Legend of Wyatt

Chapter 1962: Extra-Large Basket

Following Abraham Clifford’s gaze, Wyatt Barnes looked ahead and saw a vast and boundless mountain valley.

Suspended in the air right above the center of this valley were floating islands, upon which stood buildings shrouded in mist, so distant that they were barely discernible.

Looking down, one could see the busy crowd moving back and forth in the valley.

Every now and then, quite a few people could be seen entering some ’mines’, and at the same time, many people were also coming out from the mines.

After coming out, these people all headed to the same place.

"What we see ahead is the ’Punishment Zone’ of the First Mining Area. These people you are seeing are the disciples of the Four Symbols Altar who were driven here to serve due to their mistakes."

Abraham Clifford timely explained to Wyatt Barnes, "In the Punishment Zone, each disciple of the Four Symbols Altar has specific tasks every day. Only after completing their tasks can they return to their places to rest."

"Why do they come in and out so frequently? Could it be that those who come out have completed their workload for today?"

Wyatt Barnes asked curiously.

"How could that be!"

Abraham Clifford shook his head, "The ones coming out are going to deliver the freshly mined Holy Stones... Because they don’t have a ’Storage Ring’, they can only frequently send the Holy Stones they mined to the designated locations. Only after mining enough for the day can they rest."

"You see, they all have a basket on their back where they keep the Holy Stones they mined... This is a rule of the Punishment Zone; all mined Holy Stones must be placed in baskets distributed by the Punishment Zone."

Abraham Clifford continued.

Upon hearing this, Wyatt Barnes observed carefully and indeed discovered:

All the people entering and exiting carried a large basket on their backs.

Upon a closer look, the baskets of those entering the mines were empty.

As for those coming out, their baskets were full, filled with ’Holy Stones’.

As for why these disciples serving in the ’Punishment Zone’ did not have a Storage Ring, Wyatt Barnes could guess some reasons:

Surely, when they first arrived, the Punishment Zone confiscated their Storage Rings.

If they kept their Storage Rings, wouldn’t anyone be able to hide Holy Stones?

Although they could remove the ownership of the Storage Rings for inspection each time, doing so every day would be impractical.

Taking away the Storage Rings and uniformly using baskets was the best choice.

Whoosh!

Wyatt Barnes and Abraham Clifford walked forward a bit more, when suddenly a figure swiftly approached from not far ahead; it was a middle-aged man clad in garments exclusive to Copper Flame Elders of the Fire Worship Sect.

However, looking at the pattern on his robe, it was evident that he was a Copper Flame Elder of the Black Tortoise Altar.

This didn’t surprise Wyatt Barnes.

On the way here, Abraham Clifford had mentioned the composition of elders in various mining areas of the Four Symbols Altar.

Aside from the Golden Flame Elders and Silver Flame Elders being ’Holy Land Elders’, the remaining Copper Flame Elders came from various altars, including the ’Black Tortoise Altar’.

"Elder Clifford!"

This Copper Flame Elder of the Black Tortoise Altar was recently responsible for patrolling the southern area of the First Mining Area’s Punishment Zone, and as an elder from the Black Tortoise Altar, he certainly recognized Abraham Clifford.

When facing Abraham Clifford, this Copper Flame Elder from the Black Tortoise Altar also showed a very respectful demeanor.

Even towards ordinary Silver Flame Elders in the Black Tortoise Altar, he would treat them with respect.

Let alone the Law Enforcement Elder right before him!

"I remember you... You seem to be called ’Jiraiya Jones’?"

Abraham Clifford nodded towards the Copper Flame Elder of the Black Tortoise Altar, then asked uncertainly.

"I am indeed ’Jiraiya Jones’, I didn’t expect Elder Clifford to remember me."

Upon hearing Abraham Clifford’s words, Jiraiya Jones felt a bit flattered.

As a Law Enforcement Elder, Abraham Clifford could freely enter and exit various mining areas of the Four Symbols Altar... So, after Jiraiya Jones recognized Abraham Clifford, neither he nor Wyatt Barnes faced any obstruction.

"This young man... Could he be the emerging troublemaker from our Black Tortoise Altar, ’Wyatt Barnes’?"

As he watched the backs of Wyatt Barnes and Abraham Clifford leaving, Jiraiya Jones’s pupils suddenly contracted as he stared at Wyatt Barnes’s back, as if he had encountered something shocking.

It was understandable for him to be startled!

Although he usually stationed himself in the ’Punishment Zone’ of the First Mining Area, he knew a bit about what was happening outside, as disciples who had erred would occasionally come here to serve.

Among those matters was the story of ’Wyatt Barnes’.

Three months ago, some ’stories’ about Wyatt Barnes began circulating widely in all altars of the Four Symbols Altar.

After all, it’s hard for the people of various altars not to pay attention to a newly unpopular disciple of the Black Tortoise Altar daring to turn against the Black Tortoise Altar’s first Silver Flame Elder, ’Maximus Lee’.

Of course, what truly spread Wyatt Barnes’s fame throughout the First Mining District of the Four Symbols Altar was the incident from three months ago.

That time, Wyatt Barnes killed two disciples of the Vermilion Bird Altar but was not sentenced to death. He was only punished to serve ten years in the First Mining District of the Four Symbols Altar.

This incident shook the entire Four Symbols Altar, including all the mining districts, the First Mining District included.

"Considering the time... indeed, today is the day Wyatt Barnes comes to our First Mining District to serve. The young man beside Elder Abraham Clifford should be that Wyatt Barnes."

Soon, Jiraiya Jones confirmed this.

"But he, merely an ordinary disciple with a ’Yellow Spiritual Root’, how on earth did he earn the protection of Elder Abraham Clifford and even the Saint Land’s Enforcement Hall?"

Jiraiya Jones was puzzled over this.

The news that Elder Silver Flame Jackson Wilson went to the Saint Land’s Enforcement Hall to accuse Law Enforcement Elder Abraham Clifford of abusing power for personal gain had also reached the First Mining District.

Moreover, the results of the investigation by the Saint Land’s Enforcement Hall, as well as the news of Jackson Wilson’s execution three days ago, had also reached the First Mining District.

Because of this, everyone realized that it wasn’t just Abraham Clifford protecting Wyatt Barnes; even the Saint Land’s Enforcement Hall was protecting Wyatt Barnes!

Regarding the incident at the Vermilion Bird Altar three months ago, there were quite a few who truly knew the inside story, and they knew that if things had followed the official procedure, Wyatt Barnes would definitely have died!

But Wyatt Barnes didn’t die; instead, he received the protection of the Saint Land’s Enforcement Hall!

This inevitably led to much speculation.

However, no one associated the ’protection’ Wyatt Barnes received with his talents.

The reason this happened was because the news of Wyatt Barnes having a ’Yellow Spiritual Root’ had already spread, leading everyone to initially conclude that Wyatt Barnes’s talents were ordinary.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t be racking their brains, unable to figure out on what basis Wyatt Barnes earned the protection of the Saint Land’s Enforcement Hall.

Meanwhile, Wyatt Barnes, led by Abraham Clifford, arrived at the place for new recruits to register in the Punishment Zone of the First Mining District.

After bringing Wyatt Barnes to the place, Abraham Clifford bid farewell to Wyatt and left on his own accord.

Delivering Wyatt Barnes here also meant his mission was accomplished.

The person in charge of registering new recruits was a Copper Flame Elder from the Vermilion Bird Altar.

Upon learning that the person registering was "Wyatt Barnes," this Copper Flame Elder from the Vermilion Bird Altar couldn’t help but shiver, and his gaze at Wyatt Barnes carried a hint of caution.

In his words, he was quite polite, and he did not harbor hatred towards Wyatt Barnes for having killed two of their Vermilion Bird Altar disciples three months ago.

In his eyes, Wyatt Barnes was very mysterious and seemed to have a significant ’background’; otherwise, it would have been impossible for someone with a ’Yellow Spiritual Root’ talent to receive the protection of the Saint Land’s Enforcement Hall.

"Wyatt Barnes, according to our Punishment Zone’s regulations, your ’Storage Ring’ needs to be handed over... Of course, you don’t have to cancel the ownership. It will be returned to you when the ten-year period is over, and you leave."

The Vermilion Bird Altar’s Copper Flame Elder said kindly to Wyatt Barnes.

At the same time, he took out a large basket and several sets of specific clothing, handing them over to Wyatt Barnes.

"This basket is for storing Holy Stones when you mine them... According to the rules of our Punishment Zone, the mined Holy Stones must be submitted in the basket. Any Holy Stones outside the basket will not be counted and will not be included in the daily task quota."

The Vermilion Bird Altar’s Copper Flame Elder patiently explained to Wyatt Barnes.

Wyatt Barnes nodded; he had already learned about this from Elder Abraham Clifford, so he wasn’t surprised.

"However, this basket... seems to be a size larger than the baskets most people carry! Just now, on the way here... the Four Symbols Altar disciples serving in the Punishment Zone, very few of them were carrying such a large basket!"

Looking at the basket in his hand, Wyatt Barnes thought to himself.

Currently, Wyatt Barnes did not yet know that in the Punishment Zone, baskets are generally divided into two types:

One type is the regular basket, which was what he saw most of the Four Symbols Altar disciples carrying just now.

The other type is the oversized basket he was holding, which in the entire Punishment Zone did not exceed a hundred... The capacity of these baskets was double that of regular baskets!

In other words, Four Symbols Altar disciples with these oversized baskets could reduce their trips by half when submitting Holy Stones.

The number of Holy Stones transported in one trip with an oversized basket was equivalent to two trips with a regular basket.

Because of this, the oversized baskets in the Punishment Zone of the First Mining District are highly coveted, and without sufficient strength, it might not be possible to keep one.

This, too, is one of the trials the Fire Worship Sect designed for the disciples of the Four Symbols Altar in the Punishment Zone.

Only the strong are eligible to possess an oversized basket!

When general Four Symbols Altar disciples come here for registration, whether they can get an oversized basket depends on luck, because oversized baskets are only distributed at intervals.

Additionally, the oversized baskets in the Punishment Zone are often reclaimed when Four Symbols Altar disciples complete their service.

Thus, the number of oversized baskets in the Punishment Zone is always controlled at eighty or ninety.

However, there are over a thousand Four Symbols Altar disciples in the Punishment Zone!

From this, one can see how precious the ’oversized baskets’ are!