In the wet tunnel of the mining area, Ding Meng and Little Four struggled to move forward in the mud.
They did not know how many tunnels they had taken and how many holes they had drilled. The two of them looked at each other in silence. As the air in the tunnel became colder and colder, Little Four finally felt the itch on his back. The wound seemed to have festered again. He could even feel the sticky pus on his skin and clothes. His whole body began to feel weak again.
At that moment, Ding Meng reached out his hand from the side. At the same time, he handed over a healing potion.
"Let's rest for a while before we continue," Ding Meng said calmly as he placed the soldier's shovel on the ground.
Little Four looked at him gratefully. "Brother Ding, thank you so much."
Ding Meng shook his head. "It's too early to thank me. Now you believe me. The healing potion on your back can't cure it."
Little Four opened the bottle and swallowed it. He panted and said, "I feel it too. The healing potion can barely stop it from worsening."
Ding Meng was silent for a while. Then, he said, "In my opinion, I'm afraid the blood generator won't work either."
Little Four naturally knew what he meant. If he wanted to truly cure the strange wound on his back, perhaps only the medical cabin could do it. If he wanted to use the medical cabin, he could only use the old method — find Vader. And if he wanted to move Vader, he would need more diamonds, and they could not be of ordinary quality.
So, the two of them found their way to this place. Ding Meng had dug up the amber diamond at the end of this remote tunnel yesterday. Little Four had told him about this place, but Little Four was silent now. He reached into his pocket and took out a brown bracelet.
Ding Meng was familiar with this habit of his. Whenever he was nervous or had something on his mind, Little Four would lower his head and silently play with the beads on the bracelet. He did not know where he got the bracelet.
"Brother Ding, have you been to the edge of the base?" Little Four suddenly asked.
In fact, this question had puzzled Ding Meng for a long time. From the first day he arrived, the mercenaries of the Surprise Attack Mercenary Group had warned him that no one was allowed to leave the base, including the members of the mercenary group.
What was the world outside the base like?
Ding Meng was also very curious. However, almost no one knew about this place. According to some of the laborers who had been to the edge of the base, the base was surrounded by tall walls that were about forty to fifty meters high. There were a lot of weapons systems and defense facilities on top of the walls.
In other words, the entire Black Gold Base was surrounded by a wall. If the entrance to the main mining area was at the center, then the entire base covered an area of at least hundreds of square kilometers. Such a large mining area was reasonable, but what about the outside?
What was the outside world?
Ding Meng also had a vague feeling that this base was very likely located on some remote planet, because labourers like them, who were considered inferior, were often sent to those remote areas with harsh environments by the refugee camps.
This was all normal logic, but why did Little Four suddenly mention this?
Xiao Si looked as if he had made up his mind. After a long time, he stood up and said, "Brother Ding, come with me."
Ding Meng immediately understood that what Little Four was about to tell him must have something to do with some mysterious places in the base.
Under an inconspicuous corner of a huge rock in the tunnel, Little Four was digging hard with a shovel. Generally speaking, experienced laborers should not work in such a place. They would not be able to dig out anything good.
Ding Meng also knew this, but he also knew that Little Four must have done this for a reason.
As expected, after digging for a long time, there was a sudden crashing sound. The wall of the tunnel collapsed slightly, revealing a half-meter-tall hole.
"Brother Ding, come in quickly." Little Four climbed in first.
Ding Meng did not hesitate. He quickly rolled on the ground and directly rolled into the hole.
After Little Four entered the hole, he did not turn around. Instead, he dug for a while and used a pile of sand and stones to block the hole again.
Ding Meng could not help but nod in appreciation. Although Little Four's body was weak, he was still very cautious.
They had to be careful no matter where they were in the base. Carelessness and carelessness often led to either death or eternal damnation.
After the hole was blocked, even if someone outside the tunnel found the sand pile under the huge rock, they would not think that it was a good idea to continue digging there. Even if an expert found some clues, it would at least prolong the time for them to be discovered. During this time, they could be one step ahead of the others and find something good.
There was indeed a different world inside the cave. After Ding Meng adjusted the searchlight above his head to the brightest, he found that it was a spherical cave. The space was about the size of dozens of basement rooms in the residential area. Cold water constantly seeped out of the walls of the cave, and the entire cave seemed to be raining.
That was normal. The environment of the underground mine was like that. However, the strange thing was that the spherical cave was too smooth. It was as if it was supported by some kind of energy field. The walls of the cave were as smooth as a mirror. There was not even a trace of texture. The most important thing was that the walls of the cave were covered with dark green moss.
Then, Ding Meng was really surprised. Other than the man-made buildings in the base, the rest of the place was a withered desert. There was no life to speak of. However, there were plants growing in the depths of the underground world. That meant that there was life in this place.
What was this place?
Ding Meng turned his head and glanced at Little Four. Little Four's expression had calmed down. "Brother Ding, I have calculated that we are now at the edge of the base."
Ding Meng knew that he was not talking nonsense. Little Four had been in the base for several years. His understanding of the underground world was no less than that of a machine gun. Otherwise, with his weak and thin body, he would not have been able to survive in the mine for so many years.
"Brother Ding, look over there," Little Four said again.
Looking in the direction of his finger, Ding Meng found that the farthest wall in front of him seemed to have cracked. There were stairs extending upward from the crack to the unknown depths of the darkness.
Ding Meng said in a deep voice, "Maybe those stairs can lead to the outside of the base."
There was a hint of excitement in his usually calm voice. Little Four could understand Ding Meng's thoughts.
Many people had already given up hope when they were sent to the Black Gold Base. This was the fate of the inferior people after they became laborers. They would spend the rest of their lives in this hellish place. It was good to survive, but what was the difference between living like this and dying?
It was better to find a reason to die.
Now, there was a path to the outside world. Whether it was hell or heaven, everyone had at least a glimmer of hope. That hope was that through this path, they might be able to get rid of the prison that was the base. If they were lucky, they might even be able to get rid of the identity of a laborer.
In some people's hearts, perhaps freedom was the most important thing. It was more important than anything else, even more important than their own lives.
Ding Meng was about to step forward, but Little Four pulled him back. "Wait, Brother Ding."
Ding Meng asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Little Four pointed at the pool not far away. "You can't cross it."
Ding Meng's face darkened. "What's going on?"
"Watch." Little Four picked up a fist-sized stone and threw it into the pool.
"Plop!" The stone splashed a large amount of water. However, the pool didn't calm down. Instead, a large string of bubbles emerged from the bottom of the pool. It seemed like something was about to drill out from the bottom of the pool.
Ding Meng immediately raised the shovel. His whole body was on alert.