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"Tannis, what kind of guy do you think stole our Ratchet bank?"

"Judging from the fact that the gate wasn't damaged, the thief couldn't be a goblin. If a goblin were to target Ratchet's bank, setting aside the rules, they wouldn't dig so quietly. It also couldn't be a human; although pirates have encamped nearby, even if they had the guts to offend the Steamwheedle Consortium, the tools to move the earth there wouldn't be easily obtained by them. It couldn't be a centaur either; those guys simply don't have the resources to dig. And it couldn't be a dwarf, although that race is skilled at digging, there are very few dwarves in all of Ratchet..."

Tanis tapped her fingers, successfully eliminating all races in and around Ratchet. She had a vague feeling that she should know something, but she just couldn't remember.

“That’s right, that’s what I find strange too. For security reasons, I chose a natural cave as the location for the Ratchet Bank’s vault. I’ve scouted the area; the soil and rocks are very hard, making digging extremely difficult. If I were to rob my own bank, apart from a direct assault, any other method would be time-consuming, laborious, and easily detected. Yet, the thieves deliberately dug a tunnel and ransacked my vault without leaving any clues…”

As he spoke, Gazlowe put on his coat.

“Let’s go back to the scene and take another look. There must be some clues that those idiots missed.”

VI. The Murlocs of Ratchet

Big, very big.

This was Tanis's first reaction upon entering the bank vault in Ratchet. The area of ​​this natural cave was more than enough to house a hundred people!

"I discovered this place by chance when I landed in this barren land and was surveying the surrounding terrain. After confirming that it had only one entrance and that the surrounding earth and stone structure was extremely sturdy, I took a few people I trusted and transformed it into the treasury of Ratchet. I firmly believed that even if someone tried to plunder this place, I had at least ten ways to make their blood stain the gold coins before they could take my money... But now... But now..."

Gazlowe shone his flashlight on the now empty ground as he muttered to himself. Although he wasn't as greedy as most goblins, the sight of this place still drove him nearly insane.

“Father, there are no unusual traces from the door to the vault. They are not lying.”

Tanis, holding the trinkets Gazlowe had given her, thoroughly searched the area from the door to the vault several times, proving that the guard had not lied.

“That’s right, that’s right, I knew that all along, so now I have to figure out what kind of guy sneaked into our vault and took our money without us noticing? Was it an archmage? No! If an archmage wanted to invest in me, I’d be happy to give him half of Ratchet! He can just come to my door! Where’s my money? Where’s the money I put here?”

Beside the largest money box in the vault—which is now gone—Gazlow sat on the ground, scratching his head in frustration, muttering wildly, his eyes beginning to glaze over.

Seeing Gazlowe's state, Tanis knew that if they didn't find out why the coins were stolen quickly, Gazlowe would probably go crazy in there. So, she searched the cave even more diligently, leaving no stone unturned.

Finally, she discovered some suspicious points.

"How come there's such a big crack here?"

Tanis stared at a long, narrow crack in the wall and looked at Gazlowe with a puzzled expression.

“Those cracks are natural; they were there when I arrived. I’ve observed them; they’re too narrow for a person to pass through.”

Gazlowe's listless explanation.

"I see..."

Tannis reached out and touched the stone beside the crack. The stone was slightly damp and sticky. Tannis, recalling something from her fragmented memories, placed her hand at the crack's opening but felt no wind.

“Something can come up through this crack, and they have a reason to steal money.”

"What is it??"

Upon hearing Tannis's words, Gazlowe became energized and rushed to the side of the crack, looking at Tannis.

"Fishmen, if they are fishmen, their size allows them to move easily in such cracks."

"But there are no merfolk in the barren lands, daughter."

"No, Father, your books contain information about murlocs. These creatures with cruel intelligence can appear near any body of water that doesn't pose a significant threat. There are lobster-men in the ocean around Ratchet, making it difficult for murlocs to establish their camps. But what about underground in the Barrens?"

"You mean, the underground river?"

"Yes, the Barren Lands have three large oases, dozens of medium-sized oases, and countless small oases. Moreover, with very few exceptions, most of these oases have water year-round. The Barren Lands experience a dry season for most of the year, so having so many inexhaustible oases can only mean that a huge underground river is supplying them with water."

"The murlocs aren't strong enough to take our gold coins—they take the boxes with them."

“When the number of murlocs reaches a certain limit, spellcasters will emerge. With spellcasters, even the weakest spellcaster may be able to reduce the weight or volume of the box, not to mention the number of spellcasters in a huge tribe.”

What's the point of them taking our money?

"It's the same concept. If it's a large merfolk tribe, and they live and reproduce in underground rivers, they will inevitably lack resources. Spellcasters among them with a certain level of intelligence will definitely try to trade with other races to obtain better things. The price of gold coins varies, but it is a hard currency recognized by all races."

"So...that's actually quite possible..."

With a glimmer of hope, Gazlowe regained the wisdom of a goblin tinkerer. He pondered for a few seconds and produced a small ball.

"Huh, what's this thing?"

When Tanis saw this sphere that didn't look like a goblin, she thought of some miniaturized mechanical creations from the Celestials. The next second, her guess was confirmed by Gazlowe.

"This is an experimental prototype, inspired by your incomplete drawings. The idea is that it can explore narrow passages and remain stationary in certain areas for extended periods as an 'eye'—however, this creation hasn't yet achieved the effect I envisioned."

Gazlowe explained a few things, placed the ball into the crack, then took out a small console, turned it on, and projected out extremely blurry images.

"......."

Although she couldn't make out what the pictures were, Tannis still crouched down next to Gazlowe. After about five minutes of trying to decipher them, she finally managed to make out the outline of the ground.

"The crack was deeper than I thought... Damn, I shouldn't have assumed things."

Gazlowe took out a loaf of bread and took a bitter bite. Ever since he learned that the vault had been robbed, he had lost his appetite, but now he finally felt like eating something.

Half an hour later, the image changed; the update speed slowed down significantly, and the clarity increased.

"Is it clear now?"

"The robot's rolling speed has decreased, it should have already detached from the ramp, extended its auxiliary mechanical legs, stabilized its view, and took the picture."

Gazlowe fiddled with the console for a bit, and the images the robot sent back finally stabilized.

"Oh My God......."

Looking at the scene before him, Gazlowe gasped. The robot's footage clearly showed a massive merman camp!

Within the visible range on the screen, there were dozens of crooked and tattered tents, with some small creatures moving back and forth between them. Further away, in places that were out of sight, who knows how many more of these things there were!

The next moment, the video cut out.

"Have we been discovered?"

"No, it disintegrated on its own after the structure reached its strength limit. To be honest, I'm already quite surprised that it lasted this long..."

Holding the rubbing of the last photograph in his right hand, Gazlowe straightened up, leaning against the wall—his legs had gone numb from squatting for so long.

"Let's go, daughter. We need to show these guys what the price they'll pay for taking the goblins' money so easily."

VII. The Machinery of Ratchet

Ratchet City, Security Department, the atmosphere is serious.

"Everyone, as you all know, our Ratchet treasury has been robbed. Although I've tried to suppress the news, the truth will out. Within a week, the rumors will be spreading throughout Ratchet, and within two weeks, the news will be confirmed. At that point, I'll likely be penniless, and you..."

Gazlowe toyed with a small gun in his hand, his tone menacing.

"You might be able to 'recover your losses' before you become penniless, but think about it carefully, gentlemen. Our contracts are still in effect, and you have investments in Ratchet. Compared to the potential 'recovery of losses,' which is a higher return: the preservation of Ratchet or the potential 'recovery of losses'?"

The goblins below the stage remained silent. Gazlowe knew they were considering their gains, so he thought for a moment and added fuel to the fire.

"Think about it, that's a huge merman tribe! Mermen may look poor, but they also raise some aquatic products, and they have a habit of 'scavenging.' A merman tribe that has been rooted in the underground river for so many years, could they really be poor? No, no, no, they think they're poor because they don't know what they have that's 'valuable'!"

The goblins' breathing became heavy. Gazlowe was right. Races like murlocs and kobolds, who have a penchant for scavenging, often find valuable items, but then discard them as trash because they don't understand them at all. The larger the tribe, the higher the probability of encountering such things!

Judging that the fire was almost ignited, Gazlowe brought down the final hammer blow.

"Of course, I know you prefer what you can see right now..."

As he spoke, Gazlowe took out a piece of paper and stuck it on the whiteboard behind him. The faint arcane power swirling around it indicated that it was a magical contract.

"The first person to discover the entrance to the murloc cave that meets the following conditions will be granted 10 percent of the tax revenue from the Ratchet port district through a contract, and will also be given a ship! A ship that can traverse the endless sea!"

Having said that, Gazlowe calmly announced his demands, ignoring the goblins below who were practically exploding with fervor.

"First, it should be able to accommodate at least five people sitting side by side."

"Second, the tilt angle is less than 10 percent."

"Third, the cave's height is greater than or equal to two meters."

Gazlowe's promise quickly spread throughout Ratchet.

Although it's unclear why Baron Hot Sands suddenly wanted to cause trouble for a group of murlocs, it didn't stop the various races living in Ratchet from digging deep into the ground. 10% of the taxes from Ratchet's port, and a ship that could cross the endless sea—this was wealth that many families couldn't earn in three generations!

However, amidst this fervor, Gazlowe and Tannis—the two highest rulers of Ratchet—became eerily quiet, signaling to many that Gazlowe was serious this time and had indeed prepared the quest rewards.

But is Gazlowe really prepared to bleed money?

----------------workshop--------------------

"Ding, ding, ding, ding."

"Zizi..."

"laugh------"

In the workshop where the father and daughter were working, Gazlowe and Tannis were working enthusiastically. On the wall hung an engineering blueprint that no goblin had ever seen before, and in the middle of the workshop, the object on the blueprint was already taking shape.

"If this thing really works as well as you described, then many of my designs can become reality from the blueprints!"

Gazlowe was welding a pipe while excitedly talking to Tannis.

"Celestial Machinery, safe and reliable."

Wearing a mask and carefully deburring the gears, Tennyson answered in a muffled voice.

"The Celestial Realm is the world you came from, right? Tell me about that world."

Gazlowe asked with great interest. Now that he knew that Tannis was a human who had been dragged from another world, many of Tannis's strange behaviors were explained—humans from other worlds might have memory implantation devices.

"I can't remember much anymore—aside from these machines, maybe I used to be an engineer like you, Dad?"

"It's not a possibility, it's a certainty! Sigh, I should have made those bastards leave the blueprints before self-destructing. Maybe we could have developed a stable portal to your world based on that! A trade between the two worlds would definitely have been incredibly profitable!"

Gazlowe put down his welding torch, took the gears Tannis handed him, and mounted them onto a shaft.

"Is this axle made of mithril?"

Tannis caught a glimpse of the machine's main spindle out of the corner of her eye.

"That's right, I think the design you gave me was too conservative. My technology is to treat the entire main shaft as the transmission hub! The main shaft, made of mithril, has an energy transmission capacity you can't even imagine! It can completely replace that whole bunch of pipes! By the way, I also modified the energy harvesting and compression systems on the design, increasing their efficiency by at least five times! In addition, I also raised the threshold of the safety gate a little..."

Gazlowe spoke cheerfully about his modifications to the machine, while Tennys's face grew increasingly pale.

"Such a mistake is a disaster, Dad!!!"