"Okay, thank you, sir!"
"Thank you, sir!"
The words of gratitude faded away.
Then, there was a period of silence.
"Hey, Panshan, what do you say...?"
"Um."
"That..."
"Maybe..."
"Can..."
"Perhaps it is..."
As Shen Heng responded, he led the rock rats he had just received forward.
Trees of varying heights passed by the two of them one by one.
After a while, suddenly everything went blank.
The vast plains undulated under the moonlight.
One after another, the Calamity Beast converged on the center from their direction and from other directions.
At the edge of the field of vision, a row of tall mountain shadows enveloped the plain in the middle.
Shen Heng paused for a moment, then continued forward.
Are the other mine shafts located in those directions?
The central government has such a broad perspective that it will be difficult to avoid the watchful eyes of those monitoring the Black Rat" if any subsequent actions are taken.
What lies beyond the mountain's shadow? A path to escape? Or a impassable border...?
One thought after another flashed through my mind.
As Shen Heng responded to the Shadow Wolf, his gaze slowly swept across the various parts of the field.
After another half hour, they finally stopped.
Then, they sat down and began to eat their food.
"Hmm, still just as awful!" Shadow Wolf raised his head and chewed, clearly disgusted, but ultimately didn't spit it out.
"That's why I was thinking today, could we try something different to eat?" Shen Heng said, chewing as well.
It wasn't surprising that the food was bad.
The good food was no longer available to these miners who were essentially slaves.
"Hmm." Shadow Wolf nodded, then his face suddenly fell. "Hey, I was actually fine before you said that, but now that you've mentioned it, it reminds me of the past..."
As Shen Heng listened, he glanced to the side.
The Calamity Beast that came from all directions have mostly stopped. The Calamity Beast that haven't arrived yet are only three or four kilometers away from the resting place.
This distance might seem a bit far to humans, but it's actually not too bad for Calamity Beast that can easily reach several meters in size.
In short, the numerous Calamity Beast gathered at the resting spot, eating, sleeping, or chatting...
Every now and then, a Calamity Beast could be seen wandering among the other beasts.
Although it's called a herd of beasts, most of the Calamity Beast are actually spaced ten or twenty meters apart, with only a few that know each other gathering together.
Occasionally, you can see a few walking out.
They hadn't gone far, only a kilometer or two away from their resting place, judging by their movements...
Shen Heng shifted his gaze and looked in a certain direction.
A hundred or two hundred Calamity Beast, some distance away from them, were gathering there.
Not far from them, there was another group, even fewer in number, but significantly larger in size.
Newly added Calamity Beast, and the Black Rat under control?
Shen Heng glanced at it, then looked towards the direction of the Black Rat being monitored, and then gazed further into the distance.
The firelight flickered, and it was clear that there were quite a few figures in that direction.
A colony of the Black Rat Clan?
Shen Heng looked away.
At night, Black Rat also watch over this place, but they probably don't pay much attention.
There are open fields on the side, so escaping might be difficult, but moving among the beasts shouldn't be a problem.
Then, after coming out of the mine, they weren't left alone; they were simply allowed to return on their own... It seemed they were certain the monsters couldn't escape, or perhaps there were scout Calamity Beast outside scouting? Or were there other methods?
Trying it is easy, but safety cannot be guaranteed.
If his abilities weren't limited, and it was a distance of a few kilometers, Shen Heng felt he could give it a try.
But now, seven or eight hundred meters...
Moreover, if you take advantage of the mining to finish, getting out on the way back is easy.
But getting back into the team won't be so easy.
In the wild, encountering monitored Black Rat could become quite troublesome.
Furthermore, if this world is indeed fake, then the desire to get out is...
It's highly likely that it will be associated with Black Rat.
Of course, that's not guaranteed either.
Shadow Wolf's voice trailed off nearby.
Shen Heng slightly refocused his attention and replied, "So, if we could change the food..."
He responded while silently pondering.
The human and the beast chatted intermittently for a while.
After finishing the food, he lay down.
The surrounding environment gradually quieted down.
No, it wasn't quiet either; snoring could be heard everywhere.
However, compared to the previous chatter, chewing, and activity, all that could be heard now was snoring.
Shen Heng was also lying on the ground.
At one point, he opened his eyes and got up from the ground.
Nearby, Shadow Wolf, hearing the commotion, groggily lifted his eyelids.
"Pan... Shan, why are you up?"
"I'll go out and take care of this," Shen Heng replied simply, controlling the beast's mouth.
Upon hearing this, Shadow Wolf nodded dazedly, his already heavy eyelids closing again.
Shen Heng glanced at it, then raised his gaze and looked around.
As far as the eye could see, there were one after another, lying dead, Calamity Beast.
Only a small number of a dozen or so Calamity Beast either went out or came back.
After a brief glance, Shen Heng looked away.
He walked out, his figure gradually shrinking in the darkness.
After a while, it was magnified again.
I could vaguely sense a gaze sweeping over me.
Seeing that he had returned, they stopped paying attention?... Shen Heng opened his mouth, yawned, and then continued walking forward.
Soon, he reached the edge of the herd.
The figure continued forward.
Soon, one Calamity Beast, two Calamity Beast, three Calamity Beast...
The Shadow Wolf lay not far away.
Shen Heng, however, acted as if he hadn't seen anything and continued forward.
The sound of snoring filled my ears, interspersed with soft murmurs in my sleep.
After walking several hundred meters forward, Shen Heng casually found a spot and lay down.
Then, half an hour to an hour passed.
He opened his eyes again and repeated the process.
After repeating this three times, Shen Heng's figure suddenly stopped in the midst of the beast horde.
He glanced in a certain direction, then slightly adjusted his direction and walked there.
"... Oh, right, Captain, can't you hear us—no, I mean, can you hear your voice?"
The voice echoed in my mind.
The Gray Stone Snake lay quietly on the ground.
Its body is slender, and its skin is covered with grayish-white mottled spots.
Compared to the surrounding Calamity Beast that were snoring and occasionally scratching themselves, it appeared quite quiet.
"Hmm, how come..."
Qin Yu paused for a moment and asked:
"You mean we make some noise, and if the captain hears it, he'll contact us?"