Chapter 56

Qi Heng took Yan to the mining area, followed by other female insects from the hunting team.

He did not reject Yan's suggestion to ask everyone to help. Although this would trigger some butterfly effects, it was also a good opportunity to see if they could be trusted.

In the last deduction, there was no blue-tailed butterfly to convey the news of the mine disaster to him, but this does not mean that the mine disaster did not happen. Rather than the difference between the two deductions, he is more inclined to believe that the deduction in the previous reincarnation ended badly and he could not be found.

During the last deduction, I happened to have entered the underground base. Even if the blue-tailed butterfly carrying the commander's consciousness could find me through that trace of spiritual connection, it would not be able to enter the research base.

Mine collapses are not uncommon for the female insects in Area 49. It is more surprising that they have not happened in the past two months.

The Ikal civilization does not care about these mining accidents. After all, this is also a way to control the number of races. Accumulating small amounts into large ones will save them from having to deal with the excess Tianjia Zerg population themselves.

The Zerg are just consumables, so there is no need to worry about them.

The one-horned people who only move on the ground see that the main civilization doesn't care, so they certainly won't cause trouble for themselves.

The consequence of the above situation is that every time a mining disaster occurs, the Zerg that are unfortunately buried in the underground mine tunnels will be abandoned directly.

To the Unicorns, they were one of the few interstellar civilizations whose status was even lower than theirs. They usually looked down on the Tianjia Zerg, and certainly wouldn't offer any help at a time like this.

Therefore, every rescue was spontaneous by the Zerg in Area 49.

Those who go down into the mines are all female insects from Area 49, and those buried underneath are their relatives and friends. Even if there is a risk of a second collapse, they will not leave their relatives and friends alone.

However, no matter how good the physical fitness of the Tianjia Zerg is, the Zerg buried underground cannot move tons of rocks to save themselves, and the Zerg going down to rescue them cannot do so either.

Yan said that after each mining disaster, only a small number of Zergs could be rescued, and the rest could only be buried underneath and wait to die... There were also some Zergs that were injured when the mine collapsed. If they were unlucky, it would be difficult for them to survive even if they got out.

Qi Heng and his friends arrived near the mining area.

Many female insects had gathered at the mine entrance where the mine collapsed. They had been digging under other mine entrances, and all ran out of the mine after hearing the noise of the collapse.

Several one-horned men in charge of managing the mining area were standing aside and talking with grim expressions. Even when they saw Qi Heng and the others appear, they did not avoid their intentions.

"Really? Why did something like this happen today?"

"I wouldn't choose a day to die."

"That's right. I'm about to hand in the ore. I was thinking of handing in more to see if I could get more merit..."

"Forget it, forget it. Fortunately, the quantity delivered this time is enough."

"How can we just let it go? The mine on my side is far away from here. I'll tell them to go back and continue digging later."

"That's my side too."

"I really don't know what the point of these female insects joining in the fun is. There will be more female insects coming later, so there is no need for them at all."

Yan clenched his fists and made a gesture as if he wanted to rush forward.

Before he could act, Qi Heng held his shoulders and said, "Save the people first."

The words of these unicorns were indeed infuriating, and even more jarring to Yan, who had just heard a sliver of the truth. In fact, not only Yan, but even Mo Nan and the others beside him couldn't help but show some anger on their faces.

After the one-horned men finished their conversation, they glanced at them nonchalantly. One of them, the one with a whip hanging from his waist, said with disdain, "Trash is trash. What? You want to rush over and beat me up?"

"—Do you dare?"

The other one-horned men smiled when they heard this and echoed the one-horned man with the whip hanging around his waist.

"How dare they? Unless they don't want to live anymore."

"We can crush them as easily as we crush ants."

The one-horned man laughed as he walked towards the female insects surrounding the mine entrance in front. When he arrived, he raised his voice deliberately to ensure that all the female insects present could hear him.

"What are you all doing here?! Go back to your mines! If you don't dig a full basket, you won't get any points!"

"If you don't obey orders, your points will be cut in half. Get back now!"

Qi Heng, who was standing by, was astonished by the unicorn's arrogant and bad attitude. To be honest, if they treated the Zerg with this attitude, weren't they really afraid that they would revolt... or was it that after being enslaved for so many years, the Tianjia Zerg had finally lost all its edges and corners and become submissive?

Despite thinking so, Qi Heng's mentality was unusually calm. His eyes fell on the scolded female insects, observing them carefully.

Well, maybe not.

He could see some female insects lowering their heads with expressions of forbearance, while others clenched their hands at their sides to control their emotions...

They are not submissive, but they have to bow their heads because the situation is too difficult.

[Your Excellency, these one-horned people are truly despicable. I request that they be punished with a punishment they will never forget.]

A0's CPU nearly exploded when he saw this scene. If only it had this thing. These are the Lord's people. How could they be bullied by a trash race like the Unicorns? This is simply a slap in the face of the Lord.

No, this is more than a slap in the face, this is simply stepping on the face of Your Majesty the Lord and spitting on him.

[Oh, what do you want to do.]

This question stumped A0. Its built-in code told it to get angry and destroy all the creatures that disregarded its master, but when it was asked how to do that, it couldn't figure it out.

However, its computing program ran very fast, and it came up with the punishment without even a second of lag.

[They are forced to do hard labor until they die. If their lifespan is too short, they are injected with genetic drugs to extend their lifespan. They are exploited until they can no longer be exploited.]

It's not that he hasn't thought of even more brutal punishments, such as skinning, lingchi, and so on. But A0 won't say anything, because he knows that the Lord is a kind and good person who can't stand such things.

——Unless the person is someone like Jeyol who can cause the Lord's emotions to fluctuate violently, A0 will not even mention any harsher punishment.

Qi Heng had no idea what kind of misleading impression he had left on A0, but even if he knew, he probably wouldn't have cared. He was used to people viewing him through filters, and A0 was just one of them.

Why do I say so?

Because A0 said that as the Overlord, he naturally possesses an aura of admiration in the eyes of the Zerg. Even Zerg who are strangers to him will be influenced by his instincts when they see him, be attracted to him, and can't help wanting to get close to him.

The effect wasn't obvious at the moment, but as his body's integration became more and more complete, its effectiveness would gradually increase. By then, it wouldn't be the case now where it could be ignored by most Zerg, and only a few with keen perception could vaguely detect it.

After listening to what A0 said, Qi Heng was speechless. So this is why the Overlord never leaves the temple and rarely comes into contact with the outside world.

He had seen information related to the Overlord while playing the game, but he just glanced at it and ignored it.

...Now thinking that he might be a heartthrob, no, a fan of all insects, in the future, Qi Heng feels a little ashamed.

But please don't do that. You still have to have some dignity.

I can only try to find a way to correct this before the tragic future happens. If I can't correct it, then... at least cover it up? Although I don't like going out, not liking to go out is different from being confined to one place.

Thoughts raced through my mind, and the outside world passed by in a flash.

He came to his senses and said: [This is the time period.]

[You mean to settle accounts with them after we get out?]

[You are absolutely right. As expected of you...]

[Silence.] Qi Heng's mouth twitched, and he had no choice but to interrupt A0's new round of flattery.

A0 is very capable and is very responsible for the tasks assigned to it. It's a pity that such a good AI has a mouth.

Not far away, the female insects were driven away by the one-horned man.

After seeing most of the female insects leave, the unicorns also left. As those in charge of the mining area, they knew how much leeway they should leave. For example, they could drive away most of the insects, but not all of them. They had to leave some hope for the female insects.

Now, at the collapsed mine entrance, only Qi Heng and his group, as well as a few female insects who stayed behind and were said to have rich experience in underground mine rescue, were left.

"How can I help?" he offered.

"Let's go down and take a look at the situation first." The female insect who spoke thought that they stayed to help because there were relatives or friends down there, and she didn't know that they came from Area 49. After all, the female insect who went to notify the news should have just arrived in Area 49 at this time.

This guess is actually not wrong, because there are indeed insects that Qi Heng knows under the mine where the accident happened.

——Yan Ning and Yun Jiu.

If he hadn't known he was in the Between Time instance, he definitely wouldn't have been as calm as he was now. Rather than worrying about the current situation in the mine and how to rescue them, Qi Heng was more concerned about whether he could prevent a real-life mining disaster after leaving Between Time.

And whether this mining accident can be utilized.

"Can you scan the collapse of the mine tunnel below and the location where the collapse first occurred?" he asked A0.

A0 calculated and gave the answer: [This requires approximately 50 energy points to perform a full-scale three-dimensional scan and analysis. The coverage area extends outward from your position, Lord Overlord. Energy consumption increases by 50 points for every additional 100 meters.]

【Whether to perform this operation.】

Qi Heng agreed, and soon he received a detailed report on the mine landslide, which not only contained the answers he wanted to know, but also included the number of casualties, the cause of the landslide, and so on.

This report will come in handy once it's released, so he asked A0 to keep it.

Qi Heng didn't stay in the mining area for too long. The main reason was that after the female insects from Area 49 arrived to help with the rescue, he couldn't help much. He also had to take this opportunity to go to the fourth underground level of the Dead Egg Pit to check on the progress.

After the inspection, he will return to Base No. 2 and devote himself to the implementation of the plan for Falling Star Day.

Qi Heng said goodbye to Yan and was about to leave. Before leaving, he said to Yan, "After daybreak, I will go to your house to talk to you about what we haven't finished. As for... whether to invite Lan Yi and the others is up to you."

The original plan was to talk things over with Yan first and then invite Lan Yi, Mo Nan and the others, but now the plan has changed, so I can only combine the two things into one.

Yan was silent for a long time before hesitantly asking him, "Leave such an important matter to me..."

"You've known them longer than I have, I trust you." Qi Heng patted Yan's shoulder and looked at Mo Nan, who was squatting at the mine entrance with a worried look on his face, and said with a smile: "Trust them too."

After saying that, he waved his sleeves and not a cloud was taken away, leaving Yan entangled in the spot.

The other side.

Dead Egg Pit, fourth floor underground.

Unlike the ore piled up in mountains when Qi Heng came last time, the amount now is more than half less. He walked onto the platform and reached out to rub the fat bug that kept talking.

"Father Xiong, you're here. I've done everything you asked." Fatty Chong's words revealed his joy at seeing him.

Even though I ate a lot, my body size didn't change at all, simply because all the energy I ate was used up.

He thought about it and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

"No, eating isn't hard, and I can help my father~~"

At this moment, the insect egg, which had been quiet, sensed his presence, and staggered out of its restraints and rolled towards him, rubbing against his calves to show affection.

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The author has something to say: Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2022-08-28 23:01:34 and 2022-08-29 23:20:06~

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: 50 bottles of veni, vidi, and vici; 10 bottles of "Aiwhy" and "Zonggong"; 1 bottle of "Boiled Water Without Ice", "Qi Shui" and "Little Pig Who Loves Sugar";

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!