Chapter 491 Continue With Your Pretense
"Mr. Mikkelson, is there an abundance of gemstones here?" Isaiah looked at Bruce and asked.
The latter nodded readily. "This place is indeed not too shabby. The entrance to the vein mine should be in the northwest. Send people to search in that direction!"
"Sure!" Isaiah was over the moon. Once the location is confirmed, finding the entrance to the vein mine is just a matter of time. It seems like the entire Mount Hickoria will become mine in time to come!
Just as he was thrilled by his thoughts, he noticed another group of people walking out from the jungle. And within them was none other than Jayden!
Seeing how Jayden had managed to lead his group out while remaining unaffected, the smile on Isaiah's face vanished at once.
"H-How did you guys get out?" A look of bewilderment washed over Isaiah's face.
Simultaneously, Bruce furrowed his brows and asked, "Did someone walk out from there?"
"Yeah, it's the Snyders! They didn't get trapped at all! They've all managed to get out," Isaiah responded.
"How is that possible?" Bruce's brows drew even tighter together.
"Isaiah, do you think your illusionary technique is enough to trap us up? How naive of you!" Jayden burst into a peal of laughter.
"What are you talking about, Jayden? What illusionary technique? I don't get it at all!" Isaiah pretended like he did not understand those words.
"Continue with your pretense! The day where you won't be able to act anymore will come!" Jayden shot a glare at Isaiah before turning to his subordinate and commanded, "Relay the message; find the entrance to the vein mine immediately!"
In no time, the Snyders began the search as well. But given that the mountain was so huge, finding the entrance to the vein mine was not an easy feat.
At the sight of the Snyders searching around blindly and clumsily, Isaiah lifted the corners of his lips into a mocking grin. We've already secured a clear direction. I'm sure the search will be much smoother and faster for us!
Just then, another commotion broke out from the jungle. What followed was Christopher leading the Larsons walking out, but unlike the previous group, many of them looked visibly worn out. Not only that, their headcounts had seemingly decreased by half.
Walking out, he looked at Jayden and Isaiah with a darkened expression. "Which one of you tried to play dirty and used illusions to set me up?"
Evidently, that revelation had hit him after his group had suffered the impacts.
"Who else other than Isaiah, that lowly scoundrel? We just got out of the jungle too!" Jayden pointed at Isaiah as he explained.
"Jayden, how dare you accuse me? Did you see it with your eyes? I can say you're the one who's playing all these tricks too! How is it possible that you can walk out so safely if you've fallen prey?"
Without a doubt, Isaiah did not want the Snyders and the Larsons to forge an alliance as that would only put him at a disadvantage.
At that point, the three parties stared at each other cautiously.
Meanwhile, Kai was in a state of exhilaration upon his arrival at the mountain top. He could sense the immense spiritual energy bubbling upward, almost as though it was erupting through the tip of that mountain.
There must be plenty of spiritual stone below this place.
"We found it! We found it!" one of the Fergusons suddenly shrieked at the top of his lungs.
At that, everyone ran in the direction where the voice sounded. The sight that became visible was that member holding onto a pickaxe and standing in front of a small opening that had a diameter of less than one meter.
As the opening was pitched dark, no one could see what was inside. However, according to past experiences, they knew they would be able to get to the vein mine if they continued to dig deeper from that hole.
With the emergence of the entrance to the vein mine, the tension in the air continued to mount. It seemed almost like a battle would break out any time soon!
"No one can be sure if this is indeed the entrance to the vein mine. It's purely our guess on whether or not gemstones are abundant here. Why don't we join forces and break open this opening to see the inside before drawing a conclusion?" Christopher suggested to Jayden and Isaiah.
Chapter 492 A Collapse
Christopher knew the Larsons were the weakest in power among the three families. He figured that given how things were still in a vague mess, it would be futile for the three parties to engage in a fight. After all, there was a possibility that there might be nothing in the vein min.
"Sure, I agree to it!" Jayden nodded since he felt the same way.
Upon seeing their reaction, Isaiah could only follow suit. "All right. Let's break open the opening together!"
After finishing his words, he turned to his men and ordered, "Get ready the explosives to blow the entrance."
Meanwhile, Kai had been monitoring the condition of the top of the mountain, and upon hearing Isaiah's commands, he immediately rushed forward and urged, "You can't do that! The mountain top might crumble if you blow up the entrance!"
Being able to tell that it was hollow beneath the mountain top, Kai knew the destructive impact from the explosion would build up within the mountain and result in a collapse.
Throwing a glance at the man, Isaiah coldly uttered, "What do you know? We've mined for years, and that's what we always do. Get out of my sight now! I'll settle scores with you when I get down the mountains!"
No one paid heed to Kai's words, and in the blink of an eye, explosives were set up at the venue.
In the next second, an ear-splitting sound echoed through the air. The hole, which only had a one-meter diameter, had instantly turned into a giant one!
Darkness remained inside the hole, yet the reverberation of the collision of stones was rather apparent.
"That must be from the gravels after the explosion. Let's head in and take a better look," Isaiah suggested.
A sudden sequence of tremors that resembled an earthquake became apparent just as the trio prepared to step inside. It left everyone present awfully shocked that they hastily staggered a few steps backward.
Not long after, the crowd realized that cracks were starting to form on the ground below their feet. Not only were they spreading, but they were growing wider too.
"Aaaahh!"
The majority chorused their screams as they scuttled away.
Reacting swiftly, Tessa grabbed ahold of Kai. He was the only person she trusted at that point.
Like many others, Dominic was scurrying for his life. Yet Kai pulled him back and exclaimed, "Stop running. You won't be able to get away!"
Holding onto Tessa and Dominic, Kai leaped off the ground without warning. Subsequently, the entire mountain top, which was the size of several football fields, caved in after a loud rumble resonated!
Of course, everyone plunged inward at once since they could not react in time to the sudden collapse.
Fortunately, it was only a few meters deep, and thus there were no fatalities. Only several members had sustained injuries after getting hit by the giant boulders.
"Look! There's imperial jade..."
"Oriental jasper... That's an oriental jasper!"
Getting stuck in that massive pit, the crowd noticed the plethora of stones sticking out from the ground. The colors were so bright and luscious that anyone could spot them without the need for any tools and equipment.
"Hahaha! We're going to be rich! This place is indeed a vein mine full of gemstones! How amazing!" At the sight of the gemstones around him, Isaiah began laughing maniacally.
Jayden and Christopher also fell into jubilance. This place is way more valuable than a gold mountain!
While everyone else was mesmerized by the stunning appearances of those gemstones, Kai's attention deviated to an unremarkable stone that was about the size of a fist, sharing a resemblance to a cobblestone.
Immense spiritual energy radiating from the stones covered the entire venue. Having not experienced such a phenomenon, Kai opened his arms and immersed himself in the atmosphere in an attempt to draw all the energy to him.
A few moments into their excitement, Jayden, Christopher, and Isaiah swiftly turned on their alert mode and looked at each other cautiously.
"Jayden, Christopher, I'm the one who found the entrance. Logically speaking, I should start mining first. But since you guys are here too, I'll let you two equally split between the mines I have out of Mount Hickoria," Isaiah generously said to Jayden and Christopher.
