"Ha-hoo, ha-hoo..."
Heavy breathing echoed through the mine tunnel.
Taking advantage of the last moments, a Dust Horn Beast repeatedly raised its claws and pounded against the rock wall.
finally.
"Clang!"
A piece of Dull Star Stone, about half the size of a beast's paw, fell down.
The Dust Horn Beast picked up the Dull Star Stone and tossed it into the ore box. Then it leaned against the ore box, staring at the Dull Star Stone inside.
"If we add this, it should be enough, right?" The Dust Horn Beast panted, a smile spreading across its lips.
Have you finished too?
A question came from the side.
The Dust Horn Beast turned its head and saw a Phantom Shadow Leopard lying sprawled nearby, its gaze fixed on it.
"Yes, how are you?" the Dust Horn Beast asked, panting.
"I started a little earlier than you, but if you hadn't said you'd gather more, I would have finished much sooner!" the Phantom Shadow Leopard said somewhat discontentedly.
"We'd better gather more since this is the first time we've collected so much, otherwise we won't have enough and we'll be in trouble if we don't have any food tonight!" the Dust Horn Beast said with a laugh.
The Phantom Shadow Leopard grunted twice, offering no rebuttal.
If it really wanted to refute this, it wouldn't have continued mining as suggested by the Dust Horn Beast.
Seeing this, the Dust Horn Beast chuckled, took two steps back, and collapsed as well.
As soon as my body relaxed, a wave of fatigue washed over me.
"It's only a 20% increase, yet it's this tiring?" the Dust Horn Beast exclaimed.
"These things are inherently less tiring as you go on. Do you really think that just because you have 20% more energy, you only need to put in 20% more effort than usual? If that's the case, do you think you could actually dig out another portion? Besides, we haven't even had any time extension. We only have this much time!" Phantom Shadow Leopard said angrily.
"That's true!" The Dust Horn Beast nodded, its head resting on the ground.
"But tell me, what happened today? Why did the Black Rat suddenly kill so many guys and make us mine 20% more ore starting today?" The Phantom Shadow Leopard suddenly looked up.
"It must be a follow-up to what happened yesterday," the Dust Horn Beast replied.
"What happened next? But those guys were killed yesterday, weren't they? And after killing them yesterday, they went mining and everything was fine. How come they're suddenly like this today?" The Phantom Shadow Leopard frowned.
"I don't know about that..."
"Dust Horn Beast responded."
Seeing this, Phantom Shadow Leopard frowned slightly, but wasn't surprised.
The only ones who could probably give it an answer were the supervising Black Rat Black Rat, but obviously, it couldn't possibly ask them!
"Damn it, if it weren't for those guys, we wouldn't be in this situation now!" The Phantom Shadow Leopard withdrew its gaze, its voice filled with resentment.
"What if they had pulled you in there? Would you have gone?" the Dust Horn Beast asked.
"Of course not! Didn't they fail?" the Phantom Shadow Leopard replied matter-of-factly.
"What if you didn't know they would fail?" the Dust Horn Beast asked.
"Well..."
Upon hearing this, the Phantom Shadow Leopard hesitated.
It pondered for a moment, then continued:
"Probably not. Life outside wouldn't be much better; we'd still have to face threats from other Calamity Beast, and there's a high chance we wouldn't even be able to get out!"
"In that case, we might as well stay here!"
There was no response; the Dust Horn Beast lay sprawled on the ground and silently nodded.
The Phantom Shadow Leopard glanced at it, then collapsed back to the ground to rest.
Time passed.
Soon, a piercing knocking sound came down from above along the mine tunnel.
This is the sound of the monitoring Black Rat reminding them that mining is over for today and they can take their mining boxes upstairs.
Clearly, the surrounding Calamity Beast also heard the sound.
The sound of his breathing, which had been mixed with a clanging sound, paused slightly, then became even more intense.
The Dust Horn Beast stood up, glancing regretfully at the increasingly frantic Calamity Beast, before turning its gaze to the Phantom Shadow Leopard.
Let's go!
There was no response. The Phantom Shadow Leopard twisted its body twice, stood up from the ground, and like the Dust Horn Beast, dragged its ore box outside.
Soon, they reached the outside of the mine.
In the field of vision, one after another, the Calamity Beast were lining up to hand over their ore, fewer in number than usual, but the Dull Star Stone in each Calamity Beast chest seemed to meet the requirements.
This is normal.
Those who didn't meet the standards are probably still underground, desperately trying to find enough ore in these last few days.
Without saying a word, the two Calamity Beast stepped forward, handed over the ore, received their food, and returned to their resting place.
Finish your food.
The Dust Horn Beast lay on the familiar plain, its gaze fixed on the direction it had come from.
The first ones to arrive were mostly healthy but exhausted Calamity Beast;
After a while, Calamity Beast appeared, its body still normal, but its face showed even greater fatigue and a sense of dejection.
After a while, Calamity Beast with injuries began to appear...
The Dust Horn Beast watched until the last Calamity Beast returned to its resting place, at which point it slowly withdrew its gaze.
Were there about forty of them that didn't collect enough Dull Star Stone and didn't get any food?
Then there were many missing, and more than a dozen that were punished by Lord Black Rat?
The Dust Horn Beast's heart sank slowly.
It wasn't because he felt sorry for those guys for not meeting their targets.
It's not that this is the beginning; it's just the beginning.
If this continues, it's hard to imagine how long it can last...
Filled with worry and exhaustion, the Dust Horn Beast fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, in the same spot.
The Dust Horn Beast slowly withdrew its gaze.
Today, the number of Calamity Beast that weren't collected in sufficient numbers rose to seventy or eighty; those punished for the large shortfall rose to twenty or thirty...
Day three.
The number of Calamity Beast that weren't collected in sufficient numbers rose to over a hundred; those punished for the large shortfall rose to forty or fifty...
Day four.
The number of Calamity Beast that weren't collected in sufficient numbers rose to nearly two hundred; those punished for the large shortfall rose to seventy or eighty...
Day 5.
The number of Calamity Beast that weren't collected in sufficient numbers rose to over three hundred; those punished for the large shortfall rose to one hundred and fifty...
Day 6.
The number of Calamity Beast that hadn't been mined enough rose to over four hundred; those that were punished for the large shortfall dropped to over one hundred and twenty... Many Calamity Beast that hadn't eaten for several days were killed because they couldn't mine much ore.
Day 7.
The number of Calamity Beast that weren't collected enough rose to over six hundred; the number was further increased due to penalties for the large shortfall, reaching nearly two hundred...
eighth...
There was no eighth day. On the eighth day, the Dust Horn Beast and the Phantom Shadow Leopard were too exhausted to collect enough Dull Star Stone and fell into the group that was unable to obtain food due to insufficient mining...