“I still can’t believe you guys built this place in only a little over a year.” Peridot looked at the huge, wide-open underground space and couldn’t help sighing. The ceiling was nearly 10 meters high and there were several huge white marble pillars holding up the ceiling just in case. This was only the top floor though.

There were a bunch of heavy stone doors along the walls, which all had spaces that weren’t much smaller than an ordinary house. Some were just storage compartments for locking away those cubes of Uranium-related minerals and metals. Of course, they also had some vaults filled with gold coins, gemstones and gold, silver or other precious metals in various forms. There was also a display room for various samples of different kinds of ‘pretty rocks’, not necessarily gemstones and likely not dangerous, but just random things they found while digging.

Of course, there were obviously houses as well. With bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms, kitchens, running water and electricity. At the center of the huge open space though, there was a big hole in the ground that went down hundreds of meters into the earth. On the sides were various types of mining equipment, most of which were pretty simple-looking. Rock-crushers, sluices, various hand tools, masks, canisters of air… There was also a big winch for dropping and lifting the heavy metal ‘rope’ with an enormous amount of weight on the end.

“Hey Barry.” Jade giggled and waved at the short, muscular bald man who just left the stone door of his ‘house’ and was about to get to work. Although his head was still bald, his facial hair was getting a lot longer. His black beard was already so long that he was able to start braiding it.

“Hey Jade! Ollie, Peri… What’s going on?”

“None of your damn business, Barry!” Peridot flipped him off and complained, “How can you guys let other people know about this place?!”

“Bitch!” Barilo returned the gesture, “This is a mine! I’m a Miner! What the hell are ‘you’ doing here?!”

“It’s my husband’s secret base! Not just some shitty mine!” Peridot retorted and got down out of Oliver’s muscular arms, “Let’s go inside and talk!”

“Uh… Okay.” Jade shrugged and followed the angry girl into the biggest door on the other side of the wide open space, “Sorry Barry…”

“Whatever. Good luck with your ‘secret chat’. I’ll get started digging without you guys.”

“Just be careful Barry. Stay away from Greenstone. It’s dangerous.” Oliver patted him on his wide shoulder and sighed, “You’re getting shorter…”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a Dwarf, Ollie.” Barilo shook his bald head as he put his beard down inside of the neck of his long-sleeved shirt. Then he put on a mask, a helmet, backpack and other equipment. Even though he was Rank 3, he couldn’t conjure yet. So he mostly relied on the gear that Oliver made for him.

“I know. I just thought… Well, it’s probably better this way. At least you won’t have to hide your Curse like me.”

“Now that we know and understand the dangers of Uranium, I’m not that worried about it anymore.” The short man snickered with a mask completely covering his entire head, his hands and body were also covered by thick protective clothing that was as ‘clean’ as possible. He didn’t filter the air at all, instead using only the fresh and clean conjured air.

“Even if I do get sick, we’ve got a Rank 6 Plague Doctor in town. And my wife can also nurse me back to health… Things aren’t the same as they used to be, Ollie.”

“I know… I still can’t help worrying about you all though.” 

Oliver snickered and left the central area of the ‘mine’, which was actually bigger than the village square in Verde. He entered inside his ‘house’ and closed the stone door behind his back. The living room was also very spacious and clean, with various pretty sculptures, decorations and fancy furniture, most of which was made of stone.

“It’s not that I don’t trust Barry or Ivy.” Peridot frowned and walked over to a large gray statue that looked almost identical to herself, “I’m just worried about them being followed. Or getting targeted because they’re connected to us…”

“Peri, how long do we need to hide? I thought we were just waiting until the mining company couldn’t bother us anymore. Did they make a come-back when I wasn’t paying attention?”

“Of course not! I made-er, well, I made sure to check and even the name Greenstone Mining Company was bought by Vernakres. There might be a few lucky bastards that escaped, but most of the high-level with actual connections and power are dead or in jail.”

Jade drank a glowing green smoothie that she brought over from the kitchen and asked, “So… Is it the police?”

“I thought Verna bought the Sheriff?” Oliver scratched the back of his head. His white hair was cut short recently and his face was clean-shaven.

“Even if she bought the Sheriff, it doesn’t mean she really owns him! And besides, you can’t trust that greedy bitch! You really think she won’t sell us out if it’s life or death?! Hell, she’d sell us out as long as they paid her enough gold!”

“I don’t think anyone would be able to pay her more than we’re worth though.” Oliver shook his head and snickered, “Seriously though, I trust Verna. She’s not as bad as you always make her out to be…”

“She’s literally a slave trader!” Peridot retorted angrily, “She owns three brothels in Kale Town alone! Who knows whatever sketchy shit she’s involved with?!”

“What’s a brothel?” Jade tilted her head in confusion, “Is it like a slave market?”

“No, a brothel is a whore house! Where girls and boys are forced to have sex against their will for their evil overlords! It’s a sex slave prison!”

“I’m pretty sure you’re exaggerating a bit.” Oliver rolled his eyes, “But that’s beside the point. Why are you so paranoid right now? Did something happen?”

“I found something in Granny Woods’ house.” Peridot reached into her pocket and pulled out a plastic bag. Inside were a bunch of black and silver parts. Including something that looked like a speaker, a tiny microphone and a long metal antennae.

“Is that… A radio?” Oliver frowned and took the bag from her hands. Then he conjured up a workbench and placed the parts down, squinting his eyes; it only took a few minutes for him to put it all together.

“What’s a radio?” Jade’s gray cheeks blushed a bit when she asked another seemingly silly question.

“Don’t turn it on, you idiot!” Peridot quickly slapped away Oliver’s hand that was about to turn one of the knobs and explained, “Don’t you get it?! She’s a damn Spy!”

“Wait, did you break into her house and steal this? Are you crazy?! If she’s really some kinda Spy for some force, then you think she wouldn’t notice this shit was missing?!”

“I’m not that stupid!” The blonde girl pouted and crossed her arms in front of her nearly flat chest, “I replaced it with a fake. But if she’s really a ‘Spy’, then she might notice sooner or later.”

“A spy for ‘who’ though?” Jade wondered, “Is she spying on us? Or maybe she’s just retired?”

“Spies don’t retire!” Peridot scowled, “I’ve noticed her watching me lately… That’s why I got suspicious.”

“Peri…” Oliver smiled wryly, “We’re not gonna kill Forest’s grandmother.”