CHAPTER 184: THE SILVER GOBLINS' INTELLIGENCE

"That chunk of Spirit Vein Mithril—what do you think of it?"

Lin Mo froze at her words. He hadn't expected her to say that at all.

After all, based on the Guard Commander's description, that piece of Spirit Vein Mithril wasn't worth anything ordinary.

Mithril itself was already an extremely expensive material, and this one had formed near a Magical Ley Line—a special mithril that only had a tiny chance to appear.

"If nothing else, that piece of Spirit Vein Mithril should be worth more than fifty thousand Gold Coins."

The maid beside her, as if afraid he wouldn't understand, kindly explained.

Fifty thousand?!

Lin Mo was even more shocked. Even for him now, that was unquestionably a staggering sum.

"Such a precious thing... are you sure it's okay?"

To be honest, Lin Mo felt a bit embarrassed.

Ever since Finnie joined the team, he'd already accepted a lot of favors from her. When the rescue reward for Silvermoon Town was announced earlier, he also received considerable preference.

And now she was even offering something this expensive to him.

"It doesn't matter. Consider it a gift from me, an elder."

Behira's words left little room for doubt.

She had already accepted—and was convinced of—the matter between Lin Mo and Finnie, so this Spirit Vein Mithril was, in effect... a dowry?

Handing over such a weighty item, beyond trusting Lin Mo, was also a way to give Finnie more "leverage."

Even if Lin Mo wasn't the sort to chase material benefits, he'd still naturally show more attention and respect for Finnie because of it.

"I understand. I'll treat Finnie well."

Lin Mo's voice had no excess joy and no rush—only sincere, steady resolve.

The more Behira looked at this future son-in-law, the more satisfied she became.

Compared to many spoiled nobles in the Empire—whose talents were often inferior and whose attitudes were unbearably haughty—Lin Mo was refreshingly grounded. Those nobles all carried themselves as if they were destined to be transcendent-level elites: polite on the surface, but unable to truly respect others;

beneath the flashy exterior, only impatience and selfishness showed. ȐÂɴОBЕ𝘚

That was part of why she chose to leave the Empire.

"The Spirit Vein Mithril will need some time to be smelted. Once it's finished, I'll have Melissa send it to you."

Melissa was likely the maid standing beside them—the mother of Sherfilia.

Lin Mo nodded, then asked, "By the way, what exactly can this Spirit Vein Mithril be used for?"

The material was undoubtedly precious, but up to now Lin Mo still knew very little about it. Even if it were given to him immediately, he didn't know what he could actually make with it.

"Simply put, you can think of it as a more magically conductive mithril with stronger mana amplification... In general, besides being used to craft high-tier Exceptional-grade or low-tier Epic-grade equipment, it can also serve as a material for some Epic-grade alchemical reagents."

If a material could be used to produce Epic-grade equipment, even only high-tier Epic, that alone proved its rarity.

"How does this mithril's effect compare to A-grade mithril?"

Lin Mo had learned about mithril grading from the Guard Commander. Common mithril, including the mithril gloves he currently owned, was made from C-grade mithril.

If this Spirit Vein Mithril was so expensive, its effects should logically exceed B-grade, perhaps even rival A-grade—he wondered.

"A bit stronger, I suppose."

Melissa answered: "If you judge purely by magical conductivity, A-grade mithril might still be stronger, but Spirit Vein Mithril has extra effects that some A-grade mithril doesn't."

"Such as?"

"Because this special material formed near a Magical Ley Line, it has been washed by abundant mana for ages, so it also possesses some mana storage capability... Besides that, compared to A-grade mithril, Spirit Vein Mithril has better hardness and durability."

Lin Mo's eyes lit up: "Could it be used to make weapons?"

Melissa paused and thought for a moment before understanding what he meant.

"You mean melee weapons? That would probably be impossible... Spirit Vein Mithril, while relatively hard, lacks toughness. If you made a sword from it, the blade would be too inflexible and it would limit agility in combat."

Put plainly: lacking elasticity in the blade would restrict many moves and techniques, making it awkward to use.

For Lin Mo's more agile fighting style as a warrior, it wouldn't be suitable.

"Also, forging weapons takes a lot of material. This small piece of Spirit Vein Mithril likely isn't even enough to make a pair of mithril gloves. It can only be considered for ornament-type equipment, or used simply as a mana-amplifying device, or as a core material for a staff. But gear made that way would at best be high-tier Exceptional-grade—not Epic."

"All right..."

Lin Mo gave a wry smile. It seemed he had been over-optimistic. Besides, Flora must have known about Spirit Vein Mithril. If such material could be used to craft a 'magic sword,' she wouldn't have said there was no suitable material at the time.

If mithril didn't work and Spirit Vein Mithril didn't either, and adamantine—with its poor magical conductivity—was also unsuitable, then among the three "magic material giants," only Orichalcum remained.

Orichalcum's properties actually matched the needs of a magic sword: strong mana resonance, sufficient hardness and durability, and a lighter weight. What remained unknown was its flexibility.

But even if it fit, it didn't matter...

Unlike mithril and adamantine, which—despite being expensive—could still be mined or sourced, Orichalcum was practically extinct. It was said to only be found in a few ancient Secret Realms, making it truly priceless and rare.

Forget it. He wouldn't dwell on that now.

Lin Mo looked to Lady Bessie and asked, "By the way, what about Landon and the Azure Orchid Team..."

He had already received his reward, but Landon and his team had also contributed significantly to the operation.

"Don't worry. I've arranged matters for the Azure Orchid Team."

Lin Mo nodded, unsurprised. Lady Bessie was meticulous—he had only asked to be safe.

With the reward settled, it was time to discuss more serious matters.

Lin Mo hadn't forgotten that Lady Bessie had said earlier there was something she wanted to tell him.

"About what you mentioned earlier..."

Behira stood up. "For this, come with me."

Lin Mo followed her into the City Lord's Mansion conference room.

Inside, someone was already seated.

He was wrapped in bandages and looked injured.

"Chairman Vic?"

Indeed, it was Vic, Branch Head of the Silverstream City Adventurers' Association.

Lin Mo recalled that while they had been in the cavern previously, Vic had gone into Roland Forest's Core Area to search for information about the goblins and the Lawrence family.

He was finally back now—but injured?

This wasn't trivial. As branch head, Vic's strength was considerable—at least as elite as Flora, meaning level 10 or higher.

If even he had been wounded, how strong must the enemy be?

"Young friend, long time no see."

Seeing Lin Mo, Vic smiled. Noticing Lin Mo's expression, he understood at once what he was thinking: "It's nothing—just some small wounds..."

"More importantly, I have something to ask you."

Vic's expression turned serious. "A few days ago, did you enter a Secret Realm?"

"Yes."

Lin Mo nodded. Lady Bessie already knew about it. Before entering the Secret Realm, Sherfilia had sent word via carrier pigeon.

"Can you tell me the exact times you entered and left the Secret Realm?"

Lin Mo recalled and told him the times.

"That matches!"

Vic's expression brightened. "Can you tell me what happened in that Secret Realm? Specifically—did anything unusual occur in that Secret Realm?"

"I'm not trying to pry into your secrets. I just want to know whether, when you left, the Secret Realm exhibited any strange changes."

Lin Mo frowned and thought: "I don't think so? If anything, that Secret Realm seemed to be a legacy-type realm left by a predecessor. I got lucky and obtained the inheritance."

Vic's serious look suggested something important. At a time like this it wasn't right to keep potentially important information to himself;

a simple explanation would likely be fine.

"I see."

Vic's face showed realization.

"Legacy-type Secret Realms often have a treasure or a mana formation as a core. Once the inheritance is claimed, those items vanish or are taken away, and the Secret Realm will collapse and close."

Lin Mo nodded and waited.

"Based on the time you gave, if there was no discrepancy, then right after you left and that Secret Realm collapsed, I discovered a newly revealed Secret Realm in the Core Area of Roland Forest."

"I see. So the collapse of one Secret Realm caused a spatial ripple that affected nearby Secret Realms."

Lady Bessie nodded and explained to a confused Lin Mo: "In the same region, multiple Secret Realms can be attached to a single main space. If a change happens to one realm and it affects the main space, it can destabilize the other attached realms."

"From your description, the Secret Realm where the goblins hid may have been a subspace derived from that predecessor's Secret Realm."

"So when the main Secret Realm disappeared, the one in the Core Area fully manifested."

Now Lin Mo understood the situation.

"Could it be that the reason we couldn't find the goblins' base earlier was because they'd been hiding inside a Secret Realm all along?"

"Exactly so."

Vic nodded. "After discovering this newly revealed Secret Realm, I went to scout it and saw a large group of high-level goblins."

"More specifically... I saw Lord-level goblins—the Silver Goblins—and not just one, but three of them!"

"Two were low-tier lords, probably level 9 and level 7 respectively, and the last one had already reached middle-tier lord. If their bloodlines kept evolving, they might begin trending toward Golden Goblins!"

Lin Mo understood this: low-tier lords refer to monsters in the level 6–10 range, corresponding to the Professional rank of Veteran Level. Middle-tier meant level 10–15, corresponding to the Professional rank of Elite.

"Wait—did you go in there alone to scout?"

Lin Mo suddenly realized something. Vic knew the lobes of goblin lord strength so clearly—had he fought them personally?

"Heh..."

Vic scratched his head with a smile. "I ripped off an arm of that level-7 lord. The level-9 one also suffered major injuries. The middle-tier lord was about on par with me, maybe slightly stronger—I couldn't beat it."

"If that guy hadn't interfered, I probably could've taken the other two lords down."

Good grief... he had single-handedly stormed into the goblin nest;

no wonder he was injured.

Put bluntly, this wound was self-inflicted.

Put nicely, it was confidence, bravery, and a sense of responsibility—to get more intelligence for Silverstream City.

"Mr. Vic, you're not getting any younger. Safety should come first."

Behira reminded him.

"Haha, I know... I had just taken down a few Bronze Goblins when those guys appeared... I couldn't beat that middle-tier one, so I ran."

Right—so if he could've beaten it, he would've wiped them out on the spot?

"Were there any other details about the goblins?"

"This was what I observed over the following days... From my observation, within that large group, there are about twenty to thirty goblins around level 5, over a hundred level-4s, and even more below level 3—too many to accurately count."

"And the lord-tier ones didn't notice you?"

"They did, but that one was a mage—short legs, couldn't catch me. The other two wouldn't dare chase."

...

He couldn't have escaped the mage's spells completely. Lin Mo didn't believe Vic had gone without life potions, but even so, returning injured suggested the medicinal power he'd carried wasn't sufficient;

he must have been hurt severely, likely more than once.

He spoke lightly now, posing coolly, but the situation then had likely been dangerous.

"The goblins hiding in that Secret Realm don't represent the entire goblin force, but at least it's a reference for the goblin leadership's strength."

Behira took a deep breath. "The revelation of the Secret Realm is both good and bad. Judging by recent goblin movements outside the city, that middle-tier Silver Goblin is likely now gathering its forces and preparing to attack the city."

Goblin siege—it's finally coming...