Chapter 322: Eyeball Mine Wall
The moment he saw the eyeball, Lin Ye took a step backward to the side, moving away from that human eyeball growing on the red ore that looked completely normal.
His reaction was fast, but it was still too late.
The eyeball instantly split into two eyeballs, the two eyeballs split into four eyeballs, the four eyeballs split into eight eyeballs... In the blink of an eye, the mine wall was already covered with black and white eyeballs.
These eyeballs were identical in color, size, and shape, with even the spacing between each eyeball exactly the same.
Hundreds of eyeballs grew in an orderly pattern across the mine wall, all turning neatly and rhythmically in various directions—up, left, down, center, up...
Lin Ye wanted to flee, but the various organs within his body, including his brain, began transforming into ore. This transformation was slow yet relentless, making it impossible for him to control his own body.
Leo was the farthest from Lin Ye and had been constantly observing their surroundings, so he ran the moment the eyeballs appeared, but he didn't get far.
An adult-sized black rat burst from the ground and chomped off his lower body in one bite, just like how he had previously eaten that mining rat.
Leo's upper torso hit the ground, emitting a cry of utter despair.
Neil tried to pull Lin Ye to safety, but a piece of ore flying from a distance smashed his head to pieces. A group of miners wearing prison garb approached from afar;
that ore had been thrown by the miner leading the group.
Old Arthur grabbed his mining pickaxe and charged toward those miners. The ground shook, and numerous flesh-and-blood organs growing on the ores surged from underground, pouncing on Old Arthur.
After smashing over a dozen ore organs, Old Arthur was torn into organ fragments by those flesh-and-blood organs, merging into the mass of organs.
Lin Ye crawled on the ground, gradually adapting to the ore organs inside his body, but a long-barreled hunting shotgun emerged from the darkness, pressed against his head, and blew apart his gradually petrifying skull.
Before darkness consumed him, his headlamp tilted downward, and Lin Ye spotted a pair of black women's leather boots in the shadows.
He had seen these leather shoes before;
they were previously worn by that girl.
……………………………………………
Buzz buzz buzz...
Lin Ye opened his eyes, finding himself back inside the moving prison transport vehicle, where four still-living D-Class personnel sat.
[Remaining Simulation Attempts: 9]
'...That girl wants to achieve some objective. We are the cannon fodder she selected to scout the path, which is why she gave us so much information.'
This was the easiest time Lin Ye had obtained information during his many simulation tasks, and he knew it couldn't be that simple.
'Are those miners working with the girl?'
'Hard to say. Maybe their goals align, and they just happened to cross paths.'
'Were they following us the whole time? But I completely failed to notice anyone behind us. The mine shaft terrain is so complex;
how did they keep up? Footprints? Or some special technique?'
'Did that giant rat ambush Leo because we ate the mining rat meat? Leo happened to be the first one to eat it...'
'The others didn't seem affected by those eyeballs. Is only the person who dug out the eyeball affected?'
'Why are these people so determined to kill us? We're just ordinary people;
wouldn't keeping us alive to scout the path be better?'
'They struck suddenly, swiftly, and ruthlessly, almost as if they were afraid we might survive...'
'The information the girl provided might have omitted certain crucial details, like how eating mining rats attracts attacks from large mining rats, etc...'
'What is their goal? To escape this place, or to obtain some rare ore?'
'Those miners seem capable of controlling some kind of flesh-and-blood creatures hidden underground. You can feel ground vibrations before those creatures appear...'
'What about that miner blocking the path? Is he one of them too? Why did he come alone to block the path? Clearly, their objective is to have us scout ahead...'
Various pieces of information and conjectures flashed rapidly through Lin Ye's mind. This simulation task could only utilize an ordinary human body, and there was no spiritual energy in the environment, making it extremely troublesome to handle.
Soon, the prison transport vehicle stopped again outside that strange building.
The four D-Class personnel got out and collected their assigned equipment.
This time, Lin Ye requested a weapon from the Squad Leader. Perhaps considering the miners below, the Squad Leader did not provide him with one.
After the precautions were reiterated, they were once again sent into the mine cart.
Lin Ye took the driver's seat, controlling the mine cart as it rapidly descended.
The conversation among the four was identical to last time;
Lin Ye didn't intentionally make any changes.
However, this time Lin Ye began using spiritual energy to enhance his body the moment he opened his eyes, making his physical condition slightly better than last time.
Just like before, the mine cart smoothly arrived at the underground mining area.
The four got out and proceeded on foot, once again encountering that mining older guy.
"Newcomers?"
The old miner asked excitedly.
"Yeah, we just got down here, can—"
Neil's words were cut short as he watched Lin Ye thrust his pickaxe through the old miner's head.
The tip of the mining pickaxe entered through the old miner's ear and exited through the other.
"What are you doing?!"
Neil retreated several steps, watching Lin Ye warily.
Old Arthur and Leo also distanced themselves from Lin Ye. They were relatively normal D-Class personnel, not indiscriminate psychopathic killers, otherwise they wouldn't have survived this long.
"He wanted to use our information to trade for benefits with others. If we let him go, we'll die here... that's what the deity said."
Lin Ye casually fabricated a reason. He suspected those miners noticed them so quickly likely because of this old miner, so this time he directly eliminated him.
"Did your deity tell you how to get out of here?"
Neil attempted to communicate with Lin Ye using his own method.
"We need to go further away and dig up enough white ores, but the digging process is very dangerous."
Lin Ye said offhandedly.
"Your deity isn't going to make you suddenly give me a pickaxe to the head, right?"
Leo asked cautiously.
"The deity says that as long as you don't do anything unnecessary, there's a possibility you can leave here alive."
As long as he didn't cause trouble, Lin Ye would take him out of here, but whether he could survive would depend on his luck.
"Alright, enough of that nonsense. What should we do now? Should we deal with this corpse?"
Old Arthur never really liked zealots like Lin Ye. He turned to look toward the mining area;
it seemed like footsteps were gradually approaching from that direction.
"I'll lead you to a place where we can dig white ores, but I need your cooperation. Don't cause trouble. I'll handle this body;
you take that other mining pickaxe."
Lin Ye, holding one mining pickaxe in hand and grabbing the corpse's pant leg with the other, dragged the body deeper into a side mine shaft.