DLERB -Chapter 149 What? You’re Saying This Mountain Is Made of Silver?

“Put him in.”

Ying Ziye’s childish voice echoed across the deathly silent mountain peak.

Two Qin elite soldiers lifted Xu Fu, who was limp like mud.

In front of them stood a massive crystal-glass vat, over a person’s height, just brought up.

It was transparent and flawless.

The moment Xu Fu saw it, he began struggling like a madman.

“No… don’t!”

“Your Majesty! Ninth Prince! I was wrong! I really was wrong!”

No one paid him any attention.

The soldiers, expressionless, dragged him forward like a dead dog and threw him into the vat.

Splash.

Xu Fu fell inside.

He tried to climb out, but the glass walls were too smooth—there was nothing to grab onto.

“Pour the oil,” Ying Ziye said again.

Several soldiers carried over huge wooden barrels.

Splash—

Thick, foul whale oil was poured into the crystal vat.

The oil level rose steadily.

It covered Xu Fu’s feet, knees, waist, chest…

Until only his head remained above the surface.

His screams turned into muffled, choking sobs as he swallowed oil.

A soldier stepped forward and placed a specially prepared wick onto Xu Fu’s shaved head.

It was soaked in whale oil, dripping wet.

Ying Ziye took a fire starter from Qinglong’s hand.

He stood on tiptoe and personally brought it close.

Fsssh.

The flame lit the wick.

And also lit Xu Fu’s final hope.

A thin wisp of smoke rose.

The flame was small—but it made Xu Fu’s tear-streaked face flicker in light and shadow.

“Hang him up.”

Ying Ziye tossed the fire starter aside and clapped his hands.

“Hang him on the tallest flagpole at the harbor.”

The giant crystal vat was bound in chains and slowly hoisted by dozens of soldiers.

Like a piece of exhibition art.

“Doesn’t he like being a god?”

Ying Ziye looked up at the swaying “human lamp.”

“Doesn’t he like bringing light to this dark island?”

He turned toward the terrified natives.

His voice carried a kind of innocent cruelty.

“I’ll grant his wish.”

“As long as he lives, this lamp will shine for you for one day.”

“This lamp shall be called… Eternal Light.”

All the natives, including the tribal leaders who had just helped capture Xu Fu, began violently kowtowing.

This time, it was no longer begging.

It was worship.

Worship of a new, stronger, more terrifying god.

Qin Shi Huang looked at the hanging “lantern” in the sky and frowned slightly.

Such methods were too brutal.

Just then—

A small hand tugged his sleeve.

“Father.”

Ying Ziye had somehow appeared beside him.

“Why bother looking at a man like that?”

He proudly pulled out a rolled-up parchment map from his robes.

“Let me show you something good.”

Qin Shi Huang shifted his gaze from Xu Fu to the crude map.

Ying Ziye pointed at a mountain in the northern region.

“Father, look at this mountain.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s made of silver.”

Qin Shi Huang froze.

Behind him, Wang Jian and Meng Tian also froze.

The surroundings fell into an unnatural silence.

After a few seconds—

Qin Shi Huang laughed.

Not a pleased imperial laugh, but one of sheer disbelief.

“Ziye.”

His voice turned serious.

“Do not speak nonsense.”

A mountain made of silver?

That sounded even more absurd than Xu Fu’s Penglai immortals.

Even if all the silver in the Qin treasury were gathered together, it wouldn’t form a small hill.

“This son does not lie,” Ying Ziye said seriously.

Wang Jian coughed awkwardly.

“Ninth Prince… this may be just a legend of treasure hunting. It cannot be taken seriously.”

Meng Tian nodded as well.

“Indeed. If such a silver mountain truly existed, why would the natives still use stone tools?”

None of them believed it.

Every general and soldier present had “impossible” written all over their faces.

“You don’t believe me?”

Ying Ziye wasn’t angry at all.

He grinned, showing a row of small white teeth.

“Then let’s go take a look.”

He turned and shouted toward an old man nearby, who was wiping mechanical parts.

“Gongshu Chou!”

Gongshu Chou perked up immediately and ran over.

“Your Highness, what are your orders!”

Ying Ziye pulled out several tightly wrapped oil-paper packets from his robes.

He shoved them into Gongshu Chou’s hands.

“Take these ‘divine fire medicines’.”

He pointed at the distant mountain peak.

“Go. Blow a hole in that mountain.”

Gongshu Chou peeled open a corner of the oil paper and sniffed.

A familiar, pungent smell of sulfur and saltpeter hit him.

His eyes instantly lit up.

“Understood!”

He hugged the “divine medicines” like priceless treasures.

He selected fifty engineers and rushed toward the mountain with tools.

Qin Shi Huang did not stop him.

He also wanted to see what exactly his son was planning.

The entire army’s attention followed Gongshu Chou’s team.

They watched the engineers select a spot at the foot of the mountain, carefully carve into the rock wall, and place the “divine medicine” inside.

Then they laid out a long fuse.

Everyone held their breath.

Gongshu Chou personally held a torch.

He shouted toward the mountain peak.

“Your Majesty! Ninth Prince! Please step back!”

“Ignite!!”

The fuse was lit.

Hiss—hiss—hiss—

Sparks raced along the fuse toward the mountain.

The next moment—

BOOM!!!

A thunderous explosion erupted.

Not a dull blast—but a heaven-shaking, earth-splitting detonation!

The entire island trembled violently.

At the mountain base, a massive fireball exploded outward.

Countless rocks were blasted hundreds of meters into the sky, raining down like a storm.

Thick smoke surged upward, blocking out the sun.

It looked as if the mountain itself had been struck by a divine fist.

All Qin elite soldiers staggered back in shock.

Qin Shi Huang’s eyes narrowed slightly.

This power… was a hundred times more terrifying than siege catapults.

After a long while, the smoke slowly dispersed.

Everyone stretched their necks, staring at the blasted opening.

Sunlight poured back down.

Illuminating a massive breach—over ten zhang wide.

But there was no expected gray-brown rock.

Instead—

White.

A dazzling, blinding, metallic silver-white surface.

Under the sunlight, the entire mountain wall shimmered like it was made of countless diamonds.

Sparkling brilliantly.

Gulp.

Someone swallowed hard.

The entire battlefield—tens of thousands of people—fell into dead silence.

“Sil… silver…”

A soldier stammered out the words.

It was like a fuse had been lit.

“It’s silver!!”

“Oh my god! A whole mountain—it’s all silver!”

“We’re rich! We’re rich!!”

“Long live Great Qin! Long live His Majesty!!”

Silence instantly turned into a storm of frenzy.

All the soldiers went mad.

They waved their weapons and roared hysterically.

Their eyes shone brighter than the silver itself.

Wang Jian’s beard trembled.

Meng Tian’s scarred face trembled.

They had seen gold mountains, copper mountains—but never a mountain of silver.

Qin Shi Huang dismounted.

He walked up to the glowing silver wall and placed his hand on the cold, metallic ore.

It was real.

All of it was real.

He turned to look at his son.

The eight-year-old child was casually yawning, as if everything had nothing to do with him.

“So much silver ore…”

Meng Tian snapped out of his shock and asked the most practical question.

“Your Majesty… who will mine it?”

The Qin army were soldiers, not miners.

They could not lay down their swords for pickaxes.

The frenzy began to settle slightly.

All eyes turned to Ying Ziye.

Ying Ziye finally looked a little more interested.

He didn’t look at the silver mountain.

Instead, he tilted his chin toward the dense crowd of kneeling native captives in the distance.

Then he turned toward the sea, where Prince Fusu’s fleet could faintly be seen.

He smiled.

A smile pure and harmless.

“Labor?”

“Aren’t they right there?”

“And they’re free.”