Blowing Up the Mine

"Though I don't know who you are, I can sense your goodwill. I'll listen to you." Korax sensed Sandman's sincerity and agreed.

"Ephrenia, take him away," Sandman ordered.

"Get moving. Strip the equipment off them, then blow this place up!"

Watching Ephrenia lead the newly arrived Primarch away, Sandman hurriedly gave the order to the others.

"Boss, the Drill Tractor is still here!" Arendi was utterly stunned by the command.

This concerned the survival of everyone in the camp going forward. To activate this massive machine, every valuable mineral deposit in the camp had already been invested in it.

Was it worth doing this for some stranger who had appeared out of nowhere?

"Do you trust me? Like when you first chose me to be the camp's boss?" Sandman asked his hesitant companions.

"Trust me. One day, he will lead us in overthrowing these overseers, perhaps even lead us off this planet and into the galaxy!" Sandman promised them with absolute conviction.

"Boss, I trust you!" Arendi said firmly as he recalled everything that had happened before.

"Boss, we trust you!" Hearing their leader's words, the remaining companions also remembered the miserable state of things before Sandman became the camp's leader.

At the very least, after Sandman became the camp's leader, no one here had ever starved to death again.

"Good. Then get moving. Hide this equipment, and remember to remove the batteries. Arendi, send someone to notify the overseers. Tell them there's been a collapse here." Sandman was extremely decisive.

Those who killed often knew that blowing up a mine shaft was the best way to destroy evidence and dispose of bodies.

Sandman and Arendi quickly calculated the amount of explosives needed and identified the mine's weak points based on its layout.

They only needed to place mining explosives on the key supports and anchor rods. Once the mine lost its support and the explosives went off, a collapse would be effortless.

Afterward, Tower would not go to great lengths to excavate this place over the deaths of merely five overseers. On Lycaeus, the lives of lower-ranking overseers were worth slightly more than miners', but not by much.

"Boss, the explosives are in place. We can detonate them at any time." After directing his companions to set the charges at top speed, Arendi reported that they were ready.

"Sharojin, once the explosion goes off, immediately head to the exchange point and report it. Say that the Drill Tractor area has collapsed and the entire section is gone," Sandman told the youngest boy in the group.

This little boy was none other than Nikonah Sharojin, the future Mourning Raven of the Raven Guard.

Sharojin had originally been a salt-lake child with a tragic past. So-called salt-lake children used their small bodies to mine salt in narrow salt pits before they grew into their full size.

The ever-present risk of cave-ins and drowning made the salt-lake children's living conditions exceptionally harsh. Had it not been for his skill and fate's protection, Sharojin would have long since been buried in the salt lakes.

When Sharojin turned thirteen, his body and bones had matured to the point where he could no longer adapt to salt-lake work. He was then sent here to mine.

"Yes, Brother Sandman." Sharojin accepted the order and headed outside.

"In a sense, Ephrenia really does feel like a chosen daughter of fate." Sandman sighed as he watched Sharojin's receding back.

This tiny settlement was truly filled with hidden talents.

Just who was here?

Arendi, commander of the Raven Guard Primarch's personal guard.

The Agapito Brothers, commanders of the Raptors and the Talons respectively.

Sharojin, the most renowned figure in the Raven Guard, a formidable man capable of shooting a Primarch in the head.

When Primarch Corvus of the Raven Guard was absent, these were generally the ones who called the shots. Of course, Sharojin's position in the Legion had not been as high as those above him. His strength lay in his personal combat ability, but he was also a member of the Raven Guard's most mysterious Shadow Master.

"Fssst—"

A tiny spark suddenly leaped onto the fuse, racing along it like a crimson venomous snake and leaving behind a flickering red glow in the darkness. Sparks danced as they devoured the twine, and the air immediately filled with the pungent smell of sulfur.

"Move!!" Sandman lit the explosives' fuse, then called for all his companions to leave at once.

Arendi and the others had already calculated that the charges would detonate when they were halfway out of the mine. That distance was safe enough and would not arouse suspicion.

To avoid drawing suspicion from others, they also had to time their escape from the mine carefully. They could not all swarm out of the mine the instant it collapsed. Tower would not be so easily deceived.

So everything had to be calculated precisely.

Within the pitch-black mine, a fiery serpent slowly yet resolutely crawled toward its intended target, until it reached the end of its life.

The instant the fiery serpent burned out, time seemed to freeze—

Like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, sparks licked at the burlap casing of the explosive charge. With a hiss, a wisp of green smoke rose.

Then came a muffled boom from the powerful explosive within, like the whimper of a beast awakening in the abyss.

The violent energy wave produced by the blast then swept through the entire mine, and the collapse began.

Layers upon layers of rock collapsed from above, burying the overseers' corpses left in the mine and everything connected to the Drill Tractor beneath the rubble.

Perhaps after decades or even centuries, all of this would be revealed to the public again. Perhaps by then, Lycaeus would already be under a different sky.

Inside the mine, the miners fled toward the exit in blind panic. Though Arendi had left enough time for a safe evacuation, the collapse above would not necessarily follow the limits people had calculated.

"Quick, run! Drop anything that gets in the way except your pickaxes!" Sandman roared at everyone.

Heavy thuds echoed from behind them in the mine. Dust-filled, murky air was forced out of the tunnels by the widespread collapse.

"Pant, pant, pant..." The group rushed out of the mine in a miserable state and reached the ore field outside, gasping for breath.

"We got out. We finally got out." The miners who had survived the disaster collapsed without regard for appearances in the open space of the mining field.

The crushing pressure of a mine collapse, like the might of heaven itself, was simply too terrifying for ordinary people.