Although the walls of the underground temple were lit with torches and oil lamps, the environment was still dimly lit. Due to being underground, the air was not very well-ventilated, filled with a foul smell, making people feel particularly oppressive.

  Every miner's face was dirty, and when they smiled, it added to the eerie atmosphere, making it even more haunting.

  "Looks like you haven't had enough of a beating, haven't learned your lesson yet." Cook teased Tongdon, and as he walked past Gezhi's side, he kicked his calf, "What are you still dazing about, go get to work!"

  Without Cook's orders, six foremen's trusted men had already come over to assign tunnels to the new miners and hurry them into mining.

  Scolding and flogging are inevitable, this is to intimidate the miners, as soon as possible to extinguish that little flame of resistance in their hearts.

  The pickaxe mine is very large, with over a thousand small mining areas, and each area has several to dozens of collection points. The foremen are the people in charge of each collection point.

  The leader of the workers was not elected by the mine owner, but was elected by the miners themselves. Of course, this process could not avoid using some underhanded means.

  Each of the foremen is in charge of dozens to hundreds of workers, with the number varying depending on their ability. Above them are the head foremen, each having control over more than a thousand people and no longer needing to work themselves, but being responsible for supervising the miners and preventing them from causing trouble.

  Kuke was very capable, so he occupied a relatively easy-to-exploit mineral gathering place and also gathered more than 300 miners, which is the basis of his dominance in the Pickaxe Mine.

  "I'm telling you, if we don't dig up three hundred pounds of ore today, nobody eats dinner." Cook pointed at Dutton and then towards a tunnel, "That's your territory."

  "Kuk, you're a bad guy, that's a dead mine, even if he dug through the bottom of the earth, he wouldn't be able to get out one piece of ore."

  "It's not certain, maybe he can pull it off."

  "Oh, then the person in charge must be treating him well and feeding him well, letting him haul ore every day."

  The miners burst into laughter, and after a day of dull and tiring work, they also use these low-level fish to relax.

  Even among miners, status is different and they are divided into groups. At least those outcasts will always be bullied.

  "Come on, kid, get to work."

  Cook pushed Tong Dun away, but didn't hit him. In his opinion, every miner was a fat sheep and the ore they produced was wool. If he hurt them, it would inevitably affect production and reduce output, which would be a huge loss.

  The free men of Lima town, armed with pickaxes and iron hammers, hastily entered the tunnel. In the mine, the foreman's orders were law; if disobeyed, one would be done for.

  Dantong carried an iron crowbar and hammer into the tunnel, pondering how to solve the problem. He didn't want to waste time on this sort of thing.

  "A millionaire with assets over ten million, working to death in a mine, who would believe it?"

  Downton is eager to change his status, as a commoner, it's too unfree, even if it costs a high price, even if it's just an honorary title without land, he wants to buy one.

  "At least I have a noble status, no need to do labor service anymore." Danton slammed the iron hammer on the ground, listening to the crisp sound, suddenly reacted, "Right, spend money to buy ore, there's no one poorer than a miner."

  The miners were so poor that they only had one ounce of strength left, and a silver coin could buy ten pounds of ore. They absolutely went crazy selling to themselves.

  The tunnel led in all directions, and Tangdon soon found a miner facing the honest direction.

  "What's up? I won't help you!" The miner wiped the sweat and took a break, his today's excavation was almost done, no need to rush.

  Dangton didn't say a word, took out several silver coins and played with them listlessly.

  The miner's eyes widened suddenly, and under the dim light of the oil lamp, the silver coin's luster made people dizzy.

  Dangton slightly revealed his intention, and the miner hastily nodded in agreement.

  Even if they work hard outside for a day, miners only get five or six silver coins as wages. This deal is a win-win situation for both parties.

  "Next time, we can bring in the magic of alchemy." Tang Dun sat on the ground, pondering the problem, and in front of him, in less than twenty minutes, more than three hundred pounds of ore had already piled up.

  There are other stones in the ore vein that are not all ore, so digging them out and screening them out is not an easy task.

  "What? Not taking any more?" Another dozen or so miners carrying baskets full of ore walked in, heard that it was already full, and immediately showed a disappointed expression.

  Some of the miners were preparing to leave, but a few, their eyes darting back and forth, glared at Dutton, threatening him, "If you don't buy this ore from us, I'll tell Cook what you've done."

  "Is it? Then go!" Tang Zheng stood up and lightly patted the floating dust on his buttocks.

  "You think I don't dare? Give you one more chance, otherwise I'll really go."

  The miner's face turned pale, but before he could finish speaking, Tong Dun took a step forward and punched him in the nose, followed by a knee strike that hit his stomach.

  Watching the miner let out a miserable cry, clutching his stomach and kneeling on the ground, the other miners were shocked, none of them had expected this young man to actually fight back, and judging from his posture, he was obviously no stranger to fighting.

  "Aren't you going to report this?" Tang Don's leg swung at the miner's mouth, not too hard, at least it didn't knock out his teeth.

  "No, no more!" The miner begged for mercy.

  One of his loyal attendants heard the screams and rushed in, only to see Tongdon beating someone up, stunned, "What are you doing?"

  "Carry the ore on your backs and send it to the collection point." Tang Dun crossed his arms, laughing, "I'll take all of your ore."

  Cook was listlessly scratching his toes and preparing to take a nap when he saw Downton come out of the tunnel with a group of people.

  "What's going on?" Cook looked at the miners putting down their pickaxes, his face full of puzzlement.

  "Three hundred pounds, I did it." Danton lifted his leg and his military boots stepped on a basket. He casually pulled out an ancient St. Gildas gold coin from his pocket and played with it.

  "How is that possible? Wait, you bought the mine?" Cooke wasn't stupid, or he wouldn't have become a foreman, and seeing Downton's gold coins, he understood the reason.

  "Yes, it's very cheap." Tong Dun shrugged his shoulders, "But I think I've done something stupid."

  "What's wrong?" Cook asked subconsciously, thinking that Tangton must have gone crazy. If you're rich, you should be more filial and respectful to those in charge. How could they possibly put up with you? What use are these ordinary miners to you?!

  "If I were the boss, wouldn't a single copper coin be enough? " Tang Dun also just realized that if he wanted to climb up, he should start by becoming a foreman.

  "What? Did I hear that wrong?" Cook was stunned, then burst out laughing. "Is there a hole in your head? What makes you think you can be the leader, do these miners obey you?"

  When someone heard that he was going to usurp power, six trusted men surrounded him with iron pokers and pickaxes, staring at Tong Dun fiercely.

  To be a leader, apart from being able to fight and handle some troublemakers, you also need to give benefits to some close people, so they will support the leader and become the foundation of management.

  The miners of a town near Hokkoku all put down their work, took up their tools and gathered together, a sea of black, numbering over sixty.

  "I am Tandon of Morning Mist Town, from today on, this mining area is under my control!" Tandon kicked over the basket, and amidst the sound of rolling rocks, he made his declaration.

  The miners of Jitui Cave stared at Tang Dun in unison, their eyes wide with wonder, as if they were watching a big-talking earth spirit trying to occupy the nest of a giant dragon.

  "Haha, this is the funniest thing I've heard all year." Cook laughed loudly, taking a crude spear from his trusted aide and pointing it at Downton, "Up, get rid of him for me."

  The miners rushed forward, with six trusted men rushing the fastest.

  These people are Cook's direct line, they are the least likely to yield, so we must eliminate them first.

  Tang Dun showed no mercy, his right hand swept across the edge of his military boots and pulled out the broken magic dagger Array Rain that was inserted inside.

  Suddenly, under the dim light, a green light flashed by, and a trusted aide's arm was cut open, spewing out fresh blood.

  Never thought that Tong Dun would have a weapon and be so ruthless, the momentum of the miners suddenly collapsed.

  Tang Dun counterattacked, grasping a dagger and swinging out streaks of green light.

  The iron picks, shovels and hammers that the miners had brought with them were all broken in two. Even though they were made of iron, they seemed as fragile as a sheet of paper in the face of the storm.

  Hearing the broken tools clanging on the ground with a "ding-dong-dang" sound, the miners were stunned.

  "An S-rank dagger?" Cook's mouth was agape, wide enough to swallow a duck egg. With his impoverished gaze, he thought that an S-rank was already a rare treasure, and as for the perfect rank, it was simply unimaginable what kind of existence that would be.

  Dongton was like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, cutting out a piece of flesh and blood. He struck with great precision, all were flesh wounds, looking terrifying but not fatal.

  After all, having killed thousands of ghouls, Tandon still had some control over this, but the miners didn't think so. Watching the blood fly everywhere and hearing people scream as they fell to the ground, their faces turned white with fear. They couldn't withstand the pressure and began to retreat.

  The onlookers, the miners, never thought that Tong Dun would turn things around and were stunned into silence for a moment.

  "Put down your dagger and let's have a one-on-one fight." Cooke's palms, gripping the wolf-toothed club, were entirely sweaty.

  The wolf-tooth club was a thick wooden stick with some rusty nails nailed to it, and if you were hit by it, your skin would definitely split open. In the past, Cook had used this weapon to clean up many troublemakers, but today he found that it couldn't bring him any sense of security at all.

  "Alright!" Tanton casually put the sword back into its scabbard. Dealing with Cook was like dealing with a small fry, he could blow him up with just his bare hands.

  "This is what you asked for." Cook was taken aback for a moment, then overjoyed, and rushed towards Tongdun, swinging his wolf-tooth club to strike him on the head.