The journey was as calm as Rand had imagined, with rangers patrolling the border between Eagle City and the Sky Crossing Territory, and the average bandit would not dare to haunt the vicinity, but when Rand stood up and saw the castle at the foot of the hill from a distance, he knew that this was his destination.

He raised his lookout scope and looked in the direction of the castle, where he saw the banner of the golden stag and the banner of the golden lion, the standard insignia of the Capetian family's lower realms, and after a simple observation, Rand came to a conclusion.

Eagle City is much richer than the Sky Ferry Lord.

The blue-gray walls are more than six meters high, topped with steel spikes and thorns, and wooden fences are inserted at the corners to effectively block the climb of the ladder.

On the top of the city walls, there are watchtowers every ten meters or so, and no one can escape the sight of the scouts.

In the center of the gate are also placed rolling logs and bayonet guns.

Rand silently calculated in his heart that if he wanted to capture such a city with iron fortifications, the price he would have to pay would undoubtedly be heavy.

Such a thick wall requires heavy artillery or catapults to deal damage, and if the opponent cannot hold on, it will be difficult to penetrate even if the number of besieging soldiers is several times that of the defenders.

"Dock on the shore. Rand commanded, "It's time for us to get down to business." ”

The shore was still some distance from Eagle City, and Rand walked to the castle with Orc and Shadow, and through the narrow dirt road in the farmland, he saw a group of craftsmen transporting ore from the nearby hills, using a kind of wheelbarrow, which could only pull a few dozen catties at a time.

Compared to the capacity of a tractor, this rickshaw is simply out of reach.

The miners were tired and sweaty, covered in stone dust, as if they had been brushed with a layer of ash, and sweat trickled down their faces, rushing out like ravines.

But the uniformed overseers were still frowning, whipping their whips through the air.

"Hurry up, lazy pigs, the lord didn't pay you to stand there in a daze!"

"If you can't complete your personal share, don't think about eating at noon!"

The overseer noticed the rand and them, but from the clothes on them, they didn't look like some rich people, and thought they were residents of the neighborhood, and he waved his hand dissatisfiedly: "Hey!

The shadow frowned.

Rand stretched out his hand to stop him, and said with a smile: "I am Rand, Lord of Kongdu......"

"Oh no! the third mine is on fire!" Before Rand could finish speaking, a miner stumbled out of the depths of the mine with a frightened face, gasping for breath, pointing in the direction behind him, and said, "That cave has erupted again!"

"What? Damn! Didn't I tell you to stop it?" the Overseer's face changed, and Rand noticed that his muscles were trembling, "What can I do?"

"Hurry up, put out the fire, the wheat and cat's claws have been swallowed by fire, and the magma of the Black River is still spreading!" the miner urged eagerly.

"Go to the castle and tell your lordship, and immediately mobilize the army!" the overseer instructed his subordinates, while he himself watched the billowing black smoke rising from a distance, there was an accident in the mine, but it was all his responsibility as an overseer, and he had to do something before things got worse, otherwise the lord would not be able to spare himself.

Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth viciously and said to the miners standing in front of him: "What are you doing stupidly, go and put out the fire?"

The miners took a few steps back, their faces full of fear, "My lord, that kind of fire is not something we can extinguish! Two of our companions have already died in the flames, and we don't know what to do to extinguish it......

"With dirt, sand, and powder, I don't care what method you use, but I want to block the lava before the fire spreads to other mines!" the overseer glared and brandished his whip and yelled, "Go, don't let me repeat it a second time!"

It's like sending people to death!

Rand frowned, and without determining the direction of the wind and the speed of the flames, he rashly asked the miners to contain the flames, which had no effect other than to lose a few more lives.

And what the miners said just now, the magma of the Black River......

Rand chuckled as he looked in the direction of the flames in the distance, which was the area marked on the map where the asphalt mine was located.

In this way, the magma that the miners are talking about is actually very likely that the erupted oil met an open flame!

Rand felt his heartbeat suddenly increase.

"I'm Lord Empty Crossing, Rand Capet!" Rand walked up and introduced himself to the overseer, "Can you tell me what's going on?"

"Rand Capet?" the overseer raised his head abruptly, his eyes full of shock, "You are Lord Duke's ......"

"The Duke of Winton is my father!" Rant, pulling out the golden lion seal and handing it to the other party, "you seem to be in a bit of trouble. ”

After confirming Rand's identity, the overseer's attitude immediately changed drastically, and he hurriedly bowed and saluted, and said with a sad face: "My lord, I didn't know your identity before, and I must forgive me for those offensive words I said......

"Alright, alright!" Rand interrupted, "Tell me what happened, the magma of the Black River, what the hell?"

"That was a few months ago," said the overseer, reassuring after a moment's time, "I remember that it was after lunchtime one day, when I drove the miners into the mine and told them to get to work...... My lord, these miners you know are all slackers, and if I don't rush them behind me, I'm afraid they won't take the initiative to start work for the rest of their lives......"

"Getting to the point!" Rand interrupted him impatiently.

"Okay, okay! After the miners started their work, I stayed at the door of the mine, watching them carry the ore out in baskets, at first everything was normal, but after a few minutes, there was a dull loud noise in the mine, I thought there was a landslide, almost scared to death, but then some miners came out to report, saying that a huge hole had been dug in the depths of the mine, bottomless and it could be seen that the dark liquid erupted with the appearance of the hole. ”

"Fortunately, the eruption didn't last long," the overseer recalled, "and it took about two or three minutes before it stopped." ”

"When I went into the cave to check on the situation, the air was filled with a choking smell, and the mine was covered with this viscous liquid," the overseer said, licking his lips, "and it looks very similar to the 'beads of the devil's sweat' recorded in the hadith." ”

And that's what happened later. ”