Chapter 656.5: Windfall Fortune!
A massive swarm of slave warriors charged headlong into the pitch-black tunnels.
And then—blinding flames filled their entire "view."
Boom!
Before they could report anything, a surge of blazing fire engulfed them.
Boom!
A terrifying destructive explosion erupted from the distant hillside.
Watching the blaze shoot into the sky, Triss emerged from another hill, shook her head in disbelief, and muttered, "Did we just blow up the mine we worked so hard to dig?"
Viconia patted her shoulder and replied as if it were obvious:
"Of course we blew it up. Otherwise, the enemy would've followed the tunnel right in. That'd be way more trouble."
"Better to just blow it up and be done with it."
Triss nodded, gaining an even deeper understanding of Azshara's decisive style.
Watching the stockpiled supplies being hauled away, her eyes sparkled with excitement and joy.
With these supplies, Azshara could hold out much longer.
She didn't yet realize the enormous surprise and windfall those supplies would bring her.
Tyrael, standing beside her, continued explaining:
"They lack enough machinery and equipment. Just using manpower, there's no way they could dig a mine that would threaten us."
"Even if they somehow managed to dig one, we could still easily destroy it."
When Gatel said this, he didn't avoid Triss—he just gave Trist a look.
Trist immediately led the adventurers to speed up their work.
They had to completely clean out this Drow ruin of all useful supplies.
Why had they suddenly appeared here, over a kilometer away from the last location, in just under a minute?
It definitely wasn't thanks to some fancy teleportation array!
They had used the earlier delay to secretly dig a tunnel underground.
With the high-speed golem train, they could cover over a kilometer in just 50 seconds.
After capturing a huge number of Drow scouts—
—they had boarded the golem train and arrived at a second Drow ruin.
Half the supplies here had already been transported away.
With their arrival, the pace of supply collection and transport would only accelerate.
Watching the distant fire and explosions fade, Gatel turned to Thorne, who was recharging his psychic shield, and said:
"Go say hi to them!"
"Draw the slave warriors over here."
"Be careful of the Mind Flayers' attacks. Stay within the psychic shield zone for now."
Confirming the shield was working fine, Thorne nodded eagerly.
Though the Mind Flayers' attacks were eerie and sudden, the excellent shield gave him real confidence.
And honestly, provoking a terrifying enemy like this was just thrilling to him.
At the end of the day, most Catachan warriors loved and thrived on this kind of blood-on-the-blade adrenaline rush!
Thorne dashed out without hesitation and recklessly fired a shot into the valley.
Whoosh!
The sharp sound and glowing flare immediately drew the Mind Flayers' attention.
Seeing that their "Mind Control" didn't work on Thorne—
—the Mind Flayers sent in slave warriors and Drow scouts.
They were ready to pressure both Thorne and the thieves stealing their hard-earned spoils!
They were ready to put pressure on Thorne and the thieves stealing their hard-earned spoils!
At the same time, the Mind Flayers were incredibly cunning.
They didn't launch an all-out assault on this Drow camp like before. Instead, they deliberately split their forces to retake and loot the Drow ruins.
They wanted to seize the stored spoils there before Azshara made her move—and lay a deadly ambush.
But to their surprise, by the time their forces reached the third Drow camp—
—a sudden barrage of crossbow bolts from the ruins decimated their slave warriors.
Clearly, Azshara was faster and had beaten them there once again.
The adventurers and warriors of Azshara Camp had already taken the Drow ruins and rebuilt the defensive line.
What angered and alarmed the Mind Flayers even more was that Azshara used some mysterious power that could suppress "Mind Control."
Before they could send reinforcements—
—fire burst out from the wreckage of multiple Drow ruins.
Signal flares lit up all across the Suramar Valley, leaving the Mind Flayers stunned.
They never expected Azshara Camp to have such a huge appetite!
They were clearly planning to sweep up all their spoils in one go!
This was unforgivable!
Enraged, the Mind Flayers immediately ordered some of the slave warriors besieging the Drow lines to fall back to Suramar Valley and launch fierce attacks on the ruins.
But all that back-and-forth—
—had already wasted over ten minutes.
The highly capable adventurers had long since loaded all the valuable supplies onto the golem trains.
Even they themselves had already withdrawn using those trains.
By the time the Mind Flayers' slave warriors broke through and reached the ruins—
—all they found were deep pits and traps rigged with magical explosives.
Boom-boom-boom!
Explosions echoed throughout the Suramar Valley.
Feeling the violent tremors, every retreating adventurer couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Finally, they'd vented some serious frustration!
Even the adventurers hadn't expected it—
—this bold and risky plan not only succeeded but also delivered massive gains.
Except for a few injured Catachan warriors, there were no casualties at all.
And even those wounded Catachan warriors would soon recover and rejoin the fight.
Compared to such a minor cost—
—their gains from this operation blew every adventurer's mind.
First, they burned most of the Drow and slave warrior corpses.
This prevented the Mind Flayers from using any terrifying forbidden methods to launch bizarre assaults on Azshara Camp.
Next, they indirectly supported the second defensive line—
—giving the hard-pressed Drow a precious breather.
Then, they killed a large number of slave warriors and captured over 200 Drow slaves.
Just the massive bounty offered by Bay Territory—
—was enough for each of the 1,500 adventurers involved to earn more than 100 gold coins.
What thrilled everyone even more—
—was the staggering loot and supplies they'd gathered, professionally tallied by Bay Territory staff.
About 50 kilograms of rare metals!
Over a ton of magical materials!
More than 2 tons of magical plants!
100,000 tons of food restocked into storage!
Interestingly, Bay Territory staff discovered that the food had originally been sold to the Drow by Sera.
Now, it had come full circle—returned to its original owner!
Finally, there were all kinds of high-quality magical equipment, along with some powerful and unique magical artifacts.
The total value of these supplies had surpassed ten million gold coins—reaching into the hundreds of millions!
A massive windfall!
With such incredible profit, Matthew naturally opened the gates wide and teleported over a huge wave of supplies and combat personnel.
Even if such a money-making opportunity wouldn't repeat itself—
—Bay Territory couldn't bear to give up these fabulously wealthy Drow "sugar mommas."
The reason was simple—whether actively or passively—
—Bay Territory could rake in a fortune from the Drow.
Like this time—most of the loot had been "harvested" off Drow corpses.
The spoils the Mind Flayers gained from conquering dozens of Drow outposts and camps—
—weren't even warm yet before Bay Territory swooped in and snatched them up.
And right under their noses!
How could that not drive the Mind Flayers insane?
Burning with hatred, the Mind Flayers quickly regrouped and launched an assault on Azshara Camp.
The second defensive line, barely recovering, immediately began restaffing and reinforcing the walls.
Even many Drow sprang into action, repairing and strengthening the damaged sections.
Some of the Drow commanders stared at the unyielding Azshara Camp, still holding strong against slave warriors on all sides.
They couldn't help but feel lucky for not acting on their earlier bold plans.
Good thing they hadn't made a move yet.
Otherwise, those slave warriors dropping like flies and the cannon-shredded corpses—
—could very well have been them!
After this battle—
—the once-unknown Azshara City and Matron Sera would gain immense renown.
Even Lia, who kept sending in reinforcements, was now wondering just what Bay Territory and Sera had done—
—to make even the cunning Mind Flayers this angry and desperate.
To break their composure like this!
Lia had thought that after Sera drew fire, she'd retreat from the dangerous camp and move to the more defensible second line.
But to her surprise, Azshara Camp showed no signs of moving, continuing to hold the valley's edge, fighting enemies from front and flanks.
"Just how many supplies and weapons do they have? There's no sign of depletion at all!"
"No idea!"
"Azshara City only popped up two days ago—we'd never even heard of it before."
"And they managed to gather all that gear and supplies in just two days?"
"Azshara City must have insane power and a rich production zone."
"I'm telling you, their ranged defense weapons are top-notch."
"Yeah, both crossbows and cannons are proving super effective for the upcoming defense."
"Their crossbows shoot farther, faster, and hit like a beast..."
"Those are definitely upgraded cannons—not just firing metal shells, but spell projectiles too?"
"And those human slaves—they're absolute beasts. They can tank attacks from dozens of slave warriors and still carve a bloody path through."
"Let's find a way to contact Azshara City—see if they've got extra weapons and gear to spare."
"That's a solid idea. Relying just on slave warriors and Drow fighters and archers won't cut it against a million-strong Mind Flayer army."
"How long can Azshara hold out? What's their goal in all this?"
"Who knows! One thing's for sure—they're incredible."
"..."
As the Drow commanders discussed, countless thoughts swirled in their minds.
Among them, the idea of "trading with Azshara" had begun to take root in the hearts of every major Drow commander.
The pressure from the Mind Flayer army was just too terrifying.
They had no choice but to seek ways to boost their strength.
Azshara City had already proven the power and effectiveness of its arsenal.
How could they not be tempted?
Sera watched as steel golems fell one by one, the slave warriors behind them getting swiftly cleared, while her mind replayed the Lord's insights on warfare:
"As long as we maintain distance and maximize our firepower coverage—"
"—even if the Mind Flayers have a sea of troops, they won't be able to approach our walls, let alone talk victory."
At first, Sera had felt nervous.
But with every new weapon developed by Bay Territory proving devastatingly effective and stopping the Mind Flayers in their tracks—
—she began to truly understand and appreciate the Lord's words.
In fact, Sera had begun to gain her own insights into warfare.
If these weapons worked so well for defense—
—couldn't they be even more effective in offense?
It had to be said—sudden inspiration and wild ideas often held immense value.
The Mind Flayers' furious assault lasted only half an hour.
After losing 8 more steel golems—
—they were forced to halt their attack.
The ruthless and decisive Mind Flayers abandoned their hated but longed-for Azshara Camp and turned toward the Drow's second defensive line.
This time, they were determined.
No more distractions.
Watching the Mind Flayers retreat, Sera didn't relax—she only grew more tense and busy.
She sent a magical message to the Drow commanders at the second line:
"Sisters, want some firepower-packed weapons?"
A windfall this big—who said there could only be one?