"Mining, mining, mining..."
The continuous sounds echoed in my mind.
The Sickle-Claw Beast stood still, staring blankly at the figure beside it.
The figures repeated, raising their claws to smash against the rock wall.
The Sickle-Claw Beast stood there, watching silently.
After a while, its eyes flickered, and it regained its usual liveliness.
Then, his gaze was quickly drawn to the Coiling Mountain Beast that was mining in front of him.
The chants of miners still echoed in my ears at this moment.
The Sickle-Claw Beast was annoyed, but it couldn't talk to the other creatures.
It could only shake its head violently, banishing the pile of 'mining' thoughts from its mind, and then turn around and start mining again.
On the side.
Shen Heng glanced at him sideways, his eyes filled with seriousness.
What was that just now? And now we can't even talk?
He paused for a moment, then looked back and began mining.
In the dark mine tunnel, only the clanging sound of mining could be heard for a moment.
Time flies by in the midst of our busy lives.
At some point, accompanied by a series of ear-piercing knocks coming from above, Shen Heng stopped.
He glanced at the ore beside him.
He mined these ores based on the amount mined by the nearby Calamity Beast.
Its quantity was far from meeting the 20% increase required before the riots.
Even the initial amount of ore mined before the accident was not reached; it was only about 70% of the original amount mined.
Can...
After a pause, Shen Heng turned his gaze to the side.
The Calamity Beast appeared normal as they loaded the insufficient amount of ore into their ore boxes.
He hesitated for a moment, then followed suit and put the ore into the ore box, before walking uphill.
After stepping out of the mine, they stopped.
Shen Heng stared intently at the blood-red sunset. After a moment's thought, he joined the line below where people were handing over their ore, as if nothing had happened.
The line moved forward slowly.
After advancing about a third of the way, Shen Heng paused and glanced back.
At the rear of the group, a Tier 3 Shadow Wolf was scanning the area.
Seemingly sensing the gaze, it looked over, then its eyes suddenly widened, a hint of joy flashing in them.
Open your mouth, close it, open your mouth, close it...
Shen Heng gave a subtle signal with his eyes, then calmly looked away.
The procession continued forward.
After a while, it was finally his turn.
"Lord Black Rat, this is the Dull Star Stone I collected today, please take a look!" Shen Heng tilted the ore box in his hand toward the Black Rat standing on the small mound.
Feixu, Fourth Tier Black Rat who has been in charge of the Dull Star Stone Mine.
Black Rat with Feixu leaned forward, quickly scanning the ore box with his eyes. After confirming that the mining quantity met the requirements, he nodded.
"Okay, go collect today's food, and then wait there!"
"OK!"
After placing the ore boxes on the table, Shen Heng glanced at Black Rat Feixu before leaving.
Without pausing, he walked towards the area where he could collect his food.
After collecting the food, Shen Heng headed to the next location.
He wasn't leaving; he was moving forward...
My gaze was lifted.
What came into view were figures, one after another, gathered in front of us.
Some sat or lay down; some took the opportunity to rest, while others began to eat the food in their hands.
There were also a few others, who were talking quietly and intermittently.
"Is it only when we're inside the mine that we can't talk?"
"Then, the way back changed. They're no longer allowed to go alone, but to travel together? Is it because of the riots, or is it after the riots? What about the Two-Horned Lizard?"
Shen Heng pondered for a moment, then stopped in a slightly open area.
As time passed, one Calamity Beast after another gathered, and the once relatively empty space around them became crowded.
A moment later, the Black Rat with the Feixu came over, glanced at them,
"Alright, that's all for today's task. Time to go back!"
Having said that, it turned and walked forward.
The Calamity Beast that had gathered here also got up and walked forward.
As the line stretched, the previously cramped space became more spacious again.
Stone followed beside Lord Shen Heng Shen Heng, glancing at him.
Lord Shen Heng appeared to be moving forward wearily, much like the other Calamity Beast.
Seeing that Lord Shen Heng didn't seem to have any intention of speaking, Stone suppressed his urge to ask and silently followed beside him.
Occasionally, glancing to the side, one could see the Black Rat scattered on both sides of the group.
After a while, the group finally arrived at their resting place before sunset.
Then, as usual...
They were in one place, and the Black Rat were in another.
Perhaps it was because they were finally free from the watchful eyes of those Black Rat, or perhaps it was because they were mining less and it wasn't as tiring.
In short, the atmosphere at the rest area will be much more lively than usual.
Many of the Calamity Beast lay on the ground, whispering amongst themselves.
Somewhere, Shen Heng, carrying the Stone, found Qin Yu.
"No, Lord Shen Heng, what exactly is going on?!" Stone asked, unable to contain his doubts.
Qin Yu also looked over with some confusion.
"I'm not entirely sure, but in any case, something unexpected must have happened, similar to the previous 'adaptation' incident!" Shen Heng said in a deep voice.
"An accident?" Stone asked.
"Um."
"Uh, what... what accident?"
"I'm not sure, but it most likely came from where the Two-Horned Lizard are!" Shen Heng said.
"Could it be that some Calamity Beast was trying to escape, and that caused this?" Qin Yu asked from the side. She had also thought about this question after discovering the situation today.
"It's possible, but the chances are slim. The logic behind the existence of this kind of world should be that it will self-destruct to a certain extent. Since it's self-destructive, the possibility of this situation arising because they ran away is very low. In addition, those Black Rat were originally going out to catch Calamity Beast, so the possibility of this situation arising because they ran away is even lower!" Shen Heng replied.
There was no response, and Qin Yu slowly nodded.
"Now, let's talk about what we discovered today that's different from what we've seen before!" Shen Heng said.
"Mining has decreased, regulations have become stricter, and we're now prohibited from talking to other Calamity Beast inside the mines!" Qin Yu said.
Shen Heng nodded slightly; this discovery was no different from what he had observed.
"Uh... can't we talk to other Calamity Beast in the mine?" Stone asked, somewhat bewildered.
"Hmm, you didn't know?" Shen Heng looked over.
"Uh, I..." Stone hesitated for a moment, then replied, "I don't know. I don't know why, but today I suddenly ran back, and after mining for a while, I haven't dared to talk to the other Calamity Beast!"