Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert-Chapter 310

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]

Chapter 310

Borin’s gaze, fixed on the massive factory located on the outskirts of the northern district, was icy cold.

Her normally stoic face was now emanating a chilling aura.

The factory she was staring at was one of the few located outside the central district, where most commercial zones and production facilities were concentrated. Major production centers were typically clustered near City Hall to allow for efficient oversight of Neo Seoul’s manufacturing activities.

However, that didn’t mean there were no factories or commercial areas in other districts.

Each district had its own localized production centers for goods deemed less significant, self-developed, or essential to the survival of the residents there.

The factory Borin was watching so intently was one of those facilities.

It was where food for the elves was produced.

In Kurayan, elves were primarily herbivores.

The plants there were so rich in nutrients that they didn’t need to eat meat to sustain themselves. Fruits, vegetables, and herbs provided all the sustenance they needed.

But things were different on Earth.

The land here was barren, and there wasn’t nearly enough space to grow the plants they needed.

While some areas, like Mount Bukhan behind Neo Seoul, remained relatively preserved, they were off-limits for development, as the City Hall had designated them as special conservation zones.

As a result, the elves built their own food production factories to survive.

These factories produced a blend of cultured meat and cultivated plants, designed solely to meet the elves’ nutritional requirements.

The food wasn’t particularly appetizing, but it was formulated to keep their bodies in peak condition.

Of course, not all elves ate the factory-produced food.

Many had grown to enjoy eating meat after coming to Earth.

Initially, it was a matter of survival, but over time, some elves began to genuinely relish the taste of meat.

Borin was one of them.

She believed that eating meat strengthened her fighting spirit, so she enjoyed it regularly. But that didn’t mean she disliked the artificial food from the factories.

New novel chapters are published on freewёbn૦νeɭ.com.

Her home was stocked full of it, a testament to how important these factories were for the survival of the elves.

And it was precisely because of this importance that Borin was so furious.

“To think someone would dare mess with a food factory.”

While monitoring Eli, she had noticed suspicious activity.

The Blue Leaf Special Forces had traced this activity all the way to this factory.

Eli’s close associates had been making frequent visits to the factory recently, clearly up to something clandestine.

Borin issued a firm order to the Blue Leaf Special Forces.

“Move in.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“We need to subdue Eli’s associates and uncover what they’re up to. Be prepared for anything.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

The Blue Leaf Special Forces responded sharply and concisely.

After all, they were about to target Eli’s inner circle.

If things went wrong, it could spark a civil conflict.

Even though Eli had been exiled, her influence in the northern district was still considerable.

Borin and her team needed to complete their mission and clean up the situation before Eli became aware of it.

As expected of a key facility, the factory was protected by a magical barrier.

When the translucent shield blocked the Blue Leaf Special Forces’ path, Borin gave the order.

“Disable it.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

In unison, the team pulled out circular metal plates from their bags and attached them to the barrier.

Bzzzzt!

Sparks flew from the plates, sending blue currents rippling across the entire barrier.

The plates were master keys—tools capable of neutralizing and unlocking the magical barriers protecting key facilities in the northern district.

With the master key in place, the barrier was temporarily disabled.

Tsssss!

A large door appeared at the point where the master key had been attached.

Borin and the Blue Leaf Special Forces passed through the door and entered the factory.

“What the hell?”

“Why is the barrier down?”

The workers stationed at the entrance of the factory were visibly startled, murmuring in confusion.

They turned to see the Blue Leaf Special Forces entering the facility.

“Damn it! Who are you?”

“Stop right there!”

The workers moved to block the team’s path.

Borin fixed them with a frigid glare as she spoke.

“We are the Blue Leaf Special Forces, acting under the direct orders of Lady Serian. Anyone who obstructs us will be treated as traitors and dealt with accordingly.”

“Traitors?”

“What are you talking about?”

The workers, mostly elves and dwarves, looked incredulous.

The elves flinched at the word “traitors,” but the dwarves, known for their fiery tempers, bristled with anger.

“On what grounds are you calling us traitors?”

“Is Lady Serian’s word all you need? You’ve accused us without any evidence. You’ll pay for this!”

The stocky dwarves raised their voices, shouting in indignation.

Most elves would have faltered under the dwarves’ fiery demeanor, but Borin was different.

“We’ll find the evidence soon enough.”

“What?”

“Let us search the factory. If everything is clean, I’ll admit my mistake and step down as the captain of the Blue Leaf Special Forces. Now, move aside.”

“Damn it! Do you really think that makes sense?”

“Why doesn’t it? It’s simple. You move, we check. What’s so hard to understand about that?”

“No! This factory is built on our blood, sweat, and tears. We’re not letting you trample over it!”

The dwarves stood their ground, refusing to let Borin and her team pass.

A chilling smile appeared on Borin’s face.

“Refusing me means defying Lady Serian’s orders. That makes you traitors, without a doubt. What are you waiting for? Clear the path.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

The Blue Leaf Special Forces responded immediately, surging forward to confront the dwarves and elves blocking the way.

Shing! Shing!

The rapiers in their hands flashed as they moved with frightening precision.

“Damn it! Stop them!”

“You think we’ll go down easily?”

The factory workers—both dwarves and elves—drew their weapons to resist, brandishing war hammers and rapiers of their own.

Borin scoffed.

“They’re definitely hiding something.”

If they weren’t guilty, they wouldn’t be resisting so desperately.

But their efforts were futile.

Even among elves, there was a vast gap in combat capability.

The Blue Leaf Special Forces, veterans who had survived countless dangerous missions, were on a completely different level.

The dwarves and elves working in the factory didn’t stand a chance.

“Aargh!”

“Ugh!”

The Blue Leaf Special Forces swiftly incapacitated the workers and cleared a path.

Borin calmly walked through the newly opened path and entered deeper into the factory.

Near the entrance, rows of artificially cultivated plants were neatly arranged.

Beyond them lay a vast open space.

On one side of the factory, massive test tubes lined the walls, filled with a special nutrient solution. Inside, cultured meat was being grown.

On the opposite side, plants from Kurayan were being cultivated.

After briefly surveying the interior, Borin ventured further into the factory.

Deeper inside, she encountered a thick partition wall with a heavy metal door.

It was a hidden section of the factory.

This area wasn’t marked on the factory’s blueprints.

Clang!

The door was locked from the inside.

“Troublesome…”

Shing!

With a single swing of her rapier, Borin sliced through the lock like it was paper.

She pushed open the door and stepped inside without hesitation.

Her expression twisted instantly.

The air reeked of blood.

“What the…?”

The stench was so overwhelming that it was unlike anything she’d ever experienced in the northern district.

When the Blue Leaf Special Forces entered after subduing the workers, their faces mirrored Borin’s.

“Ugh! What the hell!”

“Damn it!”

The smell was so nauseating that some of them retched on the spot.

Fighting the urge to vomit, they pressed on deeper into the hidden area.

And what they found made their eyes widen in horror.

“What the hell is this?”

“This is insane…”

The scene before them was beyond anything they could have imagined.

Human corpses were strung up like meat in a butcher shop, skewered on hooks and suspended in midair.

The bodies had been dissected into parts, and countless insects swarmed over the remains.

Bzzzzz!

The insects, their wings buzzing, were feasting on the flesh.

One of the team members covered his mouth and asked Borin.

“Captain, what are those things?”

“I… I don’t know…”

Borin, who had encountered countless monsters in her missions, was seeing these creatures for the first time.

The insects were the size of an adult’s forearm, with four pairs of wings and ten legs. Their mouths were lined with massive, hook-like teeth, and they had four sets of eyes that moved independently.

Their tails resembled those of scorpions.

They looked like a grotesque amalgamation of grasshoppers and several other insects, blown up to monstrous proportions.

The swarm of insects turned to face the intruders as if sensing their presence.

Tens of thousands of them stared, their collective gaze so horrifying it seemed straight out of a nightmare.

Click-clack! Crackle!

The insects clashed their mandibles, emitting an eerie sound that seemed like a form of communication.

Borin quickly barked out an order.

“Shut the door!”

“What?”

“Not a single one of these things can escape. Seal the door now!”

“Y-yes, ma’am!”

The Blue Leaf Special Forces scrambled to shut the door.

A magic-enhanced Awakened among them used high-intensity flames to melt the door and its frame, sealing it shut since Borin had destroyed the lock.

Borin let out a bitter laugh as she muttered.

“Let’s hope that holds for a while…”

Fwoosh!

Sensing danger, the swarm of insects rose into the air, their wings buzzing furiously.

The mass of insects began flying in formation before charging straight at the Blue Leaf Special Forces.

The sight of tens of thousands of mandibles snapping as the swarm approached was enough to inspire pure terror.

But Borin stood her ground, her gaze unwavering.

“Come at me, you filthy bugs! As many as you want!”

* * *

BOOM!

A massive explosion rocked Neo Seoul.

The tremor was so powerful that it was felt even in other districts.

Zeon stopped in his tracks, turning to look in the direction of the sound.

Flames were rising high into the sky from somewhere not far away.

“What the hell?”

“It’s the factory!”

Shouts rang out as people noticed the fire.

Zeon was in the northern district.

He had entered the area seeking cooperation in his pursuit of Hassim.

His brow furrowed as a sense of foreboding washed over him.

His instincts were rarely wrong, and he couldn’t ignore this one.

“Tch.”

Clicking his tongue, Zeon began walking toward the source of the explosion.

When he arrived, he found the factory Borin had entered.

Flames were shooting out of the factory roof, the intense heat making the walls look as if they might melt at any moment.

On the ground outside, elves and dwarves subdued by the Blue Leaf Special Forces were lying in heaps.

Zeon walked past them and headed deeper into the factory.

BOOM!

Another explosion came from the heavy steel door deeper inside the building.

The door bulged outward from the force of something slamming into it from the other side.

CRASH!

A second blast finally blew the door off its hinges.

An enormous swarm of insects poured out all at once.

Bzzzzzz!

From deeper inside, Borin’s urgent voice rang out.

“Don’t let a single one escape! If they get out, it’ll be a disaster for the northern district!”

“A disaster?”

Without hesitation, Zeon opened his subspace.

Shhhhhh!

A massive torrent of sand spilled out.

“Sand Tornado.”

The sandstorm engulfed the swarm of insects in an instant.

No matter how many insects tried to escape, the sandstorm was far greater in volume and strength.

Whooosh!

The Sand Tornado spun violently, shredding the insects to pieces.

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]