Finding a Blue Keystone

"Are we going to sleep in a mining tunnel?" Yuri questioned Tuss and Zeek, lifting an eyebrow in curiosity.

Tuss thought for a moment. "What if we have to mine during the night too?"

Yuri looked surprised. "Mining at night?"

"Better to be prepared. They might make us work extra hours," Tuss replied, his gaze intense. "If they can steal from others, who's to say others can't steal from them?"

Yuri caught on to his meaning. "Alright, let's make a makeshift shelter then, just something to catch some sleep." The restroom was shared, so they didn't have to worry about that.

"I'll go hunt for materials. Maybe I can find some iron sheets." As soon as she finished speaking, Yuri sent Enova to scan for metals around.

Zeek chose to go in the opposite direction to Yuri's. "I'll go check it out too."

Tuss stayed behind, clearing the scattered trash and rubble on the ground.

There was a big chunk of iron in a pit. Yuri's eyes sparkled as she walk to embrace the large piece of metal.

"Back off, we saw it first," someone suddenly yelled.

Yuri's smile instantly disappeared. She turned in disbelief to see a group, two guys and a girl, behind her. "I'm sorry?"

"Missing an arm, and now it seems your hearing's gone too. Such a pity," the girl mocked.

"Let's not waste time talking," one of the guys said, reaching out to grab Yuri. But Yuri was quick to dodge his reaching hand.

"I found it first," Yuri stood firm.

"In that case, we'll just have to take it from you," the guy smirked. Without warning, he swung a punch at Yuri.

His quick attack caught Yuri off guard. She swiftly dodged and responded, "Alright, it's yours."

With that, she sprinted away.

She was sure she could win in a fight against him, but showing her true strength in public was risky, especially when her own safety was uncertain. Keeping her real abilities hidden was the smarter move.

Yuri was able to gather a few chunks of burnt iron. As she made her way back, she used Enova to subtly mold the chunks into thin, wide plates. By the time she got back to the pit, she had several iron sheets of the right thickness, perfect for assembling a tin-roofed shelter.

Observing the now flat pit floor, Yuri asked Tuss, "How did you manage to get down and then back up again?"

Tuss glanced at her, but didn't reply, engrossed in his task.

Yuri rubbed her nose, realizing her question might not have been necessary.

Quietly, she started moving stones. With one arm missing, she could only hug or cradle the rocks. Her already soiled clothes were now way past the point of clean.

Every now and then, Tuss glanced at her, his lips tightly drawn. A thought struck him: "How I wish I could meet her when I was still in one piece."

The thought surprised him, filling him with an odd sense of guilt.

"There's no sun here, no rain, but there is wind. Living in the pit might not be such a bad idea. I'll build up the pit a little," Yuri added.

In her mind, she said to herself, "Building it up will make it easier for Tuss to move in and out."

Zeek nodded in agreement with Yuri's plan. "That sounds like a plan."

"No need to fill it completely, just make some steps," Tuss added.

Yuri thought for a bit, saying, "That makes sense. We can also lower part of the floor, saving us some time and energy."

But in the end, neither time nor energy was saved. At Tuss's insistence, they reinforced the walls to a robust half-meter thickness. Yuri and Zeek compacted it firmly with hammers, making sure it wouldn't easily cave in.

By the time they finished the shelter, dusk had already fallen on the second day. The three were worn out from a full day and night of labor. After gulping down a bottle of Nutrient Fluid, they were too tired for chit-chat and immediately crashed.

Yuri slept on one side while Tuss and Zeek took the other.

They'd only been asleep for about an hour when the harsh clang of a gong shattered the silence.

In the dim light, both Yuri and Tuss groggily opened their eyes.

Yuri was the first to rise. As she headed outside, she mumbled under her breath, rubbing her sore back, "Waking someone up like this… I hope they die now and burn in hell."

Tuss: "....."

As Yuri started up the digger, a pirate stood behind her, his dark eyes watchful. His look suggested that if Yuri didn't do a good job, he wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

Fighting off her tiredness, Yuri skillfully controlled the digger, nearly stealing the limelight. The spectators kept stealing glances at her, thinking: "If a woman with one arm works this hard, doesn't that make us look completely useless?"

Biting their lips, the others secretly increased their power and speed, attempting to outperform Yuri.

However, they soon discovered they couldn't even keep up with her, a woman with a disability. It was unbelievable.

They concluded that her husband must have secretly upgraded her digger, or there was no way that they could be outdone by a one-armed woman.

Oblivious to their thoughts, Yuri noticed a Blue Keystone ahead. She hesitated, wondering whether to unearth it.

"What's the matter? Can't handle it?" the pirate asked, noticing her slowdown.

Yuri pointed at the spot with the Blue Keystone, frowning, "The rock here is tougher than the rest."

The pirate's eyes gleamed. "Quit your whining and keep digging."

A spark flickered in Yuri's clear eyes. Suddenly, she cranked the rock-digger to maximum power. With a thunderous crash, fragments of rocks and metal flew—

Yuri, prepared for this, quickly ducked. The pirate, taken by surprise, could only use his arm to shield his face.

The noise of falling debris filled the air, followed by the smell of blood.

Looking down at herself, Yuri found she was unharmed. As for the person who was hurt—

Yuri looked up, meeting the pirate's dark, threatening gaze.

The ominous barrel of a gun was aimed at her head. Yuri flinched, then quickly pointed forward, "Look, there's a Blue Keystone."

The pirate's focus shifted. He followed Yuri's pointing finger and sure enough, there was a blue gem.

Yuri had never seen such a blue, a flawless blue, only the size of a soybean. It looked even more pure and pristine in the pirate's dirty hand.

It was stunningly beautiful.

Yuri couldn't believe her eyes. The stone was even prettier than the crystal cores they'd found in zombies.

The pirate was taken aback too, his eyes lighting up with obsession. When the others tried to take a peek, he shot them a warning look, "What are you staring at? Get back to work!"

And just like that, he left without uttering another word.

Yuri was puzzled, thinking, "Isn't it normal to keep digging in such circumstances, to check if there're more stones nearby?"

"Blue Keystones are usually solitary. Once you spot one, you can be sure there won't be another for quite a distance," Tuss explained, his voice echoing behind Yuri.

Turning to face him, Yuri commented, "So that's why he bolted so fast."

Tuss examined the badly damaged digger, then the bloodstains on the ground. His eyes finally landed on Yuri. Seeing that she was alright, he breathed a sigh of relief, mentally preparing himself to fix the almost destroyed digger.

Yuri moved closer to the spot where she'd unearthed the Blue Keystone. She stretched out her hand and gently touched the place. Her empty sleeve brushed against the place seemingly by accident. After making sure no one was looking at her, she moved quickly and got another bean-size Blue Keystone into her sleeve.