Ephrenia

The miners' death rate here was extremely high. Living to thirty was already a blessing from heaven; more miners died in their twenties for one reason or another.

"Looks like we're about to strike Adamantite Ore!" Sandman picked up the chunk of ore and examined it closely. Clearly, this piece of Raw Adamantium Ore was purer than the previous ones.

Lycaeus itself was a world rich in mineral resources, so mining Adamantite Ore was nothing unusual.

"Boss, you found another ore containing adamantium? How did you do that?" An, a powerfully built man, asked in astonishment.

This was already the sixth piece of Raw Adamantium Ore containing adamantium that Sandman had found this month.

"This one caught my eye, so I picked it. I figure we're close to striking Adamantite Ore. Gather everyone tonight." Sandman considered organizing enough hands to excavate this section of the mine with full effort.

"Okay." An's reply was brief.

Before Primarch Corvus descended upon Lycaeus, the local miners had already begun forming mutual-aid organizations. These groups only provided help to their own members, while the miners scattered across the planet lacked the means to contact one another and could only fend for themselves.

Sandman was the leader of one such organization. In a rather mischievous twist, he had even named this nameless group "The Saviors."

After his uprising succeeded, Korax renamed Lycaeus Savior Star.

Sandman had become the organization's leader mainly because his output was so high. Compared to many of his companions, Sandman seemed to possess an abnormally keen nose for rare minerals, allowing him to trade for the most food.

At first, Sandman thought this body simply had a passion for mining—a natural Mining Saint Physique.

But as it happened more often, he realized things did not seem so simple. He had only just transmigrated here, though, and understood nothing yet.

Besides feeding himself, he had to set aside emergency rations for the organization and help out companions who occasionally failed to meet their quotas. Life was tight.

"Lord Sandman, you're back. Thanks for your hard work." A little girl who looked no older than ten, dressed only in thin linen clothes and with a dusty face, ran over to warmly greet Sandman as he returned with everyone after completing the day's mining quota.

Sandman smiled knowingly at the dusty-faced girl. "Ephrenia, we're back. Today's haul wasn't bad. Be good at home, and don't run around everywhere."

Sandman was naturally delighted to see this little girl, though not because he harbored any improper thoughts about a child who had barely grown up.

This little girl was Primarch Corvus's adoptive elder sister, Ephrenia, and the future captain of Korax's flagship, the Shadow.

She had been the first to discover Corvus's amniotic pod deep in the mine and secretly bring him home to raise him.

Later, after the primarch formed the resistance and Korax took command of the Raven Guard, she remained by the primarch's side until becoming captain of the primarch's Gloriana-class flagship, the Shadow.

The young primarch who had fallen from the sky quickly drew the attention of Lycaeus's politicians, thinkers, and military leaders. They saw far too many incredible things in this extraordinary child.

The young primarch was like a massive sponge, rapidly absorbing the knowledge taught by Kiavahr's elites and constantly innovating. Thus, they named him Corvus Corax, which meant "savior" in the Lycaean language.

Under their guidance, the young primarch swiftly became a qualified leader, leading the miners of Lycaeus to truly take charge of their own lives and become the masters of this planet.

When Korax unified his homeworld and Kiavahr, the Emperor descended from the heavens.

After the expected family reunion, Korax joined the Imperium, took command of his legion, and began joining the expedition to reclaim territories occupied by xenos and liberate those enslaved by them.

"Brother Sandman, I only took a little walk around nearby. I didn't go far." The little girl lowered her head guiltily, not daring to meet Sandman's eyes. Her little hands, which should have been soft at her age, were covered in calluses and fidgeted uneasily at her sides.

Children were naturally active; making them stay put was simply too difficult. Otherwise, she would not have been the first to discover Corvus after he fell deep into the mines.

"All right, you can look around nearby. Just don't go too far. Stay away if you see any overseers. Go play." Sandman said cheerfully as he watched the nervous little girl.

Warm, polite children were always so lovable.

"Soon..." Sandman said as he watched the little girl skip off to play.

Ephrenia had found her primarch brother at roughly this age.

"Boss, what's soon..." An asked in confusion, looking at the little girl who had already run far away before glancing back at his boss.

Could it be that his boss was playing some kind of little-girl-raising game?

"Get lost. Go do whatever you're supposed to be doing..." Sandman cursed angrily, kicking the man full of wild thoughts and sending him stumbling.

"An, take today's minerals to exchange for supplies tomorrow. Bring more people. If anyone tries to rob the supplies, kill them on the spot." Sandman said to the burly man he had just kicked.

Standing two meters tall with explosive muscles, An was intensely intimidating to the sallow, emaciated miners of Lycaeus. The miners of Lycaeus were generally honest, but that did not mean exchanging food was completely safe. No matter where one went, there would always be lazy people with crooked ideas.

Especially the heinous criminals exiled here.

"Leave it to me, Boss. I'll definitely bring every last bit of the supplies back." An slapped his broad hand against his chest as he promised Sandman.

With An's movement, great amounts of dust rustled down from his rough linen clothes...

"All right, all right, stop slapping yourself. Everyone's worked all day. Go get some rest first..." Unable to stand the dust filling the air, Sandman dismissed the group.

The ruling class on Lycaeus managed the miners very loosely. If they wanted to survive, they exchanged ore for necessities. Even if they did not mine for a week, no one cared. So long as they did not cross the red lines set by the rulers, the miners could do as they pleased. If they failed to meet their quotas, the overseers would reduce the exchange rate for ore and living supplies.

The method was crude, but effective. Moreover, they did not need to risk managing the miners themselves. It was enough to occasionally send armed overseers to patrol the mining grounds.