After bringing Findie along, the group continued moving deeper into the mining area.
They first crossed this steel bridge, then went forward and drilled into the mine tunnels excavated underground.
Following the tunnel, they could see some supplies and tools along the sides of the road. The lighting equipment was on, casting a yellowish glow throughout the tunnel.
Some sounds came from far away.
"Hey, why is it so noisy over there? Sounds like a lot of people arguing… Let's get closer and see what's going on!" March said.
"Oh? Looks like it's time for me, the Galactic Baseball Hero, to take the stage!" Stelle was already fired up.
They hadn't gone very far when two groups appeared outside an underground mine passage. It seemed the miners were confronting a group of drifters.
At this moment, a female miner stood with her hands on her hips, looking at the drifters in front of her with open disgust, and said coldly, "…A bunch of bullies who pick on the weak. How come you all suddenly can't stand up straight when you're in front of Svarog's lackeys? Didn't your parents ever teach you what backbone is?"
The drifters replied in a tone full of disdain and mockery, "What a joke! Risk our lives fighting robots, what do we get out of that? Don't act all clean yourselves. You dug out such a huge area of geomarrow and tried to cover it up. Is eating it all by yourselves really that tasty?"
The female miner was still full of confidence, but she didn't answer their question directly. Instead, she said, "This mine has always been our territory. When the mining team was working day and night, risking our lives to rush progress, we never saw you contribute even a shred of effort, not even someone flapping their mouth and farting sour nonsense!"
"You spend all day eating without working, only thinking about taking advantage of others, and you still have the nerve to be so righteous about it… How shameless!"
The drifters' skin was thick enough. Even facing such accusations, they could still respond confidently, "When our bellies aren't even full, what the hell do we need face for? I get it, you're just hoping we'll all starve to death so your mining team can save some rations."
Listening to the exchange between the two sides, March got a little angry. "How can these drifters be so shameless!"
Nero spread his hands beside her. "That's just how people like them are. Cheap, and they never think they're in the wrong. They don't do any work all day and still want benefits. If you want to fill your stomach, then go work hard!"
After saying that, Nero looked up at Dan Heng again. "Right, Teacher Dan Heng?"
Dan Heng nodded. "They really should contribute labor. In the Underworld, there are plenty of people living even harder lives than these drifters."
"Looks like we can't just stand by anymore." Stelle gripped her bat and stared at the drifters like a tiger eyeing its prey.
"Of course," Nero followed up smoothly. "After all, the original plan was to beat everyone up."
The female miner was still keeping her composure. She suppressed her anger and squeezed out a sentence through clenched teeth, "…Reasoning with you people is just a waste of breath. Now it's great, because of the big scene you caused, the entire vein has been occupied by robots. No one gets anything good out of this."
Hearing that, the drifter actually let out a smug laugh. "Heh, hehe. Yeah, the vein's a lost cause… But don't forget, who's holding the loaded stuff right now, huh?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the miners all stepped back a few paces, looking at the drifters in panic. "Y-you… what do you want to do? I'm warning you, Wildfire is still nearby…"
The drifter didn't care at all. "Ha. Stop trying to scare us with Wildfire! They're busy playing around with Svarog's lackeys, where would they find time to care about you? If you don't want extra holes in your bodies, hand over all the supplies and equipment you're carrying!"
At this point, Seele tightened her grip on the scythe in her hand, anger surging in her eyes. "This is outrageous..."
Nero reached out from behind and grabbed Seele's hand, shaking his head at her.
This time, let us do it. It's a good chance to show the miners and the drifters our strength, so they'll be mentally prepared afterward.
Seele turned around and looked at Nero with confusion.
But she saw Nero and Stelle step forward by two paces.
Watching Nero's movements, Dan Heng already knew what the kid was planning.
There were plenty of miners and drifters here. If this was going to be used as a warning, this place was perfect.
He turned his head and said to the eager March, who was clearly ready to jump in too, "March, protect the two of them."
"No problem, leave it to me!" March agreed cheerfully.
At this moment, the drifters were just about to make a move when they heard a young voice shout from the side.
"Let me tell you who's holding the 'loaded stuff' right now! You bunch of… you bunch of… uh…"
The drifters looked over in confusion and saw a white-haired boy and a tall, gray-haired girl holding a baseball bat. Behind them was another group of people.
From the first half of what the boy shouted, it seemed like they were here to pick a fight. But for some reason, when it came to the second half, the boy seemed to get stuck.
Nero was currently searching his mind for suitable swear words and insults…
"You bunch of piggy banks, no, even piggy banks are more useful than you. Hmm… You bunch of lazy freeloaders, loafing around, arrogant, selfish, completely useless idiots! Scum of society, trash!"
The drifters were a bit stunned.
After blinking their eyes blankly a couple of times, they finally confirmed that this unknown group really was here to cause trouble.
The next moment, the drifters let out mocking laughter.
"Oh my, oh my, little brat. Who the hell are you people? Do you even know whose territory this is?"
"I don't care whose territory this is. Anyway, it's not yours!"
Stelle didn't waste any more words. She lifted her bat and charged forward. She was incredibly fast, knocking one drifter flying before the others could even react.
"Even if this is your territory, it doesn't matter. We're here to beat you up!"
As she finished speaking, Nero casually reached out.
Under Seele's shocked gaze as she stepped forward from the side, she watched as her scythe was snatched right out of her hands by Nero.
Even Seele, who had plenty of combat experience, didn't react in time. She didn't even know how Nero did it.
She just suddenly felt a pulling force, and then the scythe was already in that kid's hands.
They saw Nero holding the scythe, leaping high into the air. Massive energy erupted from his entire body, and then he brought it down in a powerful downward slash.
Seele was still a bit dazed watching this scene, but the rest of the Express crew had long since gotten used to it.
Nero's classic jumping cleave opening move.
As for Nero's fighting style, Dan Heng had once been puzzled in the early days, trying to figure out which school of swordsmanship it belonged to.
However, after searching through memories and collecting a large amount of information, he realized that Nero was entirely his own school.
This jumping cleave, though monotonous and simple, possessed truly fierce and solid power.
Sometimes, he even thought that if Nero were of the same generation, then even the Sword Chief would have to put in quite some effort to block this move, and absolutely could not take it head-on.
BOOM!
Nero's jumping cleave slammed down, crashing into the ground.
The next moment, the force from the impact rippled outward, instantly blasting several drifters away. Even the ground itself shattered, with dirt flying everywhere and cracks spreading across it.
If Nero didn't hold back, he might be able to smash the mountain beneath his feet in one blow. If it were aimed at a person, it would likely cause them to vanish on the spot, turning into a pile of flying ash.
Nero and Stelle's strength was not something these drifters could confront head-on. The two of them quickly took down all the drifters with just a few moves.