As he spoke, he quietly pocketed a chip worth ten thousand right in front of the other four people.
"I’m going." Three rcenaries imdiately breathed a sigh of relief, holstered their guns, and stood up. "I thought sothing was up."
"You don’t even know how to tie a square knot?" The female Hunter frowned. "What will you do if your shoelaces co undone during a battle?"
A square knot is a popular thod for tying shoelaces in the military, widely used among field operators, Free Hunters, and rcenaries. This knot is not only hard to untie but also greatly reduces the risk of shoelaces getting caught, making it a fundantal part of military training. It’s so basic that even college students who have undergone military training can tie it, let alone professional rcenaries.
"Nope." The original protagonist replied, looking unfazed by her criticism.
"That’s ridiculous. Why did Lei hire a loser like you?" The female Hunter stared at the protagonist, bewildered. "Are all the Free Hunters in Dragon City dead overnight?"
"Who knows? Maybe Lei thinks I have so skills." The protagonist casually tied his shoelaces and stood up.
"Skills... Ha, what skills do you have?" The female Hunter sneered.
The protagonist didn’t argue with her but quietly continued walking forward.
About a kiloter deep into the shaft, the protagonist stopped to tie his shoelaces again. By the ti he crouched down for the fourth ti, even the three rcenaries, who hadn’t spoken much, could no longer bear it: "Hey man, if you don’t know how to tie a square knot, I can teach you... What the hell is it with your shoelaces coming undone every few steps? You need to know that we’re in a dangerous environnt where strange things could jump out at any ti; we’re not on a picnic!"
"I think he’s doing it on purpose, damn it, wasting ti just to annoy us!" The female Hunter shouted sharply. "What the hell do you want to do?"
"My shoelaces really ca undone." The protagonist showed an innocent face, displaying his worn work boots that had been through a decade of wear and tear. "After this mission, I’ll get new laces."
"Don’t tell you think you can make it back?" The female Hunter, barely holding her anger in check and aware of the repercussions from Lei, said, "When we get back, I’ll tell Lei, and believe , Lei will have your hide."
"Oh..." The protagonist nodded indifferently, gently pressing the pocket of his jacket.
Sitting quietly inside were six chips valued at ten thousand each.
Sixty thousand... He hadn’t done anything—no strange creatures, no battles, not even those "companions" getting jealous over valuable finds. He rely bent over a few tis, and sixty thousand landed in his pocket.
He never thought making money could be this easy...
"Want to take the lead?" A rcenary glanced at the female Hunter and suggested.
"It’s his job, why would I do it for him?" The female Hunter imdiately refused.
"Then let’s stop arguing. If your shoelaces keep coming undone, just tie a double knot and tuck them into your boots," the rcenary said to the protagonist. "Since you said you’ll replace them later, just cut them off if you can’t untie them."
"Alright."
The five continued walking for about two hundred ters. Just as the protagonist began to bend over again, the female Hunter finally exploded: "You’re pulling this again? I’ll chop off your feet right now, save you from having to tie your shoelaces again!"
"There’s sothing on the ground..." The protagonist picked up the seventh chip and pocketed it, then pointed to the ground.
"What did you say?"
The three rcenaries imdiately gathered, their helt lights focusing on where the protagonist was pointing.
It was a bloodstain, judging by its freshness, left there a few days ago.
"Wow... Was there a battle here?" A rcenary inhaled sharply, looking around cautiously. "Could those missing people have already..."
"The employer said we want to see people alive or bodies if dead. Even if they’re dead, as long as we find the bodies and bring them back, our reward won’t be shortchanged," another rcenary said. "Search around carefully, see if there are any other clues."
Everyone scattered, starting a search of the ground, walls, and ceiling.
"There’s a door here!" A rcenary suddenly shouted.
He continued shouting while sweeping his boot across the ground.
It was a ground-level airtight door, with a disc-shaped valve embedded within it. A thin layer of sandy soil covered the top of the door, making it hard to spot in such a corner unless you looked closely.
"Should we open it?" The rcenary crouched down, looking up at the others.
"I feel like those people didn’t take this path. Didn’t you notice the layer of dirt on this door?" The female Hunter said, "Clearly, this door hasn’t been touched in a long ti."
"Not necessarily." The protagonist suddenly said.
His eyes were fixed on the valve of the airtight door.
In the groove beneath the valve, a golden chip was wedged diagonally.
"Why do you think that? You think they entered this door and then ca back to cover it with sand? Even if they did, they shouldn’t be inside the door now; they should be back in this shaft," another rcenary questioned.
"He doesn’t know a damn thing!" The female Hunter imdiately mocked. "He’s just itching to get in for a look because there’s a door here... Damn, losers like him should’ve died in the wilderness long ago."
"If you all aren’t willing to go in, I’ll go in." The protagonist said, reaching for the valve of the airtight door.
The other four imdiately took two steps back but didn’t stop the protagonist.
Not even verbally.
In fact, they were also curious about what lay behind the door... Moreover, finding this door near the bloodstain made it easy to associate the door with the missing people.
They had already walked a long way along the shaft without finding anything valuable besides a strange symbol. This "hidden" airtight door was their biggest find in the pit; there was no reason not to open it.
The protagonist first picked up the eighth chip, then grabbed the valve with both hands, exerting force to turn it.
Accompanied by a squealing sound that set teeth on edge, the airtight door slowly sank, revealing a one-ter-long, half-ter-wide gap.
Everyone looked at each other, their gazes ultimately falling on the protagonist.
"Lead the way. You’re not scared to go down, are you?" The female Hunter said coldly.
The protagonist didn’t speak, picking up a flashlight and shining it into the gap.
Below was a man-made tunnel, its walls covered with riveted steel plates, with a long ladder welded onto them, stretching deep into the tunnel.
Silently, the protagonist clipped the flashlight to his waist and climbed down the ladder.
The three rcenaries exchanged a glance and followed down.
The female Hunter brought up the rear.
The tal tunnel wasn’t very long, only about fifty ters in total with bends. When the protagonist climbed out of it, the surroundings opened up suddenly.
This was a vast rock cavity, unclear whether it was man-made or naturally ford—compared to the ones above the pit, this was huge. The height alone was about thirty ters, and its depth and width exceeded two hundred ters.
But for the protagonist, none of this mattered.
About a hundred ters away, countless golden chips piled into a small mountain, its peak nearly touching the cavity’s ceiling.
Each golden chip was worth ten thousand.
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