22: Chapter 22 We're not running for our lives, we're conducting a public beta test of our product.

His heart hammered against his ribcage, and adrenaline surged through his body like boiling water, yet his brain entered a strange, icy state of calm.

This was not fear; it was that unique, extreme stress response only a project manager experiences when a server suddenly crashes one second before a product launch.

"Blackfinger!"

His shout was not loud, yet it was like a red-hot iron rod, precisely piercing through the thoughts of all the dwarves, who had been frozen by fear.

"Raise your shields! Form a shield wall and protect Lady Hill! That is an order!"

Blackfinger jolted awake from the horror of seeing his companion turn into ash. His bloodshot eyes were filled with rage and sorrow, but the discipline ingrained in his dwarven bones made him roar in response subconsciously: "Shield wall! Everyone move your damn asses! Surround that elf!"

The remaining eight dwarves, like spinning tops struck by a whip, immediately recovered their order from the panic.

They roared, unslung the heavy tower shields from their backs, and slammed them onto the ground, quickly forming a sturdy semicircular barrier that firmly protected Hill, who was still chanting obscure incantations, her body teetering from the energy shock.

Levi did not look at that shield wall.

His gaze was locked tightly onto the ever-expanding black crack on the giant ball of light, and the black energy that flickered in and out like a viper.

His brain was racing.

Systemic risk... energy leak... indiscriminate annihilation... He needed a temporary "patch" to interrupt this process and buy time for Hill.

His gaze swept sharply toward the canvas bag filled with exploration tools at his feet.

He ripped open the backpack and frantically rummaged inside, while knowledge about these tools surfaced in his mind—all basic information on alchemy and mineralogy squeezed out of Gavin's memories.

Found it!

His fingers touched a piece of cold, heavy, and extremely dense ore.

—High-density magic-sensing ore.

This thing was originally used to locate high-purity magic crystal mines in complex veins through its own energy resonance reaction. Its properties were extremely stable, and it could withstand extremely high magic shocks without shattering immediately.

It was like a piece of high-tech sponge.

Without the slightest hesitation, Levi grabbed the ore, which was as big as two of his fists, and with all his might, threw it hard toward the crack more than ten meters away that was frantically spewing death energy!

The ore traced a heavy arc in the air, whistling as it cut through the wind, and precisely plunged into that pitch-black crack.

A bizarre scene occurred.

The originally unremarkable dark gray ore, the moment it touched the black energy, suddenly erupted with a white light more blinding than the sun, as if it were a magnesium strip being lit!

It was like a greedy black hole, frantically sucking all the black energy spewing from the crack into itself!

In the blink of an eye, the originally violent energy flow was abruptly cut off.

But this absorption clearly exceeded the limit the ore could withstand.

After absorbing enough energy, the light of the ore turned from pure white to an eerie deep purple. Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on its surface, and a teeth-grinding "click-clack" sound came from within, as if something was about to burst out.

"Hill! Now!" Levi roared at the top of his lungs.

Hill seemed to sense this critical moment, too. She bit the tip of her tongue and sprayed a mouthful of essence blood mixed with a silver halo onto the rune array in front of her.

The final silver rune chain in her hand, as if possessing life, transformed into a streak of light and coiled around that giant ball of energy.

"Boom—!!!"

At the very same instant the rune chain locked into place, the sensing ore, pushed to its limit by the energy, finally completed its mission and exploded violently!

An incomparably powerful shockwave, mixed with countless tiny fragments of ore, spread outward in a ring!

The shield wall formed by the dwarves was pushed back repeatedly by this force. Sparks flew as the shields were struck by the flying debris, emitting a dense "clanging" sound.

Levi was also sent stumbling by the blast wave, only stabilizing his footing by jamming his scabbard into a crack in the ground.

He looked up and stared ahead.

The aftershocks of the explosion dissipated, and the rampaging black energy vanished.

The giant ball of light was still rotating slowly, but the hideous crack on its surface had been covered by the newly generated silver rune chains. Although the deep darkness beneath could still be seen, at least the energy leak had been temporarily stopped.

The crisis was averted.

The silence of survival after a catastrophe enveloped the entire hall.

"Ugh... Grimm..."

A suppressed, sorrowful whimper broke the silence.

Blackfinger slowly lowered the shield in his hand. He looked at the spot where his companion had been standing just moments ago; now, only a thin layer of gray dust remained, quietly spread on the ground.

That was the only trace Grimm had left in this world.

This rugged dwarven leader, on his weathered face, revealed a near-collapsing pain for the first time.

He turned around abruptly, his bloodshot eyes glaring fixedly at Levi, like an enraged bear.

"A brother, just gone like that!" His voice was hoarse and low, filled with uncontrollable rage. "Lord Levi! You must take responsibility for this! You must give us an explanation!"

The remaining dwarves also gathered around. Although they did not raise their weapons, the gazes mixed with sorrow, anger, and questioning stabbed at Levi like knives.

Levi did not dodge.

He calmly met Blackfinger's gaze and slowly stepped forward.

He did not apologize, nor did he explain.

He walked to the pile of ashes, bent down, and watched in silence.

Then, he straightened his body and looked at Blackfinger, as well as all the dwarves behind him.

"Grimm Ironbeard is the first warrior of Blackstone Territory to sacrifice his life for the cause of pioneering."

His voice was clear and steady, echoing in the empty hall.

"I hereby announce the posthumous conferment of the 'Blackstone Territory First-Class Pioneer Medal' upon Grimm Ironbeard. His name will be engraved on the first line of the future Blackstone Territory Hero Monument. His family will receive a pension sufficient to purchase ten fertile farms in any human kingdom, as well as a residence with permanent property rights inside Blackstone Castle. All funds will be allocated from the ten percent special fund of the 'Relic Energy Project' as the first expenditure."

Blackfinger and the dwarves were stunned.

They had anticipated the lord's excuses, or even thought he would try to buy them off with money, but they had never imagined it would be in this way.

A medal? A hero monument? Permanent property rights? A project special fund?

These terms were both foreign and... carried an indescribable sense of solemnity and temptation to them.

Levi watched their reactions and continued: "This is not compensation; this is the glory and reward he deserves. Everything we do here today is not for me, Levi Byron, personally, but for the future of Blackstone Territory. What lies beneath our feet is wealth and power capable of changing the landscape of the entire continent, but any great undertaking is inevitably accompanied by risk and sacrifice. Grimm used his life to verify the danger of this path for us, and also bought us the opportunity to control this power. His sacrifice is valuable, and every step we take from here on is to make his sacrifice even more valuable."

He walked up to Blackfinger, reached out, and removed a piece of ore that had been shot over during the explosion and was embedded in his cloak.

The fragment was only the size of a fingernail, and a trace of an eerie purple halo still lingered on its surface.

He placed this fragment into Blackfinger's rough palm.

"Remember this feeling, Blackfinger. This is the cornerstone of our future, and it is also something Grimm exchanged his life for. Now, take your men, go comfort his family, and tell them that their son, husband, and father was a hero."

Blackfinger clenched his fist, feeling the faint yet strange energy fluctuation coming from the fragment in his palm, and then looked at Levi's black eyes, which betrayed no emotion.

The rage in his chest seemed to have been extinguished by something larger, colder, and more inflammatory.

He wanted to retort, but found he couldn't speak.

Because what Levi said seemed... to be right.

They were no longer just a group of dwarves mining; they were participating in a "great undertaking."

And Grimm was the first "hero" to sacrifice himself for it.

A complex emotion, mixed with sorrow and an inexplicable sense of pride, welled up in his heart.

He nodded heavily and said in a deep voice: "Yes, my lord."

An hour later, Levi returned to the study in the castle.

Hill was sitting at the desk, using a set of precision alchemy instruments to carefully test the piece of ore fragment that had survived the explosion and had absorbed a small amount of black energy.

"How is the analysis going?" Levi took off his dust-covered cloak and poured himself a glass of water.

Hill did not look up. All her attention was immersed in the experiment, and her emerald eyes were filled with disbelief and a trace of fear.

After a long while, she looked up and said in a dry voice: "...A monster. This thing has turned into a monster."

She pushed the test results in front of Levi.

"This was originally just an ordinary iron ore, its hardness not even comparable to the granite in the dwarven mines. But after being tainted by that kind of black energy... its physical hardness exceeds that of the Elven Steel I know, which has been forged a hundred times. Its magic conductivity is almost comparable to Mithril. But..."

She paused, a look of lingering fear appearing on her face. "Its energy structure is extremely unstable, like a building with its foundation hollowed out. Any additional energy injection could cause it to disintegrate completely from within. It is both the embryo of a divine weapon and the most dangerous explosive."

Levi picked up the report, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.

He picked up a pen, wrote a few words at the top of the report, and then annotated it as "Top Secret."

Hill leaned over to look and saw it written: "New Composite Material Version 1.0 - Instability Test Report."

"From today on," Levi handed the report back to her, his tone unquestionable, "your research direction needs to be adjusted. Stop thinking about how to 'reinforce' that seal; that is a foolish method that treats the symptoms but not the root cause. I want you to devote all your energy to how to 'stabilize' this tainted material, and how to 'directionally' utilize that leaking energy to modify our existing metals. I need a standardized, mass-producible process."

Hill looked at Levi, feeling that this human lord was the real madman.

But in his crazy plan, there was also a magic belonging to a creator that she could not resist.

She was silent for a moment, and eventually took the report and nodded: "...I will do my best."

"Very good."

Levi watched Hill leave, then shook the silver bell on the table.

A moment later, Evelyn pushed the door open and entered, her violet eyes carrying a hint of inquiry.

"My lord, did you call for me?"

"Yes." Levi leaned back in his chair, fingers interlaced, looking at his most capable "product manager." "I have a new marketing plan that I need you to execute immediately."

He pushed a list that had already been drafted over to her.

"Pack up all the conventional weapons, iron ingots, and farming tools in our warehouse. Starting tomorrow, dump them into all neighboring territories at a price ten percent below market value. Remember, no limits; sell as much as possible. You must clear all our inventory within half a month."

Evelyn picked up the list and scanned it quickly. Her pointed ears twitched slightly, and a look of confusion appeared on her face.

"My lord, doing this... will yield almost no profit. Moreover, large-scale dumping at low prices will severely impact the ironware market in the surrounding areas, especially for Baron Hans of Ironhoof Territory. Iron ore and weapon forging are his core industries; our actions are tantamount to directly declaring war on him. I expect he will impose punitive tariffs of over three times on all our trade routes within three days."

"Your analysis is completely correct." Levi nodded approvingly. "This is exactly the result I want."

He took another document out of the drawer and handed it to Evelyn.

"This is the second step. After Baron Hans's retaliatory tariffs are imposed, use all the liquid funds obtained from dumping the ironware to purchase a large quantity of one thing from him in the name of Blackstone Territory."

Evelyn opened the document with confusion. When she saw clearly what item was to be purchased, even with her intelligence, she was completely stunned.

It was an absurdly large procurement list, and the target of the purchase was only one thing—"Black Iron Slag."

That was a large amount of industrial waste produced daily by the ironworks in Baron Hans's territory, which was almost worthless except for paving roads and filling pits.

First, empty one's own warehouse at a loss to provoke a trade dispute, and then, under the opponent's economic blockade, spend all the money to buy a pile of unwanted garbage?

Evelyn looked up, watching the deep and calm eyes of her lord, and she suddenly understood something.

A meticulously planned strangulation targeting that greedy neighbor had already quietly begun with the seemingly foolish first step of clearing out their own warehouse.

At this very moment, far away in Ironhoof Territory, Baron Hans had just received two pieces of news that put him in a pleasant mood.