't pursued the matter of you sneaking into my Iron Chariots. I didn't expect you to be so bold. You actually dared to touch my Iron Chariots people. Who gave you the courage! "
The black-robed man lifted his hood, revealing a pale, angular face.
Xu Yue looked at Ling You's eyes, his eyes full of surprise.
"I thought you were still at Tier 3. I didn't expect you to advance to Tier 4 on your own without relying on the shelter!"
"With your talent, you should have entered the shelter long ago to reach a higher level of strength. Why fight me to the death for a Tier 2?"
Lightning surged around Ling You, and a powerful aura was released without restraint.
"Cut the crap!
If you defeat me, you can leave with your people alive. If you lose, don't even think about leaving alive! "
Xu Yue's eyes flashed with a dark light. Suddenly, a gust of wind rose around him. The whistling storm swept through the wilderness, forming a tornado that swept up the sand and stones in the sky.
In the center of the tornado, Xu Yue was like the lord of the storm. He actually flew slowly in the air, looking down at Ling You on the ground.
"Ling You, you are indeed overflowing with talent, but how long has it been since you advanced to Tier 4? You're still lacking if you want to defeat me!"
Ling You snorted coldly. Blue lightning fell with a loud bang, and a Brontosaurus emitting a terrifying aura instantly shot into the sky, charging towards Xu Yue in midair.
As Ling You and Xu Yue's battle was about to erupt, Qi Yuan finally arrived at the dangerous Red Copper Valley.
Red rocks and soil could be seen everywhere in the Red Copper Valley. It looked like a red copper mine, which was how the valley got its name.
However, only Hunters who had been to the Red Copper Valley knew that there were no copper mines in the valley. Apart from the large rocks that looked like copper mines but were actually rocks, there were only a few Zerg Beasts that would appear occasionally. There were even very few Polluter Beasts.
Qi Yuan looked at the Red Copper Valley from afar, his eyes flashing slightly.
The checkpoint was indeed in the Red Copper Valley, but it was similar to the checkpoints in the Zerg Nest. It was not above ground, but underground!
Could there really be a silicon-rich mine inside?
Under Qi Yuan's signal, the Blazing Angel controlled a few Zergs to step into the Red Copper Valley.
The Zergs circled around the Red Copper Valley, and as expected, they found the entrance to a pitch-black mine.
The entrance to the mine wasn't wide, and the larger Zergs couldn't enter at all. A few Zergs wandered around the entrance for a while, but they weren't attacked at all. A few smaller Zergs immediately burrowed in through the entrance.
The pitch-black cave entrance was like a huge mouth. The few insect beasts that entered did not send back any information, and just silently disappeared from the mine.
After the first wave of insect beasts disappeared into the mine, Blazing Angel continued to send waves of insect beasts into the mine. However, no matter if it was rank one, rank two, or rank three, all the insect beasts that entered seemed to have disappeared and never came out again.
Another man-eating mine?
Qi Yuan scratched his head. Of the previous four checkpoints, only the one in the Zerg Nest was normal. The other three were a little strange. Qi Yuan wondered if the checkpoint was deliberately making things difficult for him.
"Throw the remaining Polluters in as well," Qi Yuan said.
If it was really as Nightingale said, and there was a group of highly poisonous Redback Venomkiss Ants inside, ordinary Zergs wouldn't be able to survive in the toxic clouds. However, the Polluters were different. Unless it was a special poison that targeted the Polluters, ordinary poisons wouldn't have any effect on them.
The Polluters entered the mine one after another. Just like the previous Zergs, these Polluters didn't make a sound after entering the mine.
Qi Yuan's eyes flickered. The disappearance of the Polluters confirmed his guess. However, the checkpoint beam was right in front of him. Even if there were elite Zergs or Glory rank ability users hidden inside, they wouldn't be able to stop him.
"Go in and take a look. Don't alert the enemy inside!" Qi Yuan said in a low voice.
The Blazing Angel nodded. Her red and black dress swayed slightly, and her entire person suddenly disappeared into thin air. Only a faint shadow could be seen flying through the darkness, quickly disappearing into the mine's entrance.
With a thought, Qi Yuan fused a Tier 2 Talent Point with Asterite's energy, activating another Tier 2 Talent — Area Detection.
The instant the Tier 2 Area Detection was activated, the range of his perception increased by several times. His perception of the slightest movements in his surroundings also increased significantly.
The mine's location was very deep. Even with the Tier 2 Area Detection, which extended his perception range to tens of meters underground, he could only see a portion of the mine's surface. He couldn't see the whole thing clearly.
In the deepest part of the mine, a man in black robes and a silent Magic Puppet stood side by side. Their eyes were filled with fervor as they looked at the pool of blood before them. Countless broken corpses floated in the massive pool of blood. There were both humans and Zergs.
The blood in the pool was boiling, emitting an extremely bloody aura.
Above the pool of blood, nine naked and unconscious aptitude users were hung upside down with ropes. Some of them were already at their last breaths, while others were still twitching subconsciously.
If Mao was here, he would discover that these nine aptitude users were all familiar faces. Venom's Luo Fanxiao and Embers, as well as some of Mao's direct subordinates. Even a few of Black Sand's trusted aides were hung here.
These people came from various assembly points. The only similarity they had was that they weren't weak. They were all Tier 3 aptitude users who had participated in the old city battle and stepped into the underground laboratory.
Where their hearts were, there was a bloody hole. One could vaguely see their beating hearts inside. With every beat of the heart, a stream of dark red blood would flow out from the wound on their chest, dripping into the pool of blood below.
Just as Qi Yuan approached the mine, Black Robe, who was standing beside the pool of blood, raised his head as if he sensed something and glanced in the direction of Qi Yuan.
"Qi Yuan is here. He's up there!" Black Robe said.
A red light flashed in the Magic Puppet's eyes as he asked in a deep voice,
"How did Qi Yuan find this place?"
In order to prevent others from interfering with Black Sand's advancement, he had deliberately built the blood pool in Red Copper Valley. If the location of this hidden blue area wasn't leaked, it would be impossible for anyone to find it.
However, at the crucial moment of Black Sand's advancement, Qi Yuan's sudden appearance made the Magic Puppet feel a hint of a conspiracy.
"Don't worry!" Black Robe let out a low laugh.
"I did lure Qi Yuan here, but only one person came. He won't ruin Black Sand's plans!"
"Why did you lure him here?" The Magic Puppet stared fiercely at Black Robe.
"Isn't this what you wanted?" Black Robe's eyes glimmered.
"Didn't you tell me that Qi Yuan was carrying Asterite because you wanted to borrow my hand to kill him?"
The Magic Puppet's voice faltered.
They had indeed thought of this before, but they didn't want to directly confront Qi Yuan. Qi Yuan and the Iron Chariots were inextricably linked, and the danger of making a move on Qi Yuan was too high.
However, if it was the remnants of the Xu family who made a move, the situation would be different. Although the Xu family had fallen, their remaining forces weren't something that the Iron Chariots could contend against.
Qi Yuan's hands were stained with the blood of the Xu family. The Magic Puppet originally thought that Black Robe would directly attack Qi Yuan, but he didn't expect that not only did Black Robe fail to kill Qi Yuan, he even lured him to Red Copper Valley.
"Don't worry," Black Robe said.
"I lured Qi Yuan to Red Copper Valley for the sake of Black Sand. If Qi Yuan is really as powerful as you say, then his ability will be extremely valuable. Throw him into the Blood Pool, and Black Sand will become even more powerful."
"Above the Blood Pool, I specially reserved a chain for Qi Yuan."
"Don't underestimate Qi Yuan!" The Magic Puppet coldly snorted.
"Although he's only at Rank 2, the number of Peak Rank 3 that died at his hands is more than the number of people you've killed!"
"I know he's very powerful!
But you know nothing about the strength of Rank 4. "
Black Robe said meaningfully.
"You can choose to kill him now and use him as nourishment for Black Sand's advancement, or wait until Black Sand advances. Don't think that I'll make a move."
"As long as you're equipped with the mechanical body I prepared for you, Qi Yuan won't be your match unless he advances to Rank 4!"
While the two were conversing, they didn't notice that a dark shadow had crept in and overheard their conversation. After circling around the Blood Pool, the shadow quietly left the mine.