Chapter 694: Resentful Spirit Threat, Silver-tier?

Dead Mine.

A fierce battle was underway.

"Watch out, 3 o'clock direction, a resentful spirit has appeared, take it down!"

The moment the patrol captain's voice rang out, a soldier had already lunged forward.

The blade in his hand swung out, slashing straight at the red resentful spirit's neck.

It was as smooth as a red-hot knife cutting through butter.

A massive wound appeared at the spirit's ethereal neck.

The edges of the wound gradually transformed into specks of light, dispersing into the air, the effect spreading continuously.

The soldier completed his attack and was just about to return to formation when a pair of ethereal hands suddenly shot up from the ground, grabbing the soldier's ankles.

Instantly, the soldier's entire body turned ice-cold, his movements slowed, and his complexion rapidly shifted from ruddy to ashen gray.

"Watch out!"

The patrol captain's voice rang out.

He aimed his hand crossbow at the pair of hands and fired.

The moment the bolt was loosed, an electric arc crackled across it, and the bolt struck the pair of hands.

Even though they were clearly phantom limbs, the bolt pierced through the arm as if striking real flesh, nailing it to the ground.

"Hurry, save him!"

Someone had already seized the opportunity to rush forward, grabbing the soldier's arm and dragging him back.

But they quickly realized something was wrong. The touch was ice-cold, like a corpse.

Checking his breathing, the soldier was horrified.

"Captain, Little Wu is dead!"

"What!"

Impossible!

The patrol captain couldn't believe it.

From Little Wu being grabbed to being rescued, the entire process took less than two seconds. How could he be dead?

But now wasn't the time to think about that.

Because after the resentful spirit's arm was struck by the arc-bolt, it didn't flee like spirits usually did. Instead, it slowly rose from beneath the ground.

The patrol captain sensed something wrong.

"Everyone fall back! Send a distress signal to the nearest patrol squad..."

Meanwhile, his hands quickly reloaded the hand crossbow with fresh bolts.

-

"Hmm?"

"Both patrol squads died down in the mine shaft?"

When Yu Yuan heard Quis's report, a hint of surprise flickered across his face.

Ever since he had equipped the patrol squads with weapons specifically designed to counter ghosts and resentful spirits, no one had been killed by spirits in the Dead Mine for a long time.

If anything, it was the resentful spirits that had been dying in significant numbers under the patrols' attacks.

"Leader, the other patrol squads received the distress signal and rushed over immediately. But by the time they arrived, all they found were the corpses of the two squads. Their bodies were ice-cold, their skin gray and withered, and remnants of defeated resentful spirits were still scattered on the ground."

Quis's expression was grim.

"I know the patrol squads' strength very well. Whatever they encountered was definitely not an ordinary resentful spirit. Perhaps... they ran into some new kind of horror."

"Is that so!"

Yu Yuan found himself intrigued.

He then headed with Quis to the Geological Research Department outside the Dead Mine.

This place had become the headquarters for geologists like Xu Ke and Maguire.

The moment they stepped inside the Research Department, they heard voices in discussion.

"The location of the uranium ore has been confirmed, but I never expected there to be danger involved. This is troublesome now!"

"Exactly! We finally locked onto the uranium ore's position, and now there's some unknown horror lurking down there. If this drags on too long, the production of the nuclear bomb will be affected too!"

"What are all of you worrying about? With the Leader around, no matter what that thing down there is, he'll definitely handle it with ease."

"Leader!"

Someone spotted Yu Yuan walking in and immediately called out to alert the others.

Victor, Xu Ke, and Maguire were all here, clearly gathered because of the safety incident in the mine shaft.

"I just overheard you saying the uranium ore's location has been confirmed?"

Xu Ke nodded, the worry on his face vanishing in an instant. He pointed to a corner of the Dead Mine map and said:

"Based on our geological surveys and Victor's geological sensing, the uranium ore's location, if nothing unexpected happens, is right here. But two patrol squads just died in this area."

By the end, Xu Ke's voice trembled slightly.

"Leader, it was after receiving Minister Xu Ke's message that I dispatched patrol squads to clear the threats in this area, because this zone has a significantly higher probability of resentful spirit appearances than other areas.

In fact, the clearing operation has been ongoing for four days now. Every day during those four days, resentful spirits were killed by the patrols. Whatever killed the patrol squads might also be connected to this."

Yu Yuan nodded lightly. He sent a message to Mona.

-

Dead Mine.

"This is where the patrol squads' bodies were discovered, ten people in total. They were likely being chased by that thing and killed while trying to escape outward."

At this moment, Quis was briefing Yu Yuan on the situation, while Mona carefully sensed something in the area. Knight stood behind Yu Yuan. Since he was a Molten Demon, Yu Yuan considered that he might be able to perceive something and had brought him along as well.

Mie Mie and Zhi Zhi were also keeping close at Yu Yuan's side.

[Hoofprint Spring] continuously purified the surrounding environment and filth.

Zhi Zhi kept letting out soft "squeak squeak" calls.

Within the shadows, shadow rats darted back and forth, searching for suspicious targets.

"Leader, there are traces of residual spiritual energy here."

Mona detected a faint anomaly, her expression turning solemn.

"And the energy level seems extremely high. It's not just Bronze-tier."

Yu Yuan spun around sharply, fixing Mona with a questioning gaze.

"You're saying there's a Silver-tier creature here?"

Mona didn't speak. She simply gave a slight nod.

"Quis, have everyone leave this area immediately."

"Yes!"

The next moment, a dark crimson aura emanated from Mona's body, and a faint light screen spread outward, enveloping a radius of fifty meters.

After Mona's enhancement, the Dark Sanctum had been enhanced as well.

The Dark Sanctum had become her domain. Wherever she stood, everything within a fifty-meter radius would be part of the Dark Sanctum.

As the domain expanded.

Mona's eyes turned dark crimson as she surveyed her surroundings.

"Leader, I can see it!"

With Mona advancing deeper into the mine shaft.

"Mie Mie, stand by!"

Yu Yuan was worried that Mie Mie's Hoofprint Spring might scare off the enemy.

The group followed behind Mona, advancing slowly.

Mona stopped from time to time, confirming and comparing the locations of residual spirituality.

Soon, they arrived before a section of the mine wall.

Mona's gaze swept across the wall, searching for something.

It seemed she had found something.

Lava was already flowing across Knight's body, and a red gleam flashed in his hand. Clearly, at the slightest sign of trouble, he would immediately enter combat readiness.

Mona's words earlier had served as a warning to him.

There was a Silver-tier creature here. He couldn't afford to be careless.

"Leader, it's right here."

Mona pointed at the mine wall and said:

"Behind this wall, I can sense a great deal of chilling energy aura. It's very faint. Even I can only barely perceive it by focusing carefully at close range."

Yu Yuan raised his Positioning Watch. On the virtual map of the Dead Mine, their current position was already at the deepest part of the shaft, and the area behind this wall was completely unknown.

Perhaps behind this wall was the lair of those resentful spirits.

Thinking about the peculiar nature of resentful spirits, Yu Yuan looked at Mona.

"Prepare the spirit containment field. Let's see just what these resentful spirits really are."