Chapter 829: Chapter 361: This Time It’s Really Inspiration_2
He arrived at the collapsed ruins with a dark expression on his face and took out a handheld dust sprayer. He lightly squeezed the airbag on the back, causing the sprayer to disperse fine fluorescent dust in front.
The dust spread evenly across the ruins before him, forming a thin layer of mist, except for one head-sized area where the glowing dust adhered particularly densely.
He put the sprayer back in his coat and said:
"Found it. As expected, just like the shallow area, someone has tampered with Mysticism here."
"However, their method is extremely covert, making it difficult to detect through residual energy. Only by first confirming that something has been tampered with here can we deduce where the problem lies."
Upon discovering the area of the Mystical Ceremony, Raventon wanted to undo it on the spot. But halfway through fetching the tools, he remembered Wu Chang was right behind him, gestured invitingly, and said:
"With you here, there’s no need for me to waste time."
Wu Chang slightly shook his head, conjuring up Mystical Runes in his hand, which fell onto the rubble blocking the collapsed mine tunnel from a distance.
The runes landed on the fluorescent dust-marked area. The obstructive debris receded to the sides of the mine shaft amid rumbling sounds, and the distorted tracks restored themselves, allowing the steam train to continue forward.
Wu Chang restarted the train and, watching Raventon return to add coal, asked:
"How can you be sure that this road to the underground mine will never genuinely collapse?"
Raventon shrugged and said:
"Thomas mentioned that the place where coal essence is produced is in the deep mine area. That’s the core of the Pine Tree Coal Mine."
"And your findings in the shallow mine area indicate that the explosion in the Pine Tree Coal Mine wasn’t just a coincidence."
"The explosion traces along the way show that the deep mine explosion was weaker than in the shallow area, and there was no evident gas residue within the entire mine shaft, indicating the explosion back then wasn’t meant to destroy evidence but to cover the deep mine area’s secret."
"Since it’s a temporary cover-up, after the incident calms down, the secret needs to be removed or restarted, so naturally, they wouldn’t destroy the steam mine car’s passage to the deep area."
Seizing the opportunity, Wu Chang asked, "What do you think the secret about coal essence is?"
Raventon pondered momentarily, then said, "It should be refining technology."
Wu Chang slightly raised his eyebrows. Raventon didn’t have the King’s Badge, couldn’t see the hidden hints on coal essence, so how did he discover it?
Seeing Raventon with a "come ask me" expression, Wu Chang paused for a while and said:
"Oh."
Raventon: ?
What do you mean; the plot shouldn’t proceed with you asking how I knew, and then I showcase my understanding. What’s going on with "oh"?
Wu Chang smirked, so what if you know it’s refining technology, he knows too.
They are rivals now—hold it in. Guessing it out doesn’t count as a win; only truly finding the Extraordinary Purification Machine counts as winning.
The steam train traveled down to 600 meters underground, arriving at the loading station at the end of the tracks.
Upon reaching the loading station, the underground space widened considerably, allowing people to stand upright again without bending over.
Miners extracted coal from the surrounding small mine shafts, transported it here for loading, then sent it to the surface.
Nearby the loading station, the temporary resting area mentioned by Thomas could be seen.
The temporary resting area lacked miners, evidence of half-open blankets stained with coal dust, suggesting some miners were still here resting when the explosion occurred.
But after the explosion, all pathways to the surface were sealed by Mystical Ceremonies, leaving the workers at the temporary resting area missing.
The workers disappeared, yet the surface showed no traces of their departure, indicating someone returned to clean up the site, cleaning thoroughly.
Wu Chang gave Raventon a look, signaling that it was his turn to perform.
Raventon started by examining the temporary resting area. He lifted the oil lamp, his gaze quickly scanning all details inside.
"There’s no residual Mystical Energy inside the building; the resting area has no signs of struggle, no drag marks on the floor, indicating the miners inside weren’t forcibly taken."
"Two safety lamps with half-used fuel were left behind, along with three used pickaxes. This means they left without trying to dig a path—they have another purpose."
"One, two, three, four—there are four different footprints on the ground, but only three opened beds. After the explosion, someone came here and took the people inside."
"The arrivals were highly trusted by the miners. Upon hearing their request, they left immediately without taking lighting tools, excavation tools, or the two crucial pieces of black bread needed during disasters."
Raventon bent down, carefully examining the four footprints, scraping off a little coal dust from one of them.
"The latter arrivals had coal dust lighter in color and more moisture from shallower coal. To be precise, it’s the same type I just added to the steam train."
"If they came from the shallow mine area, their shoe soles shouldn’t have retained so much coal dust. There’s only one possibility."
"The ones who took those miners also traveled into the deep layer on the steam train."
Raventon walked out from the temporary resting area, paced around, and took out the handheld dust sprayer again, dispersing it on the surroundings. Yet this time, the fluorescent dust failed to reveal any new clues.
With a serious expression, he said, "I can almost be certain the clues are nearby, but I can’t find where exactly."
"If I’m not mistaken, these miners’ disappearance is also related to the steam train."
