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Chapter 168: Moving Further In
Muhuell's preparations were thorough, but upon stepping into the room, Ronin failed to discover any genuinely useful intelligence.
The entire room looked incredibly sparse. While there were signs of habitation, it was obvious the traces were quite old—though nowhere near the thousands of years of history found in the lower city.
Overall, the state of the room was identical to the rest of the surrounding area.
It felt as though a few members of the Kurta Clan had simply wandered in by mistake and ended up settling down here for an extended period. In all the other rooms, there were zero traces of Kurta Clan habitation, let alone their iconic traditional clothing.
If Ronin's guess was correct, and this was merely a collection of belongings left behind by a lost Kurta ancestor, then his investigation would end right here.
The thought left him feeling deeply disappointed.
"Maybe there will be new discoveries if we go deeper?" Vanessa naturally picked up on his frustration and tried to comfort him.
When they first met, Vanessa had been rigid and somewhat awkward around him. However, after fighting and exploring together in the lower levels, the two had grown much more comfortable with each other.
"I can only hope," Ronin agreed.
He had plenty of time anyway, so he didn't mind lingering in the ruins a bit longer. Furthermore, he hadn't realistically expected to uncover all the answers the moment he arrived. Whether that clothing even belonged to the Kurta Clan was still up for debate.
"You guys can head out first. The Captain probably needs extra hands out there anyway." Vanessa spoke to her fellow mercenaries with ease, entirely shedding the shy demeanor she had displayed earlier.
The two guards nodded without a word and briskly headed back toward the exit.
Ronin mentally noted that he owed Muhuell a favor for this setup.
"So, what's your plan now?" Vanessa asked.
Ronin had two choices: take the initiative and carve a path deeper into the ruins himself, or wait for the royal army to step in and handle the excavation.
Vanessa heavily favored the first option. She leaned this way because, having fought alongside Ronin, she had personally witnessed his terrifying ability to alter the terrain at will.
If he used that power to dig downward, they could easily breach the collapsed areas and access the deeper, unexplored zones in no time.
Ronin didn't disappoint her.
If he went with the second option and the royal army actually dug up something valuable, there was no guarantee it would end up in his hands. Therefore, doing the excavation himself was clearly the superior choice.
With his Earth Style ninjutsu, this wasn't a difficult task at all.
However, a few things needed to be clarified first.
"If I keep digging down now, will Muhuell have an issue with it?" Ronin asked directly.
If he truly found high-value items in the lower levels, Ronin—equipped with Owl as his personal spatial inventory—was absolutely not going to share. And once something went into Ronin's pockets, prying it back out was next to impossible.
"He won't. Besides, I'll be right there with you," Vanessa said confidently.
Ronin nodded. Judging by her attitude, she had clearly been given full authorization by Muhuell. Since that was the case, Ronin had no reason to hold back.
Leaving the room, the two continued their trek deeper into the ruins.
Previously, Ronin had speculated that Vanessa might have died in these ruins during the original timeline. However, judging by the strength of the monsters they had encountered in the underground city, they didn't seem capable of posing a lethal threat to her.
Perhaps his initial assumption was wrong. It was perfectly normal; Vanessa had her own mind and goals. If she felt the mercenary life didn't suit her anymore and chose to leave the group, that would make sense too. Besides, the manga likely hadn't bothered to draw every single member of the mercenary squad anyway.
As these thoughts drifted through his mind, their pace didn't slow. Interestingly, the deeper they went, the more crowded it became.
It seemed quite a few people wanted to be the first to crack the passage open and grab the best loot.
Ronin and Vanessa found their path completely blocked. A short distance ahead, a large group was already actively trying to dig their way through.
From the looks of it, a massive cave-in had buried the original rooms and corridors. If they could break through this choke point, they would gain access to the deeper levels—an entirely virgin, unexplored territory.
Wealth drives men mad. As long as they could keep competitors locked out, whoever got in first held all the advantages.
Of course, the excuses given by the men blocking the path sounded perfectly reasonable. They claimed that they needed to secure the tunnel before allowing the masses in, lest everyone end up buried alive.
Ronin actually possessed a method to bypass them without alerting a single soul: using Earth Style to dive underground and phase straight into the inner chambers.
But if he did that, Vanessa would be left behind.
As for helping the mob clear the tunnel? He had absolutely no interest in that. In fact, he felt this blockade was perfectly timed.
"I can bypass this and slip in first. What about you?" Ronin asked in a low voice.
Vanessa shook her head. "I can't. Even if I travel through the shadows cast by the rubble, I can't physically see the path connecting to the inside."
"What if you slip into my shadow?" Ronin suggested another route.
"How would that work? There needs to be a light source to cast a shadow large enough for me to hide in." Vanessa was quite transparent about the activation conditions of her Nen ability.
Maintaining a shadow large enough for her while submerged deep underground was indeed a tall order for Ronin.
Furthermore, Ronin wasn't entirely sure if using Earth Style would allow him to cleanly bypass the blockage, or if he would just end up drilling straight through solid bedrock.
Therefore, his answer was simple: "I'll dive under and test it out first. If it's a no-go, we'll just have to force our way through."
Vanessa nodded. Before coming down here, she hadn't expected the terrain to be this problematic.
Ronin wasn't surprised by her reaction at all. This was classic Emitter behavior—somehow even more reckless and straightforward than Enhancers.
Among his subterranean jutsu, the one Ronin was most proficient with was the Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu.
Completing the hand signs, his figure vanished into the earth, only to shoot back out of the ground a second later.
"No good." Emerging from the dirt, he shook his head.
Following his gaze to the hole he had just popped out of, Vanessa noticed the dense layer of solid rock beneath the topsoil.
"Follow me." Ronin was decisive.
The moment he realized his Earth Style would just have him slamming his face into solid bedrock, he instantly pivoted to plan B.
At the same time, a concerning thought crossed his mind: What if the space right beneath this bedrock is the underground city? If that were true, the first thing they'd encounter after breaking through the bedrock would be a sea of giant spiders.
Ronin's sudden appearance from the ground had drawn the attention of quite a few people. Some of them openly sneered, mocking his failed attempt.
But when they saw Ronin and Vanessa ignore the blockade and casually stride forward, some frowned, while others crossed their arms, eager to watch the upcoming trainwreck.
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