While the fighting outside raged, there wasn't a sound from the Waste Mine Society. They had plenty of people, but only a few guns. They didn't even dare go out and see what was happening on their doorstep.
It wasn't until Patel contacted Gu Hang through their secret channel and confirmed that he wasn't an impostor and hadn't defected to the enemy that they opened the door and let him in.
They let in only him.
At first, he worried the governor wouldn't be pleased, but Gu Hang wasn't. He graciously let Patel go in first to explain the situation and so on. The governor's troops would stay outside the Waste Mine Society for two days, waiting for his news.
As for what news they were waiting for, Gu Hang hadn't said outright, but Patel had a pretty good idea.
The governor had fulfilled his promise to save them. Now it was time for the Waste Mine Society to show its sincerity.
Patel didn't mind.
What was wrong with the Waste Mine Society obeying the governor completely?
He entered through the doorway and returned to his home.
One familiar face after another appeared before him.
Their faces were pale and dark at the same time. They were pale because they'd lived underground for years without seeing sunlight, and dark because sweat and coal dust clung together on their skin, with no chance to wash regularly.
He was the leader of the Waste Mine Society, and he knew every face among the more than nine hundred people in the mine.
People rushed up to ask him:
"Patel, are we saved?"
"Did they kill all those damn bandits?"
"Who saved us?"
Faced with so many questions, Patel answered them one by one as he walked at first. Before long, he couldn't keep up, so he shouted out the same answers to everyone while trying to push through the crowd.
"Yes, we're saved."
"All the bandits have been killed."
"It was the governor who saved us."
Those who heard his answers wept with joy.
After finally making his way through the crowd, he turned around and looked at the malnourished, decidedly unattractive faces of his fellow people. He felt both proud and worried.
He was proud because he'd brought back help and saved everyone.
He was worried because he didn't know what the future held.
He sighed softly, then turned and saw his uncle, Old Butch.
Old Butch's hand had been crushed when a cart piled with ore overturned. The wound became infected, and he had to have the hand amputated. He'd nearly died. During that time, Patel had been chosen to take his place.
After Old Butch recovered, he hadn't tried to take back power. What was there to fight over? In the Waste Mine Society, there was little room for exploitation or oppression. The leader was elected, and the settlement was so poor that even its leader's work and living conditions weren't much different from anyone else's.
Because of his disability, Old Butch could no longer do heavy work. Still, he continued to make himself useful, doing his best to support Patel, the younger man.
Old Butch patted Patel on the shoulder with his one remaining hand. "You've worked hard."
"It was my duty," Patel replied.
The two of them went into a small room, and Patel told Old Butch the whole story of how he'd gone to seek help.
Old Butch let out a long sigh. "This may be a blessing in disguise."
The old man sounded rather pessimistic.
Patel disagreed. "How is this a blessing in disguise? I don't see any misfortune here. This is absolutely our chance. The governor said he wouldn't just save our lives—he'd see it through to the end. He's here to rebuild the whole world, and the Waste Mine Society is his first stop."
Patel sighed. "How can you just believe whatever those big shots say? In their eyes, people like us are rats in a gutter, vermin. When have they ever treated us like human beings? They say a few nice things when they need us, acting like they care about us. Once we're no longer useful, they'll abandon us without a second thought."
"I don't think the governor is like that."
Old Butch scoffed. "You're just a green kid. What do you know? How many days have you even known him?"
"Then what else can we do?" Patel sidestepped the question of whether they could trust the governor and asked, "Could our situation really get any worse? More than nine hundred people, slaving away under this mine. Not one of us dares slack off. Those who do get worked to death. And even so, we still don't have enough to eat or wear, people get injured or killed on the job, and every winter people freeze to death."
"We don't have any spare money to buy guns and arm ourselves. Whenever danger comes, all we can do is lock ourselves inside the mine and pray it goes away. We survived before because we were so poor that bandits didn't want to waste too much effort breaking into our shell just to get a few scraps of meat. This time we ran into the greediest ones. They were determined to break in and sell the living as food, so all we could do was sit and wait to die."
"I absolutely refuse to let my people keep living like this."
"Besides, what else can we lose?"
Old Butch fell silent. After a long while, he finally said, "We could lose our freedom."
"Ha ha ha! Freedom!" Patel laughed so loudly his voice nearly carried outside. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was genuinely happy. "Can you eat freedom? I went to Revival City, the Alliance's capital, this time. I saw slaves. They live far better than we do. We don't even live as well as cattle and horses! If giving up our freedom means our people won't starve, freeze to death, or be eaten as food, then I'm willing to give it up."
Old Butch had nothing more to say. He could only sigh again. "I won't oppose any decision you make. I only hope we won't regret it."
"We'll never regret it."
"I believe you won't regret it."
That very day, Gu Hang saw Patel return with several other influential members of the Waste Mine Society. Together, they declared their complete submission to him.
It was exactly as Gu Hang had expected.
The people of the Waste Mine Society had no other choice.
Patel said humbly, "Governor, the Waste Mine Society has 907 people in total. We await your first order."
"Let's take a look inside the mine."
"What? You want to go inside?"
"Are you not welcoming me?"
"No... but... conditions in there are very poor, and you..."
He truly didn't want Gu Hang to enter the mine—not for any other reason, but simply because conditions inside were so bad.
More than nine hundred people lived in narrow caverns. Even with ventilation shafts, the smell was unbearable. Living conditions were primitive, with human waste all over the ground...
Patel was afraid the mine's conditions would soil the governor's splendid clothes, and even more afraid they would taint the governor's heart.
Gu Hang waved a hand. "I need to see what things are really like before I can decide what to do next."
Before you continue