Chapter 216: The Ruins' Entrance
Once the plan was set, it was time to follow through with it.
Over the next few days, Yaya enthusiastically dove into building the breeding area.
Under her command, Bobo and the murlocs became busy.
They cleared out any dangerous creatures from the breeding area to reduce the threat to the mudfish.
Using the murlocs' natural ability to burrow into the mud, and Bay Territory's durable fishing nets, they artificially constructed a barrier in the mud.
Since no one sold mudfish, Bay Territory couldn't buy them even with money.
Yaya chose a simple and direct method: have the remaining murlocs catch the mudfish themselves.
Faced with this challenging task, Bobo felt the weight of his responsibility and came up with an idea.
He made sure the murlocs were well-fed, so they wouldn't be tempted to eat the skinny, fleshless mudfish.
Once they were stuffed, the murlocs weren't interested in the mudfish anymore.
After half a day of work, each murloc only caught four or five mudfish.
But after adding them all together, they managed to collect two or three hundred thousand mudfish, which were placed in the breeding area.
According to Yaya's estimate, in about five more days, the mudfish breeding area would be fully built.
After that, Yaya could start building the fry nursery and the blackfish breeding area.
Now that she had something to do, Yaya was extremely happy and energetic, watching the murlocs scurrying around and shouting excitedly, never feeling bored.
The construction of the breeding area in Misty Swamp was progressing at full steam.
Meanwhile, the excavation of the ruins had reached its final stages.
May 28th
Bright sunlight shone on Misty Swamp.
Although it couldn't dispel all the mist, it allowed everyone to see the long-lost sun.
The warm wind blew gently, bringing a damp and stuffy feeling.
In the usually busy ruins camp, today was unusually quiet.
Over a thousand adventurers stood on the walls, eagerly waiting.
Most of the "soldiers" were also resting today, with only a small number finishing the final task.
They were digging through the last few meters beneath the pit of the ruins!
Unlike the soft, muddy surface, the deeper they dug, the harder the soil became, making the work easier.
Basket after basket of soil was hauled up.
This soil wasn't discarded; it would be turned into solid rocks by the half-elemental giants of the Carlisle family.
These rocks would be used to expand the murloc camp and the ruins camp.
Many nobles scoffed at Bay Territory's elaborate efforts.
In their eyes, even if the underground ruins were large, they could only be developed for ten years at most.
They saw no need to spend so much manpower and resources expanding the ruins camp and the murloc castle.
Nobles who hadn't witnessed Bay Territory's display of power believed the managers of Bay Territory were fools.
These nobles gathered on the other side of the wall, forming small groups among familiar families.
As the ruins' entrance was about to be revealed, the family representatives chatted among themselves.
"Throwing money around so carelessly—no matter how much support the Ser Family provides, it'll all be wasted."
"Exactly, they're even paying wages to these commoners—it's laughable."
"They've spent thousands of gold coins, enough to hire or bribe a few high-level adventurers. What's the point of pleasing these peasants?"
"Given how clueless they seem, when we start exploring the ruins, should we..."
"Heh heh, if we unite a few families, no matter how strong Bay Territory's soldiers are, they can't fight everyone at once."
"But remember, the Carlisle family hasn't fought in years. Maybe their soldiers aren't as good as they used to be."
"That's possible. Otherwise, how could the Carlisle family lose to such a backwater territory?"
"Besides, with Bay Territory's methods, who's to say they'll even notice anything?"
"Hahaha, true. Carlisle's share might be safe, but we could certainly negotiate over Bay Territory's share…"
"..."
Although familiar with the foolishness of noble circles, Brown almost burst out laughing after overhearing this.
Nearby, Hawk, who was familiarizing himself with his new weapon, saw the nobles and their eager adventurers and snickered.
"These people always think they're special. I can't wait to see them clash with Bay Territory."
"With their usual arrogance, they're bound to butt heads sooner or later."
Rubbing his stiff face, Brown stifled a laugh and said quietly:
"And yesterday, Bay Territory brought in their heavy infantry. These fools think there's no danger down there…"
Recalling yesterday's fleeting scene, Hawk glanced over at Beelzebub.
This barbarian warrior, who had easily defeated both him and Brown together, seemed even more intimidating.
Beelzebub had gotten stronger!
Hawk shook his head helplessly, then calmly sat down, watching the eager nobles and saying slowly:
"Bay Territory might know more than we do…"
"These fools don't even consider that if there was no danger down there, why would Bay Territory let such a juicy prize go?"
"They're counting on them to be cannon fodder!"
Relaxing his breathing, Brown thought back to Viscount Larry's instructions and said calmly:
"Keep an eye on Bay Territory's movements. We won't get involved with these idiots."
On the tall stone platform, Matthew silently observed the scene below, glancing at the nobles.
Yaya, who had been scribbling away, suddenly stopped and squinted at the ground, curiously saying:
"Huh? There's actually a scary lizard down there?"
Matthew looked down and saw the once-black soil collapse, revealing a deep, dark hole.
The excavators, who had successfully breached the ruins, cheered in delight.
From that dark hole, Matthew sensed faint movement.
At that moment, Matthew noticed the restless nobles, who could no longer contain themselves.
They gathered at the walls, ordering their adventurer teams to descend using the chain-operated elevators fixed along the wall.
Their goal was simple: to quickly gather first-hand information about the underground ruins.
Once they understood the types of monsters and how to hunt them, they could prepare in advance.
To be fair, their plan was somewhat reasonable.
Although arrogant, they had a bit of justification for it.