Three!

After discovering the numerous secret rooms hidden within the main burial chamber, Matthew and the group began their exploration.

Time continued to slip away as they searched...

No emergencies had occurred during this time, so everyone had gained varying degrees of harvest.

...

At that moment, beside a wall, a one-eyed man in black robes was constantly groping along the surface.

Suddenly, the sound of a mechanism breaking came from not far away.

With his high Spirit, Sutton naturally heard it clearly.

The sound was faint, not particularly piercing; it sounded like a short crackle when a long-neglected stone clasp was pried open. If it had been anyone else, they might not have even noticed. After all, this burial chamber was filled with opened stone doors, hidden niches, and decayed mechanisms. It was normal for occasional noises to echo through the room.

But Sutton was different.

He had spent too much time crawling through places like this and was extremely sensitive to the sounds of mechanisms opening. Especially those small locking mechanisms hidden inside sarcophagus platforms or stone boxes; the sound was often muffled and short, completely different from the loosening of ordinary stones.

At the moment that light sound reached him, Sutton’s single eye narrowed slightly.

He didn't turn his head immediately. Instead, he stopped his movements and remained standing where he was, as if idling, while his Spirit silently probed in that direction.

Soon, he "saw" that familiar figure.

Matthew.

It was Matthew again.

Sutton’s expression didn't change much, but a trace of complexity flashed deep within his single eye.

At this moment, Matthew was standing before a half-opened sarcophagus platform, his figure blurred by the glow of a cold-light stone. His movements were cautious. He didn't rush to grab everything inside but instead used a short staff to clear away the debris from the edge of the platform.

He lowered his head to observe for a moment, and only after confirming there were no residual traps did he slowly remove the items from within.

Judging by the marks on the opened sarcophagus platform, it clearly wasn't the first time.

Sutton quickly made a judgment.

The third one.

This was already the third sarcophagus platform Matthew had opened.

At this thought, the corner of Sutton’s mouth twitched slightly, as if he wanted to smile but didn't quite manage it.

This young apprentice was truly interesting.

Since entering the main burial chamber, Matthew had been acting quietly and inconspicuously. He hadn't rushed to claim the most obvious spots like some of the others, nor had he actively competed for places that clearly looked like they might hold good items.

He always stood slightly toward the back, but his gaze was never idle, as if he were silently memorizing the structure of the entire burial chamber.

At first, Sutton only took it for caution.

But now it seemed that behind this caution lay a quite keen power of observation.

While others were wasting time in front of obvious stone doors and exposed hidden niches, Matthew had already found three sarcophagus platform hoards that weren't exactly hidden in plain sight. Once could be called luck, twice could barely be called a coincidence, but by the third time, it could no longer be explained by luck alone.

Sutton’s gaze swept across the leather pouch at Matthew’s waist.

The pouch was clearly bulging, hanging heavy at his side and swaying slightly as Matthew leaned over. Even from a distance, Sutton could roughly guess what was inside.

Magic stones.

And a significant amount, at that.

Most of the hidden caches on the outskirts of this tomb wouldn't contain truly precious legacy items, and demonized items were even less likely to be found everywhere. But even without demonized items, as long as the quantity of magic stones was sufficient, it was a harvest enticing enough for a low-level apprentice.

However, since they had already signed a contract, Sutton naturally couldn't do anything about it.

Besides, it was just some magic stones; it wasn't a major issue.

He couldn't afford to have a conflict or an open fallout with Matthew over this.

He simply looked away, acting as if he had seen nothing, and continued to inspect the stone platform in front of him. However, in his heart, his evaluation of Matthew rose slightly higher.

This kid’s strength might not be great yet, but his courage, vision, and luck were all quite good.

In a place like this, having strength alone didn't guarantee survival, and having luck alone didn't guarantee being able to take things away. But if a person was both cautious and able to seize opportunities, it was hard to say how far they would go in the future.

...