Dispelling Doubts

"Boss, was this really worth it?" Arendi panted as he came to Sandman's side.

Even this tall, wiry man, despite his formidable strength, had lost a shoe while running out through the mine tunnels.

There had been no time to properly figure things out earlier. Now, with people from the Tower on their way, he could finally learn his boss's thoughts in detail. This concerned the entire camp's future.

"Arendi, don't worry. So what if the mine tunnel collapsed? There's another tunnel in the other direction. Gather everyone at the northern tunnel. I've checked it—the Adamantium content there isn't as high, but even with the Tower's punishment deducted, it'll be enough to cover our food expenses." Sandman first put Arendi's greatest concern to rest.

Sandman knew that rather than asking whether it was worth it, Arendi was representing the other miners' greatest concern: food.

The anxious expressions of the companions who had already climbed to their feet made that clear. So Sandman did not lower his voice, instead speaking at just the right volume for them to hear.

As for Korax, they naturally knew what could be said and what could not. Sandman was confident of that much.

Hearing Sandman's words, the other companions finally relaxed. Their boss might enjoy joking around, but he had never deceived them about such matters.

"That... Number Nineteen should be a visitor from beyond the stars, right?" Arendi asked in a low voice.

Apart from the native-born descendants of miners who had never seen the stars, many people on Lycaeus were criminals from Lycaeus's homeworld, Kiavahr.

They were called criminals, but most were exiled political elites, members of prominent families, and military veterans.

Arendi belonged to the last group, so at a glance, he could tell that Korax's amniotic pod had come from another powerful force.

It had broken through Lycaeus's dome without alerting the Defense System above. More importantly, despite such a violent impact, the pod's exterior had not suffered any serious damage.

From the outside in, Arendi inferred that its origins were anything but ordinary. At the very least, its metallurgical technology completely surpassed Kiavahr's.

Kiavahr might be an industrial world, but in both output and technology, it still lagged far behind a Forge World. It was even less skilled at building heavy military equipment such as warships and Main Battle Tanks.

But that did not mean Kiavahr's military was easy to provoke.

Kiavahr's forces lacked heavy weapons, relatively speaking. A standard legion was armed to the teeth when it came to small arms.

Even if someone on Lycaeus sparked a rebellion and seized the entire mining planet, Kiavahr's army could easily crush it.

"Number Nineteen... hasn't there always been a legend on Lycaeus about a savior? There's a good chance it applies to him."

"Just think of Number Nineteen as a little prince from a vast empire who ended up on the streets—except this little prince is different." Sandman patted Arendi's shoulder mysteriously and said no more.

"A savior? A little prince's adventure?" Arendi put together two phrases that seemed utterly unrelated, finding it hard to believe.

Mostly because he had seen too many spoiled brats among Kiavahr's ruling class. The descendants of those nobles did not care whether ordinary people lived or died.

"Arendi, you know that a person's thoughts and actions are shaped through the education they receive afterward." Sandman stopped there. He did not dare reveal too much.

There were too many monsters and demons in this universe. Who knew whether revealing too much might trigger some uncontrollable change?

Even though Sandman had been in this damned place for quite some time, he could only lie low, quietly waiting for Korax's arrival, not daring to stir up any trouble.

The greatest thing he had done was ensure that no one in his camp starved to death again. That was Sandman's greatest contribution to the camp.

The task of saving the people of Lycaeus from their miserable fate should be left to inhuman beings like Primarchs. He only needed to wave the flag and cheer from behind.

Sandman had transmigrated with memories of the Warhammer Universe's course of events, but he still did not dare make any drastic moves. It would be a joke if this turned out to be some non-canon Timeline.

Fortunately, everything he had encountered so far showed that he had not landed in a Timeline like Lion's or Robert's Great Heresy.

Only then could the major future events in his memories possibly prove useful.

But even so, the future is full of variables. The further things go, the less reference value those memories will have. Sandman could not help sighing inwardly.

The main problem was that the four beings in the Warhammer Universe were far too monstrous, especially the Lord of Change, who ruled over change and delighted in creating endless variations.

The greater the change, the greater the increase in power it brought that supreme being. So it would certainly spare no effort in driving everything forward.

Those events would not only be the things Sandman remembered. They could also be countless unknown events full of uncertainty.

"Yellow Skin, you've got to pull through. Hold on a little longer. Injuries don't matter—as long as you don't end up sprawled on the Golden Throne for ten thousand years." Sandman could not help praying for his fellow Earthling.

Although the Earths they knew were not from the same Timeline, close enough was close enough.

"Count the losses. Then all of you head to the northern mine tunnel and get mining!" Seeing that the panting miners had rested enough, Sandman immediately sent them all to work in the other mine tunnel.

Taking a break because a mine tunnel had collapsed? There was no such luxury on Lycaeus.

As for Sandman and Arendi, they remained at the open-pit mine. People from the Tower would arrive soon, which was why Sandman had sent everyone north.

With so many people talking, someone was bound to let something slip. Nor would the Tower's people care where the miners had gone. Everywhere on Lycaeus worked this way.

Unless miners died directly in a collapse, anyone who escaped still had to keep mining. They were not allowed to stop, not even for a moment.

Stopping meant hunger. Hunger meant weakness. Weakness meant death.

The battered miners had no objections. They simply took their equipment and began making their way toward the northern mine tunnel.

On Lycaeus, this had always been the way.

But did that make it right?

Yet none of the miners had the leisure to think about that!