"When you go in to see the King, be clever, or you're doomed!" The second Flame Rat pulled Jiang Yuan with a jujube wood stick and whispered sinisterly in his ear before leading him into the side cave of the mining site.
It was worried about being punished but had really captured no other miners, so it could only pin its hopes on the blind man. After all, he was young and tall; if he was smart enough to please the King, tonight's task might be successfully covered up.
Jiang Yuan nodded, trying to steady his breath to appear less intimidated.
"Reporting to the King, we've captured a young and strong one!" As soon as the Flame Rat entered the cave, it boasted for rewards: "This area is too desolate; there are no other villages nearby. It took half a day's effort to find this exiled guy."
[Flame Rat Leader: Foundation Establishment Realm low-level monster. Fond of eating humans, cultivates the Heaven-Burning Scripture, skilled in spitting Heaven-Burning Flame]
The large and imposing Flame Rat Leader sat on a stone throne in the cave, its paws wrapped in scorching flames, rubbing a stone that emitted a faint glow.
A bamboo basket at its feet contained a few Spirit Stone ores of various sizes. The captured miners were too slow with their work, extracting only a few ores in a night. At this rate, how long would it take to save enough Spirit Stones to buy suitable weapons at the market?
"Oh? Only caught one?" It was displeased, pausing its action of burning and refining Spirit Stones.
The whiskers, like steel needles, quivered slightly as it looked up at the newly caught slave, noticing the distinct abnormality in his eyes. The Flame Rat Leader snorted coldly, "A blind one! What use are you to me?!"
[Warning! Danger! Danger!]
The red flashing of the system's constant warning made the sense of oppression increasingly stronger, causing Jiang Yuan's heart to pound wildly and even his breathing to become uneven. For a moment, he thought he might just quit the game and not play anymore.
During the novice phase, just doing a task required darting amidst a group of bosses back and forth. Though fortune was sought in danger, the difficulty level seemed a bit too high.
Yet, thinking about the enslaved humans he had just seen, he was somewhat troubled by conscience. He immediately had a brainwave, mustering the courage to speak loudly under the suffocating pressure: "Calm down, King. Although my eyes can't see, my hearing is exceptionally good.
As I passed by the quarry, I realized those fools simply don't know how to work, wasting time unnecessarily and delaying the excavation progress.
Having wandered half a lifetime, lamenting not yet meeting a wise master, if you, my lord, do not disdain me, I am willing to follow! As long as the King graciously allows me to join your team, I will spare no effort assisting in adjusting team cooperation, to mine more ore for the King!"
Since establishing the Foundation and recruiting a few underlings to seize the mountain as a king, the Flame Rat Leader had never seen a human daring to speak so loudly to it like this, causing it to frown.
Weak and humble beings trembling and crying for mercy could only highlight the Mouse King's might. Yet this one dared to stand straight and speak loudly to it, did he not want to live?
On a second thought, perhaps it was because he was blind and couldn't see its intimidating appearance, thus not knowing fear. There was a momentary urge to swallow him whole, but it also coveted the extraction of more ores. After a brief internal struggle, the Flame Rat Leader slightly retracted its killing intent, "First, tell me about this team and cooperation. Stop using your human jargon! Just say how you can make those fools work more efficiently!"
His life hanging in the balance, Jiang Yuan tensed up, ready to quit the game at any moment. Unexpectedly, the progress bar that had skyrocketed to the extremely dangerous area noticeably decreased, indicating a potential turn for the better.
Having been through many interviews, he knew that spotting chaos outside reflected the big rat's ignorance in management. Such interview responses needed to pierce directly into the boss's core concern.
He steadied his mind and replied, "As a team, there needs to be a clear division of labor to improve work efficiency.
Firstly, with my keen hearing and strong physique, I can maintain order in the mine, killing those buzzing little things. If they do not interfere with the mining work, the miners can concentrate on their assigned tasks;
Secondly, establish a reasonable assembly line, so everyone doesn't congregate together, affecting progress.
Assign the young and strong to extract large stones from the mountain; assign the less physically capable to transport the stones to areas where mining isn't hindered; the old, weak, and sick are responsible for breaking down the large stones to find the minerals.
This way, the ores in rock crevices can be discovered immediately; and the ores inside stones will not be overlooked. The extraction work will be fast and meticulous; with my protection, the miners can focus on work, and supervisors can save effort by not using the whip, reducing injuries and deaths. Even if new miners cannot be found immediately, it will not delay the King's ore extraction."
With a clear and well-grounded plan, the Flame Rat Leader listened, nodding incessantly, reducing the threat level slightly.
"Sounds good, but whether it's practical depends on your performance. I don't keep idlers here!" It wrapped the ore with the Heaven-Burning Flame, stood up from the throne, "Come, let me see your skills."
The brightly lit quarry was chaotic, with everyone carrying injuries, some from whippings; some from stones hitting and bruising; others from bites by the Wye Bats.
Chunxi crouched among the rubble, swinging her frail arms a few times with the heavy pickaxe. Before even breaking the large stone, she was already out of strength.
She was utterly terrified of those big rats, knowing that if caught slacking, a tail swipe could almost break her bones!
And she was equally terrified of the buzzing Wye Bats that appeared from time to time. With their sharp and thin mouthparts, a single bite would make her feel her blood rapidly draining, and without proper rest, she'd be extremely weak.
Last night, she had witnessed a young man surrounded by five or six Wye Bats. Fearful of the whippings, he dared not move and ended up being drained alive of his blood!
Subsequently, a few Flame Rats dragged his body away to share as food, a scene that Lin Chunxi dared not recall.
Tears wetted her eyes as her numb arms swung at the stone, her eyes filled with dread as she watched the Wye Bats steadily edge closer.
When the Flame Rats stormed the village to capture people, her father and a group of strong uncles tried to resist but were burnt alive by the spewed flames. In the chaos, her younger brother ran away and wasn't captured, and his fate remains unknown;
The mother, who was also captured, initially protected her every step, and the two could take care of each other, but just now, the mother was driven by the big rats to another end of the quarry to mine stones. Lin Chunxi looked through the drifting dust but could not find her mother's familiar figure. Despair filled her heart as two Wye Bats were already flying towards her!
If she dodged, she'd be whipped. If injured, and unable to work, she'd be dragged out and eaten; if she didn't dodge, a few bites and death wasn't far off, and terribly weak, she'd still be eaten!
Since being brought here to mine, she had witnessed many die in these two ways.
Now, with mother not by her side to shield her, faced with such a death choice, Lin Chunxi's heart pounded wildly, and her whole body trembled involuntarily.
"Buzz buzz buzz..."
The slightly larger Wye Bat approached with a breath of death. Lin Chunxi instinctively wanted to dodge but then heard the loud crack of a whip beside her, followed by Wan Mingchuan's agonizing screams from being struck.
"Lazy boy, daring not to heed the King's orders, I'll beat you to death, you lazy thing!" The overseer Flame Rat had long kept an eye on this seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy. His wheat-colored skin, with pleasing muscle lines, suggested he had plenty of blood and meat, making him a favored delicacy.
But the boy had the strength and worked hard, leaving no room for error; it had had no chance to whip him half to death, and then report him to be dragged out and shared as food.
Finally finding him dodging the buzzing little thing, freezing his pickaxe mid-air, the overseer excitedly lashed its tail to whip him thoroughly, hoping to savor him soon.
Lin Chunxi cringed at Wan Mingchuan's agonized cries, saw a tail that could crack boulders and became even more afraid to move, helplessly watching as the Wye Bat approached, its sharp mouthpart magnifying in her terrified eyes!
"Mama, don't be sad and please take care!" Her gaze was vacant, her breathing nearly stopped.
Facing death, the despairing little girl had a mind blank, staring blankly as the sharp mouthpart came closer.
Suddenly, in her vision, a wooden stick flashed through; it came with such speed it stirred a slight gust, lifting scattered strands of hair. The buzz of death abruptly halted, with the dreadful blood-sucking creature struck to the ground at once with a stick!
Someone came to rescue us!
Lin Chunxi, overjoyed at her escape from death, mechanically continued hammering the stones, looking up. She saw a youth of similar age to Wan Mingchuan holding a wooden stick, standing upright with composure. In the next instant, another Wye Bat was effortlessly taken down with a strike.
Though she was dirt-covered, thin, and blackened, squatting amidst a pile of stones, she could only see the side profile of his expressionless, fair, and delicate face; under the firelight, it seemed as if the whole person was aglow!