Chapter 545: After the Interrogation, the Heavily Guarded Enemy Jiedian

The two captured Defeated Soldiers suspected nothing, and one after another, they spilled the current situation of the mine.

"It's just driving them inside and setting a rule for how much Mineral Ore is exchanged for how much food; if they want to eat more, they just bring more Mineral Ore to trade. No Mineral Ore, no food."

"Yes, yes, there are many stored crates of mining tools in the mine. As long as they can carry them, they can continue digging along the already excavated Mine, and it's easy to dig out enough Mineral Ore, and the Mineral Ore can be exchanged for food here with us."

"This rule was set by the Captain and the Knight Adjutant together. We don't care who actually dug up that Mineral Ore; we only want the Mineral Ore. Whether those Villagers work together to dig in the mine or fight each other for what's already dug, it's none of our business."

"The Captain said this is called shifting the conflict downward, so those captured Villagers won't resent us, but will instead place their resentment on others."

Hearing this, Bata'er Jiaoshi took a deep breath and cursed bitterly: "This is truly a vicious scheme! Only a Poisonous Snake could come up with a method that makes poor Villagers hostile to each other, fight each other, and suspect each other! Those two people are more terrifying than the devil!"

"Isn't that the truth!"

"You are absolutely right!" the two Defeated Soldiers flattered, and they added: "At first we didn't understand what was different about doing this, and even at the beginning when the Mineral Ore was easy to dig, we gave those Villagers in the mine too much food."

"But after a period of time, we discovered that those Villagers also developed significant conflicts among themselves. Some families with many people, relying on having enough labor, dug out enough Mineral Ore, so they had a batch of food in their hands that could last for quite a few days."

"And some families with few people couldn't grab good places to dig, or the only digging tools they could find were second-hand or even broken, so they could only get a little bit of Mineral Ore every day to barely fill their family's stomachs."

"After that, some people came to curry favor with us. Female Villagers who couldn't bear the hunger secretly found us, wanting to trade their bodies for a small handful of wheat grains, and even some families who were starving to death could only ignore the women in their families secretly coming to us to trade for food."

Speaking to this point, the two Defeated Soldiers saw Bata'er Jiaoshi's face flushed with anger and immediately stopped recounting these details, turning instead to talk about other situations in the mine.

"Actually, besides those invited Villagers in the mine, there is also a group of alien races who previously escorted us through the Southern Mountains. But they weren't forced by us to go into the mine to dig; they were there voluntarily!"

"That's right, that's right," another Defeated Soldier started: "Those long-tailed little things with sticky fingers seem to especially like metal objects. Once they heard the mine was a place to dig for metal minerals, they refused to leave. Originally, it seemed they were only responsible for delivering us to the mine and that was it."

"But who knew these guys liked metal so much. Each one is tiny, yet they insisted on following the Villagers down into the mine to dig, and nothing could stop them. Later, the Captain and the Adjutant discussed it and allowed them to enter the mine to dig. Anyway, we aren't responsible for their food supplies; they hunt in the surrounding Forest to satisfy their hunger."

"When they enter the mine, every time they bring out Mineral Ore, they need to give us one-third, and they can take the other two-thirds themselves. And if they want to use the Simple Smelter outside the mine, they need to hand over another one-third of the raw Mineral Ore. In the end, after they work for a long time, they can only keep one-third of the original Mineral Ore and smelt the ore into pig iron."

Speaking to this point, a Defeated Soldier seemed to spit in disdain: "Those long-tailed alien races are truly stupid as hell. What can pig iron do? It's brittle and not sturdy; I wouldn't even take it if it were given to me for free, yet they treat it like a treasure, watching it very closely all day long, afraid that we might snatch it from them."

Bata'er Jiaoshi was noncommittal about this and asked: "Listening to you, it seems you allow those alien races to enter and exit the mine freely? Can they use human digging tools?"

The two Defeated Soldiers shrugged: "They can enter and exit the mine as they please, but they cannot carry Mineral Ore in or out. If they want to carry Mineral Ore out, they have to leave one-third behind, and if they want to use the smelter outside the mine to refine iron, they have to hand over another one-third."

"As for whether they can dig, we don't care about that. Whether they use their own claws to dig, laboriously use our Human tools to dig, or even use their skills to steal the Mineral Ore dug by the Villagers in the mine, no one cares what the mine looks like; we only look at who hands over the Mineral Ore when they come out."

Speaking to this point, the two Defeated Soldiers showed some confusion on their faces: "The Captain said that the Mineral Ore can be exchanged for money, and after being refined into pig iron, it can be exchanged for enough money to last us a lifetime."

"But there are more and more refined iron blocks, yet we haven't seen any way to exchange those things for money?"

"There are more and more complaints from everyone, but the Captain always uses those words to fob us off. Everyone is discussing in private whether, like the Villagers in the mine, we soldiers are also a link in being oppressed and deceived?"

"Just thinking about this makes me tremble all over, scared to death. I don't want to die in this remote place where no one knows me, just like the companions who died crossing the Southern Mountains, ah..."

The two of them didn't know what they thought of, but they started trembling together, as if they remembered something extremely terrifying.

Weier, who was on the side, had also been listening, and at this moment he was also curious; these two Defeated Soldiers didn't look weak either, so what exactly did they encounter to be scared like this?

So he asked, and Bata'er Jiaoshi didn't say anything, just raised his hand to signal the two to answer.

"You ask why we are afraid?"

"Of course we are afraid! Because the uninhabited mountain forests of the Southern Mountains are a place under a Curse! There are all kinds of terrifying things there that only exist in nightmares!"

"More terrifying than the scary stories my mother told me when I was little to keep me from going out of the house."

"Can you imagine? Sometimes just seeing the flowers blooming on the vines in the trees and going up to smell that pleasant fragrance, poor Pisi would be covered in plant roots growing out of his body, and he would be so itchy that he would peel off his own skin."

"And Yangsike had been dead for several days; we buried him, but he crawled out of the grave, covered in maggots, caught up with the team, and loudly told us he wasn't dead at all. Ugh—"

"And there was Bowai'er who disappeared inexplicably; he didn't know how he got back into the team with pitch-black eyes, and he insisted on dragging everyone to dance with him, and everyone he called would stop and start dancing with him uncontrollably."

"And the mountain spring that makes you laugh wildly after drinking it, the sentries who had their blood sucked dry while on night watch, the terrifying situation where people fell into ground fissures and moved with the team while wailing all day long. Any one of these things is enough to drive a person crazy."

"Only those long-tailed alien races whose brains aren't even the size of an egg can endure the environment of living in such a place."

"Compared to those, being able to safely die of old age in one's hometown is our greatest wish. Please, Priest, send us to prison afterward, to the quarry to dig stones, anything is fine, please don't execute us, we have already surrendered."

"Please, I beg you."

Bata'er Jiaoshi closed the notebook in his hand, walked away expressionlessly, and said to Weier: "Find something to plug their mouths; I don't want to hear their voices anymore."

Weier shrugged, found the foot wrappings of the two from the side, and had another Warrior forcibly stuff them into the mouths of the two to block them.

Bata'er Jiaoshi was half relieved and half filled with hatred.

The reason for his relief was that, according to the two surrendered Defeated Soldiers, because they only looked at Mineral Ore to exchange for food, in the beginning, when the mine was easy to dig, the Villagers had accumulated a lot of food that could last a long time. Therefore, even if the Mineral Ore in the mine was hard to dig later, most of the Villagers should still be able to hold on for a while.

If the Villagers in the mine could help each other, then everyone could probably hold on for a longer time.

But that was exactly what was hateful.

What made him extremely hateful was that the Defeated Soldiers had artificially created divisions among the Villagers within the mine.

They didn't care how the handed-over Mineral Ore was obtained; they only recognized Mineral Ore, and if they gave Mineral Ore, they gave rations. Without Mineral Ore, unless the Villagers could privately satisfy the personal desires of these scum, there was no food.

Every piece of Mineral Ore handed over, one didn't need to think to know, was full of blood and tears, full of cunning, full of deception, full of hardship and violence.

Bata'er Jiaoshi could imagine that at this time in the mine, perhaps some Farmer families with many people had already united, occupied the best digging tools, the best Mineral Ore vein locations, and refused to share them with other Villagers who were not full.

Although this could ensure the survival of some people, the other bullied Villagers must be full of humiliation and resentment, and they had to endure the pain and let their family members sell their bodies to exchange for the rations that kept the family alive.

This method was simple for the Defeated Soldiers who managed a larger number of Villagers, but they didn't care at all how Bata'er Jiaoshi would manage and face those rescued Villagers after they were saved.

The fact that the Villagers could still not kill each other in the mine was only because the Defeated Soldiers were still oppressing them from above, and once the Villagers were rescued, Bata'er Jiaoshi didn't even dare to think about what the internal state of the Villagers would be like due to hatred and resentment.

"This is truly terrible."

He let out a heavy breath.

His face was full of worry.

Jier was currently marking the location of what should be the last sentry post outside the enemy Jiedian with Xueya Site.

He and Xueya Site turned into two clusters of vines, moving slowly right under the noses of the Defeated Soldiers above, and neither was discovered by the other side.

Because the so-called sentry work was actually very boring.

If there was no abnormal situation for several days and nights, even the sentry soldiers themselves would have doubts about their work, so don't expect their vacant eyes to notice the movement of Jier and the other.

To tell the truth, the sentry soldier on the tree platform being able to refrain from falling into a deep sleep was already a kind of serious and responsible attitude toward work.

Didn't you see that several sentries who had been secretly replaced by the Shapeshifting Monster had long since ignored their sentry work, wrapped themselves in their Cloak, and went straight to sleep, not caring about their work at all.

Yes, after Jier's repeated confirmation, among this entire circle of about eight sentries, two had actually been killed and replaced by the Shapeshifting Monster.

This ratio made Jier feel a chill, and he could not fathom what the officer in charge of this unit was thinking, to actually arrange for a lone Scout in the middle of an uninhabited Forest.

Isn't this just sending these people to the mouths of Monsters?

Or perhaps, the other side knows this will happen, but simply does not care?

This thought coincided with a possibility Jier had previously judged: that the final outcome for these Defeated Soldiers would likely be the same as the Changmai Village Villagers brought here to mine—after the mining work is completed, they will find an opportunity to dispose of them all.

First, let the Defeated Soldiers handle the Changmai Village Villagers, then find a way to dispose of these Defeated Soldiers. It could be an accident, or finding a death trap, or simply using personal force.

In the end, they would only keep a small number of trusted confidants, take the wealth exchanged for the large amount of Mineral Ore, secretly find a place further away to live, and after the war ends, they would secretly return to their hometowns.

Or perhaps reappear in the Southern Province army, using a story about adventuring through the Southern Mountains to explain their whereabouts during this time.

The difference here, as Jier sees it, mainly depends on who the leader of the enemy unit is, which determines the other side's subsequent actions and destination.

If it is a Soldier Captain with average strength but decent methods leading the situation, the final result will most likely be the former. And if it is that injured Knight leading the situation, the final result will most likely be the latter.

After figuring this out, Jier gave Xueya Site a look, and without caring if his companion saw it or not, he slowly moved his body, heading toward the Jiedian surrounded by the enemy Scouts.

The Plant Concealment Cloak on their bodies changes with the surrounding environment, so when Jier and his companion leaned against a large tree, they were two clumps of vines climbing the tree.

And when they walked on the ground covered in rotting leaves, the two of them were two dead trees, slowly, slowly moving without attracting attention.

In fact, even if the two of them transformed into dead trees and moved quickly at this time, as long as they didn't make a loud enough noise, the enemy Scout on the tree platform, who was letting their mind wander, would not notice them.

"Let's go, move in this direction, we should find the enemy's Jiedian very soon."

After leaving the Scout a certain distance away, Jier whispered to Xueya Site.

Actually, the Spirit Dog, Big Nose, at his side had already gone to the enemy Jiedian ahead for a turn and returned, and was currently using "woof-woof" barks to roughly convey to Jier some of the situation it had seen.

Jier could vaguely hear some things from the other's "woof-woof" barks; it wasn't that Jier had suddenly learned dog language, but rather that Big Nose was essentially an extension of Jier's Blessing Ability, and the Blessing Ability itself helped Jier translate Big Nose's barking.

"A wall several meters high, a rocky ground, seven or eight simple wooden houses, and a large Furnace radiating intense heat."

Jier analyzed the content Big Nose told him, and roughly had an idea in his heart.

But after getting close to the enemy's Jiedian, Jier still realized that the situation was not quite what he had expected.

Because within a distance of more than fifty meters outward from the enemy Jiedian, the originally dense Forest had all been cleared by the enemy; a large number of tree trunks were made into walls, or made into firewood to supply the Furnace in the enemy Jiedian that was emitting a large amount of black smoke.

And with the extra tens of meters of unobstructed distance, the two dead tree trunks that Jier and Xueya Site had transformed into simply could not approach the enemy's wall.

"Damn it! The Soldiers on the enemy wall are not like those blind Scouts outside; not only are they constantly patrolling, but they all look very alert."

Jier cursed inwardly, hiding with Xueya Site behind a large tree trunk closest to the enemy Jiedian.

Xueya Site took out a Telescope—this item was used by the enemy on the Changmai Village Church in conjunction with a Heavy Crossbow—and he was currently using it to peer at the enemy Jiedian.

"Jier, it looks like the enemy's defense is tight; it's almost impossible to sneak in for a Scout during the day."

Jier nodded, agreeing with his companion's view.

"But we can't just wait here until dark; you stay here and watch, I'll secretly circle the perimeter to see if the enemy's Jiedian has any flaws."

After saying this, Jier flickered and retreated back into the Forest.