"What do you mean 'but'? We told you to mine at the original rate, so mine at the original rate. What, do you have a problem with us?" Black Rat Feixu said coldly, his words clearly showing his impatience.
Seemingly realizing this, some of the Calamity Beast that wanted to speak opened their mouths, but ultimately slumped their heads in despair.
A slight silence fell over the scene.
It's not that they're complaining, but now they can only mine until dark each day, which is several hours less than before.
They lost several hours, but had to mine the same amount of ore...
Feixu stood on the earthen slope, his gaze fixed on the group of men below who, upon hearing the news, were as dejected as cabbages wilted by frost.
It sneered and said:
"Alright, the rules have been slightly changed this time."
Even if you don't extract enough ore, we won't kill you.
"Then, if you haven't mined enough ore for several days in a row, resulting in a lack of food, we will provide you with food for free on the third day."
"But..."
He Feixu, looked at them, and sneered again:
"However, other punishments are unavoidable. If you miss a small amount, you'll still not have any food for the day; if you miss a large amount, you'll still have to endure the trigger."
Hearing this, the Calamity Beast below felt a little better.
Even so, it's still impossible to complete, but at least you don't have to worry about being killed for failing to complete the mining task.
However, it only makes me feel a little better, after all...
"Um, Lord Feixu, how long is this rule going to last?" a Calamity Beast mustered its courage and asked.
Upon hearing this, the other Calamity Beast also instinctively turned their gazes in that direction.
"That's none of your business. We'll stop when it's time to stop, and maybe we won't stop anymore, and we might just keep going like this indefinitely," Feixu said coldly, glancing at the Calamity Beast that had asked the question.
Upon hearing this, the Calamity Beast paused for a moment, then slowly nodded.
"Alright, it's not like it'll necessarily continue indefinitely," Black Rat Feixu, looking at the disgruntled Calamity Beast below.
"During this period, if you spot any Calamity Beast trying to escape, please report them."
"If we catch those troublemakers, we might just decide to adjust the mining volume back to what it was before."
"Then you won't have to work so hard!"
"Do you understand?"
So it really was because of those guys trying to escape?... Many of the Calamity Beast thought to themselves.
"Understood," came the scattered replies.
"Alright, let's go in! Remember, you need to mine this much ore before sunset today to get today's food!"
"Yes..."
Scattered responses rang out again.
Then, one after another, the Calamity Beast headed towards the mine entrance on the mountainside.
Black Rat Feixu remained where it was, watching the scene before it with slight satisfaction.
Then, doubt arose in my mind again.
Yesterday's scene flashed before my eyes.
"Restore them to their original mining levels, then tighten security, and those who want to escape will run away on their own?"
Feixu tilted his head, feeling that this method didn't seem very reliable.
Well, it wasn't targeting Lord Black Rat God, it was only targeting this method.
Mining volume has returned to normal, but mining time has been shortened. Isn't this not much different from when they previously increased mining volume by 20%?
Well, that means the punishment has been reduced; the Calamity Beast below won't die.
But at best, this will only prevent the Calamity Beast below from rioting again out of despair. What good will it do to force those creatures out?
The other Calamity Beast won't despair too much because of this, and those guys won't despair too much either, will they?
When they realize that this time it's targeting 'them' again, wouldn't they be even less likely to come out on their own?
Feixu imagined himself as one of those Calamity Beast.
If it were that animal, in this situation, it would definitely lie low for a while, waiting for the others to relax before escaping!
Who would be foolish enough to knowingly run out on their own, even though they're targeting 'it'?
Still unable to figure it out, Feixu shook his head and stopped thinking about it.
Regardless, they offered up so many of their people before the Black Rat God bestowed this divine revelation, so it must be true.
Next, all we have to do is wait...
Black Rat Feixu stood still, silently thinking to himself.
A Coiling Mountain Beast paused briefly on the uphill path, glanced down, then looked away and continued upwards.
night.
Before Shen Heng could even go over there, the ' Two-Horned Lizard ' Rock-Backed Beast rushed over looking for him.
What happened today?
"Didn't the Black Rat in charge of you explain why?" Shen Heng looked up at it.
"He didn't say, but I can guess. It's probably because those guys who just moved here didn't have time to react and tried to ask other Calamity Beast for help, but they got killed, right?" the Two-Horned Lizard said with a somewhat grim expression.
"If that's the case, then why did you even ask?" Shen Heng said.
"I know, but..."
Two-Horned Lizard, then turned to look at the numerous, exhausted Calamity Beast scattered across the plains—more than in the previous two days—before turning back to speak:
"But the number of Calamity Beast guarding the area has almost doubled!"
"Under the original circumstances, it would have been difficult for us to find a way to leave, let alone now, with even more Black Rat guarding the area!"
"Yes, I know," Shen Heng replied.
"If you know, what do you think should be done?" the Two-Horned Lizard asked.
"Let's wait and see for now," Shen Heng said.
"Wait and see?"
"Um."
The Two-Horned Lizard stared wide-eyed at the human before it, its gaze filled with disbelief. "You... aren't you in a hurry to leave?"
"Of course it's urgent," Shen Heng said.
"Since you're in such a hurry, why don't we wait and see?" the Two-Horned Lizard said anxiously.
Shen Heng looked at it, "You know perfectly well that those Black Rat set new rules and tightened surveillance to lure us out, but you still want to be stupid enough to go out?"
"I..." The Two-Horned Lizard opened its mouth, hesitated for a moment, and said, "But we can't just keep waiting like this, can we? What if this situation continues? We can't just stay here forever, can we?"
"We should leave, but at least we can avoid those Black Rat during the initial period when our guard is at its highest. Perfect timing, since we haven't figured out a way to leave yet. We can use this time to think it through," Shen Heng said.