Chapter 1122: The Mine
Wuyou Valley was not originally a valley that existed within the Qinling Mountains.
Instead, it was a deep chasm exposed after the earth suddenly split open following the apocalypse.
Later, after being discovered by the Shengjing Region and artificially expanded, it beca larger and more profound.
Nowadays, it was no longer the open-air valley it once was, but a mysterious area covered by massive concealnt structures.
Entering the valley from the entrance, one was greeted by a scene of brightness and warmth, as the place had long been enveloped by modern facilities.
However, the center of the valley, that massive pit resembling a demon's eye, seed capable of devouring everything in the world.
Yet the miners here appeared to have long grown accustod to everything.
Carrying mining lamps, they rode elevators down into the deep pit. The diater of the colossal shaft was several kiloters wide; even the largest searchlight could not illuminate its bottom.
No one knew how deep it was, as if it led straight to the underworld.
Even the most experienced miners needed to take a deep breath and calm their nerves before descending.
And there were actually thousands of such miners in Wuyou Valley!
They descended like ants, carrying tools and oxygen tanks.
There were over a hundred lift elevators, with people going down here and others coming up there.
They each carried a huge, specially-made bag. When they ca back up, the bags emitted a peculiar blue glow in the darkness.
People stationed by the pit edge would imdiately co over, take the ore they had excavated, and place it onto a conveyor belt.
Finally, this ore would be transported by train to Snow Dragon City, undergo a series of processing steps, and ultimately be supplied to the headquarters of the Shengjing Region, Shengjing City.
The miners here had long beco numb.
They toiled daily like ants.
Because this was their only remaining value; otherwise, they could not obtain food and survive.
The people sent here were all ordinary individuals who had been tested and found to have no talent for awakening supernatural abilities.
There were almost no professional miners. Their task was to use their lives to descend into that unknown depth and excavate this rare glowing ore from the massive walls.
Almost every day, so would go insane from the terror of the abyss, while others would slip and fall to their deaths in the chasm.
But no one paid any attention to this, because everyone who ca here understood that they would either die under the icy, bone-piercing blizzards outside, or eventually die within the terrifying abyss.
To live, to live like dogs.
The aning of their existence was rely existence itself, nothing more.
Surrounding this enormous mine pit were no shortage of heavily ard Dragon's Roar Guards, who watched everything before them with cold indifference.
Any miner who showed signs of rebellion would be shot dead by them.
And such madn appeared quite frequently.
But as long as one was killed, it would always extend the period before the next such madman appeared.
Thousands of ters underground, in utter darkness, along the tens of thousands of ters of pit walls, ant-like miners held chisels, strenuously excavating the pearl-like ore embedded in the walls.
A young miner with a gaunt face and numb eyes forcefully chiseled off a piece of ore.
He stared blankly at the large chunk of faintly blue-glowing ore in his hand, thinking to himself: This is probably so kind of highly radioactive ore! Perhaps I won't die in the abyss, but will be irradiated by it, turning into a monster and dying a miserable death.
Just then, a chilling cry seed to ring in his ears.
"Hiss-crack—"
The instinct for survival brought with it fear of the unknown. The miner panicked, looking around.
But there was only pitch blackness all around. He could only determine the positions of other miners as insignificant as himself by the faint points of light in the distance.
"Hiss-crack—"
This ti, the sound was closer.
The miner swallowed hard, the fear in his eyes growing stronger.
"What... what's there?"
Soon, he heard other sounds, a "click-clack" noise of sothing scraping against the wall.
He realized sothing was rapidly approaching.
Extre fear made him snatch the mining lamp off his head and shine it into the endless abyss below.
"Fuck your mother!! Get out here!!"
Extre fear gave way to extre rage. Mustering all his courage, he roared.
However, when he saw the thing clearly, extre fear once again overwheld his anger.
On the wall of the abyss, a seven or eight-ter-long insect clung to the surface, lifting its head to stare fixedly at him.
It was a giant centipede-shaped monster, with hundreds of thick, long legs gripping the wall, and its head featured a slender mouth.
It had no eyes, but the young miner felt it was "looking" at him.
"Ahhhhhh!!!!"
The young miner scread in terror, desperately signaling to the people above.
"Pull up, pull up! There's a monster, there's a monster down here!!!"
Before his words finished, the giant centipede had already charged over. Its slender mouth opened like a flower petal, splitting into four sections, each lined with sharp, barb-like teeth.
The elevator's movent was controlled by the people above. Miners were not allowed to ascend until they had collected enough ore.
At this mont, the small supervisor in charge of the elevator sat in a small white aluminum alloy hut, legs crossed, basking by an oil heater, leisurely holding a novel.
Works from the old era, during this ti of energy scarcity, had beco rare entertainnt for the lower classes.
Suddenly, the walkie-talkie for Miner Machine No. 58 transmitted the miner's cries for help.
The supervisor sneered contemptuously, "Another one's gone mad!"
He had no intention of paying attention. At worst, that guy would fall into the abyss, be smashed to pieces, or feed so unknown creature possibly living underground, which would save them the trouble of dealing with it.
Miners descending into the abyss experiencing ntal breakdowns was a common occurrence; people here were long used to it.
But just as the supervisor beca engrossed in a classic scene from the novel again, an extrely chilling sound ca from the walkie-talkie.
"Crunch—crunch—"
The miner's short, sharp scream ended, but the sounds of chewing and gnawing on bones that followed did not stop.
The supervisor gulped, cautiously looking out the window.
Outside was the office of the Dragon's Roar Guard captain. Any accidents in the mine pit had to be reported to that officer.
Thinking of that intimidating officer, the supervisor imdiately shook his head.
"It's just a death, better to act like it never happened."
"Even if there's so strange creature down there, it'll surely leave once it's full. We have plenty of miners anyway."
But soon, he could no longer pretend nothing had happened.
Because all the walkie-talkies lined up on the table began flashing frantically.
Screams, along with the chilling roars of that monster, flooded his ears like a tidal wave.
Author's Note
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