SSS-Rank Talent: Super Upgrade System
Chapter 171: Buried Crimes!

Chapter 171: Buried Crimes!

The inside of Daniel’s S-Grade [Elementary Storage Ring] was now a glittering testament to his successful negotiation with Kendi.

The immense volume of rare ores and precious minerals he had safeguarded was staggering.

His storage ring, which he had thought was impossibly vast, was now almost completely full.

It was a good problem to have, he mused, a problem he was more than happy to solve later by finding a bigger, better ring.

"Alright, Kendi," Daniel said, turning his attention back to the mission at hand.

"Lead the way to that big, shiny light my senses picked up."

The Treasure Aardvark, now freed from the burden of guarding its massive hoard and filled with a renewed sense of purpose, let out an eager grunt.

It turned towards the far wall of the now-empty cavern and began to dig. Its A-Grade [Burrowing Blitz] skill was a sight to behold.

The massive, chisel-like claws on its powerful limbs tore through the solid rock with an ease that defied physics.

"BOOM! SCRAPE! CRUNCH!"

Rock and dirt flew as Kendi carved a new tunnel, its progress astonishingly fast.

The wind generated by its frantic digging shrieked down the newly formed passage.

Daniel followed calmly in its wake, the path wide and smooth enough for him to walk without even needing to duck.

This was certainly more efficient than trying to navigate the mine’s treacherous, unmapped shafts on his own.

After several minutes of high-speed, underground travel, Kendi suddenly stopped.

It clawed at the tunnel wall one last time. With a final, shattering crash, the rock gave way, revealing a rough, man-made passage in place of a natural cavern.

The air that rushed out from the new opening was stale and smelled of cheap explosives and human sweat.

The tunnel was narrow, supported by rickety wooden beams that creaked under the strain.

Dimly lit by a few flickering, makeshift power lamps, the passage stood in sharp contrast to the clean, professionally dug shafts of the main Academy mine.

Daniel’s expression hardened, his earlier satisfaction replaced by a cold, rising anger.

"An illegal tunnel," he murmured, his voice a low growl.

He could see the recklessness of its construction.

The support beams were inadequate, the tunnel walls were unstable, and the entire structure felt like it was on the verge of collapse.

"These aren’t just thieves," he thought, his hand instinctively going to the hilt of his S-Grade Blade of The Night.

"They’re idiots. Reckless idiots."

He knew from the foundational texts Vice-Principal Aslaug had given him that the structural integrity of these sub-dimensional platforms was a delicate, complex thing.

A careless explosion, a single collapsed shaft in the wrong place, could trigger a chain reaction, jeopardizing the stability of the entire Western Mine, and potentially, even the resting platform itself.

These thieves, in their greedy pursuit of riches, weren’t just stealing from the Academy, they were risking the lives of thousands of people.

"Stay here, Kendi," Daniel commanded his new familiar through their mental bond, his voice firm.

"And you too, Nyx." He recalled both his powerful pets into his storage space.

This next part was not a job for a massive, two-headed draconic wolf or a treasure-sniffing aardvark.

This required the silent, deadly precision of a Night Ranger. He was going in alone.

He activated his A-Grade [Voidwalk].

The world around him dimmed, sounds muffled, his very presence erased from the sensory spectrum.

He became a ghost, a phantom of vengeance moving silently down the dangerous, man-made tunnel.

The ground trembled faintly with each step he took, not from his weight, but from the overwhelming instability of the passage.

He moved for several hundred meters, the tunnel twisting deeper into the mountain.

Then, he heard them. Voices. Low, rough, and laced with greed.

He slowed his approach, melting into a dark alcove, his [Omniscient Insight] skill extending outwards, listening.

"...told you this map was good, Boss!" a young, nervous voice was saying.

"Right where the old prospector said it would be! The Luminark Stone! We’re gonna be rich!"

"Quiet, you fool!" a deeper, more commanding voice snarled.

"We’re not out of this mountain yet. Pack it up. Quickly. The sooner we get this back to Jaeger’s contact, the sooner we get paid."

Daniel’s eyes narrowed. Jaeger.

The name resonated with a familiar, unpleasant ring.

The cowardly, rat-faced thug back in the Taiji Basin had mentioned a "Boss Jaeger." It seemed this crime lord’s influence extended even here, to the industrial heart of the resting platform.

This wasn’t just a random group of thieves, this was part of a larger, organized criminal enterprise.

He looked around the corner. In a small, hastily dug-out chamber, four men were gathered around a large, open metal crate.

They were dressed in worn, patched mining gear, their faces hard and scarred.

Inside the crate, resting on a bed of soft cloth, was a single, magnificent crystal.

It was the size of a human head, pulsing with a soft, pure white light that seemed to make the very air around it hum.

The Luminark Stone. It was even more potent, more beautiful, than he had imagined.

The four thieves were all Level 10 or 11, competent but not exceptional.

Daniel quickly assessed their strengths and weaknesses. The leader was a tough-looking man with a cybernetic arm.

The others were all muscle and nerves, no real threat to him. He could handle them easily.

A direct confrontation, however, was out of the question. A stray energy blast, a single misplaced kinetic punch, could bring the entire unstable tunnel down on top of them.

He needed to be fast, silent, and absolutely lethal.

He needed to ambush them, to eliminate them before they even had a chance to react.

He watched as they finished packing their loot, their crude tools and bags of lesser ores clanking noisily.

They were preparing to leave, to walk single-file back down the narrow, treacherous tunnel they had dug.

A cold, predatory smile touched Daniel’s lips.

They were walking straight into his trap. He was a Night Ranger. This was his element.

The darkness, the narrow confines, the element of surprise... it was a perfect killing ground.

He drew his S-Grade Blade of The Night, its dark metal absorbing the dim light, making no sound.

He waited, a patient phantom in the dark, as his unsuspecting prey began their final, fatal journey back to the surface.