The dark iron gate was carved with strange patterns, intertwined and lingering, faintly exuding a mysterious charm.
Kei and the others were puzzled, only Sunan recognized the patterns at a glance.
Enchanted Rune!
The structure of the runes was not complicated; it seemed to be just a simple magical trap.
Once someone touched the iron gate, it would sound an alarm and attack the toucher.
But these runes had already dimmed, evidently long defunct, possibly due to the years of erosion.
No matter how exquisite the enchanted runes are, they cannot withstand the erosion of time.
"Is the place where the Iron Beasts are made behind that iron gate?"
Kei looked at Sunan, who nodded and reminded again.
"Be careful, those Iron Beasts won't just watch us go in."
As if to echo Sunan's words, no sooner had his voice fallen than Iron Beasts suddenly emerged from the rock walls on either side of the gate, carrying a foul wind as they charged at them.
Everyone was prepared; they shouted firmly and faced the attack fearlessly.
Only Brad took a few steps back, holding a heavy shield to block Sunan's front.
Having witnessed Sunan's methods, everyone understood that Sunan was the key figure in dealing with the Iron Beasts, naturally not neglecting his safety.
Sunan's lips gently uttered strange syllables; this time he did not use Acid Splash but Mage Hand instead.
A dozen meters away, an Iron Beast leaping towards Kei suddenly froze, defying gravity as it stayed suspended in mid-air, flailing its limbs but unable to land.
Kei's eyes lit up, taking advantage of the opportunity to dash forward, slicing at the Iron Beast's neck several times at the same spot, severing its head.
The headless Iron Beast soon fell to the ground, motionless and silent.
Compared to the one-time attack of Acid Splash, Mage Hand, though having less attack power, lasts longer, making it most suitable to help Kei slay the Iron Beast.
"Luckily, the low-level puppet lacks high intelligence and doesn't understand the logic of killing the caster first, otherwise these creatures would swarm over, and Brad alone couldn't handle it."
Sunan silently pondered.
Certainly, if the Iron Beasts weren't artificial creations, he wouldn't be restricted to using Acid Splash and Mage Hand to deal with them.
A Flash Skill would blind these creatures accustomed to living in dark underground, sensitive to light, leaving them vulnerable.
With the team's coordinated effort, one Iron Beast after another collapsed.
Just as Sunan expected, the Iron Beasts' task was to guard the iron gate.
Therefore, even with heavy casualties, they showed no signs of fleeing.
Over ten minutes later, with a crisp crackle, the last Iron Beast was split into halves, falling to the ground.
Thus, more than twenty Iron Beasts were completely annihilated.
Looking at the ground covered with Black Stone Iron fragments, Kei's expression was filled with unconcealed excitement and joy.
Before coming here, he would never have thought that the greatest threat in the Black Stone Mine could be resolved so easily!
And all of this was thanks to Sunan.
Watching Sunan's back, Kei couldn't help but be overwhelmed with emotions.
Back when Sunan said he wanted to become a wizard, he thought Sunan was just messing around, lost in the books and believing the words written in them.
Surprisingly, he not only succeeded but became so powerful, with all sorts of strange and formidable methods emerging endlessly, leaving everyone astonished.
To the point where even Kei was somewhat tempted.
Should he also try to follow the path of wizardry when they return to the inner castle?
Sunan didn't notice Kei's subtle thoughts, as he quickly approached the iron gate for a closer inspection.
As expected, the magical trap on the gate had already failed.
So Sunan called over two knights to jointly push open the heavy iron gate.
Rumble!
The iron gate slowly opened, causing stone dust to fall from above with a clatter, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Once the dust cleared, the scene behind the iron gate gradually unfolded before the eyes of everyone.
Inside was an incredibly spacious hall, approximately four or five hundred square meters.
The entire hall was paved with square gray-blue stone bricks, covered in a thick layer of dust, with messy footprints left in many places and traces of suspected beast lounging.
It was clear that this hall was the usual activity space for the Iron Beasts.
In the depth of the hall were three open stone doors, leading into dimly-lit areas where details were hard to discern.
Several knights holding torches entered the three stone doors separately, inspecting them to ensure there was no danger before Sunan and Kei ventured inside.
Behind the first stone door was what seemed like a storage room, with a huge area crowded with Black Stone Iron.
Not raw Black Stone Iron ore just freshly mined but refined Black Stone Iron ingots.
Looking at the neat and tidy thousands of Black Stone Iron ingots, everyone's expression turned somewhat dazed.
"We're rich..."
Jordon's gaze fixated on the Black Stone Iron ingots, swallowing compulsively.
No one mocked his loss of composure; they all shared similar expressions.
Even Kei's eyes went wide, shocked, ecstatic, dazed... various expressions mixed together, making his face somewhat contorted.
The hardness of Black Stone Iron is not inferior to Refined Iron, yet it is much lighter, making its price slightly higher than the same weight of Refined Iron.
These Black Stone Iron here, maybe not worth thousands of gold coins, but definitely at least six to seven thousand.
Equivalent to ten years of tax revenue for Black Stone City!
Such a windfall, how could it not make people wild with joy?
Only Sunan lacked much obsession with gold coins; although surprised, he quickly came to his senses and proceeded to the next room.
The second room was slightly smaller, filled with various tools, including the forging furnace, molds, and blower.
But the most conspicuous was the large stone table exceeding three meters in length and nearly two meters wide placed in the center.
Its surface was marked by chaotic cutting scars.
Sunan glimpsed the corner of the room piled with Black Stone Iron and understood instantly.
This must have been the laboratory where the wizard apprentice created the puppets.
He had already ruled out the possibility that the owner of this place was an Official Wizard.
Both the power level of the Iron Beasts and the craftsmanship of the magical traps on the iron gate indicated that the owner was at most a Wizard Apprentice, nowhere near a wizard's level.
If it were an Official Wizard, a team like theirs wouldn't be able to break through the external guards to get inside.
While turning thoughts in his mind, Sunan's actions were swift, quickly searching the entire room.
Disappointingly, apart from the tools and ingots, he found no other valuable items.
Sunan shook his head, leaving the room and entering the third room.
Compared to the previous two rooms, the third room was smaller but more finely and comfortably decorated. Besides a small bed and a desk, there was a bookshelf, clearly revealing itself as a study room.
Sunan's gaze fell on the bookshelf filled with books, his eyes slightly brightening.
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