Chapter 229: Fighting in the Canyon

Experienced adventurers judged these to be goods produced by the Blacksmith Guild; they had taken other valuables when they evacuated, but weapons and equipment were firstly cumbersome, and secondly, everyone already had a set, so there was no need to carry them, and thus they were all sealed away.

This was the first gain of this expedition; Sinuoli registered them in the presence of everyone, then moved them to the warehouse to be temporarily sealed.

For this expedition, Sinuoli borrowed some management methods from his past life, such as attendance, performance, and KPI (Key Performance Indicators), and tentatively drafted a system for distributing gains.

Simply put, various gains were not distributed immediately; everyone could earn contribution points by performing daily tasks and making individual contributions, and Sinuoli's own rewards during the expedition were also primarily in points.

Sinuoli announced a floating exchange rate between points and gold coins that was updated at any time; holders of points could freely exchange them for treasures or cash them out into gold coins.

This was actually a prototype of a substitute currency, though Sinuoli did not intend to promote it extensively; currently, the Mountain Kingdom did not lack metal currency, and there was also Oath Gold as a supplement for large transactions.

As for credit currency, Sinuoli had not yet studied whether it should or could be promoted. Dwarfs had always been plagued by Kezhinzheng, so the resistance to promoting credit currency would not be small, but perhaps it could allow more wealth to circulate instead of being locked in treasure vaults.

Of course, these points were limited to between Dwarfs and Knights; ordinary Humans and Amazon people were under direct employment relationships, and their income was not linked to the final gains of the expedition.

After spending a week simply reorganizing Red Cloud Mountain Fortress, Sinuoli prepared to pass through Coffin Canyon and enter the Nan Shijie Bianyuan Shanmai. Cities in the real world would not automatically have garrison troops appear after being captured; Sinuoli could only divide his forces to garrison them.

This was also the thing he worried about most before the expedition began; the closer he got to Gaoyuanbao, the fewer forces he had in his hands. Sinuoli handed the task of guarding the rear to Qiangsen-Jian Dun, his earliest follower, which was also the best choice at the moment.

This Ironbreaker veteran and Anvil Guard Captain finally received a position of importance; Sinuoli left him a force of five hundred men. He had to rely on these people to hold Red Cloud Mountain and deal with potential attacks from Tomb Kings who did not respect Settra's orders, Greenskins, and Skaven.

The remaining troops began to advance under Sinuoli's command; according to records on the map, their next stop was Zhuwangshan. While crossing Coffin Canyon, the Dwarfs were harassed by ownerless Undead.

It could be said that not a single one of the Nehekhara kings buried here had found rest. The tomb locations chosen by the kings here were close to each other, unlike the scattered ones of the past, with the purpose of facilitating centralized protection; however, this also precisely provided convenience for grave robbers.

Before Nagash released the Great Incantation, bandit gangs would gather around the canyon; they would either sneak in or rob openly, and even collude with the local Quata and guardians to carry out frantic grave-robbing activities.

Some mausoleums were even robbed within ten years of being buried, and later kings could only constantly rebury their ancestors. After Nagash awakened the dead, the pyramids along the Great Mortis River had sleepless guardians and were harder to rob, so all grave robbers turned their eyes here.

The ancient kings who carved tomb chambers into the mountains did not have many funerary troops; a large number of grave robbers under the banner of adventurers looted their tomb chambers into disarray, and as far as Sinuoli knew, there were not a few Dwarfs among them.

Therefore, the resurrected Undead who had lost their masters wandered in the canyon, attacking living visitors at will. As Sinuoli was marching, a group of huge serpentine constructs sprang out from the sand.

The one in the lead straightened its body and darted like an arrow toward Sinuoli, who was sitting on the Doom Anvil; he deflected the snake head with a Storm Hammer, and a well-equipped Skeleton Warrior standing on top stabbed at Sinuoli with the spear in its hand.

Sinuoli had accumulated rich combat experience during previous merchant caravan escort missions; he twisted his waist to dodge the spearhead and grabbed the shaft with his gloved right hand. The Skeleton Warrior's Strength was not enough to contend with a Dwarf, and it was dragged over by Sinuoli, then had its skull smashed by the returning Warhammer.

"Don't panic! Fight!" Sinuoli roared; he was a bit annoyed, but knew he shouldn't blame his kin. These serpentine constructs moved ruthlessly underground and suddenly rushed out of the surface wrapped in yellow sand; the scouts in front could not discover them without specific countermeasures!

These serpentine monsters attacked as if they were truly giant snakes; they swung their stone tails and tried to break through the Dwarfs' armor with Scimitar-shaped fangs.

Sinuoli discovered that the one that attacked him initially did not stop because its driver was killed, but was still tirelessly attacking his subordinates. The Anvil Guard around Sinuoli suffered some losses, but their results were not obvious.

These clansmen used one-handed weapons in order to equip Shields, and their strikes on the several-meter-long constructs only knocked off a few stone fragments. This situation only improved when the Hammer Guard and clansmen equipped with heavy weapons arrived.

With the help of Sinuoli's Slow Rune, the Dwarfs controlled and killed a few Tomb Knights, but more of them burrowed into the sand and disappeared without a trace.

Sinuoli frowned, but there was no help for it; after all, most of the guys who had seen these things before had become one of the dry bones in Coffin Canyon, and he himself lacked understanding of the Tomb Kings and had no extra knowledge.

To deal with potential other threats, the Dwarfs adjusted their formation, changing the column into a circular formation. Sinuoli himself led some elites to walk in the front, while Rogov and clansmen with sufficient lethality stayed in the center to protect the supplies and prepare to support at any time if enemies appeared.

After walking for another hour or so and dealing with a few sporadic threats along the way, the Dwarfs could finally see the mountains from afar; everyone's hanging hearts slowly relaxed, as the mountains were the home turf of the Sons of the Mountains.

Just at this moment, Sinuoli felt his heart jump wildly; he now had two traits, which were "See Through Trickery," obtained from killing Skarsnik, which could increase the success rate of ambushes and the rate of seeing through ambushes.

And "Crow Catcher," obtained by defeating the Dark Omen Malage with the help of the White Dwarf—increasing attack power and leadership when fighting against Beastmen.

Now it was clearly that See Through Trickery trait taking effect; Sinuoli looked at the sand in front of him and raised his Warhammer to signal the troops to stop.

"What is it, Master Sinuoli?" The scouts scouting ahead turned back upon seeing this. They were blaming themselves for their work not being meticulous enough.

"I feel like there is something under the sand!" Sinuoli muttered as if it were an order. Hearing this, the Dwarfs retreated, and Buluokesen came to Sinuoli's side.