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Life in the Underground gradually settled down and headed towards a positive direction.

My geode cracking skill had improved a lot and was able to sustain both of our diets. At least we didn’t need to worry about starvation anymore. While Rene’s strength was building up, he was able to better practice his meditation. Before he could only sparkle thunder with his forefinger, and now the whole hand! Although there wasn’t much practical use other than the aesthetics, it was still a great improvement.

All these days, I hadn’t seen Zen at all. Did he get poisoned by Dax and his followers?

I already warned him last time we saw each other. Hopefully he wasn’t dumb enough to still fall for it. By the way, why should I be worried about that dude?

“Nana sis, have you heard of the big news?” Rene asked while I was munching on the steam bun.

After a day of hard work, it felt good to finally have dinner. During the day, I was mostly busy making a living than paying attention to the conversations around me, therefore had no idea what news Rene was referring to.

“What is it?”

“Last night, Headman Daoba completely vanished from the Underground. They were talking about him being killed by the upper authority, but I know this is untrue. He must have escaped. At least that was how the previous headmen left the Underground. Once they gain enough wealth and authority, there is a way to get out of here. Too bad not everyone has the strength to become a headman, otherwise we could have a way out too.”

I recalled the conversation Dax had with his bro. What Rene was saying was indeed very likely. Now Headman Daoba was gone, did that mean we had a new headman?

“Who is the new successor?”

“I don’t know. The gang seemed abnormally quiet about it. Nobody was announcing any news about the new headman. There must be a lot of disputes going on within the gang right now. But if I have to take a guess, it has to be Zen.”

After hearing this, I wonder if Zen was doing all right. He must have a ton of business to take care of right now. Of course, if he was still alive.

The thought of him being the new headman was not a bad idea. Perhaps he was willing to lower the “daily fee”?

No, no, no~

He was not that kind of person to help out others. Instead, he was the kind of person who will not have any empathy at all.

Still………

He saved me from getting caught in the Central Base.

Oh, who cared?

Rene was right that the gang was abnormally quiet during these days. They were still collecting our coins everyday, and seemed relatively calm like Headman Daoba had never left the Underground. This was awfully weird.

Just like the day before the storm hit, it could be extra beautiful and silent.

Until one day, when the ugly started to surface.

It all began with the introduction of a new group of slaves into the Underground, starting one of the largest riots ever. At least that was how Rene described it since he has been here much longer than me.

It affected all the bases, and was extremely frantic as well, up to a point that it was impossible to crack rocks without somebody punching you for nothing. The gang punished the revolters real hard. Blood and cracking of bones were everything. Rene and I were trying to survive this hassle.

Those eight foot guards did nothing; they stood there as if this happened everyday. It might be more fun for them to watch the slaves attacking and killing each other than wasting their energy to get involved. They didn’t have to contribute at all, but wait for the gang to take care of the dirty business.

“We demand for fairness! Cut down the fees!”

“Yes, fee reduction!”

“Fee reduction!”

The slaves were tough and determined, and wanted to speak to the higher authority. There were sounds of whipping, hitting, and groaning all around. Rene and I were dodging from the violence, until I found it unbearable to put myself outside of the whole situation.

That was when an old woman fell beside me and begged one of the gangsters to stop. She was just an old woman who was trying to get away from the riot, but the gang’s eyes were bloodshot and couldn’t control their violence. They punished whoever came across them. It didn’t matter if it was an elderly or a child, they saw nothing but revolters who wanted to challenge their authority.

Yes, I was a turtle who preferred to put my head inside the shell when it came to the uncontrollable, and deeply understood how weak we were in front of the gang. Riots like this only sacrificed more lives with no outcome. There was no way the high authority and the gang had empathy for the poor slaves.

In order to end the whole slavery system, we needed someone who was strong and empathic, and willing to take them out of the whole situation.

Where was this person then?

I always wondered.

I needed to wait until I was strong enough to help more people instead of dying in a riot, but the old woman really reminded me of Grandma Sha. A sharp pain pierced through my heart and paralyzed my whole being for a short moment.

That gangster raised his arm high with a hammer and aimed at the old woman.

The next thing I knew was that my chisel was deeply stabbed into the man’s chest. Warm blood stained his clothing and dripped onto my fingers. I didn’t have time to even think and respond, before his hammer came down real hard on my right shoulder.

“Nana sis!” Rene screamed.

The force was so hard that I was thrown onto the ground, and felt an excruciating pain pierced through my shoulder blade. It felt as if the bones were all shattered inside. The man pulled out the chisel and threw it away. His face was full of anger and disgust, since he didn’t expect this coming from a weak girl like me. Perhaps he felt too insulted that he came over and gave me a few kicks in the stomach.

I was no more than a ball rolling on the ground, until……….

A small shadow blocked in front of me……….

It was Rene.

“Please stop!”

Rene opened his arms widely to protect me from any more attacks. His pale little face was written with endless worries.

The gangster stopped for a second, and looked down on him.

“You are not part of the gang anymore, Rene. You think I would soften my fists toward a useless scum? Hurry and leave before I knock your head off!”

“I am not going anywhere!” Rene insisted, “Kill me first if you want to lay a finger on my sister!”

The man chuckled sarcastically, “Your sister? Haha……That’s the funniest joke I have heard for a long while. She resembles nothing like you, and you call her sister. A real man shouldn’t have true feelings for others. You just show how useless and naive you are.”

“You guys won’t understand.”

“I will give you one last chance to leave, or I won’t have any mercy!”

I tugged Rene’s sleeve, and urged him to just leave. If something happened to him, I won’t forgive myself. Saving others would mean putting my life in danger, and that was what I anticipated in the first place, but I couldn’t let Rene risk his life for me.

“Just listen to me, Rene, if you still think of me as your sister.”

Rene’s brown eyes watered up, but his body didn’t budge an inch.

“I know you simply want me to get out of the danger. Anything you said I would listen to, but not this time.”

The gangster raised his arm with the hammer again.

“Then you both go die!”

As the man attacked, someone kicked the hammer out of his hand.

“Enough! Dax sends out a new order to retrieve now, but go get those main revolters first. Just killing them here won’t threaten the rest to behave well. We have a big plan for all the slaves to witness.”

Leo came close, and grabbed my hair and dragged me along.

“Leo! You owe me a favor!” Rene shouted as he hopped with difficulty, and fell down so hard on the ground that his silvery hair was full of dirt.

Leo stopped moving, but didn’t look back.

“I owe you nothing.”

“Damn it, Leo! You bastard!”

I heard Rene’s cry behind, that he was crawling toward my direction.

I felt really bad that I got Rene in this kind of situation. Our life in the Underground had just improved, and now we were separated again. Not soon after, he was completely out of sight.