Seele was the type who acted tough but was soft-hearted inside. Since she had already said she would wait for the Trailblazing Squad at the entrance of the mining area, Sampo was also getting ready to slip away.
Setting up the stage, checking the script, guiding the actors, watching the final product… Sampo had way too many things to do. And right now, he also had to help a junior colleague try to tame a Fragmentum creature that had mimicked itself into a short-legged version of him.
After pointing out the route for the Trailblazing Squad, Sampo left, saying that he had other matters to attend to.
The Trailblazing Squad didn't think too much of it. The things Sampo needed to do were nothing more than petty theft and scamming people anyway…
Following the direction Sampo had indicated, the group wound their way through the streets around Boulder Town, and in the end, they returned to outside Natasha's clinic.
Once they got there, just by lifting their heads they could see Seele standing in a corner piled with mine carts, ore, tools, and supplies. Beside her, that upward-sloping path was the road leading to the Great Mine Area that Sampo had mentioned.
Everyone walked over.
"Hey, you got here pretty fast!" That was the first thing Seele said when she saw them.
Bronya wasn't anywhere near Seele. That Iron Guard commander was probably already talking with the leader of Wildfire, right?
"What is Wildfire doing in the mining area?" Stelle asked.
"Didn't I say it before? Mm, then I'll keep it short."
"There used to be many mining areas underground, but in recent years, a kind of erosion called the Fragmentum started spreading beneath the surface. A lot of mines were hit and could no longer be worked."
"The mining area we're going to is relatively well preserved, and the environment is still fairly clean. A group of wanderers whose homes were swallowed by the Fragmentum settled there. Actually, most of them are pretty honest…"
"But when there are more people, it's inevitable that some troublemaking scum will mix in. The result is that the wanderers and the miners are constantly getting into fights, and they often steal and rob the miners' supplies."
The more March listened, the deeper her frown became, and then she said, "We heard from Sampo that most people in the Underworld rely on mining to survive, and now that the mining areas have been compressed, the already scarce supplies are also being threatened by the wanderers…"
Seele spread her hands, her tone inevitably carrying a hint of anger and exhaustion. "What I just said… honestly, that's still considered minor stuff…"
Dan Heng, meanwhile, looked at the red armband on Seele's arm and thought of something else.
"By wanderers, you mean the people who attacked Bronya earlier?"
Seele raised her eyes and glanced at Dan Heng, then nodded. "Mm, that's right. Them."
Then Seele continued, "But this time the situation is different… just in the past couple of days, large-scale conflicts have broken out between the miners and the wanderers, and the scenes have been really ugly."
"The mining area is the lifeline of the underground. We have to ensure the supply of geomarrow, or we won't be able to get the rations allocated from the surface through the transport lines."
"To calm things down, Chief Oleg led Wildfire into the mining area and left the town's security to me. But things are tight inside, so I have to go provide support too…"
At this moment, Nero spoke up. "Sister Natasha said that Wildfire is like the Silvermane Guards of the underground, so to a certain extent, you're part of the ruling class down here, right? In a situation like this, do you still choose relatively mild methods?"
Seele blinked and looked at Nero with some confusion. "What are you trying to say?"
Nero continued, "With the underground situation being so tense, as those in power and those maintaining order, ensuring stability is something you must do."
"While maintaining a certain level of mercy, only those who work or contribute get to eat and drink."
"As for those who not only make no positive contribution at all, but also constantly stir up trouble and cause chaos, ambush them, secretly...! Mmgh… mm… going to..."
Before Nero could finish his sentence, Dan Heng covered his mouth.
Reliable Teacher Dan Heng didn't need to hear Nero finish before he already understood what the kid was trying to say.
Strictly enforcing harsh laws, and indiscriminately eliminating wanderers who threatened stability, cold, decisive, efficient.
That approach could indeed eliminate threats to some extent, while also reducing the population to ensure average resource allocation. But at the same time, it would push the ecosystem of the Underworld into an even more high-pressure environment…
The trade-off in this matter was one of perspective, different people would have different views. As outsiders, the few of them had absolutely no need to offer advice to Wildfire on this point.
"Don't mind it," Dan Heng said to Seele while covering Nero's mouth.
Seele furrowed her brows, glanced at Nero in confusion, then nodded.
She quickly put the matter out of her mind. After saying "Let's go," she led the Trailblazing Squad toward the Great Mine Area.
None of them were ordinary people, so their pace was naturally fast. It didn't take long before they arrived at the Great Mine Area.
As soon as they got there, they saw a crowd gathered beneath the steel-built pathways. Among them, a tall woman stood out especially.
"Hey, isn't that Doctor Sister?" March shouted.
Seele said, "Natasha actually showed up here too… looks like things are more serious than we thought."
The group quickly moved closer.
They noticed that everyone in the crowd looked worried, and the road ahead was blocked off by barricades.
They came up behind Natasha.
Seele was the first to speak. "Natasha! I didn't expect even you to be here. Where did Oleg go?"
"Hi, Seele, and… Sampo's guests. Looks like you've already met?" Natasha turned around and greeted them.
"I haven't seen Oleg either. The miners said he took a group of people deeper inside."
Dan Heng stood at the very back of the group, his gaze briefly sweeping over the red armband on Natasha's body.
Stelle blinked at Natasha, sensing the atmosphere around them grow heavy at some point. She raised a hand to her head and said in a voice that sounded very weak, "I don't feel so well…"
Dan Heng and March could tell at a glance that the walking Stellaron was fooling around. The former shook his head helplessly, while the latter narrowed her eyes and stared at Stelle.
Natasha blinked, then looked at Stelle carefully.
"Huh? You look like you're in pretty good shape to me."
After briefly weighing priorities in her mind, Natasha said, "Sorry, I need to treat the seriously injured first. These past few days, the miners and the thugs have had intense clashes, and quite a few people were injured."
Then Natasha turned her head again and looked at the crowd of worried or indignant people.
"See these people? They're all miners and miners' families. They're here to demand an explanation from the troublemaking thugs."
"Up ahead is the wanderers' gathering area. The entrance is sealed right now. They're probably afraid that the angry miners will retaliate."
From earlier until now, Nero hadn't said a single word.
He looked at the piles of ore around them and thought, letting that kind of mimicking Fragmentum creature mine might actually be pretty good.
He also wondered how Sampo was taking care of Korgi.
Thinking of that, Nero couldn't help but pull out his phone and message Sampo to ask, Nero, "Does Korgi listen to you now?"
Mr. Cold Feet, "Yes. But only a little."
Nero, "What about the rest?"
Mr. Cold Feet, "This thing really doesn't need rest. However, even though it doesn't have internal organs, it still needs to eat to replenish energy. Based on my current experiments, it can eat most things. So far, the ones with the best results are geomarrow ore and discarded batteries."
Nero, "Keep it up!"
Mr. Cold Feet, "Go big, go strong!"