180: Chapter 180 Detonating the Mine? Injuring One's Own People

Deep within Black Wind Valley.

After the third Sealing Formation was broken, most of the oppressive aura hanging over the Dragon Domain had dissipated.

However, Qing Yan's expression grew more unsightly by the day.

Inside the main tent, the ground was littered with shattered stone cups and dragon-bone plates.

He stared at the latest battle report, his chest heaving violently, his eyes bloodshot.

The outer outposts—gone.

The Dragon Flame Bombs—gone.

The three seals—all gone.

Even that core Dragon Crystal Mine had now become a gold-digging site for players!

“Lin Zhe!”

Qing Yan slammed his fist onto the stone table.

BOOM!

The entire table cracked on the spot.

“Even if this Elder dies, I will never leave the Dragon Domain's mineral veins to you!”

His gaze turned ruthless as he looked up at the dozens of trusted death soldiers in the tent.

“Go to the core Dragon Crystal Mine.”

“Bury all of this Elder's last batch of vein-rupturing explosive crystals inside!”

The expressions of everyone in the tent changed.

vein-rupturing explosive crystals were no ordinary explosives.

These things were specifically designed to destroy mines.

Once detonated, the entire vein would collapse, the Dragon Crystals would be blown into dust, and even the earth veins could be severed.

The lead death soldier swallowed hard. “Elder, once it's blown, our future...”

“Future?”

Qing Yan grinned hideously, his eyes filled with madness.

“What future is left?!”

“Once the general offensive begins, Black Wind Valley cannot be held, and the Dragon Domain cannot be held either!”

“In that case, let's all die together!”

“Blow up the mine! Bury Lin Zhe, Ao Ning Shuang, and that group of Outworlders inside!”

“If this Elder can't have it, no one can!”

The dozens of Black Dragon death soldier members shuddered and immediately lowered their heads.

“Understood!”

Late at night.

The perimeter of the core Dragon Crystal Mine was deathly quiet.

Most of the players who mined during the day had already dispersed, leaving only a few patrol teams and Dragon Race guards on duty in the outer circle.

Dozens of dark shadows hugged the shadows of the mine tunnels and quietly slipped inside.

Each of them carried a black iron box on their back, filled with pitch-black, shimmering vein-rupturing explosive crystals.

“Move fast.”

“Withdraw as soon as they're buried.”

“When they explode during the general offensive, not a single person here will survive.”

Several death soldiers exchanged whispers, their eyes cold.

But they had no idea.

Ever since the three seals were broken, Lin Zhe's Rule Perception had already covered nearly half of the Dragon Domain.

The appearance of an unusual ripple in the mine couldn't possibly be hidden from him.

High atop Wanlong City.

Lin Zhe stood by the city wall, gazing calmly toward the mineral vein.

Ao Ning Shuang stood beside him, her silver eyes turning cold. “They're making a move on the mine?”

“Mhm.”

Lin Zhe spoke indifferently.

“They want to blow it up.”

Qing Yu's face immediately darkened. “Has Qing Yan gone mad?”

Lin Zhe didn't say a word; he simply raised his hand.

Buzz—

A faint golden Power of Rules spread out silently.

In the next second, an invisible layer of rule protection instantly formed around the entire core Dragon Crystal Mine.

It protected the vein.

Not that group of death soldiers.

Inside the mine.

The dozens of Black Dragon death soldier members had already buried the vein-rupturing explosive crystals in several key mineral layers.

The leader grinned and lit the fuse.

“Go!”

But just as the fuse sparked—

Buzz!

The entire mine tunnel suddenly shuddered!

The explosive firelines that were supposed to drill deep into the mineral layers seemed to hit an invisible wall and violently recoiled!

“What?!”

“Why is the fuse coming back?!”

“Retreat! Quick, retreat!”

Their faces twisted in terror as they turned to run.

But it was too late.

BOOM!!!

The first vein-rupturing explosive crystal detonated on the spot.

It didn't explode into the mineral layer.

Instead, it exploded toward the people who had buried it!

Followed by—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A series of explosions echoed throughout the entire tunnel!

Fire recoiled and rubble flew everywhere; the dozens of Black Dragon death soldier members were swallowed by their own explosives before they could even finish screaming.

Some were instantly charred to death.

Others were flipped by the shockwave and slammed into the mine walls, their bones shattered.

A few who had just reached the exit were overtaken by the subsequent explosions a moment later, their bodies reduced to ash.

In just a few breaths.

The dozens of trusted subordinates who had buried the bombs were all dead!

The patrolling players outside the mine were stunned for a moment, then the situation erupted.

“Holy crap! There was an explosion inside!”

“Who's causing trouble?”

“Quick, look at the system prompts!”

Almost simultaneously, a server-wide announcement popped up.

[Server Announcement: Detected that the rebels attempted to blow up the core Dragon Crystal Mine vein!]

[Lin Zhe has activated the Vein Protection Rule!]

[All explosive damage has been deflected in reverse!]

The world channel instantly went wild.

“Hahahaha, it reflected again!”

“Is Qing Yan obsessed with shockback or something?”

“He wanted to blow up the mine, but ended up blowing up his own people first?”

Deep in the mine tunnel, the sound of explosions gradually ceased.

After the thick dust settled, everyone first looked at the mineral layers.

They hadn't collapsed.

They hadn't cracked.

The entire core vein was held steady by that layer of faint golden rule protection; forget being severed, even the main mine wall hadn't sustained the slightest damage.

Instead, some of the outer mineral rocks that were originally tightly packed had been loosened by the shock just now.

Large patches of Dragon Crystals were exposed.

A player went up and gave it a tap with a pickaxe.

Clack!

An entire chunk of Dragon Crystal fell right off.

That person's eyes instantly widened.

“Holy cow! It's even easier to mine now!”

The lifestyle players nearby also lunged forward, and after a few tries, they were overjoyed.

“It really is loosened!”

“Before, I had to hit it over ten times, now it falls in three or four!”

“Qing Yan isn't blowing up the mine, he's tilling the soil for us!”

Once the news spread, everyone outside the mine tunnel laughed themselves silly.

“Throwing away lives wasn't enough, he even lowered the difficulty for us along the way?”

“Qing Yan is truly a great philanthropist!”

“Hilarious, he tried to be clever but ended up shooting himself in the foot!”

Atop Wanlong City, Ao Ning Shuang looked at the unharmed mineral vein within her perception and let out a cold laugh.

“This last trump card of his is also wasted.”

Lin Zhe's expression was calm as he indifferently withdrew his hand.

“It was already useless.”

Over at Black Wind Valley.

Someone soon brought the news back to Qing Yan's main tent.

“Re... Report, Elder!”

“The vein-rupturing explosive crystals buried in the vein all failed and the explosion reflected...”

“The death soldiers who buried the bombs... are all dead.”

Qing Yan's body stiffened.

“And the mine?”

The messenger's face was pale, his voice trembling.

“The... the mine is fine.”

“And, and I heard the outer mineral rocks were loosened by the shock, so mining is even faster than before...”

Bang!

Qing Yan kicked over the large tripod in front of him, his entire body trembling with rage. A sweetness rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot.

“Pfft—”

Everyone in the tent knelt down.

No one dared to look up.

Dozens of his most loyal death soldiers.

His last batch of mine-blowing trump cards.

Just like that, they were gone.

And it even helped the other side mine more easily for nothing.

This was no longer just a failure.

This was being pinned to the ground and slapped repeatedly.

Starting from this night, the atmosphere in Black Wind Valley changed completely.

Many ordinary rebel soldiers watched the preparations for the general offensive drawing closer and closer, and then watched Qing Yan act again and again only to fail every time. The ruthlessness in their eyes slowly faded, replaced only by panic.

“He couldn't even blow up the mine...”

“Can the Elder really still hold out?”

“If we keep following him, I'm afraid we'll all die together.”

At the edge of the camp, some people began to quietly pack their things.

Some took advantage of the shift change to peek toward the exit of the valley.

Others lowered their voices, exchanging looks with their companions.

More and more people wanted to run.

More and more people wanted to live.

The fighting spirit that was barely holding up in Black Wind Valley had begun to leak away.

Meanwhile, at Wanlong City, players were still swinging their pickaxes at the easier-to-mine mineral layers, the clinking sounds echoing one after another.

Lin Zhe stood at the high point, gazing at Black Wind Valley in the night, his gaze indifferent.

Qing Yan's cards were almost all played.

Next, the valley would descend into chaos first.