"..."
Silence reigned. Many of the Calamity Beast turned to look at each other, but not a single Calamity Beast spoke.
"Oh..."
Black Rat Rift Claw watched the scene before him and sneered.
"It seems quite a few of you have indeed joined the ranks of those who want to rebel!"
These words caused many of the Calamity Beast below to change their expressions.
Immediately, Calamity Beast stepped forward, pointing to a Fanged Beast.
"Report! There's one that looks a bit like the Phantom Shadow Leopard I saw today, but I'm not familiar with it and haven't spoken to it. However, I saw this guy talking to that Phantom Shadow Leopard, so they should be quite close!"
"You're talking nonsense! When did I become familiar with that Phantom Shadow Leopard?!" the Fanged Beast retorted immediately, its face flushed.
"It's clearly you..."
The two Calamity Beast were arguing below.
Black Rat Rift Claw stared for a while, then his gaze shifted to one of the three mutilated corpses.
It paused, then turned its gaze back to the Fanged Beast.
"So, do you know that guy?"
The arguing stopped abruptly.
The Fanged Beast opened its mouth, as if to say it didn't recognize the creature, but dared not speak.
After all, it did recognize it, and with so many Calamity Beast around, if a few more came to prove it, like the Calamity Beast just now, it would be in big trouble if it dared to say it didn't recognize it.
Unlike it, the Calamity Beast that had just reported it breathed a sigh of relief, but was also somewhat hesitant, unsure whether it had done the right thing or the wrong thing.
only...
"What are you afraid of? This guy was killed, which means he wasn't with those rebellious Calamity Beast. The fact that you knew him only means you're unlikely to be with those rebellious ones. What are you afraid of?" Black Rat Rift Claw said, looking at the hesitant Fanged Beast.
Upon hearing this, the Fanged Beast was stunned, as was the Calamity Beast that had just reported it, and the other Calamity Beast were also stunned.
"Oh, it seems so?!"... The Fanged Beast realized, and its expression immediately changed as it said, "Report, I know that guy!"
"Do you know how it died?" Black Rat Rift Claw asked with a grim expression.
"This... I don't know. We were mining together today, but then it said it was going to get a ore box, and then I didn't see it anymore. I wondered what it was doing and didn't think much of it until just now, when I saw you gathering its body together, I realized that it had been killed!" the Fanged Beast replied.
"Where were you mining back then?" Black Rat Rift Claw asked in a deep voice.
"Uh... probably, it's in the right-hand mine shaft, closer to the middle." The Fanged Beast replied somewhat uncertainly.
There were no clear markings about which side was which in the mine; it could only describe its location in this way!
However, such a response is clearly insufficient as a reference.
Black Rat Rift Claw frowned, glancing at the other Calamity Beast. "Was anyone near them, or even lower down, at the time?"
This time, unlike before, no Calamity Beast dared to admit it.
Several Calamity Beast hesitated for a moment, then raised their hands and offered up the information they knew, but it didn't have much effect.
The mine tunnels were interconnected, and given that the location of the death was unclear, and they were busy mining, they had no way of finding the specific creature that killed the Phantom Shadow Leopard.
Seeing this, Black Rat Rift Claw's expression darkened even more.
It asked, "What about the other two?"
One after another, several more Calamity Beast opened their mouths and reported the information they knew.
But like the previous information about the Phantom Shadow Leopard, no conclusion was reached.
Black Rat Rift Claw looked down at the beasts below with a somber expression, his gaze slowly sweeping across their faces.
Some bowed their heads; some forced themselves to meet its gaze, their eyes filled with humility; others instinctively avoided eye contact...
It didn't know who the good beast was and who the bad beast was.
But in short, those guys are definitely hiding among these guys.
Black Rat Rift Claw, his face grim as he looked down at the beasts below.
After a long pause, he said:
"Alright, you guys can go back now!"
Upon hearing this, many of the Calamity Beast below breathed a sigh of relief.
Some of the Calamity Beast wanted to ask something, but hesitated and ultimately didn't speak. One after another, under the watchful eyes of the surrounding Black Rat, the Calamity Beast headed towards their resting place.
Black Rat Rift Claw stood still, watching with a grim expression as the figures lined up and headed towards the rest area.
"Lord Rift Claw, are we just going to leave them like this?" a Black Rat asked as it approached.
"Manage? How? You have a way of finding out those rebellious Calamity Beast, right?" Black Rat Rift Claw looked at him irritably.
"Well..."
The Black Rat hesitated for a moment, but still said...
"We can't just let them get away with it!"
"Ah, I know, of course I know!" Rift Claw muttered to himself, his gaze once again fixed on the group heading towards their resting place.
"Regardless, let's report on today's events first..."
The next day.
A profound silence fell over the area in front of the mine.
One after another, the Calamity Beast looked at the Rift Claw Master standing on the small earthen mound.
They didn't say anything more about the pre-mine notices or precautions.
Black Rat Rift Claw stared at them with a somber expression.
"Today, all ten of Calamity Beast, go down there! And if anything happens, don't go alone, go in groups of five, understand?!"
"Uh... yes!"
Somewhat hesitantly, the Calamity Beast responded.
Then, one after another, the Calamity Beast headed towards the entrance of the mine.
The Black Rat stood still, watching intently.
Soon, it was evening again.
The Black Rat in charge of counting quickly walked over, his face grim, and said:
"Reporting to Lord Rift Claw, ten Calamity Beast have perished today!"
Upon hearing this, Black Rat Rift Claw's face turned even uglier.
Although it was already aware that this was a premeditated incident when it happened yesterday, today's situation has undoubtedly completely confirmed this suspicion.
Thinking of this, it looked at the Calamity Beast below with a grim expression.
This time, there were still quite a few Calamity Beast that dared to meet its gaze, but their numbers seemed to have decreased slightly.
It paused, and just like yesterday, asked again.
This time, thanks to the morning's arrangements, the search was very focused, but still, no Calamity Beast could explain how those guys died. They only knew that they left for various reasons and never returned.
Soon, the Black Rat with its Rift Claw spoke again, letting them go back.
Another day has passed.
This time, Black Rat Rift Claw stood on the small mound once again.
Its somber expression revealed its message:
"This time, all the Calamity Beast are not allowed to separate. Move together in groups of ten, do you understand?"
"Yes, we understand!" the Calamity Beast replied.
The group then moved forward and entered the mine again.