Starting as a Mine Slave, Activating the Simplification System

"Damn!"

In the dark, sunless mine, Zhao Han cursed under his breath and swung the shovel in his hand, digging fiercely.

This was Blackwater County, in the Northwest Liang Province of the Great Zhou Kingdom.

Blackwater County had two major gangs: the Poisonous Snake Gang and the Black Wolf Gang.

The Poisonous Snake Gang had a Fine Iron Mine outside the county town, where hundreds of Mine Slaves, captured from all over, were digging for ore.

These Mine Slaves received no wages at all; they were all rounded up by the Poisonous Snake Gang's Gang Members, knocked unconscious, and forced into hard labor.

They started working at four in the morning before dawn and continued until seven in the evening when night fell.

For a full 15 hours, with no breaks except for lunch and dinner, they weren't even allowed to drink water.

To supervise hundreds of Mine Slaves, there were only twenty elite Gang Members of the Poisonous Snake Gang, armed with weapons.

Twenty people overseeing hundreds relied on their superior martial prowess!

These twenty people were all Martial Artists!

Martial Artists had Body Refining, divided into Skin Refining Realm, Muscle Refining Realm, Bone Refining Realm, Organ Refining Realm, and Blood Refining Realm.

These twenty people were all uniformly Skin Refining Realm Martial Artists!

What was Skin Refining? It was training the skin of the body to be as tough as cowhide, reaching a point where ordinary punches and kicks would do little damage.

The deeper the level of Skin Refining, the harder and tougher this cowhide became, and the more punishment one could endure.

Even ordinary swords and sabers had little effect on them.

This was why twenty people, armed with weapons, could manage hundreds of others.

"Work harder! If they don't die, work them to death!"

"Only those who endure hardship can achieve greatness. If you dig diligently, you'll have a chance to rise one day!"

"In these times of chaos, people outside eat each other, they are all two-legged sheep. Only our Poisonous Snake Gang gives you food to eat. You should remember to be grateful, united, and loyal!"

"This is a blessing from our Poisonous Snake Gang. Anyone who can endure for two and a half years will have a chance to be promoted to a regular Gang Member!"

A group of Overseers walked back and forth, supervising, and occasionally uttering words of encouragement.

After speaking, the Overseers would disappear somewhere to slack off.

The Mine Slaves dug numbly; who would believe this bullshit chicken soup?

Almost no one captured to dig in the mine lived for more than a year.

Most ended up worked to death, or crushed to death when the mine collapsed.

Some were beaten to death for not working hard enough, or died of illness.

Although the Mine Slaves were unhappy with these Overseers, they were helpless and had to continue digging; life had to go on.

As the Overseers said, the outside world was in great turmoil. Declarations similar to "Are kings and generals born to be so?" were spreading everywhere.

Beneath prosperity, demons lurked; in times of chaos, great demons and strange creatures also ran rampant.

Staying in the dark, sunless mine meant at least having food to eat.

Personal safety was also guaranteed, which was much better than the man-eating and monster-eating environment outside.

Seeing the Overseers walk away, Zhao Han rested slightly, easing his movements, and cursed under his breath:

"A bunch of Zhou Bapi, talking as sweet as singing."

Zhao Han, male, 18 years old!

In his previous life, he was a corporate slave on Blue Star who lost his job right after graduation.

He had just interviewed for a shady factory and was planning to work there for a few months to accumulate initial capital so he could set up a stall and become his own boss.

On his way to work on the first day, he was crossing a zebra crossing in an industrial zone when he was hit by a heavy truck traveling at 114 km/h, carrying cargo, and sent flying over thirty meters.

He died as dead as could be, his coffin covered with a white cloth.

When he woke up, he found himself a farmer in the Liang Province of the Great Zhou Kingdom.

Unfortunately, he ran into a rebel army looting grain, and was forced to flee with some travel money.

Along the way, he was knocked unconscious by the Poisonous Snake Gang's Gang Members. His money was gone, and he was taken into the mine to dig ore all day.

In this Fine Iron Mine, digging a ton of ore might yield only ten catties of iron, of which only one catty was fine iron.

He couldn't dig much despite working himself to death every day.

The ten people who dug the least faced the consequence of the Poisonous Snake Gang withholding food and water.

"Kill!"

"Brothers, kill these Poisonous Snake Gang bastards!"

"The Poisonous Snake Gang secretly harms miners, they deserve to be executed by everyone, follow me!"

Just as the miners were digging numbly, shouts of killing came from outside.

The sound of clashing swords and screams followed.

"Damn it, it's the Black Wolf Gang's wolf cubs! Go out and stop them!"

"How dare they attack my Poisonous Snake Gang? They must be tired of living!"

The Overseers in the mine had a drastic change in expression. They quickly grabbed their weapons and charged out of the mine.

Seeing that the Overseers had all gone out, several of the stronger Mine Slaves exchanged glances and signaled each other.

"Everyone, the Poisonous Snake Gang is inhuman! They captured us and made us Mine Slaves. Is this something a person would do?"

"To be honest, we are all Gang Members from the Black Wolf Gang who infiltrated this place. Our goal is to help you escape this suffering."

"Let's take this opportunity to kill our way out and carve out a Vast and boundless future!"

Several Black Wolf Gang undercover agents constantly persuaded them, wanting the Mine Slaves to join them in stirring up trouble.

"Damn it, I've long been sick of digging this damn fine iron ore."

"I will not coexist with the Poisonous Snake Gang!"

Many people responded.

"Good, you are all heroes! As long as we kill our way out, I will recommend you join my Black Wolf Gang."

"Follow me and kill our way out!"

A group of people grabbed shovels, pickaxes, and spades, and charged out of the mine.

Half of the Mine Slaves followed. No one wanted to toil away in the dark mine, earning nothing, until they died.

The other half, who didn't move, had come to terms with life and death.

Perhaps they knew that it wasn't peaceful outside either, and it was better to eke out an existence in this mine.

Zhao Han was among the crowd rushing out, preparing to seize an opportunity to survive in the chaos.

However, he was shrewd and didn't charge to the front lines. Instead, he stayed at the back, playing it safe.

Outside the mine, on the mining grounds, there were over fifty ordinary Gang Members keeping watch, cooking, patrolling, and doing odd jobs.

These ordinary Gang Members had only practiced some Amateurish martial arts.

They could handle children and old men, or honest folk, but fighting Martial Artists was a pipe dream.

How could they possibly be a match for a group of Black Wolf Gang members?

The Black Wolf Gang had dispatched fifty men, led by ten elite Gang Members, all of whom were in the Skin Refining Realm.

"Ah..."

"Quick, run! We can't beat the Black Wolf Gang!"

"Hurry and notify the Hall Master in the woods!"

The situation quickly descended into chaos. The Black Wolf Gang was unstoppable, killing many Poisonous Snake Gang members and pushing deep into the mine, where they encountered the Poisonous Snake Gang's elites.

The two sides started fighting as soon as they met.

"Quick, set the explosives!"

"Blow up the mine!"

The Black Wolf Gang used ruthless tactics, constantly sending dare-to-die squads with explosives inside.

Their goal was to blow up the mine, preventing the Poisonous Snake Gang from mining and earning money.

However, a swarm of Mine Slaves rushed out, completely blocking the passage. The Black Wolf Gang's plan to collapse the mine was thus shelved.

This was something they hadn't anticipated with their coordinated attack.

If they couldn't blow up the mine from the inside, they could only do it from the outside.

Seeing the chaotic situation, Zhao Han paused his steps. He didn't rush out immediately but hid to the side, waiting.

"Ah..."

Suddenly, an ordinary Black Wolf Gang member who was rushing inside was knocked over by the crowd and then trampled.

In a narrow space, falling and being trampled was a sure death.

After being trampled, the Gang Member was on the verge of death.

His torn clothes revealed a few pages of white paper, with text and diagrams on them. Clearly, it was a Martial arts manual.

The Gang Member pleaded, "Give... give me a quick death..."

Rather than be captured alive by the Poisonous Snake Gang and tortured, it was better to die immediately.

Zhao Han's eyes lit up. He immediately went up, picked up the white paper, and stuffed it into his embrace without even looking at it.

Glancing at the half-dead Gang Member, Zhao Han's pupils contracted. He grabbed a nearby pickaxe and ended his life.

It was both a release for him and a way to prevent anyone from discovering that he had taken the manual.

In this world, if you aren't ruthless, you won't survive. This was Zhao Han's conclusion after his transmigration.

[Discovered Martial Arts Manual, Simplification System Activated]

[Scanning...]

Martial Artist: Zhao Han

Realm: None

Martial Arts: Black Wolf Fist [Unsimplified, Low-tier]

Simplification: None

"Sys, System... I thought you were absent..."