Terra Tinkers Construct is fine.

—The third one.

The threatening net originally intended to surround Milan kept them close together, but this formation, meant to exert pressure and intimidation, now became their escape predicament: the Ursus strongman raised his hand and thrust out a long pole inlaid with Originium crystals, but the vicious weapon only grazed his stone armor and produced a trail of sparks before doing nothing more; another raised a sharpened iron pipe high above his head and brought it down, but Milan raised his hand and flicked his wrist, easily pushing the iron pipe away under Pei Mo's irresistible force.

It's like parting a hollow reed.

His move into their attack range also meant something else—he raised his stone axe and swung it horizontally for the first time.

The stone axe was not sharp.

So much so that the two tall and strong Ursus men said goodbye to their lower bodies, their rough cuts spurting blood, like two cucumbers forcibly torn apart by brute force.

"boom--!"

Another fireball exploded, spreading heat and flames that instantly engulfed Milan's figure, along with several pieces of his corpse that received the most intense treatment; the power of the flames was considerable, and with the explosion, even a piece of stone would have to be skinned alive!

Then he saw it.

After the flames dimmed, what was revealed was not a fallen Milan.

Instead, there was a two-meter-high stone wall, and Milan's shadow peeking out from behind it.

Chapter 36: The Rust Gang

Milan is not good at fighting.

Milan also knew that he was not good at fighting.

His entire understanding of combat effectiveness is "expanding what you can do" and "doing what you can do well".

So what does he think he should do right now?

Do more and talk less.

"Don't toast and you'll be fined if you don't eat!"

While signaling his confidants to summon more underlings, Boris shouted in a fierce but weak voice, "I can tell you're powerful. I wonder which expert you are. But we Rust Gang have been able to survive in the Power Zone for so many years, and we're not pushovers! I don't care who you are, but let me tell you, I have connections too!"

He took a deep breath and raised his voice, but the roughness of his voice couldn't mask the sweat dripping from his brow. He spoke as if threatening Milan, or perhaps encouraging his remaining men.

"The Rust Gang is the source of money for big shots. Do you think we're just ordinary thugs? No matter how good you are at fighting, can you beat the Chernobog police and military, or the regular army of Ursus?"

"I'm telling you! Think before you act..."

Before he could finish speaking, a white shadow appeared in front of Milan, who was like a stone statue, and rushed straight towards his face. Boris's words were stuck in his throat, and he quickly lowered his head to dodge. The white shadow hit the top of his head with a bang, and white fragments fell, making him shiver.

--Snow?

Using a shovel-like tool, you can shovel snow in the form of snowballs from the top of snow-covered blocks. In the game, these snowballs don't cause damage but have a knockback effect. In reality, this was a ranged method that Milan prepared to use as a makeshift solution. This big snowball forced Boris to lower his head. He had just thought, "Throwing snowballs is just a child's game," when he suddenly realized something.

His head jerked up.

Unsurprisingly, Milan remained silent and strode straight toward him without uttering a word!

"No...don't come any closer!"

Boris could no longer afford to ramble on. His underlings and their underlings emerged from all directions, but he didn't even glance at them, heading straight for an inconspicuous utility pipe. Milan had already begun his charge. He adjusted his breathing, steadied himself slightly, and focused his gaze, hidden in the shadow of his helmet, on a single target.

Those who blocked the road, unaware of the reason, included thugs wielding steel pipes and bottles, henchmen using large tools, and even long-range firepower units with slingshots and small crossbows—but none of them mattered to Milan.

Anyone who dared to intercept in close combat was indiscriminately knocked away, and any ranged attack, regardless of its carrier, could only bounce off the rock surface with sparks. These Ursus people may have been bullies who preyed on the weak and feared the strong their whole lives, but only at the last moment did they experience the glory of their homeland in its old days.

They faced the treatment of the Kazimierz Knights charging forward.

Curses and profanities filled the space along with the underlings.

It quickly turned into wails, pleas for mercy, and the sound of bones breaking.

During the intermission of this hellish opera, Boris was truly terrified; his courage to resist and his thoughts of playing tricks were completely crushed, leaving only the will to survive to drive his body, causing him to flee in panic like a frightened beast, tumbling and crawling.

—At that pipe junction, hidden by piles of debris, beneath that inconspicuous flap, lies a concealed maintenance ladder leading to a deeper and more complex power layer!

—As long as I can get to that place…as long as I can escape to that place…

(II) Umbrella Age Si Jiu Qi Shan — As long as we can escape this murderous stone statue…!

With only this one thought in mind, Boris felt he had never been so focused in his life! Unlike many gang leaders who were blinded by the profits of smuggling and chose a life of extravagance and debauchery, he discovered one of his few talents—which was why he was able to kill the former boss and become the new boss.

He admires strength.

But strength did not betray him—he successfully plunged into the fork in the road! He successfully lifted the flap! He even successfully jumped into the longitudinal maintenance passage and climbed the ladder!

"..."

The narrow maintenance passageway was suddenly covered by shadows.

Boris looked up and met Milan's calm eyes, which were deep and dark like a cold pool in the shadows.

"My axe weighs six thousand kilograms."

Milan placed his right hand, holding the axe, flat on the sunroof, displaying it to Boris.

"Are you going to come out by yourself, or should I help you?"

"...No, no! Don't kill me!"

There wasn't much height left, but the maintenance access was too narrow for an adult Ursus man to jump down; moreover, he dared not doubt Milan's words for a second.

He had completely forgotten everything from before. Something glistened in the shadows on his face. Trembling, he had only the strength to grip the ladder tightly, and he cried out incoherently, "Please! Please! Money! Source stones! Women! I'll give you anything!"

"I'm under Wagner's command! If you mess with me, they won't let you get away with it! Think of your family!"

I have no family in this world.

"Think of your friends!"

—My friend is a rebel from Ursus.

Seeing Milan's unwavering gaze, Boris finally broke down at his last line of defense: "...I have an elderly mother at home! She's not even sixty yet! She can't live without her son!"

"You've killed so many people! So many of them were other people's fathers! Other people's husbands! Other people's sons!"

"You've killed so many people, why are you still trying to kill me! You..."

"time up."

Milan said calmly, "I understand."

He let go.

This land is indiscriminate in its consumption of people.

The same goes for scum.

"Is this it?"

"This is it."

"Nothing else?"

Milan's voice was completely calm; he simply raised an eyebrow inside his helmet.

"This...that's all I know. I really don't know anything else..."

A gang henchman dressed like a mechanic spoke cautiously; he was, of course, an adult male of the Ursus tribe, and judging by his size, he even looked a size larger than Milan in armor.

But he didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of this drab little guy, not even daring to utter a single unnecessary word. He could only lower his head and try to hide his head in his neck, carefully observing Milan's expression out of the corner of his eye.

Although he couldn't see Milan's expression.

As for why things turned out this way—after retrieving the stone axe, Milan didn't immediately rush to find a way up to the city of Chernobog, but instead returned to the place he had passed through when he came in.

He has plenty of time, and...

There's no reason not to loot the chest after defeating the monster.

Chapter 37 - Licking 3] 俬( 澪琦2寺岜4包

With two different keys, two metal doors with different structures slowly opened, and a smell mixed with cheap leather, tobacco and alcohol residue, and the never-ending smell of engine oil and dust from the lower level wafted out.

Milan stood at the doorway, her gaze sweeping over the space that gradually appeared behind it, before pausing slightly.

Indeed... it was quite unexpected.

In stark contrast to the rough, greasy mechanical environment outside, and even Boris's typical Ursus worker appearance, Boris's hideout was decorated to resemble an office.

Or rather, a strange space that tries hard to imitate an office, yet feels discordant in every way.

Given the precious available space in the underground structure, this room, which was deliberately separated by various materials, was not large, but the owner had deliberately cleared out the clutter: the floor was covered with a non-slip synthetic fiber mat that resembled a carpet, on which sat a well-made imitation mahogany desk, on which sat an extravagantly shaped lamp with exaggerated and sparkly decorations, and next to it were several open notebooks and a half-empty bottle of vodka.

Behind the table was a leather-covered swivel chair. On the wall behind the chair, instead of maps or underground engineering plans, hung an oil painting depicting a hunting scene of Ursus nobles. In the corner stood a rather decent-looking small wine cabinet, but it was filled with nothing of any decent quality wine.

Even Milan, who knows nothing about wine, could tell that it was probably not very good.

The most eye-catching thing was the wall directly opposite the desk—a rather large framed picture hung on the wall. The picture didn't contain any classic art, but rather Boris himself, wearing an ill-fitting Ursus military uniform, trying to puff out his chest with a stiff, serious expression.

"……Ah."

Milan, who had slaughtered countless Ursus officers, looked around and couldn't help but laugh out loud: the entire space was like a burly man who was used to wearing oil-stained work clothes, forcibly putting on an ill-fitting military uniform, thinking that he was recalling the glory of the Ursus Empire he had heard about and imitating the majesty of the upper class he imagined, but he just looked out of place.

"Just...just this one place, sir."

The henchman who was lucky enough not to participate in the siege of Milan, and thus had the opportunity to voluntarily cooperate with Milan, cautiously spoke up: "Boss... cough, Boris, he usually tells us what to do, do accounts, and meet some important people here."

Although the Rust Gang doesn't have many members, even ordinary underlings are usually not qualified to come here. Those who get lectured here are usually the confidants—the henchman didn't say this, but Milan could guess what he meant.

But Milan ignored it.

The desk contained only a few scattered Ursus gold coins and banknotes, a few crumpled IOUs and some loose jewelry; after rummaging through the drawers and cabinets, there were some account books, but not many things of value.

There were a few books that looked somewhat decent, such as books on pipeline mechanical repair and common Originium circuits, as well as introductory books on Originium techniques... To be honest, it's quite ironic that they appeared here.

"Is this all Boris has?"

Milan looked around the room, her gaze sweeping over the floor, walls, and ceiling, and casually said, "Do you even believe that yourself?"

The Ursus minions, who seemed to be trying their best to shrink their size, suddenly knelt down.

"My lord! My lord, please believe me! I really only know this place! If that bastard Boris really has any more stolen goods, I wouldn't dare to keep them, absolutely not!"

"...If given the chance, you would not only dare to do it, but you would definitely dare to do it, and you would be very bold."

Milan looked at the ridiculous self-portrait, fell silent, then suddenly laughed; after a moment's thought, something suddenly appeared in his hand.

It was a wooden stick with a palm-sized stone at one end. It looked like a control lever taken from some machine... or rather, even if it was a control lever, the wood and stone made it seem rather shabby.

[Pull lever: Wooden stick + round stone]

Amidst the trembling yet confused gazes of the henchmen, Milan reached out and removed the picture frame from the wall, slammed the lever against the wall, and then pulled the wooden stick down like a throttle.

"Clap!"

It was as if some hidden mechanism had been activated! A creaking sound came from behind the metal wall, and then the wall itself parted!

- Lever: Grants a switch command to surrounding mechanisms regardless of conditions.

Don't ask, the answer is always "that's how the code is written".

"This...this...!?"

The henchman's eyes widened in disbelief.

Milan ignored his shock, pulled out the lever, put it away, and stepped into the hidden door.

It was obvious that what appeared to be a wall was originally supposed to be a manual valve, which Boris had covered up and concealed with metal. Behind the valve was a narrow metal staircase. Milan ignored the henchmen outside, because those kinds of people couldn't cause any trouble.

In a mobile city environment, with pickaxes and the rules of Minecraft mining, Milan can be considered a "megastructure killer" to some extent. If he were actually on Rhodes Island's side in Chapter 7 of the game, there might not have been a group of people fighting to the death to steal the control center and key from the Black Serpent Tower.

He can dig out the entire dynamic structure of the moving block in less than two hours by himself.

Down the stairs was a dimly lit room. Milan, too lazy to fumble for a light, pulled out a torch instead—and in that instant, the only thought that popped into the naive college student's head was…

Smugglers are really rich.

The dazzling flames caught my eye.

In this hidden room, which perhaps only Boris knows about, there are assembled metal shelves against the wall, open tool bags filled with Ursus gold coins and Rhodes Island's common red gold bars, and bags on the upper shelf filled with precious metal jewelry inlaid with gems.

In the corner against the wall sat a standard-sized briefcase containing Originium Ingots, which were more valuable than gold.

On the other side was a makeshift weapon rack that appeared to be made of welded metal. Instead of the rudimentary weapons used by the henchmen, it displayed gleaming Ursus-standard military knives and assault crossbows. Next to it was a long, easy-to-carry bag, from which arrows of different colors could be seen protruding.

As for the other corner of the room—there was a sturdy metal table with several notebooks of different sizes on it. When opened, they were filled with things that made Milan frown: loan shark notes with outrageously high interest rates, contracts that were obviously illegal, receipts for forced collateral…

There are also a bunch of ledgers containing increasingly filthy details about illegal gains, bribes, "gifts" from associates, and special services.

"Hush...huh..."

Looking at the notebook filled with contact information, Milan took a deep breath and closed the ledger.