Chapter 219: Chapter 213: The Fish Takes the Bait

In the shadows of the Black Stone Gobi, beneath an unremarkable speck of dust, hid a creature smaller than a single strand of hair.

It was called a "Bloodwing Mosquito," one of Grock’s proudest techniques.

This type of Magical Beast had almost no combat power, but its reproduction rate was astonishingly fast. It flew silently and could naturally bend light, achieving near-perfect optical invisibility.

By controlling the queen, the entire swarm became his eyes and ears.

A month ago, he had received his orders from the Son of the Abyss and had been lying in wait here ever since.

To that end, he had released tens of billions of Bloodwing Mosquitos.

Now, aside from the core areas of the two workshops and mines that he avoided for fear of detection, every mining site and every Golem on this vast expanse of land was under his surveillance.

"Alchemy Wizard..."

Grock opened his eyes, a glint of greed flashing within them. ’He’s just a First-level Wizard, yet he’s living more comfortably than me, a Second-level.’

Grock, a Second-level Wizard from the Contract School, was a former member of the Ring City Alliance’s "Magical Beast Domestication Unit."

He became a wanted fugitive after privately conducting a forbidden "Magical Beast Bloodline Fusion Experiment," which resulted in the loss of important military assets.

With nowhere left to turn, he spent all his savings just to get in touch with the Son of the Abyss from the Eternal Secret Sect, and with that entity’s help, he advanced to become a Second-level Wizard.

And now?

He didn’t even have a proper base. A respectable Second-level Wizard, forced to hide in this godforsaken place and raid mining sites to make some extra cash.

’Once this mission is complete, I’ll definitely...’

A fluctuation of Magic Power interrupted Grock’s train of thought.

An image of Mining Site No. 5 appeared clearly in his spiritual vision.

A transport Floating Ship was parked at the site, with several Alchemy Servants loading ore into its hold.

’Transferring supplies?’ Grock narrowed his eyes.

He maneuvered a few Bloodwing Mosquitos closer to get a better look at the items being packed into crates.

Equipment, replacement parts, refined ore...

Wait.

In that crate, the thing gleaming with a silvery-white luster was...

"Mithril?!"

Grock’s breathing instantly quickened.

Mithril. A high-level alchemy material with a market price of at least five thousand Magic Stones per kilogram.

And that crate looked like it held at least twenty kilograms!

"One hundred thousand Magic Stones... No, there are two more crates over there..."

Grock’s fingers trembled slightly.

He was a Second-level Wizard, deep in debt and slaving away for the Son of the Abyss. Even half a year of life-and-death missions might not earn him this much. Yet his target, a little brat who had just become a First-level Wizard, had leftover supplies in a mine that were worth several years of his own earnings!

On what grounds?!

Flames of jealousy burned away his reason. ’Alchemy Wizards,’ he thought, ’really are the fattest, juiciest sheep in the Wizarding World!’

He quickly mobilized more Bloodwing Mosquitos to observe the mining site from various angles.

Two Magic Missile launchers, three aerial spheres, one large Humanoid Golem, thirty "Spiders," and a number of Mining Golems and Alchemy Servants.

’Same configuration as the other sites I raided,’ Grock thought, calming himself and starting to calculate.

He pulled up a map in his mind.

The kid’s Mining Site No. 5 was on the edge of the Black Stone Gobi, 320 kilometers from the main workshop and 210 kilometers from the Lava Lake workshop.

And just one day ago, he had personally witnessed Allen’s Golem Legion split into two forces and pull back to those two workshops.

The patrol routes of the "Storm Falcon" formations had also changed, shifting to focus on defending the areas around the workshops.

"He’s given up." A smirk played on Grock’s lips. "He knows he can’t defend all the mining sites, so he’s chosen to protect the most important workshops."

It was the correct choice.

For an Alchemy Wizard, the equipment and knowledge in a workshop were far more important than a mining site.

A lost mining site could be rebuilt, but if a workshop was destroyed, they would truly have nothing left.

’Those three High-Level Golems also went into the workshops...’ Grock recalled the intelligence he had gathered.

One was a giant red-and-blue mecha, the other two were crimson Humanoid Golems.

These three were the strongest combat units the Alchemy Wizard possessed.

Now they were all holed up in the workshops, clearly serving as a final line of defense.

"For his Flying Golems to get from the nearest workshop to Mining Site No. 5 at full speed, it would take over fifteen minutes," Grock calculated. "Add reaction and deployment time, and we’re looking at twenty minutes, at least."

"And the range of his Magic Missile launch platforms is forty kilometers. They can’t even get into firing position from the workshops to the mining site."

"Which means..."

A vicious glint flashed in Grock’s eyes.

"I have a window of about fifteen minutes."

Fifteen minutes. Enough time for his Magical Beasts to destroy the mining site, snatch the Mithril, and then retreat via spatial jump, vanishing without a trace.

Grock let out a cold, sinister laugh.

He wouldn’t just seize this fortune; he would use this opportunity to show that kid that in the face of a true Wizard like him, so-called walls of steel were nothing but a joke.

’But what if it’s a trap?’

Grock hesitated again. The years he’d spent on the run had made him exceptionally cautious.

The last time, at Mining Site No. 3, he had nearly been blown to bits by the saturation strike from the "Purgatory."

He still remembered the humiliation of his desperate spatial jump as two hundred and forty Magic Missiles blanketed the area.

That unreasonable level of fire coverage had completely exceeded his understanding of a First-level Alchemy Wizard’s combat capabilities.

That Alchemy Wizard was more decisive, more ruthless, than he had imagined.

Learn from your mistakes. For the past two days, he had been closely monitoring those Flying Golems called "Storm Falcons" and the "Purgatory" launch platforms. The movement of a single one would not have escaped his notice.

"No... it’s not a trap."

Grock carefully observed every detail of Mining Site No. 5.

The transport ship was being loaded quickly, and the routes taken by the Alchemy Servants were normal.

The patrol paths of the "Spider Slayers" were identical to those at the previous mining sites.

"He’s afraid of being attacked, so he’s hastily moving the Mithril."

Grock convinced himself.

"Besides..." He glanced toward the two workshops. "His main forces are all over there. Even if he wanted to send reinforcements, it would be too late."

Greed, in the end, won out over caution.

"Two hundred thousand Magic Stones..." Grock licked his lips. "Enough for me to buy another decent piece of equipment."

He extended his Spiritual Power, connecting to his pet dimension.

Three Rock Armor Earth Dragon leaders and ten adult Rock Armor Earth Dragons were lying in wait, ready to strike. He had just recently captured them. To deal with one mining site, sending out a single leader-class Magical Beast would have been more than enough.

His [Beast Pack Dominator’s Mark] was branded deep within their souls.

"I’ll make my move when the transport ship is full and about to take off." Grock sneered. "His Golems won’t fire near their own units."

He closed his eyes and began his final confirmation.

In the images transmitted by the swarm of Bloodwing Mosquitos, the transport ship was already more than halfway loaded.

The mining site’s Defense Golems were still patrolling methodically.

No anomalies.

No ambush.

"Excellent..."

A cruel smile tugged at the corners of Grock’s mouth.

He stood up, preparing to use a mosquito as a coordinate and execute a direct spatial jump into Mining Site No. 5.

Meanwhile, fifty meters beneath Mining Site No. 5.

Inside a temporarily constructed cavern, Allen was staring intently at a light screen before him.

On the screen, the every move of every Golem within Mining Site No. 5 was displayed with perfect clarity.

"Tsk, what a grand gesture. Using two hundred thousand Magic Stones’ worth of Mithril as bait... Allen, you’re getting crazier and crazier. Aren’t you afraid you’ll really screw this up?"

Victor hovered to the side, arms crossed, completely oblivious to the fact that he was missing his legs.

"The most expensive bait catches the biggest fish," Allen said, his tone perfectly calm. "Besides, as long as the fish takes the hook, the bait is still mine."

"You didn’t actually have to come."

"If I didn’t come, would I survive if you died? Do you have a large-scale Defense Array in your workshop or something?"

Victor complained inwardly. ’This guy is always so deceptively proper. He makes it seem like I have a choice, but in reality, there’s no choice at all.’

He glanced at his own spatial ring, which was currently on Allen’s finger.

In order to sneak the "Freedom Gundam," "Flame Fiend No. 2," and over a dozen PX-1As here, he had been forced to lend out his expensive, strategic-grade storage artifact—one with an internal space the size of a stadium.

That guy would squeeze every last drop of value even from a friend (though he was reluctant to admit they were friends).

"Jarvis, how’s the show going up on the surface?" Allen asked.

[Reporting, Commander. The transport Floating Ship at Mining Site No. 5 is about to take off. Rapid loading operations are underway to create the illusion of an emergency evacuation of remaining high-value assets.]

"Excellent."

Allen’s gaze fell upon the transport Floating Ship that was about to depart.

Victor grew tense as well, clenching his fists instinctively.

Will he show himself? The viper hiding in the shadows.

Allen slowly rose to his feet. He had been laying the groundwork for this hunt for a very long time.

From feigning weakness and consolidating his forces, to dangling the bait, and finally to staging a fake retreat... every step was linked, all to lure that cautious Black Wizard into a deadly trap.