When it was discovered that there was sterling silver among the corpses of the dead giant lizard, everyone was stunned.

Donner's reaction was the most direct, he was stunned for a moment, then laughed happily, and said, "Let's kill all the remaining lizards and take out all the silver! ”

Pan Long nodded, used the mirror to reflect the sunlight into the cave, and continued to kill the other lizards.

Although he wondered why lizards could also mine, since he could get sterling silver, of course, he had to get his hands on the silver first.

Isn't it stupid not to take the benefits in front of you!

But Milton had been pondering, and his face was becoming more and more gloomy.

After a while, he said, "Let's go, let's go now." ”

Donner, who was burning the silver nuggets from the lizard carcasses to remove the possible remnants of the "calamity" within, asked suspiciously, "Why?"

"We'd better not get involved in this. Milton frowned a little sadly, and said helplessly, "Our Ferret family can't afford this kind of thing. ”

"What's so hard to bear?" Donner wondered.

Milton sighed and explained, "Lizards are not born with mining, especially since this kind of lizard, which can already be considered a 'calamity', can never be naturally generated. There must be someone behind them. ”

"I know, there's a screaming guy in the back directing them. Donna said nonchalantly, "But so what? that guy can't come out during the day." We just don't have to be stupid to come over at night, what can it do to us?"

Milton shook his head: "It's not that simple! Brother, you have to believe me, let's leave now." If you don't believe me, then I can't help but go first. ”

Donner frowned for a long time, and finally sighed deeply: "Okay, I'll listen to you. ”

He said to Pan Long, "Norman, are you leaving?"

"Let's go together, then. "Pan Long doesn't have much desire for money, it's good to get such a batch of silver, but it doesn't matter if you don't get it.

In contrast, he was more curious about what exactly Milton had in mind.

For these lizards, in fact, he also has some conjectures, but I don't know if his conjecture is consistent with Milton's conjecture?

They took the silver nuggets back to the hillside, called everyone, and rode back to the town of Holy Salt in a carriage.

Milton divided the silver into three parts, put away all that had not been burned, had it carefully wrapped, and then locked it in a chest and buried it in the ground. The burned ones were given to the Clayp family in the proportion agreed in advance, and then the rest was sold, and the money from the sale went directly to the families of the dead subordinates.

After arranging these tasks, he introduced his ideas to Donner and Pan Long.

"I've always felt that 'calamity' doesn't come naturally. As soon as he spoke, he spoke amazingly.

Pan Long nodded slightly, and did not question.

Seeing that neither of them objected, Milton couldn't help but smile slightly and continued to introduce his guess.

Over the years, many people have been studying the "calamity". Milton, who was in charge of the family's affairs, also had access to a lot of information about it. And the more he came into contact with these materials, the more he felt that the "calamity" seemed to be deliberately controlled by someone.

First of all, the outbreak of the "calamity" is actually very regular, initially in some sparsely populated or militarily weak areas, where the people lack the ability to resist the "calamity" and suffer great losses.

Then, the army arrived and wiped out the "calamity".

Then, after some time, the "calamity" erupted in other similar places.

This went on and on several times, and when people had become accustomed to the fact that the "calamity" occurred only in the poorer and weaker places, it suddenly erupted at once in all the large cities of the kingdom of Ameri.

The "calamity" of that time caused the Kingdom of America to suffer heavy losses, and famous places such as Vilun City, where high society gathered, were in ruins.

Milton looked at the records and always felt that things were not so coincidental.

Why didn't it erupt in a crowded place before, and why did it happen at almost the same time in all directions when it always erupted?

It's weird if there's no organization behind it!

If there were only these pure speculations, he would not have said with such confidence that "calamities are not naturally generated." He had some other evidence.

For example, adventurers have seen more than once that there are people who walk alone in the wilderness and are able to repel the "calamity" with strange sounds.

It's a well-known rumor, but if one person says so, many say so...... There must be a reason for nothing.

Coupled with the weird lizard this time, it is even more obvious.

These lizards obviously belong to the category of "calamity", but their weaknesses are obvious, and if you are careful, they will not cause much damage to people. In contrast, it is their special ability to refine silver, which is of great value.

If you can raise them in large quantities, it seems to be a good choice to use them for mining.

And the lizards they saw alone were very numerous, and they were really "raised in large quantities".

"Under normal circumstances, the number of 'calamities' is actually not very large, and it will definitely not be as tens of thousands as this time. Milton sighed and said, "I suspect that the people who controlled the calamity behind their backs might have made some technological breakthroughs, and now they have been able to control these dangerous things so well that they ...... I can cultivate the right calamity according to my needs and use it as a miner. ”

Pan Long thought for a moment and asked, "Then what do you think these people are doing these things for?"

"Power, status, wealth?" he continued, "none of this seems to be true. Everything we are human beings depends on our social group. When our society is destroyed, whether it is power, wealth, fame or status...... All of this will lose its meaning. ”

"Those who can control the calamity have a better way to obtain these things, so why should they use the method of destroying the whole country, destroying society, and destroying everything?"

"Maybe they just wanted to destroy. Donner guessed, "In the story, the Demon King or something...... Don't you just think about destroying the world all day long? ”

"Stories are just stories. Pan Long shook his head.

Milton said, "That's what I wonder the most. If a person really has the means to create and control calamity, his normal course of action should be to create an army, fight the kingdom, or even overthrow the kingdom, and become king himself - suppose, I mean suppose, I have the means, I can come up with many ways to keep myself safe and try to be king at the same time...... Honestly, it's really not that hard. ”

Pan Long agreed with his statement, the level of science and technology in this world is not high, and there is no very powerful extraordinary force. If a person or a group of people can create and control calamities, it is really not difficult for them to gain a country, or even become a king or lord.

"But instead of doing so, they chose to hide in the shadows, doing things that no one knew about, and they were not given either wealth or fame. "It's a big problem, so I'm not sure there is such a person or a group of people." ”

"Don't add entities unless necessary. "These are the words of the sages." ”

"But now, I have proof!" Milton's expression was serious and heavy, "they will deliberately mine the silver mines and get the silver!"

"What does that mean?" Pan Long asked.

"That means they have a quest for wealth!" said Milton, "and since they have a quest for wealth, they are not my imaginary fantasies, but they are real!"

Pan Long thought for a moment and asked, "After proving this, what are you going to do?"

"Do nothing. "It's too big, it's too serious." I'm fine, the Ferre family, or even the Holy Salt City...... I can't bear it. If it leaks out, maybe the conspiracy of this person or these people will be shattered, but most of us will also be buried together. ”

He sighed: "The Kingdom of Ameri is already like this, and there is no point in worrying about what happened before. I just hope that someone will come forward to clean up the mess, restore order in society, and even rebuild the country. As for whether he is a hero or a demon king, it really doesn't matter. ”

Speaking of this, he showed a somewhat bitter smile: "Even if it is the Demon King, as long as he can let us all sleep peacefully at night and go out to work during the day, it is acceptable." ”

"I'd rather be a dog of peace than a man of trouble!" said Donner.

Pan Long nodded, indicating that he understood: "Since this is the case, then forget it." I would have wanted to track it down, but you have a point, but even if it is found, what if it is found? If these people are really willing to restore order in the country, then they are nothing more than a group of hegemons who have come to power through special methods of war. ”

"Yes, a catastrophe has killed a lot of people, but a war will also kill a lot of people, is there really a big difference between dying of a calamity or dying of war?" Milton sighed and smiled wryly, "Anyway, I just hope that this country can return to peace as soon as possible, even if it is ruled by the Demon King." ”

They sighed and went home. Before leaving, Milton also told Pan Long not to tell these speculations, not even those in the Clayp family.

Pan Long agreed—he hadn't intended to tell Weimar and the others.

Moreover, he has some conjectures of his own, which can only be verified by himself.

After going back and explaining a little to Weimar and the others, Pan Long went to sleep in the guest room upstairs of the hotel, and slept until night, he switched to the profession of "little powerful thief", used his stealth skills that he hadn't used for a long time, and quietly went out.

The patrolling soldiers could not detect him, and the towering walls could not stop him. A moment later, he had already left Holy Salt City and headed straight for the mines.

Coming to the vicinity of the mine in one breath, he once again performed his stealth and entered the mine.

It was pitch black inside the mine, but fortunately he had night vision and didn't need a torch.

At first glance, not a single lizard could be seen, but in the distance ahead, there was the sound of biting and chewing.

He walked silently until he reached the entrance of the cave that he had cut before, and when he looked through the hole, he saw that there was a large underground cavern, and there was a lot of water in the cave, and countless lizards were on both sides of the cave, biting at the rock walls and chewing the stones that had been torn off.

They're mining!

Pan Long frowned and searched carefully.

After a while, he saw a little above the cave, and there was a small opening, which seemed to lead somewhere. At the entrance of the cave, there seems to be a figure sitting.

His eyes lit up, and he quietly touched it, and used the skill of "Xiaoqiang Rushing" to walk directly over the water, along the steep cliff wall, and went directly to the mouth of the cave.

Sure enough, a man in a black robe was sitting on a wooden stool, looking at the group of lizards mining at his feet from a distance.

He had a whistle in his mouth, presumably using the sound of the whistle to control the lizards.

Pan Long ignored the man—he knew at a glance that he was an errand boy and couldn't have known a lot of information.

He cautiously followed the path, avoiding several traps along the way. These traps are small and not very dangerous, but they have one thing in common – when triggered, they make a loud noise.

That is, they are just some alarm traps.

Seeing these alarm traps, Pan Long narrowed his eyes, and there was a vague guess in his heart.

The cave was clearly dug by hand, and it was straight and wide. Not long after Pan Long left, he saw the light.

The light came from a large basement, where an old man with a white beard was lying on a chair with a blanket over his body, reading a book and talking to himself.

“...... The improvement of the third type has now reached a bottleneck. For the time being, it can be determined that productivity, control, combat effectiveness, and fecundity ...... There is absolutely no way to have all four. The type that can be used for production, no matter how it is strengthened, is also very weak in combat effectiveness, and can only rely on numbers to fight - just like that, it is only the level of cannon fodder. ”

"And pure combat control is still a big problem until now. Simple instructions are fine, but complex instructions, or commands that go against their brutal nature, don't work well. ”

"Alas, it looks like the fourth type is still going to be developed!"

Inside what looked like a loudspeaker next to it, a much younger voice came: "Then let's develop the fourth type." ”

"But...... We're running out of time!"

The voice let out a sarcastic laugh: "Time, we have so much time." As long as you don't cling to the meaningless identity of 'human' and transform yourself like me, let alone three or five years, even if it is a hundred years and a thousand years, it will not be a problem!"

The old man shook his head: "This is not good, human beings are very conservative, they will only be willing to be ruled by the same 'humans'. Once I ceased to be 'human', I lost my most important identity. ”

"Let your students inherit it. ”

"I still want to be able to do everything on my own. The old man sighed, "The ideal of our life is the most satisfying when we realize it by ourselves." ”

At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded beside him: "However, my teacher Saul Guda does not think so. ”

Pan Long's figure emerged, dressed in armor and holding a halberd: "False saints who use religion as a cover, it is better for your 'ideals' to be buried with you!"