Chapter 289: Chapter 289: Looting the Mines, A One-Star Overseer


    ?


    As John vanished, Quagmire watched his fading silhouette with a satisfied grin, muttering quietly, "Looks like tonight''s going to be interesting."


    Quagmire nodded in agreement.


    Beside them, Dumas looked bewildered, scratching his head in confusion. "What are you two talking about?"


    "Don''t ask too many questions, kid. Get back to work," Quagmire rumbled, hefting the heavy boulder that blocked their path with ease this time, the nking of his chains resuming.


    "Uh..." Dumas sighed, deciding to drop it and just get on with his task.


    ...


    In a deep, dark mine, John''s figure suddenly appeared.


    This mine had been abandoned, now overrun by Hunters who had turned it into a nesting ground.


    The nearby Hunters noticed John''s sudden appearance and seemed a bit surprised.


    But, disguised as a Shadow n soldier, John was shielded from the usual hostility of the Hunters his appearance hid any hint of animosity markers they would otherwise detect.


    Hunters didn''t normally attack Shadow n members.


    So they merely observed him with curiosity, puzzled by the sudden arrival of a Shadow n warrior in their deserted mine.


    "Seems there''s no ore left here," he thought, scanning the abandoned mine. It had long since been emptied of resources.


    Just as he prepared to leave, he felt something unusual.


    "A Hunters'' Brood Mother!" he murmured, surprised and delighted.


    There were over a dozen Hunters'' Brood Mothers here.


    And they held something valuable-Soul Essence. An unexpected bonus.


    Without hesitation, John, still in his Shadow n disguise, boldly ventured deeper into the mine.


    He sensed two powerful Hunters'' Brood Mothers nearby.


    The surrounding Hunters continued to eye him curiously but made no move to obstruct him.


    The dim mine corridors were littered with Hunters'' eggs.


    Soon, John reached the two colossal Brood Mothers, their massive bodies sprawled awkwardly on a smooth stone b.


    They spotted him and looked on warily.


    "Shadow n? You''re not one of our contracted allies. Leave immediately," one of the Brood Mothers hissed coldly, ordering John away.


    They weren''t hostile toward Shadow n members but had no intention of allowing strangers toe close.


    A smirk crossed John''s face. "Rx. I''m just here to relocate you to a safer ce."


    "Hm?" The two Brood Mothers hesitated, confused. Before they could react, John unleashed a wave of spatial power, transporting them directly into his World-in-Hand.


    Inside the mine, he could have easily killed the two Brood Mothers, but that would have caused too muchmotion, potentially alerting Shadow n elites.


    With a thought, he himself entered the World-in-Hand.


    The two Brood Mothers scanned their new surroundings suspiciously.


    Spotting him nearby, one of the Brood Mothers roared, "This is World-in-Hand! You''re not Shadow n! Who are you?"


    "Smart," John said, his face shifting as he shed the Shadow n disguise to reveal his true form.


    "Beast n? Impossible. The Beast n has no Overseers!" one of the Hunters gasped, mistaking John for a Beast n member.


    This was, in fact, his Beast n avatar, radiating a powerful Beast n aura due to his divine dragon bloodline.


    He couldn''t be bothered to waste time with the two creatures. Manipting thews within the World-in-Hand, he swiftly dispatched the two Hunters'' Brood Mothers.


    The kill granted him a substantial amount of experience, along with a bit of Shadow Power and a few attribute points.


    What pleased him most, though, was the Soul Essence dropped by the Brood Mothers.


    He stowed it away, and with a thought, exited the World-in-Hand.


    This time, he transformed into a Hunter, allowing him to navigate more freely.


    He moved swiftly through the dark mine, and one by one, he summoned the remaining thirteen Hunters'' Brood Mothers into his World-in-Hand, swiftly eliminating each and iming thirteen Soul Essences.


    Not in any rush to refine them, he left the World-in-Hand again, this time assuming the guise of a Shadow n soldier. Utilizing his Split Void talent, he transported himself to the next


    mining site.


    This site was in a semi-abandoned state, though a fair amount of ore still remained, guarded by numerous Shadow n soldiers.


    John''s arrival immediately caught their attention.


    The leader, a soldier with a curious look, frowned and demanded, "You''re not stationed here. Which city are you from, and what business do you have in City 113?"


    City 113?


    John was intrigued; it was the first he''d heard of Shadow n cities.


    Not interested in exnations, he activated the World-in-Hand, absorbing everyone in the


    area.


    "What? World-in-Hand? Who are you?" the squad leader gasped, realizing John was no ordinary Shadow n warrior.


    Among the Shadow n, no one had refined the Heart of the Continent. The only possibility was that he was an Overseer from another Lord God realm.


    "I''m the one who''s here to end you!" John''s voice was icy as he wielded the power of thews


    to eliminate them.


    Themotion drew Lincoln and a few others over.


    Seeing the Shadow n soldiers, their anger red.


    "How dare you trespass into the master''s world! Prepare to die!" Lincoln and his group charged the Shadow n soldiers with fury, Lincoln and Beelzebub especially targeting John.


    "Stop! It''s me, Godyer!" he called out hastily, realizing he was still in his Shadow n disguise. He quickly deactivated his god-level disguise talent.


    "Huh? My lord?" They recognized John and halted immediately.


    Without further exnation, he swiftly eliminated the Shadow n soldiers, sparing only


    one upper-tier god.


    He needed information about the Spirit Stone veins, and his best option was to extract it from a Shadow n member.


    He nned to use Memory Extraction on this one, but since that was an ability only his main body possessed and not his Beast n avatar, he opted to restrain the man for now. "You...you''re that human, Godyer?!" the Shadow n soldier stared at John, both shocked and furious, yet too fearful to attack outright.


    In the World-in-Hand, John was the ultimate sovereign.


    John turned to Lincoln and the others, saying calmly, "This one''s yours to handle. Don''t kill him—just rough him up a bit. See if you can get any information about the Immortal Herb Garden or the Spirit Stone mines out of him."


    "Understood," Lincoln replied with a glint in his eye.


    "Leave it to us, my lord," Beelzebub echoed, eager to begin.


    Lincoln and Beelzebub, both peak upper-tier gods, had the upper hand within the World-in- Hand, where Shadow n powers were nearly useless. They''d handle the interrogation with


    ease.


    Without lingering, John returned to the mining site, surveying the piles of ore in front of him.


    "I wonder if I can store these ores in the World-in-Hand," he mused.


    These Shadow Star ores were unique, with properties that blocked Spatial Power, renderingn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    them ipatible with ordinary storage spaces.


    He focused, and the World-in-Hand activated again.


    Buzz!


    The mountain of ore disappeared, absorbed into his World-in-Hand.


    Momentster, a notification sounded.


    [Your World-in-Hand has refined Shadow Ore. Stability has increased, and you have advanced


    to a one-star initial Overseer.]


    "World-in-Hand can actually refine these ores directly?" he murmured, pleasantly surprised.


    Even better, he''d leveled up to a one-star initial Overseer.


    He could already feel an enhanced control over the World-in-Hand.


    "These ores have surprising uses," he noted, picking up a stray piece, astonished by its


    properties.


    Excited, he set off to search for the other mining sites.


    Quagmire and Dumas had given him coordinates for 19 mines in total.


    Three of the sites werepletely abandoned, overrun by Hunters and now serving as nests


    for Hunters'' Brood Mothers.


    John didn''t spare them, dispatching the creatures and gaining a total of 44 Soul Essences,


    enough to boost his Soul Technique by 440,000 points.


    Unfortunately, with Shadow n soldiers monitoring his main body 24/7, he couldn''t refine


    them just yet.


    At the remaining 16 sites, he gathered a substantial amount of Shadow Ore, storing it all in the World-in-Hand for absorption and refinement.


    The World-in-Hand grew even more stable, though he remained at the one-star initial


    Overseer level.


    "Time to track down that Windling traitor," John thought, ncing at the horizon as dawn


    approached.


    Lincoln and Beelzebub had yet to extract any useful information from the captured Shadow


    n warrior.


    Without dy, John activated Split Void, transporting himself to the novice vige where Quagmire was stationed.


    Quagmire hadn''t returned yet, so John kept his distance, activating Concealment to avoid detection. Using the coordinates, he located the residence of the Windling traitor, Hamen.


    To his surprise, it wasn''t a straw hut.


    Before him stood a modest wooden house, simple yet far more refined than a straw hut.


    It a clear attempt by the Shadow n to curry favor.


    John pushed open the wooden door and stepped inside.


    On the bed, Hamen stirred awake, jolting upright as he noticed the intruder. Frowning, he


    asked coldly, "Who are you, and why have you barged into my room?" Hamen''s hand reached instinctively toward a long stick by his bedside a signal stick given to


    him by the Shadow n. If he snapped it, Shadow n elites would be alerted immediately.


    John nced at him and asked coolly, "Hamen?"


    Hamen nodded reflexively. In the next instant, a surge of Spatial Power swept over them, transporting both John and Hamen into the World-in-Hand.


    And leaving the signal stick behind on the bed.


    "Aaaagh..."


    In the distance, agonizing screams echoed through the space. Lincoln and the others were still


    torturing the Shadow n warrior.


    They less for information and more to vent their anger for the torment they''d endured under


    the Shadow n.


    Hamen''s face turned pale as he heard the cries, and he swallowed hard, eyeing John with a


    shaky tone. "Do you have any idea who I am? If the Shadow n finds out youid a hand on


    me, you''ll regret it!"


    John smirked, unimpressed. He''d lost count of how many times he''d heard such threats, though usually they came from


    Shadow n elites.


    "Do you even believe that nonsense,ing from a merepdog?" he asked with a slight


    sneer.


    Fuming, Hamen forced himself to look braver than he felt, raising his voice in anger, "What


    do you want with me?"


    "You answer; I ask," John said simply, raising his arm. The elemental forces gathered,


    forming afortable chair.


    He settled back into it, crossing his legs casually. "Tell me, what is the Immortal Herb


    Garden?"