Chapter 70: The Miners Join

When Lin Yue returned to the bottom of the pit, hundreds of miners were still stunned by the miraculous scene just now, unable to recover for a long time.

God!

This is definitely a power only gods possess!

They don't believe human strength can reach this level!

Lin Yue wasn't surprised by the miners' reaction.

After all, anyone who saw this would be stunned speechless.

He ordered Han Ya and the others:

"Go, distribute the food and water we brought."

"Yes!"

Han Ya immediately accepted the order and promptly led people to bring the food and water over.

When the miners, who hadn't seen clean food and water for who knows how long, saw the food and water Han Ya and the others brought, everyone's eyes turned red.

"Gurgle..."

Someone swallowed hard.

"Is... this for us to eat?"

A young mother holding a child asked in a trembling voice.

She could hardly believe that happiness would come so suddenly.

"Eat, eat all of it."

Wang Gongtou looked at the gaunt miners and their families before him, his heart aching, his eyes also reddening.

He personally picked up a biscuit, handed it to the young mother, and said in a hoarse voice:

"It's all over now; from now on... we won't go hungry again."

The young mother stared blankly at the biscuit in her hand; at this moment she could no longer hold back, clutching her child she squatted on the ground and burst into loud sobs!

Like dominoes, the remaining people also burst into loud sobs.

"Wuu... we're saved... we really are saved..."

"The water... tastes like clean water... wuu..."

The entire pit bottom echoed with deafening sobs.

Lin Yue just quietly watched, not speaking to disturb them.

He knew these people needed a thorough catharsis; only by crying out their past pain could they truly be reborn.

After an unknown amount of time, the sobbing gradually subsided.

Just then, an old miner with a full head of white hair and a stooped frame trembled his way out of the crowd.

His face was covered with wrinkles carved by time, his pair of cloudy old eyes now unusually bright.

Walking up to Lin Yue, under everyone's astonished gaze, with a "thud" the old man knelt down and kowtowed loudly to Lin Yue.

"Tha... thank you, sir!"

Lin Yue was also startled by the old man's action and hurried to help him up,

"Old sir, what are you doing! I can't accept your kneeling like this; you're making me too embarrassed."

Unexpectedly, the old miner's strength was surprisingly great; Lin Yue couldn't lift him for a moment.

"I can take it! I can take it!"

The old miner stubbornly refused Lin Yue's support,

"You saved us all; this kneeling is my willing gratitude!"

Upon hearing this, the others who had just been happy about clean food immediately reacted, all kneeling before Lin Yue and shouting in unison:

"Thank you, sir!"

"Everyone....!"

Lin Yue watched this scene, his eyes also involuntarily moistening.

At that moment, Wang Gongtou walked up beside Lin Yue and patted his shoulder,

"Lin Xiaozi, you deserve it!"

Lin Yue turned his head to look at Wang Gongtou,

"Wang Lao!"

"Alright, Lin Xiaozi, hurry up and help the old man up; do you really want him to keep kneeling like that?"

Lin Yue then realized and reached out again to try to help the old miner up.

But the old miner refused Lin Yue's support, pleading with a hopeful face:

"I am Shi Shan; I beg you to take us in!"

"Don't worry, besides mining we can do many things! As long as you take us in, we'll do whatever you ask!"

The other miners and their families also began pleading one after another.

"Sir, please take us in!"

"We are willing to do anything for you!"

This scene moved Lin Yue deeply!

Moreover, the miners and their families present together numbered nearly three hundred!

This is literally like sending a pillow to someone who's sleepy!

What is Xuanwu City currently lacking the most?

Not food, not weapons, but people!

With this batch of experienced miners, Xuanwu City's future infrastructure will directly be upgraded a notch!

More importantly, the increase in population meant that Xuanwu City finally had a true embryonic form of a city!

Lin Yue took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the joy in his heart.

He slowly raised his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet.

"From today onward,"

"You, all of you, are residents of my Xuanwu City."

"Here, you will possess three things."

"Abundant food, absolute safety, and..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the hopeful faces before him.

"As the dignity of being human."

As his words fell, the entire mine pit first sank into a deathly silence lasting several seconds.

Immediately after, a deafening frenzy of cheers erupted!

"Long live the City Lord!!!"

"Long live Xuanwu City!!!"

The following time entered a tense and orderly "relocation" phase.

Under Lin Yue's command, Black Tortoise temporarily expanded the flat area on its back, barely providing a temporary settlement for the nearly three hundred new residents.

At the same time, the experienced miners, upon learning that Xuanwu City possessed nearly infinite clean water sources and fertile soil, erupted with unprecedented work enthusiasm.

They volunteered, sorting all the food salt from the Qing Shan refuge and all supplies from the Lei Stone underground treasury, loading them neatly onto vehicles, then Black Tortoise controlled earth power to steadily transport them onto its back.

After a full day of busyness, nearly all valuable items in the Qing Shan refuge had been moved out.

Xuanwu City not only completely solved the salt crisis, its population multiplied severalfold, and it unexpectedly gained a highly skilled professional mining team and a vast amount of extra supplies.

At dusk, when the laden Black Tortoise slowly started up and set off on its return journey.

"City Lord, look! What is that!"

On the watchtower, a sharp-eyed guard member suddenly pointed to a distant patch of building ruins.

Lin Yue followed his gaze; at the end of his sight, beneath a collapsed overpass, dozens of black shadows flickered swiftly in the shadows.

"They are black-scaled leopards!"

Han Ya's voice came from beside, carrying a hint of solemnity,

"Grade 1 mutant beast, extraordinarily fast, quite troublesome!"

In the Humvee of the Night Blade squad, Gui Ying also locked onto these ten-odd black-scaled leopards via high-altitude drone, his voice sounding over the public channel:

"Mr. Lin, do you need our help to deal with them?"

"No need. These black-scaled leopards happen to be a good test of the Xuanwu Guard's recent training results."

Lin Yue glanced at Han Ya beside him, who was already eager to try, and at her guard members behind her,

"Han Ya, these ten-odd black-scaled leopards are yours to handle. Remember, I don't want to see any casualties."

"Yes! City Lord!"

Han Ya's clear, cold eyes instantly ignited with fighting spirit.