Chapter 207

"Master! That black shadow I saw that day flashed by right here, but when I looked closer, there was nothing!"

"Master, I saw the black shadow at this fork too—it seemed to dart into that abandoned mine tunnel!"

"Master, I lost the ore right here—I was digging just a meter away, but when I turned around, several kilograms were gone…"

Inside the mine tunnel, all the miners who had noticed anomalies that day were gathered before Gervas, describing what they had seen.

Through consistent testimonies,

Gervas could confirm that the black shadow frequently appeared in the mining area, stealing ore while the slave miners worked.

After each theft, the shadow vanished into the nearby abandoned mine tunnel.

That tunnel had been dug earlier by the Pat family, and was several times deeper than this new mine shaft.

It was abandoned because they dug in the wrong direction and never struck the main iron vein.

"My lord, could there really be a ghost?"

The mine tunnel was already narrow and oppressive; with the slave miners all insisting they'd seen the eerie black shadow, Migen stared at the dark, abandoned tunnel and felt a chill crawl up his spine.

After all, people are the same—what you can see and touch isn't frightening.

It's the mysterious, the unknown, that inspires fear.

Lei Meng directly countered, "Migen, even if there really is a ghost, do you think a ghost eats ore?"

"Besides, the Pat family has mined this iron mountain for decades without incident—there's no way it's some ghost or spirit."

Gervas hadn't expected it—the knight captain was truly a knight captain: not only powerful in combat, but also capable of rational analysis.

He himself knew perfectly well what it was—the Gold-Eating Rodent.

And now its habitat had been nearly confirmed.

Gervas wasted no time: "Let's go deeper into this tunnel—I want to see what dares to disrupt my mine!"

"Even if it really is a ghost, I'll deal with it!"

Migen and the others immediately cast looks of awe.

Lei Meng was a Silver Knight—he could afford to be bold.

But their master, a nobleman and only a Bronze Knight, had such courage.

No wonder he was their master!

Thus, Gervas took the lead, torch in hand, marching into the abandoned tunnel.

Seeing this, Migen and the others worried for Gervas's safety and begged to walk ahead.

Gervas refused outright; only after persistent pleading did he allow Lei Meng to walk beside him.

Come on—this was the perfect chance to establish himself as a mighty lord! How could he miss it?

Thud!

"Who's there?"

As Gervas's party advanced ten minutes into the tunnel, a sound suddenly echoed from the darkness ahead.

It was the clatter of pebbles being kicked.

Though Gervas and Lei Meng's senses had been enhanced, the distance was too great to make out what it was.

"Master, I only saw a black shadow flicker past!" Lei Meng's expression turned grim.

After all, if he'd seen the shadow, then the slave miners hadn't lied—something truly was in this tunnel.

"M-Master, perhaps you should fall back—we'll go ahead with Knight Captain Lei Meng to investigate…"

Migen's voice trembled; who knew what might emerge from this pitch-black tunnel?

"I am a titled knight—and didn't I just say, whatever it is, I'll drag it out!"

Gervas rejected firmly, then pressed forward under the admiring gazes of Migen and the others.

Soon, they reached the tunnel's end.

Ahead lay a wider cavern, roughly forty to fifty square meters.

In truth, it had been deliberately expanded during earlier surveys to check for nearby ore veins.

Flash!

At the cavern's entrance, the black shadow flashed past again.

"We saw it, Master! We saw it too!" Migen and the others cried out, drawing their swords at once.

"Don't panic—block the tunnel entrance. Let Lei Meng and I see what dares to disrupt this mine!"

Gervas drew his sword with theatrical flair, then entered the cavern, torch in one hand, sword in the other, back-to-back with Lei Meng.

Flash!

As the torchlight illuminated the space, the black shadow had nowhere to hide—it darted frantically through the cavern.

It was small, no taller than one and a half meters.

"Master, this… this is the Gold-Eating Rodent!"

Lei Meng suddenly cried out—now, so close and bathed in flame, he finally made out the shadow's shape.

"What? The Gold-Eating Rodent?"

In truth, Gervas had already clearly seen the creature's form.

Round and plump, covered in fur, it resembled a bear.

Its body was black and white, strikingly similar to a panda from his past life.

But pandas in his past life were called Iron-Eaters—they didn't eat metal.

Yet the Gold-Eating Rodent fed exclusively on metal ore—how could they look so alike?

"Master, it must be—it's said the Gold-Eating Rodent has black-and-white fur and a bear-like build!"

"More importantly, it loves to eat ore…"

"Ha! What a blessing from the God of Glory! Migen, you all block the exits—I'm claiming this Gold-Eating Rodent!"

The Gold-Eating Rodent had weak combat power; though its claws and fangs could split ore, it was too timid to fight.

Seeing the aura of Gervas and Lei Meng flare around it, it immediately cowered in the corner, wailing pitifully.

Gervas and Lei Meng seized the moment, lunging forward to pin its limbs and head.

Even rabbits bite when cornered.

The Gold-Eating Rodent had sharp claws and teeth; though timid, a single bite during its struggle would be no joke.

Fortunately, with both Gervas and Lei Meng applying full strength, failure was impossible.

The Gold-Eating Rodent was soon bound tightly and dragged out of the mine.

Outside the mine, the creature's full form was visible.

What he'd thought was three-tenths like a panda now looked eight-tenths like one.

Aside from faint gold streaks in its fur, it was nearly identical.

Gervas couldn't help exclaiming, "Damn!"

In his past life, he'd have been arrested for smuggling a national treasure.

"Wow, so it's this little thing? It nearly scared me to death—and now it's so cute!"

Migen and the other knights, seeing the Gold-Eating Rodent's true form, kept murmuring in amazement.

"By the way, Knight Captain Lei Meng—you called it the Gold-Eating Rodent. Is it valuable?"

Lei Meng glanced at Gervas, saw him nod, then replied: "Yes, extremely valuable. One such Gold-Eating Rodent is worth at least seven or eight hundred gold coins."

"Gah! Seven or eight hundred gold coins? That's more than this mine is worth!" Migen and the others gaped.

"Correct. And its white fur is already faintly tinged with gold—meaning it's beginning its transformation into a second-rank Gold-Eating Rodent!"

"At that stage, its value will exceed one thousand gold coins—the higher its rank, the more it eats!"

"And its function is to consume metal ore, then excrete…"

Lei Meng then explained the true use of the Gold-Eating Rodent to the knights.

Migen and the others stared in disbelief: "No wonder it's so expensive—it's even better than a blacksmith!"

"When it comes to smelting metal, no blacksmith can match it!"

"Steel is a common metal, yet it's the toughest material short of alloying with mithril!"