Chapter 245: I'm Really Smart
Dark, oppressive, dangerous—such adjectives were often used to describe the Umbral Depths, yet each and every one fell short.
The world of the Umbral Depths was far larger than the surface, with its own ecosystem and laws. And among those laws, one stood above all: if you encountered the undead or Black Rose, you had to immediately prostrate yourself. Only by groveling like an insect might you survive.
Do not attempt to run. Black Rose would catch you and turn you into one of the dead.
Lately, however, someone had begun challenging the authority of the undead and even Black Rose herself.
Vast, open spaces were rare in the Umbral Depths. Most tribes lived within labyrinthine tunnels, scurrying like burrowing rats.
Only the largest factions, with massive populations, could reshape the subterranean terrain and construct great structures to sustain their numbers.
Beyond those strongholds lay a brutal world where only the strong survived.
A convoy bearing the insignia of a black rose advanced through a winding tunnel. It was transporting ore. The materials were mined from various veins, roughly processed on-site, and then shipped to the City of Mercury, where they would be forged into metal ingots.
Minerals had always been a specialty of the Umbral Depths, but the mistress of the City of Mercury was attempting to turn them into her particular specialty.