"Clang, clang..."
Scattered clanging sounds echoed inside the mine.
A Tier 2 Scalearmor Lizard wearily raised its claws and struck the rock wall in front of it, again and again.
Finally, a piece of ore fell to the ground after its relentless beating.
As the beast's claws descended, the Scalearmor Lizard began to breathe heavily.
Looking to the side, I saw several small pieces of ore piled up there.
Even though they had only just started mining and hadn't extracted much, their bodies were already experiencing adverse reactions.
Unable to push itself any further, the Scalearmor Lizard lay down, resting while panting heavily.
Its gaze was fixed to the side.
More than ten Calamity Beast were gathered in the mine tunnel.
Actually, there are far fewer Calamity Beast mining now. If they were evenly distributed, there wouldn't be so many. In fact, if you're willing to go deep, it's possible to have two or three Calamity Beast in a separate mine tunnel.
But that's precisely the problem.
The situation is different now than before. Before, although we still didn't have enough to eat, at least we had something to eat.
Currently, with the exception of a very few individuals, most of the Calamity Beast are starving, and given the current situation...
Many individuals will take the risk of attacking other Calamity Beast when there is a severe shortage of supplies.
Therefore, at this stage, even Third Tier Calamity Beast are not willing to stay alone in one place; they all instinctively tend to gather together.
In this way, even those who want to take risks are unlikely to attack them in front of so many Calamity Beast.
Even so...
The Scalearmor Lizard wearily looked at the other Calamity Beast that shared the same mine tunnel with it.
Most of them had already stopped to rest, but a few were still smashing against the rock face.
Nevertheless, the amount of ore mined from the area next to those Calamity Beast was not much more than that from the beasts.
I doubt anyone here can mine enough ore today.
Thinking this, the Scalearmor Lizard's gaze was suddenly drawn to one of the figures still mining.
The figure stopped mining, but also didn't lie down to rest.
It just stood there, in front of the rock face.
Then, a while, then a couple of times...
Another resting Calamity Beast turned its gaze in that direction, followed by a second, a third, and more and more Calamity Beast looked over.
After a while, the mine fell silent.
All the Calamity Beast stared at that figure.
The Scalearmor Lizard also looked at the figure with some confusion.
What's going on? Giving up? Doesn't seem like it! Others who gave up before either broke down, panicked, or burst into tears.
It was the first time it had ever seen something standing there so blankly.
The Scalearmor Lizard was watching.
In their field of vision, a Tier 3 Steel-Mane Bear seemed somewhat annoyed by the situation. It frowned and was about to speak.
A sound rang out inside the mine before it:
"Shall we... rebel?!"
There was no response; one after another, the Calamity Beast stared blankly at the figure.
The Scalearmor Lizard also stared blankly at the figure.
Silence enveloped me.
This was the first time it had ever felt such quiet since it could remember.
rebel?!
These two words appeared in the mind of the Scalearmor Lizard.
Its body tensed instantly, and the thought of reporting the Rock-Backed Beast that had spoken those words immediately popped into its mind.
But in the next instant, its body paused slightly in place.
Should we really report this guy?
The Scalearmor Lizard stood frozen in place.
A strange thought seemed to be preventing it from reporting the other party.
But reason told it that the best course of action at this moment was to report the other party, otherwise the Calamity Beast that were whipped to death not long ago would suffer the same fate.
No, that's not all...
The Scalearmor Lizard paused, its gaze slowly sweeping to the side.
All the Calamity Beast froze in place. Some of them were still not reacting to what the Rock-Backed Beast had just said, while others, like it, were looking at the other Calamity Beast.
The issue now isn't whether to report it or not, but that there are other Calamity Beast around, so we definitely have to report them!
Otherwise, if any one of them reports it, those of us who didn't report it will be in big trouble!
They seem to have thought of the same thing.
The Third Tier Calamity Beast, the Steel-Mane Bear, who had originally wanted to ask a question but was stunned into silence by the Rock-Backed Beast's words, lifted its leg and stepped over.
"Heh, you bastard, what 'rebellion' nonsense? I bet you're one of those Calamity Beast who tried to escape a while back but got caught. I wonder how you managed to get away with it?"
"And then, you lost so many Calamity Beast recently that you don't have enough beastmen, so now you're trying to seduce us, right?"
Are you taking us for fools?
"Huh, is that so?"... The Scalearmor Lizard stared at them in astonishment.
In its field of vision, the Steel-Mane Bear strode up to the Rock-Backed Beast and then raised its paw to grab at the back of its neck.
The expected resistance did not occur; the Rock-Backed Beast was simply lifted up.
Then the Steel-Mane Bear Lord looked at the Rock-Backed Beast with a cold smile:
"Well then, I have an even better suggestion: I'll capture you and hand you over to Lord Feixu and the others, then explain your situation to them. That way, Feixu and the others will definitely reward me handsomely. What do you think?"
"I know myself whether I'm with those other Calamity Beast who tried to escape. You don't need to pin those things on me. If you want to report me, go ahead and do so. I absolutely stand by what I've said!" the Rock-Backed Beast said.
"Phew, it seems not..." The Scalearmor Lizard breathed a sigh of relief, then stared blankly into space, unsure of what to do.
There, Lord Steel-Mane Bear was still carrying the Rock-Backed Beast.
"Heh, that's perfect, I'll grab you right now!" Steel-Mane Bear sneered, turning to face upwards.
"Yes, that's for the best. I'll be waiting for you down there!" the Rock-Backed Beast replied.
"... What do you mean by that?" The Steel-Mane Bear stopped and looked at him coldly.
The Rock-Backed Beast looked back without the slightest fear. "What else could it mean? It just means it's waiting for you down there!"
"Do you think I'll be killed along with them?" Steel-Mane Bear asked, frowning.
There was no response; the Rock-Backed Beast stared at it coldly.
Seeing this, the Steel-Mane Bear seemed very angry, but still suppressed its rage and said:
"You're overthinking it. You just said it openly, and there are so many Calamity Beast here. They can testify for me. Lord Black Rat will absolutely not kill me!"
As Steel-Mane Bear spoke, he raised his free hand and pointed to the other Calamity Beast in the mine tunnel.
There was no response; the other Calamity Beast remained silent.
If Steel-Mane Bear really reports it, and then Lord Black Rat comes to question them, they will indeed, and can only, give the truth.