Strange patterns were engraved on the dark iron gate, intertwined and swirling, faintly exuding a profound mystery.
Kee and the others were completely bewildered, but Su Nan recognized the patterns at first glance.
Enchanted runes!
The runes weren't complex in structure; they appeared to be simple magical traps.
Once someone touched the iron gate, it would issue a warning and attack the person who touched it.
However, these runes were all dim and lifeless, clearly long since ineffective, likely due to the erosion of time.
Even the most exquisite enchanted runes cannot withstand the erosion of time.
Is that the place behind that iron gate where the Iron-Eating Beasts are created?"
Kee looked at Su Nan, who nodded and added a reminder.
"Be careful; those Iron-Eating Beasts won't just watch us go in."
As if in response to Su Nan's words, as soon as he finished speaking, Iron-Eating Beasts suddenly emerged from the rock walls on both sides of the iron gate, rushing towards the group with a fierce gust of wind.
Everyone was prepared, letting out a deep shout and charging forward without fear.
Only Brad retreated a few steps, holding his heavy shield to block Su Nan's path.
Having witnessed Su Nan's abilities, everyone understood that he was the main force against the Iron-Eating Beast and naturally wouldn't neglect his safety.
Su Nan uttered strange syllables, this time not using Acid Splash but instead using Mage's Hand.
More than ten meters away, an Iron-Eating Beast that was lunging at Kei suddenly stopped, its body seemingly defying gravity, frozen in mid-air, its limbs flailing wildly, unable to land.
Kei's eyes lit up, seizing the opportunity to flash forward, striking the same spot on the Iron-Eating Beast's neck with several consecutive sword strikes, severing its head.
The headless Iron-Eating Beast quickly fell to the ground, motionless and lifeless.
Compared to Acid Splash, which could only attack once, Mage's Hand, although less powerful, had a longer duration, making it perfect for assisting Kei in killing the Iron-Eating Beast.
"Luckily, the low-level puppets aren't very intelligent and don't understand the principle of killing fragile spellcasters first. Otherwise, if these guys swarmed in, Brad alone probably wouldn't be able to hold them off."
Su Nan thought to himself.
Of course, if the Iron-Eating Beasts weren't puppet creations, he wouldn't have had to resort to acid splashes and mage's hands to deal with them.
A flash spell would instantly blind these creatures, which lived in the dark underground year-round and were extremely sensitive to light, leaving them vulnerable to slaughter.
With everyone's tacit cooperation, one Iron-Eating Beast after another fell to the ground.
Just as Su Nan had guessed, the Iron-Eating Beasts' mission was to guard the iron gate.
Therefore, even with heavy casualties, they showed no sign of fleeing.
More than ten minutes later, with a crisp crack, the last Iron-Eating Beast was also cut in half at the waist and fell to the ground.
By then, all twenty-odd Iron-Eating Beasts had been wiped out.
Looking at the black stone and iron fragments scattered on the ground, Kei's expression was filled with barely suppressed excitement and joy.
Before coming here, he never imagined that the greatest threat to the Blackrock Mine would be resolved so easily!
And all of this was thanks to Su Nan.
Watching Su Nan's retreating figure, Ke Yi couldn't help but feel deeply moved.
When Su Nan first said he wanted to become a wizard, he thought Su Nan was joking around, that he was obsessed with books and believed what he read.
But he never expected that Su Nan would not only succeed but also become so powerful, with all sorts of strange and powerful methods emerging one after another, leaving people in awe. So much
so that Ke Yi was somewhat tempted.
After returning to the inner fortress, should he also try to walk the path of a wizard?
Su Nan didn't notice Ke Yi's little thoughts and quickly went to the iron gate to examine it carefully.
As expected, the magical traps on the gate had indeed failed.
So Su Nan summoned two knights, who together pushed open the heavy iron door.
Rumble!
The iron door slowly opened, sending stone dust and debris flying overhead.
Once the dust settled, the scene behind the iron door gradually came into view.
Inside was an incredibly spacious hall, about four or five hundred square meters in size.
The entire hall was paved with square, bluish-gray stone bricks, the floor covered with a thick layer of dust, and in many places were messy footprints and what appeared to be traces of beasts lying prone.
It was clear that this hall was the usual haunt of the Iron-Eating Beast.
Deeper into the hall were three more open stone doors, dark and obscuring the view inside.
Several knights, carrying torches, entered each of the three stone doors, checking them to ensure there was no danger before Su Nan and Ke Yi entered.
Behind the first stone door was a room that appeared to be a warehouse, extremely large, filled with densely packed black iron ingots.
These weren't freshly mined black iron ore but rather refined black iron ingots.
Staring at the tens of thousands of square black stone ingots, everyone was somewhat stunned.
"We're rich!"
Jodon's eyes were fixed on the black stone ingots before him, and he swallowed hard.
No one laughed at his outburst; everyone had a similar expression.
Even Kee's eyes were wide open, a mixture of shock, elation, and disbelief contorting his face.
Black stone iron was no less hard than refined iron, but much lighter, making it more expensive than refined iron of the same weight.
This amount of black stone iron might not be worth ten thousand gold coins, but it was definitely worth six or seven thousand. That
was almost equivalent to ten years of Black Rock City's tax revenue!
How could anyone not be overjoyed by such a windfall?
Only Su Nan wasn't too obsessed with gold coins. Although he was also surprised, he quickly recovered and headed to the next room.
The second room was slightly smaller, filled with various tools, including a blacksmith's furnace, molds, and a blower.
However, the most eye-catching thing was the enormous stone table, over three meters long and nearly two meters wide, placed in the very center of the room.
It was covered in messy cutting marks.
Su Nan glanced at the pile of black iron in the corner of the room and immediately understood.
This must be the laboratory where the wizard apprentice crafted the puppets.
He had already ruled out the possibility that the owner of this place was a formal wizard.
Both the strength of the Iron-Eating Beast and the skill in
Creating the magical traps on the iron door indicated that the owner was at most a wizard apprentice, far from reaching the level of a wizard. If he were a formal wizard, their group alone wouldn't have been able to break through the guards and enter. With
With these thoughts racing through his mind, Su Nan didn't hesitate and quickly searched the entire room.
To his disappointment, besides the tools and iron ingots, he found nothing else of value.
Su Nan shook his head, turned, and left the room, entering the third room.
Compared to the first two rooms, the third room was smaller but more refined and comfortable in its decor. Besides a small bed and a desk, there was also a bookshelf, clearly indicating that it was a study.
Su Nan's gaze fell on the bookshelf filled with books, and his eyes lit up slightly.