The black sun hangs high

Chapter 368 New Ideas
As the team members inside successfully completed the base's transformation and the specially processed magical messages were successfully sent, the strange and bizarre "ritual" outside was finally drawing to a close.

The onlookers saw that the shadows formed by the "black cloak" summoned by Baron Fiorento had now completely transformed into rats, so numerous that they could fill an entire open space.

These peculiar rodents seemed to have received some kind of mission. After a brief stop, they bypassed all the onlookers and ran towards the large and small mounds and cracks around the Rock Lake Mine, disappearing into those cracks in an instant.

Before long, the massive swarm of black rats finally dispersed completely, and the open space where the Black Sun Society's cryptic sculpture stood returned to its original state. The magical light and shadow gradually subsided, and the "arms" surrounding Baron Fiorlando slowly loosened.

The magical mist that had permeated the vicinity dissipated with the gentle breeze, but the strange, solemn atmosphere lingered. Baron Fiorlando, with his gray hair, did not rush to stand up. He raised his head, his face gleaming with an unusual reverence. He placed his palm once more on the base of the Black Sun Ritual before him and whispered several times in praise of his ancient deity and the black sun in the sky.

With that, the ceremony finally came to a complete end.

Baron Fiorlando slowly rose from the muddy ground. His once neat clothes were now dirty from kneeling, but he still exuded a special, divine aura.

The captain of the soldiers guarding the mine mustered his courage and approached. He first imitated the baron's earlier manner and praised the black sun twice. Then, he cautiously inquired about the true meaning of the ritual the baron had just performed.

Perhaps because he had just communicated with the deity, the baron seemed more approachable than before. He did not reprimand the captain of the soldiers in front of him, but patiently gave his answer.

"In my opinion, the location of the Yanhu mine is very important, and my colleagues... well, the measures they took here before were far from sufficient, and I should make up for the shortcomings they caused."

Hughes once again perfectly embodied Baron Fiorento's proud character.

He first made a few merciless remarks about the managers of the previous rock lake mines, and then said in an extremely devout tone: "What I am calling upon is a great being who once ruled the earth in a distant era."

"squeak?"

From the depths of its mind, a voice of doubt came from the running rat. It strongly disagreed with its master's words, saying it had never even heard of "huge hill".

Hughes silently suppressed the doubts raised by the running rat, and then continued to explain to the ordinary people around him: "What you just saw was the response from that great god - our number of sentries is limited, and the corners we can monitor are even fewer. This is unacceptable and irresponsible towards mine safety."

The soldier captain swallowed hard and stammered, "You...you mean?"

"The army on the plains is gathering and may have already begun its advance. Their spies are also infiltrating our territory. Do you want to be slit in your sleep?"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers present fell silent.

Firstly, because they had just committed the crime of slitting miners' throats the night before; secondly, because they had all heard of the infamous Royal Agents of Walter and the renowned Mage Spy, but never imagined that they would one day face their threat.

"Don't worry, these monitors won't do anything to you. Their only goal is to ensure the safety of the surrounding area..."

Hughes said with a cold laugh, "Now, get back to your positions! The person in charge of mine operations, come here, I have something to ask you!"

Then he added to the group, "Get your jobs done! Don't forget, the eyes of the massive hill are on you!"

As they were talking, some people saw a dark shadow flash by in the pile of discarded stones at their feet, which made them even more uneasy.

Meanwhile, the miners who had been watching from a distance had scattered. They knew these cruel overseers well and knew they were very likely to become their targets for venting their anger, so they immediately returned to their work tunnels.

In this way, Hugh had successfully established his image among these soldiers and overseers.

Compared to the previous sorcerers, the new Baron Feorlando exuded a significantly stronger sense of oppression. Soon, everyone around him scattered like birds and beasts, leaving only the mine manager, who had been singled out, standing alone in place.

This was a small old man, about fifty years old, wearing an incongruous set of old aristocratic clothing. There were two patches of dirt on his knees, indicating that he had also knelt down during the ceremony.

The old man approached Hugh timidly. He was somewhat hunched over, and his thin body made him look as if he had shrunk in size.

"First...sir, no, my lord..."

“I am Baron Feorlando.”

"Yes, Your Excellency."

The old man was nearly scared to death. Trembling, he forced a hideous smile: "I am Hadra, the manager of the mine and the Watchtower Mineral Association. What do you need me for?"

"Hadra, you're very familiar with the Rock Lake Mine?"

"Yes, I've worked in several mines nearby for decades."

Supervisor Hadra nodded hurriedly: "Before the war, I could manage three mines by myself, but the workers were all conscripted into the army, so now I only manage this one."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Hugh squinted at the old man in front of him, and his previously calm eyes once again shone with magical light.

"My colleague told me before he left that the workers in the mine seemed very dissatisfied with our management?"

At this point, a sinister smile appeared on Baron Fiorlando's face: "Since you've been in these mines for so long, you should be quite familiar with these miners, right?"

"Uh, no... that's not the case."

Hadra felt a chill creep down his spine. His lips trembled slightly, and when he looked up, he met the Baron's gaze. In that instant, he felt as if the Baron's gaze had pierced through his very being. He forced a smile and said, "Your Excellency, actually, I don't know these miners very well... Although most of them come from the city, they didn't mine much before the war."

"Not miners? What did they do before?"

"There's everything here: farmers, merchants, hunters, fishermen, and maybe even those who fled back from the front..."

At this point, Hadra sighed, "The demand for crystal ore is increasing, and in many places, people are even being specifically recruited to mine it."

"Ah."

Hugh silently withdrew the magic he had released, and the light and shadow in his eyes returned to calm. He looked at the mine manager seriously for a moment, and then said, "Then, I need you to go back and compile a list of these miners... Pick out the ones you think are the most troublesome and most likely to cause trouble, and give me their names tomorrow morning."

"Ah? Ah, yes, sir, I'll give it to you tomorrow morning."

"Also, my soldiers will be here soon, and they need warehouses, lots of warehouses."

Hugh casually instructed, "Empty out some of those food storage rooms. What are you going to do with all that dried vegetables?"

"But what about all this food?"

"Do whatever you want with it. Throw it all away, or let the miners eat it. I don't care. The point is, it must be cleared out within two days!"

At the baron's arrogant words, the mine manager Hadra fled in disarray, looking like a beetle rolling on the ground.

……

In the evening, the exhausted workers, covered in dust and dirt, emerged from the mine shaft and gathered anxiously in the open space of the mine.

Today, they extracted slightly less ore, and it's very likely they didn't meet the standards.

Whenever this happened, they were always punished, either the leaders of the miners were dragged out and whipped, or their wages and rest time were deducted.

However, none of these things happened today.

To the miners' utter astonishment, the fully armed and menacing overseers had all been gathered on the other side of the mine, and it seemed they had been given entirely new jobs.

From the hunched-over mine foreman, the miners learned that the newly arrived Baron Feorlando had no trust in them, clumsy and cunning workers, and therefore entrusted the task of transforming the mine camp and building some basic fortifications to the overseers and professional soldiers.

Now, the miners have been given an extra task.

The excess food warehouses in the mine needed to be emptied, so the dried vegetables, hard bread, and some dried meat and fish piled up in the warehouses needed to be dealt with urgently. The best way to deal with these stored foods was naturally to put them into the miners' stomachs.

Supervisor Hadra seemed to have a knack for borrowing authority; with just a few words, he mimicked the baron's manner and tone when giving orders. Subsequently, the "lazy" miners had no choice but to obediently accept their punishment—to digest the meager food that no one else wanted to touch.

In a two-story building on the edge of the mine, the Baron's face flashed by in the light.

Hugh first glanced at the dusty-faced foremen who were repairing the mine camp according to his plan, then looked at the miners stuffing food into their mouths. He let out a short, ambiguous laugh, then casually drew the curtains and disappeared into the hazy darkness.

Now, he must carefully process the unexpected gains that the previous "ritual" had brought him.

For some reason, the ancient ritual originating from "Giant Hill" brought unexpected nourishment to the running rats who belonged to the worship of the Earth Mother Goddess and all the Ernst family rats.

The magic from the Black Sun Ritual had now been perfectly divided among them.

Sniggy never stops eating, and it's stuffed again. It's currently rolling around on its own territory, groaning and whimpering. Chaotic magical light and shadow flicker on its body. Clearly, it won't be able to fall asleep anytime soon.

Meanwhile, the Ernst family rat population experienced a remarkable increase in size.

If the space that previously housed these family rat swarms was merely a slightly larger cave, then now, the world beneath the bodies of the raging rats is beginning to take shape as an "underground kingdom." Several times, even dozens of times, more magical rats than before are constantly growing, and each Ernst family will that operates independently in the outside world can easily command these newborn rats.

Thanks to the magic within the Black Sun Ritual, these swarms of rats are completely undetectable by other rituals belonging to the Black Sun Society's magic system.

During these ceremonies, they were identified as allies, and even more so, allies who were extremely loyal to the association.

There was nothing that could be done about it. As a group of summoned magical creatures, the purity of their magic even surpassed that of spellcasters who had only recently joined the Black Sun Society. Under the cover of this pure, ancient magic, the rats could move freely in and out of these areas controlled by the Black Sun Ritual.

"This is incredible, this is incredible!"

General Bernhardt, who always complained about his rat body, was now extremely excited. He now regarded himself as an "anchor" that could continuously spread the magical rat swarm. As long as the conditions and location were right, he would immediately set up his new spies in specific areas, which made him regain the pride of commanding thousands of troops many years ago.

After General Bernhardt's swarm of rats successfully infiltrated the garrison's outposts, sentry posts, and checkpoints, he came up with some unusual new ideas.

"Child, do you think our army could grow any faster? If there were more of them, I'm even confident we could breach all their walls and fortifications before the war even begins. Damn it, I think we're fully capable of building an underground world right under their feet. Given enough time, building an underground city wouldn't be a problem!"

"Or... or do you have a way to make our rats grow bigger? If they could take up arms, or even use those new firearms, tsk tsk, maybe we could take care of this Black Sun Society on our own!"

(End of this chapter)