Facing Cook's offensive, Tong didn't flinch at all, his right fist clenched tightly and struck out quickly, pounding on the back of Cook's right wrist that was holding the wolf-toothed club.

  Cook's arm ached, and he slid to the side, barely grasping the wolf-toothed club. However, he was also used to fighting in groups, so he endured the pain and kicked towards Downton's groin.

  Dundon lifted his foot just in time to block Cook's incoming kick, and then followed up with a vicious stomp to the knee.

  In agony, Cook stumbled and fell forward onto the ground.

  Dundon followed the momentum with a hook punch, hitting Cook's chin and lifting his body up. Then, with both fists firing like a shotgun, he continuously pounded on his chest.

  Cook's body shook like a sieve, constantly retreating, Tong Dun tightly pursued and struck, then stepped across, his right fist like a powerful crossbow, heavily hitting his chest.

  Bang! Cook flew out and rolled on the ground for over a dozen meters. His head was battered by broken stones, bleeding profusely.

  Danton sprang forward with his feet and almost in the blink of an eye he had darted up to Cook.

  Kouk struggled and just lifted his head, only to see a long leg whip-like lash coming over and hitting him in the mouth.

  Like a battered burlap sack, Cook rolled on the ground, knocked out cold from the blow, mercifully spared further suffering.

  "Who else is dissatisfied? You can come out!" Tang Don lightly patted his clothes, then swept his gaze around the crowd.

  The miners around all lowered their heads and didn't dare to look at Tong Dun. They never thought that Tong Dun was so capable of fighting.

  Cook's fellow villagers were clearly not convinced, exchanging glances and whispers, but there were still a dozen or so storm-battered unfortunates wailing in the distance, reminding them of the gap between themselves and the might of Downton.

  "Alright, I'm Tandon from Fogtown. From today on, this mining area is under my control." Same words as before, but this time, not a single miner dared to laugh out loud.

  Several free men from Morning Dew Town stood out, their brains were not bad, they knew there was no choice, even if Cook made a final counterattack, their side would still be implicated, and it's better to attach themselves to Tongdon earlier.

  Someone took the lead and more people from Chenyu Town stood up. After all, it's a big town on the border, so there are quite a few people, over a hundred.

  "Downton, you can't just barge in like this. Even if you manage to placate Cook, the foreman will never acknowledge your status." Someone kindly warned that Downton was too young and probably not tactful enough to persuade the foreman.

  "Don't recognize? No problem, then just trample him down too." Tang Dun hadn't played his trump card yet, otherwise even if he was a big boss controlling over a thousand people, he wouldn't be a match for the Corpse Devouring Demon Servant, who could absolutely tear him to shreds.

  The miners fell silent, they didn't have the nerve of Tang Don.

  "Haven't you had enough days of being exploited? Are you happy to hand over mining taxes every day?" Tang Dun retorted.

  The ore tax is paid to the big workers. Refusing will result in abuse and bullying, which is still light. If you are disabled, your whole life is over.

  No one answered, and of course the miners were unhappy. But this was the dark rule of Dagger Mine - who could break it?

  "From today on, no one can suck our blood as miners! Let those parasites die!" Tang Don roared, "As long as you believe in me and follow me, I will always charge forward at the front, taking back everything that belongs to you."

  "You don't think you're going to be a big shot, do you?" A man with obvious prestige among the miners asked, "We won't go crazy with you."

  "Why can't I do it?" Danton sneered, staring at the man who asked the question. "Courage, I'm not lacking, fighting to the death, I'm not afraid of either. As for decisive force, I can fight too. Why shouldn't I go and compete?"

  Danton's words stunned the miners. They did not expect that this young man, although not old in years, had a stronger temperament and courage than these adults.

  The mine fell into silence, everyone's thoughts were in disarray. As long as they were miners, no one had not been bullied before. Even now, every day, in addition to the fixed amount of work, each person had to pay an extra tax on minerals to the head worker.

  "I don't want to be like you, being bullied every day, not even daring to say a harsh word, and can only cry in the quilt at night with grievances?" Tang Dun swept his eyes over these miners disdainfully. "You work hard for a month, but haven't even received a salary, leaving behind only fatigue and scars. When you go back, how will you face your wives, children? Will you tell them that their father and husband is a coward, and the money he earned was all taken away? Can't even afford to buy a gift for them?"

  "You're the soft egg!" Finally someone couldn't take the teasing and shouted out.

  "Great, that's the spirit I want! I'll lead you to take back all the ore that the big bosses have taken away from you." Tang Don stirred up the miners, and intimidation alone was not enough, but also driven by interests.

  Young people were excited, but more middle-aged people who had been worn down by the hardships of life and had their edges smoothed out looked distrustful, they wouldn't accompany Tang Dun to fight desperately.

  "As long as you follow me, after the labor period ends, each person will be given at least twenty gold coins. Those who make special contributions will be rewarded with at least one hundred gold coins."

  Danton has made his offer, and it would be better to use the gold coins to reward ordinary miners rather than bribing officials and foremen. At least when he becomes a big foreman, he will no longer have to kowtow to anyone.

  "Where did you get the money from?" Some people still don't believe it.

  "What do you think this dagger is worth? Is it enough to pay your wages?" Tang Don took out the array of rain and shook it, under the dim light of the oil lamp, its sharp color was still unstoppable.

  "Danton, we support you becoming a great leader!" The miners had no doubt that even if they were fools, they understood that this dagger was worth a city.

  "It's all over!" Cook, who had just come to, saw the scene and in his rage, spat out another mouthful of blood. Listening to the miners' discussions, he only had one thought left in his mind - to go find the big boss and suppress Tongtong.

  "Let's all get back to work." Downton sat down on Cook's blanket and quietly let out a breath of relief, for he had thought of a way to break the impasse.

  Who is the most powerful person in the mine? Of course, it's the mine owner. If you gain his trust, your status will naturally be elevated, and at that time, ordinary people won't dare to cause trouble easily. So next, it's only natural to make things bigger and better, attracting the attention of the owner.

  "Competing for the position of Da Kuang's head?" Tang Dun found it amusing. His goal was far from being that superficial.

  "Bring Cook over."

  Danton wants to interrogate the intelligence and figure out the power distribution of the dagger mine as well as notable targets in the shortest time possible.

  Gatsby was thoroughly shocked, watching the miners obey Downton's orders, dragging Cook, who had been arrogant just now, to Downton's side, and couldn't believe it was true.

  Everyone was a young man of the same age, but he was beaten in front of the mine gate and extorted silver coins. Tang Dun didn't pay a single copper coin, beat the guard, entered the mining area, and within half a day, he pulled down the foreman and rose to power.

  "This is why?" Ge Ce couldn't figure out why he was even worse than a useless piece of junk compared to others.

  The miners' minds were distracted from their work, all discussing Tongtong. Every time they passed by the collection point, seeing Cook kneeling beside Tongtong, they still found it unbelievable.

  When the sun sets, three short blasts of the horn sound, loud and sonorous, indicating that it's time to get off work.

  Five miners who had just been pushed forward stepped up to Danton's side, hesitant to speak.

  "Out with it!" Thaddeus kicked a pebble, "Cook, you can go."

  Cook ran away like a fugitive.

  "Alright, let's just pay the ore tax for today!" The miners inquired, not daring to disobey the great foreman.

  In fact, what they didn't say was that if Tang Don failed, it would still be their bad luck. The big bosses had already given the word: if the daily ore tax wasn't paid on time, it would double the next day.

  Downton's response was simple: he kicked the garrulous miner to the ground.

  The miners who were leaving saw a scene, shrugging their shoulders and walking even faster, and even those who originally wanted to stay and see the situation didn't dare to linger.

  "What's the point of discussing? I'm the boss!" Tang Dun scolded with a stern face, having just taken office. If what he said was changed, his authority would plummet to an all-time low, not to mention that it would make them even more overbearing.

  "We didn't mean it like that." A miner hastily explained.

  Tang Dun didn't listen and kicked again. At thirteen, he had already served as a laborer in the mine, which made him understand how to make miners obey like sheep.

  "You five, you're fired! Get out!" Tang Don didn't even look at these soft eggs and walked towards the tunnel exit, pointing randomly as he went. "You, you, and you, from today on, are my trusted followers."

  The three young miners who were named were overjoyed and immediately gathered around Tang Don, as trusted followers, they didn't have to work, just supervise the miners, which was an absolutely generous welfare.

  "Foreman, you can't do this!" The five guys who had lost their rights were as pale as death and caught up with Tang Dun, begging bitterly.

  Tang Dun didn't even turn his head, he originally used these guys who had some prestige among the miners to stabilize the emotions of the miners more quickly and control them, but he forgot that these five old-timers were also the most content with the status quo, so the newly elected ones were all young people without exception.

  "Scram, don't bother Tang Dong!" The three new confidants didn't want to lose their jobs and, without waiting for Tang Dong's orders, stretched out their hands and pushed them away.

  Downton is very satisfied, these young people are more aggressive and less willing to be oppressed.

  "Foreman, hurry up, if we're late, there won't be any food left." A sycophant fawned, the work in the mine was bitter and tiring, but the miners ate a lot, yet somehow the canteen's food always seemed to run out, and if they were late, all they could have was plain boiled water.