TOP SECRET: Adventures in the Dark Continent

"Is that you? Miss, what are you called? " Pargi asked. He didn't dare look at the two girls very much because he thinks Liu Yang was interested in them.

"My name is Aruna Bartek" The young woman spoke only her name. She is the young woman who spoke to Liu Yang first and proposed the deal.

"Bartek? Are you a member of that noble family from the capital? What are you doing in a place like this?" Pargi was surprised to hear Aruna's surname. He knows a few things about the noble families in the capital. 

"They are not my family. I have nothing to do with them, except that damn surname" Aruna spoke hatefully.

Her tone showed that there were many things hidden.

"..." Pargi did not comment on Aruna's words, he preferred to remain silent.

"Is that you?" Pargi felt the weather got a little strange and decided to ask the other girl that Liu Yang saved.

"My name is Maev Stobore from the Stobore family in Nebridge City" The other young woman introduced herself.

"Stobore? I don't know this family, but I know Nebridge City. Isn't this city a little far from Crystal City?" Pargi had never heard of the Stobore family before, so he imagined that this noble family would be weak and of little influence in the city.

"Yes. My family is too weak to be known in the city, we are just a family of low-level nobles" Maev was not ashamed to say those words. She knows it is true.

In the face of the most powerful noble families, her family is irrelevant.

"My name is Davin, I'm just a commoner trying to make money. Young man, I thank you for your help" One man commented, he is one of the two men that Liu Yang saved too.

"My name is Cory, I am also a commoner looking for money. Young man, thanks for your help" The other man commented.

The two were the only commoners inside the barrier, so they bowed towards Liu Yang in thanks.

"As the presentations were made, can we start talking about business?" Liu Yang asked.

"Yes, we can talk about business. Fellow Garett, what kind of things do you want to know about the mine and the city inside the mine?" Pargi asked back. He was very respectful when he spoke to Liu Yang.

"I would like to know everything you know about this place." Liu Yang replied. He needs all the information possible.

"Fellow Garett, about the mine… This place is much more than the eye can see, at first glance, this looks like a normal mine like any other, but looks are deceiving. You must have seen the city before we went through the door, right?" Pargi asked.

"Yes. I saw a city about ten kilometers away. As we have already traveled about two kilometers, we still need to travel about eight kilometers" Liu Yang remembers the image of the city on the other side of the door.

"Fellow Garett, why do you think a city can be built in a place like this, but a stone or transportation array cannot be built? Or even normal barriers don't work?" Pargi asked mysteriously.

Only he and Aruna know the reason for this, as they kept their faces indifferent when the question was asked.

Liu Yang, Maev, Davin, and Cory don't know about the mine's secrets. For they had no chance of knowing about it, especially the last three. Liu Yang has a chance to find out about it if his family were more powerful.

"The answer is simple. Inside this mine, there is some kind of barrier or mysterious energy that prevents someone from moving here. The only way to get here is to use the door, at the same time, the only way to get out is by using the door." Pargi answered his own question, as the four do not know the answer.

"About the city… To enter the city, we need to pay a fee of forty small crystals. These crystals can be caught by defeating the crystal creatures around us, but the value is the lowest. The stronger the crystal creature, the more valuable the crystal will be inside their bodies. The crystals are inside the chest of the creatures, but breaking them is very difficult."

Pargi's words were already in Liu Yang's expectation, he had thought about it before. But the two men were very surprised to find that out.

If they didn't know that, the two could stay outside the city and be killed by the crystal creatures, they need to get some crystals to have a chance to enter the city.

"Pargi, doesn't that make it very difficult to enter the city? How does that large veteran group get into the city?" Liu Yang asked.

"This question is easy to answer. Many of them have been doing this work for many years, so they have large amounts of crystals accumulated. Besides, some of them have direct contact with the nobles, so they receive some crystals in advance to enter the city. The most important thing you need to remember is: Never take the crystals mined by the miners when you are leaving here. Anyone who does this is killed by the city chiefs"

"What is the value of these crystals?" That was the question that the four want to answer.

In the group, there was no miner, so they can only defeat the creatures to see if the crystals are worth anything or not.

"The difference is twenty to one. A crystal taken by the mine is worth twenty crystals of the creatures. The value of crystal creatures is worth little because the energy contained within the crystal is about twenty times less than the crystals mined in the mine."

"The currency money used inside this place are crystals, everything is bought by crystals, so gold coins are worthless here. The only exception is equipment, potions, and rare items, these things can be sold by crystals in stores. "

"I see… Is there any other city besides this one in front of us? This mine is very big and there must be only one city, right?"

"Yes. There are a total of twenty cities within the mine, two cities for each of the kingdoms. The other two cities are independent."

"Twenty cities ??? !!! Isn't that too big ??? Why are there cities in the other eight kingdoms in place? Is the mine so big that it extends to the other kingdoms??"

This time, in addition to the four, Aruna was also very shocked to find out about the cities. She never imagined that there were so many cities within the mine.

Aruna knows that the mine was large, but not so large as to have twenty cities.

The place looks like a country inside the mountain.

"This is something I don't know how to answer. I also don't know about it, the only thing I know is that the other kingdoms also have access to the mine but through other entrances. So they also built cities here. Fellow Garett, if you go to these other cities, you will see people of other races"