After all the slaves spent the few days waiting patiently...the day of the guard shift change finally arrived. It was also the same day that David was required to return to deliver his goods to Head Guard Helio. For this trip, David's satchel was full of smaller heavenly stones. While it wasn't as good as previous runs, Head Guard Helio seemed very happy.

David hoped this plan worked. The two men sure seemed greedy enough.

"Master," David said as they walked up the stairs alone to Mr. Harver's office, "I found something else really special...but I couldn't remove it from the mines."

"What?," Head Guard Helio said starting to angry. He didn't like when slaves talked to him out of turn.

"I found a very large heavenly stone, but I didn't mark it with a beacon. The stone was huge and easy to find again....but very far down the tunnel. However, I didn't know what to do since it was too big for me to carry. It would probably take two groups of slaves to work it free," David said trying to sound very disappointed in himself for not being able to bring the stone back in his own.

"WHAT!," Head Guard Helio said, "You can find it again...right?"

"Of course Master, but your supervision is probably needed due to the size of the stone. I can't bring it out quietly like the others," David said. His whole goal was to make Head Guard Helio spend a few consecutive days in the tunnel. In David's planning, the one issue that David had was that Head Guard Helio would leave every day. So, if David killed him....his lack of presence in the outside would be noticed immediately. It would cause an immediate investigation into the mines and the plans would unravel. He needed everyone to have a few days to organize and plan before they bring the revolt to the surface.

After a quick walk, David met with Mr. Harver and Head Guard Helio. Surprisingly, Head Guard Helio did the opposite of what David expected. He directly told Mr. Harver about the issue of the large stone. David never understood why Head guard Helio didn't directly take a cut for himself. He always brought the goods to Mr. Harver...and let Mr. Harver decide his share.

After a brief discussion between the two men, they decided that Head Guard Helio would lead two groups of slaves to the Heavenly stone's location for removal. Mr. Harver wanted the stone whole. By David's descriptions, the slaves should take at least three to four days to remove the large heavenly tone, then another three to four days to haul it out of the mines.

The main problem was that the two men couldn't smuggle out the large stone to their own private stash. It would be really obvious and draw attention from everyone. Not all of the guards could be trusted with keeping the news of the discovery secret.

After a lengthy discussion, the two men decided to avoid trouble and turn the heavenly stone over directly to the Manco Town advisors that owned the oasis town. This way they would seem like good stewards of the mines and could continue with their own backdoor dealings without much worry...and they would still receive some profits from the ordeal.

After the decision was made, David felt that he was very lucky. This response was exactly what he wanted to happen. No one on the surface would expect any of the guards to exit the mines for at least 8 days. This would give David alot of time to prepare for what comes next.

However, David didn't get the usual treatment this night. The mine manager was so eager to get the heavenly stone out of the mines that he had sent both David and Head Guard Helio back into the mines to get to work immediately. David had really wanted to spend one more night above to review the situation in the town....but that wasn't going to happen now. He had to hope that nothing changed to drastically since his last review of the town.

"Fuck....I didn't know he was going to send us right back in," Head Guard Helio cursed as he walked out of the office.

"You better hope we get this job done quickly....any day past 7 days in the tunnel and you are getting beat," Head Guard Helio said with anger in his voice. After leaving Mr. Harver's office, the guard's mood had quickly deteriorated from happy about the find...to unhappy about spending nights in the tunnels.

He had even smacked around David a bit on the walk back to the mines.

Walking into the mines, David received a few glances from slaves. He could see eagerness in their eyes. All he could do is grin back at them when no one was looking.

Head Guard Helio made all the arrangements for supplies and was quickly ready to get moving down the tunnel.

The head guard has also arranged for six slaves to follow him and David for the removal of the stone. One thing that didn't surprise David was that the two groups of slaves that Head Guard Helio picked....happened to be the two groups that the other slaves had said couldn't be trusted. David realized that these must be two groups that Head Guard Helio personally oversaw and directed.

After making all the arrangements, David started leading the group of seven men down the dark tunnel. The light from their torches flickering down the tunnel as they trudged forward down the tunnel.

_________________________________

"How much longer until we get there?," Head Guard Helio said in an impatient voice.

"Not much longer, Master," David said. They have been walking steadily down the tunnel for almost 8 hours. David estimated that they had covered at least 4 miles. The slaves carrying the mining equipment seemed to be struggling to keep up.

All of a sudden, David stopped in the tunnel.

"Master, I can sense danger ahead," David said, "It feels like an insect....probably a centipede...about 50 feet ahead of us in that side tunnel."

"Fuck.....," Head Guard Helio said while removing his sword at his side, "Stay put. I will be back in a few minutes."

The man slowly moved forward down the tunnel.

As soon as Head Guard Helio turned into the side tunnel, David moved. With his true speed and strength, he quickly knocked out the six loyal slaves that were in the tunnel around him. David then removed his slave collar and set it among the unconscious bodies.

He then crept off behind Head Guard Helio.

Silently sneaking up behind the man, David punched the man in the back of the head knocking him unconsious. The man's body slumped on the floor of the tunnel and his ready sword clattered to the ground. Head Guard Helio was a peak level Foundation Stage cultivator....but David was a Level 2 Demigod....the strength difference was too much.

'That was easy,' David thought before grabbing the man's ankle and dragging him back to the other bodies.

David took a few of the guard's valuables including the sword and brought them over to a spot about 20 feet down from the pile of unconscious men. He then sat down and entered the soul space.

David quickly found the dream orbs of the six loyal slaves and Head Guard Helio. Using his dream skills, he locked each of the men in an unconsious state. He didn't want to kill them yet. David needed some living bodies for his another phase of the plan.

After making sure the men were secure, David darted back down the tunnel toward the main tunnel chamber.

At full speed, he made the trip back around an hour.

Once he got near the main chamber, he came across the first set of slaves. David quickly removed their collars and told them to remain in place for now. He was going to free the other slaves first. He would let them know when to come to the main tunnel chamber.

Moving through the tunnels like a wraith, David worked quickly to free the other slaves. After a few hours, the only groups remaining were those under direct supervision of the guards.

Although he could have snuck up on the guards and killed them, David wanted to wait until the guards started to go to sleep. He would deal with them in his own special way.

After waiting about 2 hours, David noticed that all the guards and remaining slaves in the tunnels began to go to sleep after the day's work. As soon as they went to sleep, David sat down alone in the tunnel.

Appearing in the soul space, he was greated by Misery.

"Night....Is it time?...Is it time?," the death spirit said in an excited manner.

"Yes, sweetheart.....it is time," David said as he focused his perception. The orbs of the ten guards appeared in his soul space. None of the slaves were actually asleep....they were waiting.

"Take as many as you need," David said to Misery.

As usual, Misery immediately left without saying a word. She went from orb to orb. David could see them go out one by one. After she got to the eighth one, Misery stopped and came back by David.

"Night...I feel so full.....I think I am going to explode," Misery said holding her slim exposed belly.

"Great.....you left two for me then," David said as he went over the absorbed the orbs of the other two guards.

So after about an hour of work in the soul space, all the ten remaining guards were dead.

Of course, there were some exceptions. The unconscious Head Guard Helio still laid face down a tunnel with his loyal slaves.....and the guard at the door was only put to sleep by David. David had made the guard at the door stuck in a sleep for the night. No one would be able to wake him up. He didn't want someone that might randomly come down to check on the mines to find a dead body. He intended to keep this man alive for now.

Now, he had 7 days to gather these men together and prepare for the upcoming events. There was no turning back at this point.

After running a few quick errands, David began gathering up the scattered groups of slaves in the main chamber. Any group that had a dead guard was responsible for dragging the body back to the main chamber.

In about two hours' time, David had freed all the remaining slaves and notified all the other groups that the guards were dead.

As they began to gather in the main tunnel chamber, the noise from the freed slaves was growing quite loud.

"Quiet down for a second," David yelled at the men.

In a manner of seconds, the entire crowd of 93 freed slaves quieted down. David had freed them all. He had earned some respect with these men.

"As of this moment, we have 7 days until those people outside of the mines realize that something is wrong down here. I want everyone to take this time to prepare for the troubles ahead," David said as he revealed the pile of heavenly stones, elemental gems and crude weapons.

"Take the clothes and any supplies you can from the guards. Go through this pile of supplies and find anything that can help you heal your wounds, restore your strength.....or even increase your strength," David said causing the men to get even more excited. They were hanging off David's words at this point.

"In the three days, I will lead a group of you down the route to the location in this tunnel system that approaches near the surface. This way....someone besides myself will know of the route out of this place....in case something happens to me," David said to assure the men.

"If you don't mind the work, we could also work on the exit then....you have been freed...I won't force you to do anything...but know that the more we all do...the better our chances of survival," David said before warning, "I need to go somewhere in the tunnel for a day or two. Please use this time to adjust yourselves. No infighting will be tolerated...we will have the opportunity to get more supplies later and...we are not each other's enemies."

The group of men turned serious at David's comments. A few even shouted their agreement with his demands.

"After we are done with the preparations...everyone should have time for a few days of rest before we are go to the surface....I'll see you all in two days," David said before he turned and sped down the tunnel.

"Misery, are you ready?," David asked as he headed down the tunnel where the bodies of Head Guard Helio and the loyal slaves was located.