Coming out of the underground living area of the laborers, the base's workstation was just south of the hillside.
The so-called workstation was actually four simple cement buildings that formed a square. This square was bigger than the mercenary square in the center of the base.
Every morning, countless laborers would come from the residential area and take the unmanned transport vehicles of the workstation to the main mining area 50 kilometers away for a day of work.
The transport vehicles were naturally managed by the mercenary group, and the ride was not free. A single ride would cost 5 exchange points.
For the laborers, if there was no harvest for the day, not only would they not return from this trip, but they would also lose everything.
The main mining area was located in a sandy land that looked like a huge sinkhole. Countless laborers started from the bottom of the sinkhole and put the sand and stones they dug into sacks. They waded through the muddy water from bottom to top until they reached the top of the sinkhole. Then, they poured the sacks into a basin of water and sifted the sand and stones over and over again. If they were lucky, they could find dark gold stones. If they were especially lucky, they could find golden sand and return directly.
Most of the laborers working here were old laborers and children like the "child". Most of them wore ragged clothes and were covered in dirt. Long hours of work also made these people hunchbacked.
Looking from afar, this sinkhole was like ants moving up and down, densely wriggling together. People with trypophobia would feel that this place was as terrifying as hell.
This was because this was not a simple labor. Robberies could happen at any time, killings could happen at any time, mining disasters could happen at any time, irregular plagues and unknown diseases could happen at any time … All of these made the lives of the people here as insignificant as ants, or even worse than ants.
Living in this place was indeed no different from living in hell.
It was just that this place was hell in the eyes of the laborers, but heaven in the eyes of the mercenaries. These laborers excavated huge wealth for them day and night.
This was because no matter which era it was in, gold and diamonds would always be luxuries and symbols of wealth.
It was strange to say that things like diamonds were composed of pure carbon, but their rarity was more expensive than today's energy crystals. After all, these sand and stone ore embryos were repeatedly smelted, extracted, and processed, and eventually became elegant, luxurious, and exquisite jewelry. Then one day, one of them would definitely appear in a so-called high-end place where celebrities gathered and be hung on a woman's body. She would naturally become the focus of attention because she knew that she was the most beautiful woman tonight …
Perhaps there was one thing she didn't know. Behind her luxurious and precious jewelry, behind her alluring beauty, were countless lives, countless tears, and countless tragic stories.
This world was so strange. The more beautiful and brilliant it was, the uglier and dirtier it was.
The sinkhole was only the periphery of the main mining area. The workers were only carrying out simple backpacking and screening. From the bottom of the sinkhole down, three lifts transported the young and strong workers underground. This was the main battlefield of the excavation.
Crisscrossing paths were densely packed in the underground world like the capillaries of a human body. These were all excavated by countless laborers using the most primitive tools. Anything that was excavated underground could be brought back to the exchange center and be exchanged for value. Most of the materials here were in batches of energy crystals, and their value was much higher than the residues in the periphery.
Therefore, the underground world was often full of disputes. This group of laborers could be one group of people, and another group of laborers could be another group of people. Different groups of people had their own territories, and it was almost impossible for a single laborer to work here alone.
Ding Meng and Little Four belonged to the group of people with the most power in the underground world. The leader was nicknamed Machine Gun. According to Little Four's introduction, Machine Gun had worked here for about six years and was very familiar with the complicated terrain below. Where were the mines?
Where were the pools of water?
Where were the tunnels that collapsed easily?
Where were the branches and main roads? Machine Gun was as familiar with the structure of his own body.
However, Machine Gun was not an easy-going person. In the area under his jurisdiction, every laborer had to show some "respect" to him before they were allowed to enter. If the Supreme Commander was the most important person in the surface base, then Machine Gun was the real boss of the underground world.
Ding Meng was very impressed by this. He was not impressed by Machine Gun's ability to be the boss of this place, but he was impressed by Machine Gun's patience. If he had to live in this hellish environment for six years, he would have gone crazy long ago.
In the dark and dreary underground tunnel, Machine Gun was standing on a suspension steel bridge. He looked like an iron tower on the bridge. His whole body was sturdy and strong, and his waving arms were powerful. With a fierce face, one could tell that he was a ruthless and cruel guy.
However, Ding Meng and Little Four had to cross this bridge. On the other side of the bridge was a recently discovered treasure mine. It was said that someone had found a colorful diamond the size of a cat's eye.
Of course, if Ding Meng could see Machine Gun, Machine Gun could also see them easily.
"Little Four, aren't you sick?
How did you recover so quickly? "
Machine Gun was not like Vader. The word "suspicion" was written all over his face at all times, and his questions were quite sophisticated. Not only did it show that he was very familiar with the flow of people in this place, but he was also testing the speed of Little Four's "recovery."
To put it bluntly, Little Four must have gotten the healing agent at the exchange center.
In this place, people fought tooth and nail for one or two bottles of nutrient solution every day, but Little Four was able to get it so easily. This meant that there were a lot of things to be found in the newly developed PC35 area.
Little Four obviously did not have such a deep mind. In the face of Machine Gun, he could only nod and bow. "It's all thanks to Brother Ding. It's all thanks to Brother Ding."
Ding Meng sighed inwardly. Little Four was still too honest. Just a simple sentence from someone else and he couldn't keep his cool.
However, it was useless to sigh now. Machine Gun's hand was almost stretched out to his face. Ding Meng also knew that once this hand was stretched out, it would rarely return empty-handed. If he returned empty-handed, he would make it impossible for him to return even if he wanted to.
However, when he thought of the strange injury on Little Four's back, Ding Meng secretly gritted his teeth. He took out a green test tube from the bag at his waist and handed it to Machine Gun.
Naturally, this was the healing agent. Machine Gun held it in his hand, tossed it, and shook it. Only then did he reveal a satisfied smile. "Newcomer, you're quite good. You haven't used it before."
Ding Meng said indifferently, "It's all thanks to Boss Machine Gun."
Machine Gun waved his hand. "Go in. If anyone dares to cause trouble for you two, break their legs. Tell them that this is what I, Machine Gun, said."
Ding Meng and Little Four quickly thanked him. "Thank you, Big Brother Machine Gun."
As he watched the two of them walk side by side into the distance, Machine Gun's smile suddenly disappeared. He shouted coldly, "Leopard."
As soon as he finished speaking, a person flashed out of the darkness like a shadow. He was like a ghost on the cable bridge.
"Brother Machine Gun." The burly man called Leopard appeared very respectful in front of Machine Gun.
Machine Gun said, "Keep an eye on these two kids and see which passage they went to.
If you find anything new, come back and report it quickly. "
"Yes!" Leopard's body floated to the other end of the bridge like a shadow.