Chapter 977

When they returned to the dormitory at night, before Batman could speak, Six-Foot began to chatter away, his tone filled with an unprecedented excitement.

"Did you see that? That big brute got whipped! I have to say, that couldn't have felt good. He must have been taken to the eastern mine to carry lava rocks. That's no easy job; you have to face the most brutal overseers, and anyone who doesn't work hard gets sent there!"

Six-Foot was panting heavily, his voice even turning a bit coarser. He said, "I can't believe it. When I was saying those things, my feet were shaking uncontrollably. I didn't even dare look the overseer in the eye. My god, how do you humans come up with such insidious schemes?!"

"It really happened just as you predicted. Those small demons definitely spoke up for me because they were just as fed up with that idiot brute. And Aofei hates him even more than I do, because when that brute was smashing ore, he crushed two of Aofei's children. Although Aofei has over twenty children, those two were the strongest and most likable..."

Six-Foot rambled on about their past, describing how Aofei gave birth, how those two children grew up, and how they were crushed to death. Batman committed all these seemingly trivial domestic details to memory, turning them into intelligence.

"You seem very happy?" Batman asked.

"I... I am a bit... but I don't know what's come over me. All afternoon, I've felt incredibly excited. I even worked harder than usual. I'm just so happy; I finally don't have to endure that idiot anymore!"

Then, Six-Foot became somewhat gnashing of teeth, saying, "Those damn lava demons should all just roll into the magma. They always rely on their physical strength to bully us. If it weren't for the fact that the commotion was so big today and so many people spoke up for me, the overseer would have punished me too!"

But then he sighed and said, "However, this trick will only work this once. Besides, ore is in high demand lately. I heard the front lines are about to go to war, and everyone is rushing to meet the quota. I'm exhausted..."

"Who was the overseer who came today?" Batman asked.

Six-Foot thought for a moment and said, "I heard them say that's the boss of the main mine. Aren't there seven mines here? Each mine has a boss, and the whole mining field has a big boss, General Fuxin. As for higher up... I don't know."

"Does he often whip people?" Batman asked again.

"Of course. All the miners who don't work well get whipped. The big boss's whip is especially powerful. Even a lava demon would almost fall apart after one hit. If it were me, I'd probably die instantly." Six-Foot's tone became fearful. He said, "I once saw with my own eyes the big boss use that whip to beat Aofei's grandfather to death..."

"Why?" Batman asked.

"Because of Flame Powder. Oh, it's that stuff the overseer uses to whip people. It's refreshing and relaxing. Although I've never smoked it, I hear it's good stuff."

"The overseer was smoking Flame Powder and spilled a tiny bit on the ground. Aofei's grandfather picked it up and took a puff, and for that, he was beaten to death."

Six-Foot's tone was full of dread. Batman said, "For such a small thing?"

"Small thing? This is no small thing. Only overseers can smoke Flame Powder. Oh, some veteran miners might get a chance to smoke it if they're favored by the overseers. It's a symbol of status."

"And those small demons, what are they? If they smoke Flame Powder, it makes everyone lose face. Besides, they breed so much that killing one or two doesn't count for much."

"Aren't you afraid of being beaten to death?" Batman remained silent for a moment before asking.

"Of course I'm afraid. Who isn't afraid of death?" Six-Foot's tone was somewhat timid. He said, "But I don't cause trouble, and I do my work well, so I won't die that easily."

Batman fell silent again. Six-Foot's tone, demeanor, and behavior reminded him of someone. Although they were completely different, they shared many similarities—the little girl who once died of hypothermia at Wayne Manor.

Once, Batman couldn't understand this kind of ignorance—living one day at a time, never thinking about the future, never taking any crisis seriously, and unwilling to make any change to save themselves.

But later, when Batman, alone, walked through the streets of the slums, he understood where this ignorance came from.

They weren't unafraid; they were just using another way to escape the reality that fear was useless and resistance was impossible—that is, muddling through.

Sitting in the dark, cramped room, Batman felt as if he could hear the rain of Cat Getan. He thought that perhaps Cat Getan lacked a thunderclap to wake people from this ignorance, to make them realize that when pushed to the brink, besides dying silently, there was another possibility.

Am I that thunderclap? Batman asked himself in his heart, but soon, he received a negative answer.

Because he knew that the vigilance, defensiveness, and suspicion brought by his inner trauma meant he could only be a lone walker in the rainy night, not someone who could raise a flag and light a fire.

Batman had once wondered if the Butler and Shiler were waiting for him. Now he realized that the Butler, Shiler, and he might not be the seedlings Cat Getan was waiting for.

They were not the thunderclap in the rainy night, nor the ones raising the flag in the tide. Perhaps their lives were just loosening the soil of the sinful land, allowing the seeds' roots to dig deeper.

Who would eventually fall with a roar at the beginning of spring? Who would break through the soil when the rain fell?

Thinking of this question, Batman found that he didn't care. After facing the darkness of Cat Getan's reality, he no longer had so many pointless fantasies. Purifying such a piece of soil was enough to exhaust his entire life.

Lost in these thoughts, Batman slowly fell asleep. When he woke up in the middle of the night, he found that Six-Foot in the next room wasn't asleep; his breathing was still heavy, as if he too couldn't sleep due to a tangled mess of thoughts.

Batman didn't stay long. Tonight was the time for the meeting. He followed the same path to the mountainside, where Shiler and Alfred were already waiting.

The three waited there for a few minutes before Ma Te arrived late. He looked a bit limping. Shiler looked at him and asked, "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"Yes, I twisted it, but it's nothing." Ma Te panted, and then he pulled a whip out from under his coat.

Placing the whip on the table, Batman noticed a faint green light glowing on the handle. Clearly, this was the same kind of whip he had seen in the overseer's hand during the day.

"How did you get it?" Batman asked.

Ma Te frowned in pain and said, "I stole it, of course."

Then, he said in a somewhat delirious manner, "I'm a field agent specializing in behind-enemy-lines activities. I told you, I don't do infiltration, I don't do infiltration... no one listened to me..."

Alfred raised an eyebrow and said, "Which bureau did you say you were from again? The Fifth? I wanted to ask earlier, why is the Fifth Bureau starting to do infiltration work? Aren't you guys specialized in assassinations and sabotage?"

Ma Te shook his head and said, "I'm just unlucky. There were too many elite agents in my class. If my physical fitness test scores were from previous years, I could have ranked first or second. As it turned out, I only ranked third from the bottom. I didn't get the important missions, so I could only come here to infiltrate."

Shiler wore a strange expression. So, his butler was a field agent specializing in manual labor, not a professional intelligence officer. He teased with a smirk, "By that standard, you're quite professional. I mean, when it comes to breaking things."

Ma Te covered his eyes tightly. Alfred shook his head as well. But Batman looked somewhat depressed, like a student who had finished his homework on time only to find that his desk-mate had not only finished it early but had also done extra practice.

Originally, Batman wasn't the type to just charge in blindly. Before executing a plan, he liked to make thorough preparations and investigate all information. But now it seemed he had to handle both.

Batman narrowed his eyes and looked at Ma Te. His inner monologue at this moment, in layman's terms, was: *Someone actually dares to out-roll me? Let's see who rolls harder. *

Sure enough, in the subsequent information exchange, Ma Te didn't get much information. Over the past two days, he had used a field agent's signature skills to target the overseers' schedules, figure out all the infiltration routes, and steal the whip when they weren't looking.

Batman stated all the information he had gathered about the racial, inter-racial, and interpersonal dynamics deep within the main mine. The information he collected was very detailed and coincided with what Shiler and Alfred had obtained from the overseers.

The main point of agreement was that everyone in the mine was very anxious, especially the overseers.

Because the war on the front lines was tense and Pie Lie seemed unprecedentedly eager to do something, they needed enough ore to smelt and forge weapons. Therefore, the pressure from above was very high.

The big overseers didn't do any production work. To relieve this pressure, they could only pass it down to those below them, and the small overseers could only constantly urge the miner slaves. In the past few days, several conflicts had broken out, and several slaves had been beaten to death.

"They are killing the chicken to scare the monkey, hoping to use violent means to make all the slaves work harder. And as the target date approaches, the pressure they face will make them gradually lose their minds, and their methods will become increasingly brutal. There might be large-scale bloodshed," Shiler said.

"You mean, a massacre?" Alfred thought for a moment and then questioned, "But they should also know that if they kill too many people, there will be no one left to work."

Shiler shook his head and said, "They all rely on those big bugs, thinking that slave miners are just consumables. Even if, in reality, the number of people captured doesn't make up for the number of people they kill, as long as they have the idea that 'slaves are endless, it doesn't matter if a few are killed,' they won't hesitate to kill."

"Hurry up and enter the formal operation," Shiler stood up and said, "I'll assign the tasks."

"There are many races in the mining field, but our main targets are those bottom-tier races. The demon overseers don't recognize their power simply because they are stupid and short-sighted, but we all understand how much power those most inconspicuous races can have when they unite."

"Next, each person will be responsible for connecting one race. First, connect the dots into a line, and then use the line to bring along the surface. Before large-scale bloodshed breaks out, strive to plant the seeds of resistance for them."

"Batman, you have already met a shadow monster and established a good relationship with him, so you will be responsible for contacting the shadow monsters."

"The small demon race is very important. Alfred will take care of them."

"Ma Te is not very good at lecturing and persuading, so he will be responsible for the mud demons, who have the lowest intelligence. Remember, start by complaining, then talk about the future. Don't preach big principles, just talk about things around them. The situation is grim, but the future is promising."

"What will you do?" Batman asked.

Shiler revealed a smile, but his eyes didn't smile; they looked cold and arrogant. He looked into Batman's eyes and said:

"Me? I'm going back to my old profession."