On the other side, Garvin, a level-one Psionics user who had no idea some dragon was about to lay a great responsibility on his head, followed nervously behind Huozi, the Gnoll general manager, who strode along with his head held high. At the same time, he couldn't help feeling curious and amazed.
Though Zelandia had always been a city where many races lived together, it was also one of the few places in the Underdark where a semblance of freedom and order remained.
But this so-called freedom meant little more than either mining more to trade for food and a place to sleep, or mining less and scraping by until you died.
At most, you could say they were barely surviving.
The warm home he'd once known, his beloved fiancée, the mentor who had patiently taught him—all those cherished faces and memories were buried deep in his heart. Yet as time passed, they slowly grew hazy, and he couldn't stop himself from forgetting them. It was beyond his control.
Even though he was a laughable level-one Psionics user, even though he didn't want to forget...
If his first twenty-odd years had been smooth sailing, then ever since he'd foolishly come to the Underdark, his once-smooth path through life had plunged straight to the bottom and stayed there. He could only go on living like a walking corpse.
He no longer expected to return to the surface, to the home that haunted his dreams. Sometimes, he didn't even know what he still had left to hope for.
Maybe the dried fish from the Remlu Fish Stall, which would probably never open again?
Or maybe his first day on the job after being inexplicably hired by Hogg Mining?
"Heh. Get a grip, Garvin. You only applied to be a miner. What else could they possibly have you do besides mining and related tasks?" Garvin mocked himself inwardly.
But as he entered this legendary West Mining Area, which the Dwarves had been forced to seal off for more than twenty years, his attention was drawn to the feverish, almost spellbinding atmosphere of the mineral-rich mine.
The Cavens Rats had occupied the area for who knew how many years. They'd even eaten all the Fluorescent Moss, like a swarm of locusts, leaving the entire West Mining Area rather dark.
But now, in that far from silent darkness, lights blazed everywhere. Hundreds, even thousands of miners who had submitted job applications swung their picks, sweating as they worked. Their blows sent sparks flying in the dim light. Their partners picked up the fallen ore beside the rock walls, chipped away its outer layer of stone with metal chisels, then loaded it into baskets woven from Beast Bone and the roots of some kind of plant.
Generally speaking, any miner with some experience in Zelandia worked this way.
Otherwise, they'd waste precious space in their baskets. And the Duergar, whose hearts were blacker than their faces, often docked the weight of their ore on the excuse that too much stone still clung to it. They docked so much you'd be sick to your stomach.
In the past, most of them had worked alone. Many who were just scraping by would make only two trips: one basket to pay their taxes, and one to trade for food.
But today, they believed they'd found a loophole in the Didi Miner Employment Reward Policy. They figured that if they worked in groups, they could claim the daily quest's reward bundle every day—and maybe even more than once!
Little did they know that this so-called "loophole" was something Li Wei had deliberately allowed. He had no interest in the Duergar's small-time operations, which were no different from the tiny coal mines of the Black Mine.
If he was going to do it, he'd do it big! He'd build a super mine that produced at least three hundred thousand tons a day, then replicate the model in every corner of the Underdark. In the end, he'd bring the entire Underdark under his mining operation, sending a steady stream of all kinds of mineral resources to the surface and becoming Korier's true mining tycoon!
Of course, that grand ambition was still a long way off.
It would only be possible after the industry had undergone a technological upgrade. And first, Li Wei's Hogg Mining would need enough Combat Power to crush anyone in the Underdark who dared defy him.
For now, though, Li Wei wanted the miners to develop the habit of working together.
And before he went back to sleep, he needed a large quantity of ore for food. He planned to upgrade the defenses of his scales, most of which had already gone bald.
As a native, Garvin naturally knew nothing about all these plans. But the dramatic changes in the West Mining Area had shown him a lot that overturned his entire worldview. For one thing, he'd even spotted Duergar here!
"Shouldn't you thick-browed Duergar be the backbone of the Golden Miner Brotherhood? You traitors!" Garvin voiced the complaint on behalf of Tiger, who stood nearby gazing at the deserted East Mine Area with his lips pressed together.
But these Duergar hadn't just openly switched sides on a whim. The mine had only just opened, and the shallow ore was easy to extract. The cheerful Duergar were even humming a tune:
A Dwarf mining song left Garvin utterly stunned.
Perhaps sensing his gaze, the Duergar miners glanced back at him. One of them rolled his eyes and swung his pick. "What are you looking at? Never seen someone flirting before?"
Leaving the stunned Garvin behind, the Duergar turned his lovesick gaze back to the Dwarf beside him. He stroked the other Dwarf's beard, which was even fuller than his own, and declared with deep affection, "You like mining, and I like mining. I like smithing, too. We were made for each other~"
Then he broke into song again:
"You should come mining with me~
"Standing there the whole time, waiting on your front lawn~
"You should come mining with me~
"Even if you're much bigger than me~
"You should still be with me~
"You're the one who should be with me~"
The tender flames in his eyes seemed capable of melting ore.
Garvin snapped out of his nightmare with a shudder, then hurried to catch up with Huozi and leave this demonlike death singer behind.
Not long after escaping the Dwarf-occupied area, where their singing could make a man go crooked, Garvin was led by Huozi to a den of Cavens Rats.
Cavens Rats had Darkvision and disliked light, so their farm had few lamps. A mixture of dung, fishiness, and the smell of blood drifted into Garvin's nostrils.
Just as Garvin began to question his life choices, Huozi, the Gnoll general manager, turned around and spread his arms. Smiling, he said, "Garvin, Psionics user, welcome to Hogg Mining's subsidiary, the Cavens Rat Farm! Your current position is Level-One Cavens Livestock Officer. Work hard! Master thinks highly of your abilities. In a few years, I might even be calling you Manager Garvin."
"Boss Hogg thinks highly of my abilities? And there's a farm? A Level-One Livestock Officer? B-but I applied to be a miner!" Garvin was completely bewildered.
"What future does mining have? A Livestock Officer who does well has real earning potential!" Huozi scoffed.
"But what exactly am I supposed to do?" Garvin asked anxiously.
Huozi slapped his forehead, then pointed at the listless Cavens Rats. "Look at my memory. Right, your job is to look after these Cavens Rats and get them back to breeding as soon as possible. Try it now. Use your Psionics to hypnotize them, make them forget that battle, and convince them they're still in a warm nest, with a pretty, plump, sleek female rat nearby. Ahem! You get the idea."
Garvin was utterly dumbfounded. When he finally understood, he flew into a rage. "I'm a Mage! I didn't come here to breed rats!"
Huozi pursed his lips. "You're a Mage, and you still spent ten years as a miner."
Garvin immediately lost some of his bluster. "Th-that's different..."
"I'm just asking if you can do it! If you can't, I'm afraid you won't be able to handle this job." Huozi bared his fangs.
Garvin wilted like the Cavens Rats. "For creatures this size, it shouldn't be hard...but there are too many of them."
Huozi clapped his hands and flashed a smile like an actor changing faces in Sichuan opera. He lined up a row of blue-glowing crystal bottles on the table. "No problem. I've prepared these for you. Work hard, future Manager Garvin! You've got a bright future!"
At the sight of the dozen or so Energy Potions, Garvin's face turned ashen. He was reminded of the fear those Drow bitches had once instilled in him.
Thanks to One Leaf 0 Green Grass for the five-hundred reward, to xiaotang246 for the hundred-reward tip, and to Fei Nai Tian for the hundred-reward tip~
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