Outskirts of the Coastal City;
"So, they will be arriving any time soon?"
Elena asked with some curiosity.
They were standing on the eastern side of the city.
"Hmm! We don't know the exact time. The traitor was only at the peak of the Mana Condensation Realm."
Tyler nodded his head and replied.
At this moment, Alfred's expression turned ugly.
"I never thought those two families would have already sent so many traitors to this city. They have been eyeing this mine for quite a long time."
"But how did you find those traitors, Young Master? Even Garvin was completely speechless after finding those traitors."
Tyler chuckled.
"It's quite simple, actually. There are two types of spies. Spies from outside, spies from inside."
"Traitors belong to the latter type. Finding traitors among twelve hundred people would be hard if they hadn't left any clues about their income."
"Think about it! They have been working in the mines for so long, so it is normal to understand how much money they have saved."
"Why did they become traitors? Because they wanted more money. But what truly gave away was their families."
"These traitors have no families, or rather, their families have been dead for quite a while."
"And, that's a problem. Because there has not been any accident in the mines or an attack from outside."
"So, how could so many Mana Condensation Realm cultivators die from natural death in just a decade?"
Hearing that, a look of realization appeared on Elena's face.
"So, you sent Nezumi to find those people with a large reserve of gold coins. Then, you checked their background and found traitors among them."
Daisy chimed in.
"That's a brilliant part of Young Master's strategy. We didn't have to torture the wrong person because only a few people fill in both conditions."
Alfred's expression hardened.
"Even so, I never expected so many people would be brave enough to betray the family. After this, we must find their families and kill them all."
Hearing that, Tyler raised his hand and shook his head.
"No, if their actions have led to the death of our people, I would've agreed. But their betrayal shouldn't affect their families."
"At the end of the day, they are betraying us for their families. Of course, they can't escape punishment."
"In this world, the worst punishment for a traitor's family should be their reputation so that nobody would follow their example."
Hearing that, Daisy thought for a moment, and her eyes brightened.
"That's amazing! By making them infamous for their betrayal, only those factions that are not afraid of betrayal will accept those people again."
"Not only will their families suffer for not having any jobs, but this will also give a warning to others."
Tyler nodded.
"Yes! Traitors are the worst kind of people. The more we make them infamous, the fewer traitors will be produced in the world."
"After all, the only person you can't trust in the world is a person who can betray others."
"But they must not betray us but humanity, understand?"
Hearing his words, Elena and Alfred paused.
They were to understand the meaning behind his words when Daisy suddenly spoke.
"Our goal is to preserve the mines. Unless it's a life and death situation, we can't reveal those mines."
"Those two families do not know our strength. So, our goal is to make those traitors fight the Fishman Race under the guise of starting the war."
"Unfortunately, we can't point our fingers at Turnip Family and Austin Family because that will make us look like we are hiding some kind of secret."
"Of course, this secret will be revealed one day, but we have to make sure to drag it as much as we can."
"At least, until we can find the source of those metal ores that are so cold that they burn."
Tyler and his group had made a lot of progress, especially with the help of Nezumi in finding the source of that mine.
Unfortunately, whenever Nezumi dug to a certain distance, it would be so scared that it would stop digging immediately.
But through continuous effort, they found a strange metal ore with the properties of both cold and heat.
More importantly, it also had the properties of Yellowstone Ore but at an extremely high level.
Through a series of tests, they understood the nature of those ores. Unfortunately, they couldn't find the source as it was much deeper.
It wasn't that they couldn't dig deeper, but doing so would destroy a large portion of the ore.
So, they must be taken out before they dig deeper.
Or, they could wait until Nezumi reaches the third rank and dig to the source without damaging the mines.
"Young Master, why don't you let three of us handle this?"
Alfred, still worried about his young master, spoke.
He had been gone for a month, so he didn't know Tyler's actual strength. Even before this, he didn't get a chance to test it.
He knew Tyler was at the peak of the Mana Condensation Realm, and he had been training in swordsmanship.
But he didn't know his actual strength.
That's why he didn't want Tyler to take any risks.
"Don't say that again, Alfred! Not now, not ever!"
Tyler sternly spoke to him. He knew Alfred was worried about him, but he couldn't just give up.
Fighting was the fastest way to improve his strength. Even if his opponent was too strong, he had no choice but to fight.
Besides, he had already faced death before. So, this wouldn't be anything new.
Alfred sighed. He truly didn't want his young master to take any risks, but he also understood that his young master was more intelligent than him.
Even he knew fighting was the best way to improve one's combat strength, so why wouldn't his young master know this?
Now, he could only hope that his young master's swordsmanship could help him fight their enemies.
Just as they were talking, they quickly noticed a group of people running towards them.
The first one to sense them was Elena. Since it was daytime, there were shadows everywhere.
Any new shadow would immediately alert her as long as they were within the range of five kilometers.
The second one to sense them was Alfred. The third one was Daisy, and finally, when they came close, Tyler also sensed them.
But their expression drastically changed, especially Alfred's.
"Oh no! There are five Soul Sublimation Realm cultivators. Young Master, you must retreat."
"I can't. Five Soul Sublimation Realm cultivators are too much for you three. Although I might not be as strong as you, I should be able to hold back one of them."
Tyler shook his head and stood behind Daisy.
At this moment, four of them waited for their enemies to close the gap. Just like how they sensed them, their enemies also sensed them.
But they were surprised to find one Soul Sublimation Realm cultivator, two Treasured Body Realm cultivators, and one unknown cultivator.
That's right! They couldn't sense Tyler's mana.
"Are they our enemies?"
Tyler turned towards Daisy and asked.
There were two old men, one woman, one middle-aged man, and one young man.
"I know one of them. That's Porty. He is one of the youngest people to reach the Soul Sublimation Realm despite only having C-Grade talent."
Daisy replied.
As soon as she said that, Tyler immediately prepared himself for battle while muttering.
"I should've brought Shibyo. That would've made it a fair battle. Alfred, you handle the strongest one."
"Elena, use your technique to handle two of them. Daisy, you will handle that one."
Tyler gave out the orders without much hesitation.
He directly sent Alfred to fight the late-stage Soul Sublimation Realm cultivator while letting Elena fight two opponents at the early-stage.
For Daisy, he gave her one opponent, but this one was at the middle stage. Daisy was already at the peak of the early-stage, which was the third level.
So, it would be easier for her to face this opponent. On the other hand, Elena was only at the second level.
The moment he made that order, Daisy and Elena no longer held back their mana, and it erupted like a volcano, startling five of them.
"Are you sure they are from the Grant Family?" The oldest of the five asked. His name was Jack.
The second strongest, called Grace, spoke.
"I recognize her. She is Daisy, from the Star Plasma Pavilion."
"Are they going to interfere as well?" Porty, the youngest of them, asked.
"No, it shouldn't back. She called him Young Master. That means she had allegiance to him. More importantly, they are Alfred and Elena."
Megan replied.
"That means that the guy giving orders is Tyler Grant. It's weird. Why can't I sense his cultivation?"
John asked.
Jack released a deep breath and said.
"Prepare yourself! This will not be an easy task, as the family predicted."
Just as he said that, he raised his hand, forming a large shield made out of metal to block the incoming attack from Alfred.
Alfred grinned; his hand released a stream of fire.
"Of course not! This will be a war."