Chapter 849: Camirat Star (3)

"... Master, the purity of this batch of Spirit Element Ore is really not bad... If we turn it in, we should be able to trade our extra points for something good this month, right?"

The young apprentice said expectantly, his face covered in black soot.

Old Ake wiped his mouth, a rare trace of a smile appearing on his face as he lowered his voice.

"Hmm... use them sparingly, maybe... we can trade for some Synthetic Meat Paste to taste... I haven't tasted meat in so long..."

Synthetic Meat Paste!

Those two damn pieces of mine scum! Filthy, lowly consumables!

They were actually discussing trading for meat to eat? They were looking forward to it? They were happy about that piece-of-shit reward?

And what about himself? He had worked so hard to save up his allowance for so long, a full 351 Bode Coins! How much high-grade synthetic meat could that buy? It could even buy real freeze-dried meat steaks from Arcturus!

Now it was all gone! Turned into a useless discount coupon!

Why? Why did he have to suffer such heavy losses and be in such a foul mood, while you two lowlifes were here dreaming about eating meat?

Rage overwhelmed what little sanity Carlson had left.

He emerged from behind the support pillar, the muzzle of his Energy Rifle pointed at the two miners.

"You two! Damn lazybones! Who gave you permission to slack off here?!"

Ake and his apprentice jumped in fright, their water bottle dropping to the ground, murky water spilling everywhere.

The color drained from the apprentice's face, leaving only fear.

Ake subconsciously blocked his apprentice behind him, squeezing a humble smile onto his face.

"Of... Officer! We just finished this section of mining, we were just catching our breath, drinking some water... We'll get back to work immediately!"

"Drinking water? I think you're dreaming!"

Carlson approached step by step, the muzzle almost poking into Ake's face.

"Hmm? I think I heard someone saying something about... meat? You? You deserve to think about eating meat? You lot of mine scum only deserve to eat Moss Paste! Understand?!"

"Officer... we... we didn't..."

Ake wanted to defend himself, his voice trembling.

"Shut up!"

Carlson interrupted him sharply, his gaze sweeping over the mine wall they had just been excavating and the mining machine next to them.

"I think you have too much energy and still have the leisure to dream! The mining speed here is too slow! It must be because you're slacking off!"

He pointed at a crevice on the mine wall that looked rich in ore and roared at the small Impact Drill.

"Use this! Drill into this crevice for me! Hurry! If I find out you're hoarding anything or slacking off, I'll throw you into the abandoned mine shaft to feed the mutant beetles!"

Ake looked at the crevice, his expression changing.

"Officer! You can't! The structure there is very unstable, the support pillar had cracks a few days ago, we can't use the Impact Drill, the vibration will..."

"Are you f***ing teaching me how to do my job?!"

Carlson was completely enraged; these consumables actually dared to question his orders?

He took a step forward and slammed his rifle butt against the ore crate next to Ake, making a huge sound.

"I said use it! So use it! Now! Immediately! Or do you want to go feed the beetles right now?!"

The young apprentice was so scared he was almost crying, his legs shaking.

Ake glanced at the unstable ore vein, then at his trembling apprentice; in the end, numbness and submission took over his eyes once more.

He walked tremblingly toward the Impact Drill and flipped the switch.

"Master..."

The apprentice said with a sob.

"Shut up... come over and hold it..."

Ake's voice was hoarse.

Carlson held his Rifle and retreated to a safe distance, watching the drill bit of the Impact Drill chisel into the rock wall.

Yes, that's it. Defy me? Make me unhappy? This is the price!

F*** it, I lost money, so don't you think you'll have it easy! Work! All of you, work your asses off for me!

"Thud! Thud! Thud! Hiss—!"

Ake operated the drill while observing the rock strata at the top and the support pillar that already had cracks.

His face grew paler and paler.

The apprentice held onto the back of the drill tightly, eyes closed, not daring to look around.

Carlson, however, became increasingly smug.

Look at that, these lowlifes, they just need to be disciplined! A little scare, and aren't they working obediently now?

He even started fantasizing that if these two guys really hit the jackpot and dug up some high-purity ore, maybe he could scrape together some benefits in the name of "supervisory merit"...

Just at this moment—

"Crack..."

A slight cracking sound suddenly came from overhead.

Ake's operation stopped, and the roar of the drill ceased along with it.

He looked up in terror.

He saw that on the main load-bearing support pillar, the originally tiny crack was rapidly expanding and spreading under the high-frequency vibration!

"No... oh no... it's going to collapse! Run!"

Ake let out a scream, shoved his terrified apprentice away, and tried to push him toward the exit.

But it was too late.

"Boom!!!"

That support pillar began to fracture!

Immediately following, large chunks of rock and soil fell!

The entire tunnel shook, and dust filled the whole space!

"Ugh..."

Carlson was sent stumbling by the vibration, nearly falling over.

He instinctively retreated; dense falling rocks struck his Power Armor, but failed to cause any substantial damage.

The visor of his Power Helmet adjusted automatically, filtering out the thick dust.

He watched as that Impact Drill was crushed flat and buried by a massive rock.

The figures of Ake and his foolish apprentice were swallowed beneath the collapsing rock and soil.

A few seconds later, the collapse stopped.

Only the sound of sporadic falling gravel and the pervasive dust remained.

Where Ake and his apprentice had been just moments ago, there was now only a pile of massive rocks, along with metal fragments crushed and deformed within the gaps.

The mechanical sounds in the distance also ceased.

Carlson stood where he was, panting heavily, the air filtration system of his Power Armor emitting a buzzing sound.

He stood stunned for a few seconds, recovering his senses from the collapse.

"Two pieces of trash!"

He spat toward the pile of rubble.

"Can't even mine properly! And they fucking buried themselves inside! Truly not worth pitying in death!"

The trouble with miners dying underground was that it affected the mining progress of B Zone.

"Damn it! What bad luck!"

Carlson turned around, cursing and swearing.

"Even in death, they're causing me trouble! Still have to call people over to clean it up... what a fucking waste of time!"

While complaining, he opened his Communication Device.

"Command Center! A small cave-in has occurred in B Qu Qi Hao Duan! Two miners are buried, likely turned into meat paste. Send a cleanup crew and new miners over immediately! Don't fucking dawdle! If production is delayed and the higher-ups blame us, nobody will have a good time!"

Closing the communication, he looked back at the pile of rubble once more.

Eat meat? In your next life, plebeians.

In his eyes, they were the same as that crushed Impact Drill—just damaged parts that needed replacing, a reduction in the cold numbers on a statistical table.

As for those 351 Bode Coin... he gritted his teeth, wondering if he should go find the supervisor to "report" the situation, and while he was at it, see if he could get an advance on his allowance... or, simply go "borrow" some from other soldiers?

Anyway, there was always a way to recoup losses from this mining dross.

He adjusted his Energy Rifle and, as if nothing had happened, walked toward the outside of the mine, preparing to find some other amusement.

A day on Kamirate, for him, was just another boring and irritable cycle.

Death? It was too common here, so common that... it wasn't worth mentioning.