Chapter 25: Triggering the Restriction, Horror-Class Monster, A Crisis of Death!

“This must be the place.” Su Mu muttered to himself, his eyes gleaming with joy.

“Holographic Eye!” Su Mu immediately activated the device to check the detailed information.

[Location: Socrates Great Iron Mine]
[Iron Ore Reserves: 7.2 trillion units (approximately 100 million tons)]
[Ore Grade: Level 4]

“I’m rich!”
“Finally, it’s my turn to strike it rich!”

Staring at the lines of data, Su Mu was so excited he nearly cried. No wonder the saying goes, “When the cannon fires, gold pours in.”
He had merely wiped out a group of silver-level small rock monsters, yet he had acquired such an enormous iron ore deposit.
If he kept advancing like this, who knew how many abundant resources awaited his harvest?

Iron ore was second only to spirit ore in value. It could be used to forge armor and weapons, or to trade for supplies—it was one of the hard currencies in the dark world.
With a reserve of 100 million tons, converted to Dragon Coins, it was worth about 70 billion Dragon Coins. He made that fortune in less than ten minutes.
No wonder everyone wanted to be a lord.
Being a lord was unbelievably lucrative.

“Excavator card!”
“Silver soldier card!”
“Bring them all out!”

Su Mu was determined to seize this place and would not fight unprepared battles. Before arriving, he had purchased two excavator cards and two silver soldier cards capable of producing 300 silver warriors.

Boom!
As he threw the three cards to the ground, two excavators appeared suddenly, tirelessly mining iron ore for Su Mu.
Soon, iron ore piled up like mountains before his eyes.

The 300 silver soldiers, without needing orders, automatically took up positions throughout the mine and began patrolling back and forth.

Seeing this familiar scene, Su Mu grinned widely.
“Blade Draw, tell me—if we keep developing like this, could we become the richest lords in the dark world?”

Su Mu asked eagerly, turning to Blade Draw, who clicked his jaws twice as if responding.
Though Su Mu couldn’t understand his words, the fiery gleam in Blade Draw’s eyes told him that he shared the same excitement.

---

[Host alert: A dormant Diamond Level 2 giant beast, the Flame Giant, is about to awaken. Please prepare for immediate retreat.]

Suddenly, the system’s mechanical voice sounded in Su Mu’s ear.

???
Diamond Level 2?
Flame Giant?

Wasn’t this area supposed to be filled only with silver-level small monsters? How did a Diamond-level big boss suddenly appear?

Still in shock, Su Mu watched as the ground ahead exploded with a thunderous crack. Two enormous arms burst from the earth’s fissure, ripping the ground open and creating a canyon dozens of meters deep.

A colossal figure emerged from the molten red lava below, over a hundred meters tall. Its arms alone stretched several dozen meters, its entire body ablaze with red flames, eyes glowing a fierce crimson, radiating a terrifying cruelty. In its right hand, it wielded a meteor hammer dozens of meters long...

But to Su Mu, it wasn’t a meteor hammer at all—it was a burning giant iron ball with a radius of three meters, twice his own height.

A roar!
The Flame Giant landed on the shore with an angry bellow.

The entire cave trembled violently, rocks raining down like a storm. Behind Su Mu was a narrow passage—the only entrance to the iron mine plain and the only way for them to retreat.

But now, that passage was completely blocked by fallen boulders—their only escape route sealed by the Flame Giant.

“We’re trapped!”
Su Mu’s face darkened. The opponent was Diamond Level 2, while they hadn’t even reached Star Glory rank—two whole levels behind. How could they possibly fight?

Thud, thud, thud!
The Flame Giant advanced with heavy steps. Reaching an excavator, it stomped it into pieces like an ant beneath its foot.

Then, opening its massive mouth, it unleashed a pillar of fire that incinerated the other excavator instantly.

“That bastard! How dare he destroy my excavators? Don’t they know those machines are worth a million Dragon Coins each?”
“Enough is enough!”
Su Mu’s fury exploded. Though he now had over 140 billion in assets, every Dragon Coin was precious to him. This Flame Giant deserved death ten thousand times over!

He pulled a golden monkey hair from his body and grit his teeth, speaking to Blade Draw and Little Divine Dragon:
“Little Divine Dragon, Blade Draw, prepare for battle.”

With that, Su Mu gently blew on the monkey hair, sending it floating toward the Flame Giant.

That monkey hair had been given to him by the Jungle Sword Saint before his expedition.
The Jungle Sword Saint had plucked a hair from his own body, telling Su Mu it could be used as a weapon for protection.

How powerful the hair was, Su Mu didn’t know.

But now, with no way out, they had to fight to the death.

Besides, Su Mu didn’t want to retreat. A true warrior must dare to dance on the blade’s edge, shine in the darkness, pull teeth from the tiger’s mouth, and avenge his excavators before the Flame Giant.

“Monkey Brother, don’t fail me now. Whether I live or die this time depends on you.”

Su Mu prayed earnestly, eyes fixed on the monkey hair.

Whoosh! The hair landed beside the Flame Giant, but the moment it touched him, it was instantly incinerated into ashes.

????
Su Mu was dumbfounded.
Could it be that Monkey Brother’s hair was so useless?

“It seems Su Mu will die here today.”

Despair surged in his heart, but he did not blame Monkey Brother. He had been sealed and forgotten much; Su Mu had mistakenly believed he was still as powerful as before, that a single monkey hair could save his life.

Yet, in this moment of despair, a firm resolve suddenly blossomed in Su Mu’s heart.

“I still have many things to do. I cannot die.”
“I am destined to become the strongest lord. How can I die now?”

With this belief, Su Mu became utterly calm, his mind racing to analyze the situation.

“The Flame Giant is indeed overwhelmingly strong, but I still have a way out.”
“If I activate Absolute Protection, I can reduce the Flame Giant’s attack power by half.”
“With my Platinum Level 3 strength, I should hold out for ten minutes.”
“As long as Little Divine Dragon and Blade Draw can open the passage within ten minutes, we still have hope of escape.”

Su Mu calculated swiftly.

Just then, the Flame Giant blasted a huge pillar of fire toward them.

“Activate Absolute Protection!”

Su Mu raised his sacred guardian shield, and a pale blue shield enveloped them.

Boom!
The fire pillar struck the shield. Su Mu’s arms went numb, nearly dropping the shield. He staggered back several steps before steadying himself.