The orc unit led by Ackman originally intended to annihilate the enemy completely. After a standoff and realizing they couldn't prevail, they began to retreat.

However, Lucas quickly arrived on the scene, making it difficult for Ackman and his forces to withdraw, leading to heavy casualties.

Duke had been lurking deep in the mine tunnel, monitoring the commotion outside through the Activated Spirit Bird, and witnessed the orcs scattering in escape.

An orc fled all the way to this mining site, with a clear target, and directly burrowed into the mine tunnel.

Duke noticed this orc slipping inside, realizing the orc was also aware of this abandoned old mining site.

The terrain inside was extremely complex, and Duke initially aimed to avoid encountering this orc.

But Duke noticed the orc wearing a Space Ring around his neck.

This Space Ring was evidently from a Wizard, and from its design, it appeared to have a large space.

Duke, seeing the orc's cautious demeanor, quickly thought of the stolen equipment and materials, which might all be inside this ring.

He then examined closely and determined that this orc didn't have the strength of a first-level being, otherwise, he wouldn't have fled here to hide.

In fact, this orc was also fulfilling a last-minute mission. Unable to break free, Ackman handed the Space Ring filled with resources to this orc.

This way, even if Ackman died or got captured, the resources in his possession wouldn't be seized by the Wizards.

This orc arrived at this mining site under such circumstances, hoping to lay low and emerge only when things calmed down.

While the orc was sprinting inside the tunnel, suddenly several black Rock Spikes shot from the front.

He hastily rolled and dodged, avoiding the spikes.

The spikes didn't hit him, but when they hit the ground beside him, they exploded, unleashing a surge of energy.

The orc instantly felt his blood churn, and he spat out several mouthfuls of blood.

Before he could identify his enemy, a giant hand made of black sand grains had already grabbed him firmly.

The orc struggled desperately, trying to free himself from the sand's grasp, but his strength couldn't shake the sand at all and it tightened even more.

A tremendous force transmitted from the sand, causing his breath to continuously escape from his nose and mouth, as his lungs were being compressed.

The blood and flesh of his entire body were enduring intense pain, and soon blood seeped through as the immense force penetrated his bone marrow, breaking his bones instantly.

Moments later, the sand scattered, leaving a corpse on the ground.

Duke walked out from the corner of the tunnel, glancing expressionlessly at the corpse on the ground.

He manipulated the sand to retrieve the Space Ring, and upon exploring it with his Spiritual Power, he discovered a large amount of refined Golden Scale Celestial Iron and various Demonized Items.

Duke glanced inside; there were at least twenty tons of Golden Scale Celestial Iron, all refined from the Alchemy Factory.

The Demonized Items all came from the Alchemy Factory as well, and many were crafted by Duke himself, appearing quite familiar.

After pondering for a moment, Duke began to extract and absorb part of the Golden Scale Celestial Iron.

He planned to deal only with the Golden Scale Celestial Iron, leaving the other Demonized Items untouched, so he could turn in this ring and still claim some credit.

This batch of Demonized Items couldn't be liquidated by Duke, nor could he use so much, so it was better to hand them over.

As for the twenty tons of Golden Scale Celestial Iron, Black Sail didn't know that this ring originally contained these Magic Metals. No one would know if he took them all for himself.

Furthermore, the ring was considered spoils of war, granting him the right to dispose of it.

The only issue was that since these were resources stolen from the Alchemy Factory, its categorization could be problematic, depending entirely on how higher-ups judged.

Considering these potential troubles, Duke planned to only absorb the Golden Scale Celestial Iron.

Ton by ton, the Golden Scale Celestial Iron was extracted from the Space Ring, and in the blink of an eye, absorbed by the Yellow Sand Crystal.

Before long, Duke's Yellow Sand Crystal contained twenty-three tons of fortified Yellow Sand with Golden Scale Celestial Iron.

This scale was entirely sufficient for Duke's current needs, as he could only manipulate twenty tons of sand simultaneously.

With his current level of Spiritual Power, handling more than twenty tons was challenging.

Duke stayed in the tunnel, controlling the Activated Spirit Bird on the ground to monitor the situation above.

About a few hours later, he emerged and headed to where Lucas and the others were.

Lucas was surprised to see Duke still alive, given he hadn't seen Duke during the personnel count and thought he had perished.

"I was hiding in a mining tunnel just now, met an orc, and got this after taking him down," Duke said, producing the Space Ring.

Lucas checked the ring, recognized the resources inside as part of what was lost from the Alchemy Factory, and said, "Not bad, it seems you've had some luck, we'll give you credit for this."

The Space Ring Duke turned in was a complete surprise, as they hadn't expected to recover this batch of resources.

It was unsurprising that not all resources were inside; the orcs might have used some or stored them in multiple Space Rings.

Lucas didn't plan to inquire whether Duke had taken some for himself.

Previously, there had been similar instances, but it was an unspoken understanding not to investigate.

This raid cost them dearly, with most of the orcs being killed or captured, and only a small portion escaping.

Duke and the others then returned to Moon Shadow City, gaining a brief peace after eliminating this group of orcs.

Duke used this time to continue refining various Demonized Items at the Alchemy Factory, tirelessly honing his skills.

Until a month later.

The Black Sail Legion officially landed on the Greenfield Continent, and a brutal war with the orcs there began.

The orcs' resistance was incredibly strong, and their will remarkably steadfast.

Because they had no retreat, and this battle must be won; otherwise, the entire Beastman Plane would fall.

During this period, Duke maxed out five types of Demonized Items' proficiency, acquiring five Will Runes and five free attribute points.

After some consideration, Duke decided to return to the Wizard Plane.

As the war on the Greenfield Continent unfolded, it became harder to attend to the Wilderness Continent, with whatever remaining forces being redeployed there.

Meanwhile, some remnants of the orc forces grew more active, inciting destruction across the Wilderness Continent.

Unable to join the final decisive battle on the Greenfield Continent, they contributed to their Plane in this indirect fashion.

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