"Martha, shut down the smelting furnace later. We don't need to keep it running today!"

Carter looked up at the exhaust pipe above the smelting furnace, a worried expression on his face.

However, Martha, who was busy moving ore, did not see it.

"What's wrong, Father?"

"There's still a pile of ore here waiting to be smelted."

Martha glanced at the pile of ore next to her, which was as high as a small mountain, and didn't quite understand her father's words.

"I'm just tired and want to rest for a while. After all, I've been working for several days in a row!"

Carter didn't want Martha to see his worry, so he immediately put on a relaxed and cheerful expression and casually came up with a plausible excuse.

"Father, if you're tired, you should rest. I still have the strength; I can do it all by myself!"

After Martha finished speaking, she flexed her muscles and laughed heartily with ease.

"Stop acting like a man! You're my precious daughter. Now that you've met Sam, you can't keep doing this!"

Carter looked at his daughter, who was as strong as a man, with eyes full of doting affection.

"Sam is a good guy, but he doesn't seem to be as strong as me. I always let him sleep on the bottom at night!"

"Alright, alright! You don't need to share these kinds of things with your father anymore. As long as you two are happy in your life, that's all that matters!"

Carter looked at his silly girl and couldn't help but find it a little funny. She really didn't treat him, her old father, like an outsider and could tell him anything.

"But what about all this ore? Sam and his crew usually send back enough ore in a day for us to work until midnight, and these past few days, the amount they send back in a single day is enough for us to smelt for two days!"

Martha glanced at the pile of ore next to her, her brows furrowing deeply.

"Let's leave it for now. I'll have to talk to Joey and the others about it when they get back!"

"They're bringing back so much ore every day! I never imagined they found so much; it's completely beyond my expectations!"

"Sandstone City is no longer the Sandstone City it was under the old city lord. You need to think things through carefully. I don't want you getting involved in any trouble!"

Carter walked over to Martha, brushed the dust off her, and told her to go and turn off the smelting furnace.

Martha didn't insist any further. Although she didn't know what her father was worried about, she still did as he asked and shut down the furnace.

The smelting furnace was shut down, the workshop door reopened, and the rhythmic sound of hammering could be heard again from inside.

A short figure reappeared in the alley in front of the workshop. He looked at the workshop door that had been opened again and listened to the sound of blacksmithing coming from inside. He had some doubts in his heart.

He looked up at the sky above the workshop, where the smoke that had appeared for the past few days was no longer there.

...

In the desert, a dozen kilometers away from the sandstone city.

Three figures were busy at work.

"Dig! Dig!"

The digger, who had been vigorously swinging his pickaxe, suddenly stopped.

He tilted his head and stared behind the bearded man, shouting excitedly.

"What's wrong, dig a little?"

Joey also felt that Digger's behavior was a bit unusual. Usually, Digger was very focused on finding minerals and would not be distracted by small things.

"Dig! Dig!"

WaWa's expressive ability was really limited, so he could only keep repeating those two words.

Joey followed WaWa's gaze and looked behind the bearded man, but found nothing.

But WaWa's behavior made him a little uneasy, so he walked straight behind the bearded man.

But behind the bearded man, apart from a shadow cast by the blazing sun, there was nothing else.

"Digging, digging, there's nothing here. Let's hurry up and look for ore!"

Joey looked at Dig and told him that he had already checked and found nothing unusual.

"Dig!"

But WaWa didn't agree with Joey's words. He slung his pickaxe over his shoulder and ran behind the bearded man.

The bearded man was getting fed up. There was clearly nothing behind him, so why was this kobold fixated on his shadow? It was making him start to doubt himself.

Without any unnecessary movements, he ran up behind the bearded man and swung his pickaxe at the man's back.

The bearded man had been turning his head to stare behind him, and when he saw WaWa's sudden movement, he was so frightened that he quickly ran forward.

But Digger didn't seem to want to give up. Instead, he kept chasing after Big Beard, swinging his pickaxe incessantly.

"Joey, stop this kobold! He wants me to kill him!"

The bearded man shouted at Joey as he ran.

"Haha, he's probably tired and just wants to hang out with you!"

Joey stood with his hands on his hips, watching with glee as Digg chased Big Beard across the desert.

"Is this how you play? This is playing with fire!"

The bearded man disagreed with Joey's words. Working in the desert was already tiring enough, and being chased by the digger like this would quickly wear him down.

He had barely slowed down a fraction of an inch when Wawa raised his pickaxe and slammed it down heavily on the shadow.

puff!

A pool of blood suddenly appeared in the shadows behind the bearded man.

Joey, who had been watching the commotion from the sidelines, immediately stopped laughing and his expression became extremely serious.

"Big Beard, stop!"

He suddenly shouted at the bearded man, his tone devoid of any playfulness, only command.

The bearded man stopped when Joey called out to him, and didn't move another step.

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