After making his guess, Lumian's eyes subconsciously swept over "Mouse" Christo and "Giant" Simon.
He felt that the possibility of the "cannon fodder" option was not very high, because the extraordinary people who grew up by taking magic potions were different from the evil god scroll readers who relied on gifts. They were not cabbages in the field where you could have as many as you wanted. One needed to have the corresponding materials, and two needed to have enough time. When it came to the middle sequence, it depended on whether they were lucky enough, or whether they had mastered the "acting method".
If the three of them were really used as cannon fodder in this mission, it would be highly likely that they would not be able to recover their extraordinary characteristics, and this accounted for half of Gardner Martin's power in controlling the underground world of the market area.
As a member of the secret organization "Iron Cross", Gardner Martin could certainly afford such a loss, but he would not make such a great sacrifice for something unimportant.
And if the mission is important enough, sending only one Sequence 7 and two Sequence 8s is obviously not enough. Isn't Gardner Martin worried about failure
With this understanding, Lumian quickly revised his guess: this was either a preliminary test for him using a low-risk mission, and whether "Mouse" Christo and "Giant" Simon knew about it was irrelevant, or it was a very important and dangerous operation, using the three of them as cannon fodder while having another strong person provide the final guarantee, which was also a test.
Thinking of this, Lumian's first reaction was to look at Gardner. Martin took on the task with a voice full of enthusiasm and confidence, creating the image of a young man who was striving to seek opportunities for advancement.
If it is the first possibility, this is his best chance to show himself, and if it is the second possibility, Lumian still has a finger of Mr. K quietly lying in his pocket as a trump card. At that time, if he really has to expose the secret that he is a member of the "Aurora Society" in order to survive, the worst that can happen is that he will give up the "Iron Cross" mission.
As long as you are not dead, you can still wait for another opportunity!
—After the disaster brought by the Shadow Tree, Lumian rushed to the headquarters of Psychic Magazine and met Mr. K before Gardner and Martin started their investigation.
He concealed his experience inside the "Shadow Tree", only saying that something strange happened in the market area, and he and others were trapped in a strange wilderness. Later, the brown-green giant tree there sank, and Susanna Mathis appeared and began to drain everyone's energy. In order to fight against this "fallen tree spirit", he used that finger to create a "flesh robe" with powerful defensive capabilities, but no additional help came.
Later, with the further sinking of the brown-green giant tree and Susanna, Mathis was extremely weak. With the help of the other two Beyonders present, his newly acquired "Arsonist" ability and the "Fallen Mercury" he brought from Cordu Village, he barely defeated the enemy and eliminated her.
This was all true, but the order, time, place and a few details were vague. There was no problem with the logic. After listening to it, Mr. K not only did not doubt it, but sighed and reminded Lumian not to rely too much on his fingers, because there were many ways to cut off the mystical connection between him and his fingers.
After confirming that Lu Caian was promoted to "arsonist" with the help of Gardner Martin, Mr. K was very satisfied and gave him another finger.
This made Lumian feel that as long as he didn't encounter special environments such as the "Other World" or the inside of the Shadow Tree, and didn't get involved in terrorist incidents that required him to face divine creatures directly, relying on Mr. K's fingers, even if he couldn't turn the defeat into victory, he still had a great chance of escaping.
At this moment, Lumian, who was about to express his attitude to the boss, suddenly felt that the performance should not be too exaggerated.
This is a phrase that Janna would say from time to time.
"According to Franka, the boss is at least a Sequence 6 "conspirator". His intelligence and vision should never be underestimated..." My background is indeed very clear. I am young, from the countryside, and was once involved in an extraordinary disaster. I don't have much experience and want to change my fate. But I have been in the market area for a while and have done a lot of things overtly and secretly. Even if it is just what the boss knows, it is enough for him to see that I am not a brainless country bumpkin who relies on recklessness and ruthlessness to do things.
"As for today's incident, the boss thinks that I should be able to sense the unusualness of the mission and the possible dangers it may contain. Agreeing to it without asking the reason and without observing will only make him suspect that I have other purposes and other reliances." That would be troublesome. A series of thoughts flashed through Lumian's mind. He instantly changed the destination of his sight and cast his eyes on the "Giant" Simon and the "Mouse" Christo, as if he wanted to see how they would react and what attitude they would have towards this mission.
I don’t know if the “mouse” Crystal was thinking of the “man in the mirror” incident and his brother who died because of it. His expression looked a little ugly, and he was afraid and uneasy.
A look of doubt and vigilance flashed across the face of the "Giant" Simon, but he did not raise any objection.
After a few seconds, the two spoke almost at the same time: "Yes, Boss!"
Seeing this, Lumian deliberately hesitated before saying, "Okay, Boss!"
Gardner. Martin's eyes kept moving back and forth between Lumian, Christo, and Simon, observing their expressions and states.
After they all agreed, the Sava Party leader smiled with satisfaction and said, "I will tell you the details of the mission in detail."
He opened the drawer, took out a roll of imitation parchment, and unfolded it on the desk.
Lumian and the others came closer and saw that it was a map, a map of part of underground Trier!
It is one meter long and fifty centimeters wide. The top layer is the underground Trier formed after the municipal department opened up various tunnels and reinforced the quarry holes, which corresponds one to one with the streets and squares on the ground.
This map only included the underground areas of the market area, memorial hall area, botanical garden area and observatory area, but it was drawn in great detail, as if someone had sneaked into the municipal department and copied the original data. Lumian could clearly see that there were extensions on both sides, but they were not drawn further.
The middle layer of the map is composed of quarry holes, places marked as ancient tombs, and underground river tributaries. They are scattered around and connected to the upper layer through tunnels that are either conspicuous or hidden.
There are many blanks and missing parts in this part, with words such as "to be surveyed", "to be explored", and "to be found" written next to them.
There are some collapsed mines and more missing parts in the lower part of the map, as if shrouded in fog. Even secret organizations like the Iron Cross do not know enough about it.
There are multiple passages extending downward from this level, but the map does not show which areas they connect to.
"The Trier of the Quaternary Period? The place officially named the 'Ancient Relics Protection Area'? "It can be seen that this map was copied from a more complete map." The more complete part shows the Trier of the Quaternary Period
“The Iron Cross knows a lot about the underground situation…” Lumian made corresponding guesses while memorizing this incomplete map.
After the three men had roughly looked at the map, Gardner Martin pointed to a place and said, "Your destination is here.
It was a collapsed mine, but some space was still left. It was located at the bottom of the map, close to Trier in the Fourth Epoch.
Above it are Selbu Avenue, Bad Boy Street and Forest Square, which are the borders of the Observatory Area and the Botanical Gardens.
"It's called the Albert Mine," Gardner Martin introduced. "To reach it, you need to go through two secret tunnels dug by private individuals. It is not known to the official authorities and is unknown to most people who travel underground."
Gardner. Martin traced the two dotted lines of the tunnel with his fingers as he spoke, and told Lumian, Christo and Simon the correct way to enter.
Finally, he said with emotion: "Six years ago, the leader of the rebels and the planner of the great riot, Albert Goncourt, survived the underground search by the army, police, and official Beyonders by relying on this mine he discovered and named."
Six years ago... Rebels... Riot... Hearing these words, Lumian instantly remembered what he had seen and heard before: during the war with the Kingdom of Loen, prices in Trier skyrocketed, and food became so expensive that it made people desperate. This triggered a large-scale demonstration that swept the entire city, and various conflicts continued.
Listen to Gardner. Martin's meaning, that is not a purely spontaneous protest, someone planned and guided it? The "Iron Cross" was also involved? Lumian continued to keep his eyes on the map thoughtfully.
Gardner Martin concluded: "All you need to do is arrive at the Albert Mine before noon, wait for the trader to come, and take a box from him." You don't need to give him anything, and don't have any verbal communication with him.
You must not open the box on your way back, otherwise it will bring you immeasurable danger.
As long as you strictly obey my words, the risk of this mission is not high. Although you may encounter some abnormal phenomena hidden underground or monsters from the extraordinary, they can be solved with your good cooperation.
After explaining this for a while, Lumian, Christo and Simon each took a calcium carbide lamp, left No. 11 Fountain Street, and walked towards the nearest underground Trier entrance.
Looking back at the gray-white villa that had disappeared from sight, Lumian played the role of Gardner, the man Martin knew.
With a smile on his face, he casually asked "Mouse" Christo and "Giant" Simon: "Have you ever done a similar mission before?" "Mouse" Christo was silent for a few seconds and said: "Three times."
"Once." Simon the Giant replied with a slightly rumbling voice. Lumian laughed, "You are all still alive, which means that such missions are not too risky."
"Rat" Christo did not respond, as if he was lost in bad memories, while "Giant" Simon echoed Lumian's words as if to comfort himself: "Yes, this may be a test from the boss for us. Those who can pass it will get the opportunity to be further promoted.
Lumian smiled: What if they can't pass? Die on the spot