The mining district's rules offered more than generous benefits. They also carried harsh penalties.
Once, a crew responsible for tunnel supports submitted a drawing that actually omitted the data for several support positions.
That day, Valentin stood grim-faced before the mining district's drawing board, holding the incomplete support diagram, and waited in silence for a full hour.
The miners had no idea what had happened, but none dared make a sound.
Only after that shift's workers had all come up and left did Valentin speak in a low voice. "Look carefully at this section. Several measurements weren't even marked. Nobody noticed? Nobody checked?"
The moment he finished, everything fell deathly silent.
His face livid, he slapped the drawing onto the noticeboard at the shaft entrance and delivered a merciless rebuke, every word ringing clear:
"An improperly drawn technical diagram isn't a spelling mistake. It's a name on a gravestone!"
For a moment, a chill seemed to settle over the entire mining district, leaving everyone silent.
Only later did Kyle learn privately that Louis himself had picked out the faulty support drawing from more than thirty pages of densely written records.
He had gone through them again and again without a single unnecessary word, merely furrowing his brow before writing one instruction with his pen: "Reprimand."
That made everyone understand just how exacting Louis was in managing the mining district. Not the slightest oversight escaped his eyes.
No one dared be careless after that. They treasured this hard-won work and order all the more.
Under this sound, systematic combination of welfare provisions and strict rewards and punishments, the mining district operated smoothly.
Of course, that did not mean everything went without a hitch.
In Shaft Tunnel Nine, along the central fault section, Crew Three was advancing the excavation.
It was