Chapter 321: White ore
The four continued forward, with Lin Ye taking the lead.
Lin Ye could still find water sources based on experience, but mining rats were much harder to locate.
After all, Lin Ye had never studied rodent behavior.
"I'm so hungry..."
Leo muttered quietly from behind.
It wasn't just him feeling hungry—all four of them were experiencing varying degrees of hunger. Lin Ye knew this situation wasn't normal;
it felt different from ordinary hunger pangs.
This hunger didn't affect Lin Ye's condition, but the others might not be so fortunate.
"Hang in there, we're almost there."
Lin Ye quickened his pace. As long as they could dig up the white ores, they should be able to hold out a bit longer.
Just then, footsteps echoed from the mine shaft ahead—something was approaching. Lin Ye illuminated the distance with his headlamp, revealing a human figure in the light.
"Damn it, stop shining that headlamp in my eyes!"
The figure spoke, his voice sounding strange, as if there was something wrong with his throat.
Lin Ye shifted the headlamp away but remained alert, his mining pickaxe held naturally downward, gripped in a reverse hold.
As the figure drew closer, they saw it was a miner wearing prison garb—male, looking at least fifty years old.
"Newcomers? You dare come this deep right after arriving?"
The old miner spoke.
He appeared completely normal, though his presence in this location was somewhat peculiar.
"Yeah, we're heading to mine. What about you?"
Lin Ye didn't want to waste time here, but the other man blocked the path and also held a mining pickaxe.
"Me? I just finished mining."
The old miner showed no intention of moving aside, standing firmly in the middle of the path without budging.
"Where's your ore?"
Just as Lin Ye prepared to act, the other man suddenly took a step back.
"Ate it. I suggest you eat some too, otherwise you can't survive here."
The old miner revealed a cunning smile, then quickly retreated, moving away from them.
Sensing malicious intent, Lin Ye swiftly pursued.
The other three followed behind Lin Ye as the ground began to tremble, as if many things were rapidly approaching.
Lin Ye quickly caught up with the old miner, throwing his mining pickaxe with precision—the pick end embedding deep into the old miner's body.
"Ah! You're asking for death!"
The old miner roared in fury. He tried to turn and strike Lin Ye with his pickaxe, but Lin Ye kicked him hard in the back.
Lin Ye pinned the old miner's back under his foot, pulled out the pickaxe, and struck the old miner's head—the pick tip easily piercing through the back of his skull.
But Lin Ye didn't stop there. He repeatedly smashed the pickaxe into the old miner's head and body until both were thoroughly destroyed, then continued running along the mine shaft.
The unusual hardness of the other's body likely had something to do with consuming ores.
After the old miner was killed, the ground tremors quickly ceased, and whatever had been causing the vibrations never appeared in their sight.
Lin Ye stopped, realizing the earlier tremors were probably connected to the old miner.
"What was that? I felt like the entire mining area was shaking."
Neil glanced at the old miner's corpse, biting his lip as he crouched to rest.
Lin Ye examined the old miner's body but found nothing that could have caused the ground vibrations.
'Perhaps some internal structure...'
Lin Ye didn't dissect the old miner's corpse. Without even a mask available, this was no place for an autopsy.
"That old bastard probably wanted to kill us using some method. Good thing you reacted quickly."
Old Arthur gave the corpse a hard kick.
"The commotion earlier was quite loud. This area might not be safe anymore—we should leave as soon as possible."
With that, Lin Ye continued deeper into the mine shaft.
They hadn't gone far when they encountered several black rats the size of human heads.
"Mining rats!"
Neil excitedly stepped on the tail of one trying to scurry past him.
The others each caught their share, with Lin Ye being particularly quick-handed, snatching two mining rats.
"How do we eat these things?"
If others hadn't been around, Leo might have already stuffed an entire mining rat into his mouth.
"Don't eat them yet. Since these mining rats consume ores, their stomachs must contain ore residues. Some parts probably aren't safe to eat."
Lin Ye took the two mining rats away from the area where the tremors had occurred, then twisted off the heads of the struggling rats and used a sharp piece of rubble to cut open their bodies.
'...Strange, what is this?'
During the dissection, Lin Ye discovered some kind of pipe-like structure running throughout the mining rat's body, connecting almost all its vital organs.
Lin Ye removed the mining rats' stomachs and those pipe-like structures, handing the remaining parts to Leo.
"Switch—you eat this processed mining rat."
This time Leo didn't hesitate, devouring the processed mining rat in several bites.
"Please process mine too, I can't hold on much longer."
Neil handed his mining rat to Lin Ye. Without the rat in hand, he might have endured longer, but with food right there, all he wanted was to shove the entire mining rat into his mouth.
"Mine too, please hurry."
Old Arthur was in a similar state. His mind was completely occupied with thoughts of the mining rat.
Lin Ye quickly processed the mining rats in hand, soon removing all potentially dangerous parts from their bodies.
Seeing that Leo hadn't dropped dead, Lin Ye also ate some mining rat meat to alleviate his own hunger.
The metallic taste of blood in his mouth made Lin Ye uncomfortable. With limited conditions here, they couldn't stay long—otherwise he would have found a way to cook the meat before eating.
After consuming the mining rats, the others finally regained some clarity of mind, all feeling shaken by their previous state of ravenous hunger where they'd wanted to eat anything.
"Alright, let's move quickly after eating. We're almost at the mining area—stay alert."
Lin Ye found a path and continued forward. After walking a while longer, they finally reached a spot one thousand meters from their starting point.
"This area doesn't seem to have any dangerous things around. Start digging—once we have enough white ores, we'll leave this place."
Lin Ye randomly picked a spot and began rapidly swinging his mining pickaxe to excavate ores from the mine wall.
The girl hadn't lied to them—there were indeed many white ores here, with one or two pieces obtainable from each section.
Lin Ye mined at remarkable speed, soon digging up thirteen complete white ores. The others lacked his technique, with Old Arthur particularly struggling—breaking one piece after another.
"Big brother, could you dig a few for me? These ores are too brittle—they shatter whenever I apply force."
Old Arthur approached Lin Ye, seeking mining advice.
"Your force application is wrong. Never mind, I'll handle the digging. You're all too slow—keep watch of the surroundings."
As the number of excavated white ores increased, Lin Ye felt an ominous premonition growing within him.
The mining process was going too smoothly—something felt very wrong about that.
Lin Ye dug out another white ore, and behind that piece, he saw an eye.