Chapter 246: Pioneering Project 1
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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The passage only attracted bugs when creating a path with the Vacuum Stone.
No incidents occurred while the loot and Mana Stone auctions were underway.
Still, the stone dwarves must have something to protect or hide their city from the bugs.
The auction attracted the older stone dwarves, including Old Bobo.
Technology and experience mattered, as the younger dwarves only knew basic processing, leaving the study of mana stones, an unknown ore, to the older ones.
"Alright, let's start the auction. Here we have an ore that squishies call a Mana Stone, oddly full of mana. And I'm thinking of putting up 15kg of lava stone."
"What kind of auction is that?! That's like emptying out an entire warehouse; who can compete with that?"
"Hey, take it easy!"
"Quiet! If you have complaints, why don't you empty out your own storages?"
"We'd still have less even if we did!"
Old Bobo, from the start, was unwilling to give up the boss Mana Stone, putting on a tough front.
The other stone dwarves gathered around the Mana Stone and booed.
Unperturbed, Old Bobo angrily challenged them to outbid the 15kg of lava stone, ready to dump his entire warehouse.
A trade-savvy race wouldn't try to cheat us, even if they used units unknown to us.
"This is... an auction?"
-Lol, stone dwarf auctions are like this?
-Lol feels like a village head strong-arming everyone.
-Wasn't he just a chatty old man?
-Changes completely when it comes to stone-related stuff.
-Reminds me of someone saying not to overbid on the Mana Stone I bid on.
"It's like it just ended up being sold to Old Bobo, but maybe this lava stone could be used in high-mountain areas? Just hearing the name sounds warm."
The Mana Stone auction, unclear to us what lava stone even was, ended in 5 minutes.
Some stone dwarves, either out of regret or obsession with the ore, clung to Old Bobo as the day ended.
They were negotiating to share, with alchemists and jewelers getting involved, and Old Bobo, a master blacksmith, was full of ideas to melt the Mana Stone.
With discussions about splitting, melting, and refining it, the complaints led Old Bobo to sprint away with his short legs, marking the end of the second day of defense.
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"If the buildings are smashed to this extent, did those king wigglers come and bulldoze them? But why doesn't a quest pop up?"
-How come the monster's name is king wiggler?
-But it rolls off the tongue better than what Roland called them carapace bugs.
-Squishies, flappers, long ears, wigglers, and king wigglers lol. The naming sense feels like it comes from my six-year-old nephew.
-Isn't it a boss monster going around smashing cities? Like a freaking huge bug.
"Surely we don't have to find something in this damn wide ruin? If we have to wait for Grace unnie to figure it out, we might as well suck our thumbs in the meantime."
As the stone dwarves seriously put their heads together, trying to understand the incomprehensible reality, Han Se-ah also looked around the city with light magic, chatting with her viewers.
Despite the appearance of what seemed like an important ruin, the quest log remained unchanged, making her wander in search of a potential trigger.
With the game's story flowing but the quest log silent, all she could do was roam the ruins and let her imagination run wild.
Whether it was just a place they were passing through or not even that, merely a backdrop for hints, Han Se-ah whined about the quest log not updating, and the rest of the group also started to look around with grim expressions.
"It's a bit confusing because it's all stone, but doesn't it look like something extremely heavy flattened this from the outside? Most of the debris from the destroyed buildings has fallen inward."
"Right, it looks more like it was crushed from the side walls to the ceiling, rather than being shattered by impacts. It's the opposite of when snow ogres smash a village, and debris scatters in all directions."
"Hmm, was this place an inn? I heard stone dwarves don't need food, but there are some vegetables that haven't spoiled much. The ruins are quite recent."
Monsters and stone dwarves absent, the group quickly walked around, inspecting the debris of buildings, checking collapsed walls, and finding pieces of wilted vegetables inside the buildings, engaging in conversation.
They too agreed with the opinion that something giant and slow crushed the city with its body.
After all, the evidence was too clear to miss.
It appeared that something bigger than a king wiggler, perhaps a giant king wiggler, stomped around the city.
Buildings completely crushed were directly flattened, while those with collapsed sides were partly smashed.
"Ah, wait. There's something I need to check."
"What is it?"
Then, a thought suddenly occurred to me, so I took the group and asked Old Bobo a question. The question I asked was whether this city also had stairs connected to the surface.
"Of course, there are. This city dealt in gem crafting and sold to the squishies."
Despite the differences in the city's details, there was a staircase at the end of the communal area for outsiders to enter and exit, just like the others.
I was curious about how they moved goods up those high stairs, but that was something to check later.
Taking the group, who had realized something, we hurriedly climbed the stairs to exit the safe zone of the cave and saw black harpies patrolling outside.
"Hanna, do you have any magic markers left?"
She meant to turn on the minimap,
"...It's the 42nd floor. It was an awkward time for a break, so we only marked it when we passed by this cave."
Han Se-ah, who cleverly opened the minimap, answered.
Now, a passage from the 41st to the 42nd floor has been created.
