One Punch Down, Must Explode!

One Punch... It'd Explode! "Move it!"

"Don't fucking dawdle!"

"And you—didn't you eat? A dog I raised would be more useful than you!"

As the words fell, a long whip shrieked through the air and lashed down across the ragged forced laborer. With a crisp crack, a glaring streak of blood appeared on the hunched figure beneath the tattered clothes.

Perhaps the scent of blood had stirred his brutality. After whipping him several times with abandon, the forced laborer holding the whip actually strode forward and kicked the ragged, hunched man to the ground. Under a rain of fists and feet, his howls and pleas for mercy grew ever more piercing.

The surrounding forced laborers wore fearful expressions, yet none dared voice their anger. One by one, they lowered their heads and continued their work with numb faces, terrified of drawing trouble onto themselves and provoking this patrol inspector's wrath...

Such scenes could be seen everywhere throughout these sprawling mines.

A patrol uniform was the sky over this Mine! Chu Mu wore one too.

By his reckoning, he had officially been wearing this patrol uniform for three or four days now...

"Three days? Or four?"

Silently withdrawing his gaze, Chu Mu looked up at the somewhat gloomy sky, only for that question to suddenly surface in his mind.

A moment later, Chu Mu abruptly gave a self-mocking smile. After taking a deep breath, his expression returned to calm.

Still as an ancient well, without a ripple. No one could tell what Chu Mu was thinking.

The patrol inspector's brutal display remained right before his eyes, yet Chu Mu behaved like an outsider, utterly turning a blind eye to it.

The mines were vast. In the past few days, the places Chu Mu had set foot in were likely no more than a single hair from nine oxen.

Several mountain mines stretched on without end. Some were open-pit mines, their funnel-shaped Steps descending downward; others were winding Mine Caves, sprawling through the mountains like ant nests.

Chu Mu was currently in the Iron Mine Jia District, the only open-pit Mine in the Nanshan Iron Mine.

Standing at the mountaintop and looking down, he could take in the entire pit at a glance. Countless forced laborers moved through every corner of it like ants, excavating and transporting ore.

Patrol inspectors like Chu Mu stood stationed throughout the mine pit, while others patrolled in groups, watching over the laboring forced laborers.

As for the scenes of shouting, cursing, and whipping right before his eyes, they were far too common in this mining area. Even within Chu Mu's field of vision, he could see quite a few.

The greatest evil of human nature was using the smallest measure of authority to make life as difficult as possible for others.

And in this age, restraints upon power—or the shackles and deterrence against evil committed through power... were virtually nonexistent.

After serving as a patrol inspector for several days, Chu Mu's greatest revelation... had been the evil of human nature.

Many things were things he, a man from another world who had once lived in a peaceful and prosperous age, had never encountered.

After all, in the information age, coupled with the advancement of civilization, society's darkness and the treachery of human nature had been confined within a very small scope.

But in this present age...

The sights and sounds of the past few days flashed through his mind, and an inexplicable sense of relief rose in his heart once more.

He should count himself fortunate that, upon first arriving in this world, he had put on this patrol uniform.

Otherwise...

Chu Mu looked at the forced laborers working not far before him.

At present, there was no famine, nor any natural disaster. The environment could even be called peaceful.

"This should count as... a 'man-made calamity,' shouldn't it?"

Chu Mu felt inexplicably stifled. After taking several deep breaths, he ultimately forced down the pitiful compassion in his heart.

A small person had to possess a small person's Self-Awareness. One had to act within one's means; trying to do what lay beyond one's ability was simply inviting disaster.

As his thoughts turned, Chu Mu began walking, wandering through the mining area before him.

The entire Jia District was divided into nine subdistricts, from Jia One to Jia Eighteen.

The squad Chu Mu belonged to was responsible for the Jia Number One Mining Area—a large section at the top level on the Mine's southwestern side.

Their duties were quite simple: supervise and guard the forced laborers.

Supervision naturally meant overseeing their work, while guarding naturally meant preventing them from escaping.

The Jia Number One Mining Area originally had more than eighty forced laborers. Recently, the County had assigned additional laborers, adding nearly thirty more.

Chu Mu's squad, including the Squad Leader, had a total of eighteen men.

Eighteen patrol inspectors guarding more than a hundred forced laborers was clearly more than sufficient.

Though the number of forced laborers would continue to increase, word had long since spread that the Nanshan Patrol Bureau would be expanding its ranks.

Not to mention that the realm was currently at peace. This patrol uniform still carried considerable intimidating power. "Light it! Everyone back, everyone back!"

As he wandered around, Chu Mu suddenly stopped and looked toward the blazing flames not far away.

Having been in these mines for several days, Chu Mu naturally knew what was being done.

Nothing more than one method of mining ore.

Its principle was the same as thermal expansion and contraction from his previous life.

First, the rock was burned with a great fire, then doused with cold water to cool it suddenly. Under thermal expansion and contraction, the stone would crack apart—hence the name, Fire Burst Method.

Though the Fire Burst Method was still inefficient compared with the various large-scale machines, even blasting-based mining methods, of his previous life, it was undoubtedly a tremendous improvement in efficiency over chiseling away bit by bit with human labor alone.

"Maybe I could make gunpowder?"

Chu Mu suddenly had a wild thought.

But only for a moment before Chu Mu cast the idea aside.

He only had a superficial understanding of gunpowder. As a mere patrolman, rather than spending his time and energy on that, he might as well read a few more books and practice Martial Arts some more.

At the thought of practicing Martial Arts, Chu Mu's gaze could not help drifting toward his Squad Leader—the burly man built like a bull.

Beneath a large tree less than a hundred meters away stood his Squad Leader.

Rather than wearing the Patrol Bureau's standard armor, he was bare-chested, throwing punch after punch. The winds from his fists gusted in waves, even carrying a shrill howl as they tore through the air.

Sweat streamed beneath the blazing sun. His knotted muscles coiled and intertwined, bulging high; at a glance, he looked like a lean Explosive Bear!

Across both his lives, Chu Mu had never seen any Real Skill before. But judging by the sheer force of his Squad Leader's boxing, anyone whose eyes were not blind could tell that this was absolutely Real Skill!

One punch from him, and Chu Mu would truly be left lying down!

This was no illusion. On the very day he entered the Patrol Bureau, Chu Mu had watched his Squad Leader smash a thigh-thick tree down with a single punch to its middle! Even a tree trunk could not withstand it, much less a human body of flesh and blood. One punch, and it would probably burst—burst as in explode! With Real Skill right before his eyes, how could Chu Mu possibly not be tempted?

In that age of information explosion in his previous life, what man had not yearned for Martial Arts so wondrous they seemed almost divine?

And now that it was right in front of him, who could resist such temptation?

"Hard..."

After watching for a while, Chu Mu shook his head with a silent sigh.

He wanted to learn, but how could the other patrolmen not want to?

The patrolmen were half military officers to begin with. Having a move or two of genuine Real Skill to protect oneself could only be a good thing.

Countless patrolmen hovered around his Squad Leader, flattering and currying favor. Over the past few days, Chu Mu had even seen patrolmen from other squads fawning over his Squad Leader, clearly hoping to be taught a move or two of Real Skill.

From what he had learned over these past few days, there should be more than just his Squad Leader in the Nanshan Patrol Bureau who possessed Real Skill. But clearly, at least for now, they were beyond his reach...