Mining was monotonous work.
Without the system’s time display, Qi Heng would not even have known how long he had spent underground.
After roughly four or five hours, the Zerg around him stopped working and sat down to eat the dry rations they had brought with them.
Qi Heng could feel people looking at him from time to time, but he paid them no attention.
Yun Jiu walked over and asked:
“Are you getting used to it?”
“It’s manageable.”
As Qi Heng answered, he took a blue cassava root from the cloth bag he carried with him.
Yan Ning had insisted that he bring it. Mining shifts lasted a long time, and after hastily eating a meal, they would have to return to work.
Qi Heng crouched beside his vine basket and began eating.
The roasted blue cassava was rather hard. For someone accustomed to the carefully prepared food of modern society, it was even more difficult to swallow than the porridge.
“I’ve never seen you before. How did you meet Yan Ning?”
Yun Jiu chatted with him while eating. When he glanced at Qi Heng’s basket, already more than half full, he clicked his tongue in amazement.
“I’m starting to doubt this is really your first time here.”
“How did you dig so quickly?”
This Obsidian Crystal vein was rich, but extracting the ore was difficult. It was rare for someone to mine so much on their first day.
“I was merely lucky.”
Naturally, Qi Heng would not admit that he had used the system to scan for weak points in the rock, allowing him to mine far more efficiently.
After a brief pause, he continued:
“When I first arrived in District 49, I happened to meet Yan Ning. When he learned I had nowhere to stay, he offered to let me live with him for a few days. I was fortunate to meet him.”
That was the explanation he and Yan Ning had agreed upon.
Yun Jiu nodded.
“You certainly were.”
The Zerg living in District 49 were all struggling. Under such circumstances, Yan Ning’s willingness to take Qi Heng in could indeed be considered extraordinary luck.
“I heard from Yan Ning that you were close to his older brother,” Qi Heng said, deliberately trying to become more familiar with Yun Jiu.
“Mm.”
Yun Jiu nodded.
“His brother and I grew up together. If his brother were still alive, Yan Ning wouldn’t have to live such a difficult life…”
“How did his brother die?”
Qi Heng hesitated before asking:
“Yan Ning only said that his brother died in an accident.”
Yun Jiu frowned.
“What accident? That was clearly—”
Qi Heng never heard the rest of the sentence.
Yun Jiu pursed his lips.
“In any case, it wasn’t an accident. There’s nothing worth talking about.”
“I’ve finished eating. I’m going back to work.”
His unwillingness to continue was obvious, so Qi Heng could not press him further.
“I’m almost finished too.”
Following the method Yun Jiu had taught him, Qi Heng climbed more than ten meters up the mine shaft with the basket of ore strapped to his back.
Although his current body was considerably stronger than his original one, carrying more than a hundred kilograms (~ 220 lbs) of ore still placed him under considerable strain.
By the time he climbed out of the shaft, fine beads of sweat covered his forehead.
The palms gripping the rope had been rubbed bright red, and a layer of skin had been scraped from the webbing between his thumb and forefinger.
Had someone told him only a few days earlier that he would soon end up in some desolate corner of the world, selling his physical labor and working himself ragged in a mine, Qi Heng would have spat in that person’s face.
It would have sounded utterly absurd.
Who could have imagined that hands which had recently held pens and typed on keyboards would now be reduced to mining ore and climbing rock walls barehanded?
Qi Heng steadied his breathing.
After removing the basket from his back, he stood and dragged it to one side so that he would not obstruct the other female Zerg climbing out behind him.
After so many years, he was once again experiencing the hardships of survival.
“Your face looks terrible. Are you all right?”
Yun Jiu stood beside him and patted his shoulder, sounding somewhat concerned.
Qi Heng did not realize that his face had turned completely pale.
Hearing the question, he gritted his teeth and answered:
“I’m not that fragile.”
Despite saying so, he understood that someone like him, who had never performed heavy physical labor, had exceeded his limits today.
“Let’s go. Don’t we still need to exchange the ore for points?”
In the open area not far from the shaft, One-Horn 28, who had admitted them into the mine earlier, was now counting the ore extracted by the female Zerg.
“It’s already getting late.”
Qi Heng adjusted his breathing and tried to maintain a calm appearance.
If they delayed much longer, night would fall completely. The road back would become difficult to travel.
Yun Jiu had no response to that.
“You’re right.”
They walked toward the one-horned man.
Qi Heng watched basket after basket of ore being emptied onto the ground. The female Zerg would then receive a narrow strip of metal from the one-horned man, roughly the width of a finger.
Was that their compensation for an entire day of mining?
Before Qi Heng could think further, their turn arrived.
“My lord, this is the ore I mined. Please inspect it.”
Qi Heng repeated the same words Yun Jiu had used.
One-Horn 28 suddenly found himself covered by a shadow.
When he looked over, he had to tilt his head back to see the other person’s face.
It was that exceptionally tall female Zerg again.
Damn it. Why was this female Zerg so tall?
Had Qi Heng known what One-Horn 28 was thinking, he would not have known whether to laugh or cry.
It was not his fault that he was tall. At 1.87 meters, standing before a One-Horn who was only around 1.6 meters, he would naturally be looking down at him even without deliberately trying.
“Lower your head.”
One-Horn 28 pulled down the corners of his mouth and spoke in an unfriendly tone.
“Yes.”
Qi Heng imitated Yun Jiu and the others, appearing obedient and respectful.
In reality, he did not feel even the slightest trace of respect.
There was no one in this world capable of making him behave with genuine deference. Even if such a person existed, it certainly would not be a One-Horn.
Why should he respect a commercially traded slave race that he had never taken seriously even while playing the game?
More importantly, the One-Horns here were effectively enslaving the Zerg.
Whether Qi Heng considered the situation from his own perspective or that of the Zerg, the One-Horn before him was thoroughly unpleasant.
“Empty out the ore,” One-Horn 28 ordered.
Qi Heng bent down and poured the contents of his vine basket onto the ground.
Before he could straighten, something tossed beside him caught his attention.
A voice came from above his head.
“Pick it up yourself.”
It was a metal strip made from a reddish material resembling copper. The number 5 had been engraved into its surface.
Was this supposed to humiliate him?
Unbothered, Qi Heng picked up the strip.
“Thank you, my lord.”
Appearances still had to be maintained.
Among female Zerg who averaged around 1.75 meters in height, Qi Heng stood more than ten centimeters taller than most. He stood out conspicuously even when he merely straightened naturally without trying to appear imposing.
Yun Jiu pulled him away from the area and began running in the direction from which they had come.
“We’ll talk after we get back.”
Night was approaching.
The wilderness was not only bitterly cold after dark, but also unsafe.
Qi Heng ran hard and barely managed to keep pace with Yun Jiu ahead of him.
Only after they crossed into District 49 did Yun Jiu slow down. He lowered his voice and said:
“The One-Horns are always looking for reasons to make trouble for us. You were right not to clash with him just now.”
“Do I look that irrational?”
Qi Heng brushed the hair away from his temple and gave him a meaningful smile.
“If that’s all he does, it isn’t enough to make me angry.”
Part of the reason was that Qi Heng had only just arrived and did not want to cause trouble for himself.
The other part was that, so long as no one crossed his bottom line, he could disregard almost anything.
To put it plainly, there was very little in this world that he currently cared about.
Without attachment, there was little reason to become angry.
Yun Jiu did not know what Qi Heng was thinking. He merely assumed that Qi Heng was mild-tempered and unwilling to hold grudges.
“Are you coming again tomorrow? If you are, we can meet at the entrance.”
“I’m going,” Qi Heng replied.
Aside from mining, he currently had no practical skill he could use to support himself.
Surviving in this slum would not be easy.
More importantly, mining gave him a chance of finding ore with higher purity.
Even the smallest gain still counted.
Until he found another method of replenishing the system, the minerals inside the tunnels were his only available source of energy.
Obsidian Crystal contributed almost nothing, but more valuable ores, such as high-energy crystals, could replenish a considerable amount.
Given enough time, it might not be impossible for him to obtain some.
Qi Heng had located the nearest high-energy crystal deposit on the mineral distribution map.
However, he would have to proceed carefully when deciding how to reach it.
The location appeared close on the map, but actually traveling there would still require a substantial amount of time.
Yan Ning’s home.
“I’m back.”
When Qi Heng entered, he brought a gust of cold air inside with him.
The outdoor temperature had fallen from more than twenty degrees during the day to the single digits.
Fortunately, the Zerg could regulate their own body temperature. Otherwise, dressed in only a long-sleeved shirt, Qi Heng would have been shivering uncontrollably.
“Brother Qi, how was the mining district with Brother Yun Jiu today?” Yan Ning asked with concern.
“Was mining exhausting? If you’re too tired, you can stay home and rest tomorrow.”
The fire burning beneath the stove provided a little light.
Yan Ning sat beside it, stirring the porridge inside the pot. His emerald eyes looked toward Qi Heng with open concern.
“I can manage.”
Qi Heng knew Yan Ning meant well.
But that kindness was precisely why he felt even more uncomfortable continuing to live and eat at Yan Ning’s expense.
After dinner, Qi Heng examined the Zerg egg.
It had only been soaking for two days, so there were no significant changes yet.
He merely instructed Yan Ning to continue immersing it in the perilla infusion the following day.
That night, Qi Heng lay down and closed his eyes, but he felt no desire to sleep.
Ever since dreaming of scenes from the Overlord’s life ten thousand years earlier, he had developed a strange resistance toward sleeping.
The vague, inexplicable sensation made him irritable.
His instincts told him that the dreams would only benefit him and cause no harm.
Even so, he could not prevent himself from rejecting them on a conscious level.
The previous night, he had chosen to cultivate his mental power rather than sleep in order to avoid dreaming.
When he rose the next morning, he had still felt refreshed, alert, and full of energy.
That proved cultivating mental power could replace sleep.
Furthermore, after cultivating throughout the night, the Mental Power value in his personal attributes had increased by ten points.
Its maximum had risen from 75 to 85.
By contrast, his fusion progress had not changed at all.
In the long term, completing the fusion was essential, and he could not stop cultivating his mental power.
The former concerned the condition of his current body.
The latter determined whether he would be capable of protecting himself when danger arose.
After weighing the advantages and disadvantages, Qi Heng chose to cultivate his mental power first.
The minimum requirement for reaching Level 1 Mental-Power Control was:
Mental Power ≥ 100
Once he reached Level 1, he would be able to begin experimenting with mental-power attacks.
Qi Heng found himself rather eager to try.
Barring any unexpected developments, these peaceful days should have continued for some time.
Unfortunately, plans could never keep pace with change.
Two days later, something happened to Yan Ning.
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