Mine Path #7

William smiled and didn't answer Sigmonds's question. Instead, he asked him something completely unrelated.

"What do you think of your life now?"

"What do you mean?" Sigmonds asked warily. If he was only suspicious previously, he was almost certain that the person in front of him wasn't a miner who had been transferred over.

He had asked about the mine's blockade and asked about his situation in life. Even an idiot could tell that something was amiss.

Could it be a spy sent by the duke? Or a spy from the royal family?

From the other party's constant questions about the mine being sealed not long ago, the latter seemed more likely.

Back then, the duke had relied on inciting the miners to riot to gain actual ownership of the Silverstream Mine from the royal family. Now, did the royal family want to use the excuse of the recent accident to give him a taste of his own medicine?

"Or perhaps I should ask you more directly, are you willing to continue living like this?"

Seeing that Sigmonds didn't seem to plan on answering, William continued asking.

These words convinced Sigmonds that the other party was from the royal family.

"As long as I live on without being embroiled in some inexplicable dispute or dying for no reason," Sigmonds replied.

Although he hadn't experienced the Silverstream Mine riot 20 years ago, he had heard from an old miner who had experienced it and understood how tragic it was.

Back then, those miners were the vanguard. After making a huge sacrifice to help the duke regain ownership of the mine, the duke broke his original promise and exploited them even more.

Never trust the promises made by those in power.

The old miner who had taught him had once said this to him before he died in a mining accident.

"Only by surviving can we live. If you want us to risk our lives for a promise that we don't know if you can keep in the future, I advise you not to ask further. We're only here to earn a living and don't want to cause ourselves too much trouble."

Sigmonds continued.

"It's no wonder that the supervisor outside calls you a 'Mr. Nice Guy.' Did you become the person in charge here by not causing trouble or suffering punishment in the stead of others?"

William looked at him and spoke in a mocking tone.

"There's no need to goad me. I won't fall for it."

At this moment, they were walking along the tunnel. The sound of shovels and ores constantly sounded from ahead.

As Sigmonds spoke, he took off the shovel hanging at his waist.

"Times have changed, and it's completely different from 20 years ago. Back then, the people here could rely on shovels and explosives to attack the supervisors and guards here and rely on their own strength to seal off this mine, but what about now?"

Sigmonds pointed above his head.

"The duke relied on this to earn his wealth back then. Do you think he will let this happen again? You saw it when you came in previously. The guards here are elite Bramble Guards, and the supervisor is a magic chanter with the title of Expert. What do you expect us to do? To throw our lives away?"

"No, I wasn't asking about that," William replied.

"From the beginning to the end, I've been asking you if you can accept the current situation."

Sigmonds fell silent.

He only spoke after taking a few more turns in the tunnel.

"You asked me if I could accept it. We are ordered around like dogs, and we are whipped because we didn't add the word 'sir.' If we die inside, our corpses can't even be buried in the cemetery to rest in peace. Of course, I can't f*cking accept it, but so what? Can this f*cking reality change?"

His tone was very calm.

The other party's next words almost choked him.

"If the entire Silverstream Mine is handed over to you to manage, are you confident that you can manage it well?"

"What?"

Sigmonds felt that he must've heard wrongly.

"I said, would you feel fine if I handed the entire mine to you?"

"Why?"

"This is because you don't have the experience of managing an Elementium Silver refinery."

William gave a matter-of-fact answer, but it was obvious that that wasn't what he wanted to ask.

"So you're really from the royal family's faction and want to incite the miners to riot again?"

Sigmonds made it clear.

"I just want the ownership of this mine. There's no need for you to riot. I'm asking this because I need someone capable to help me manage this place," William said calmly. "Is this what your superiors want?"

"I don't have any superiors. This is my will."

Sigmonds was stunned for a long time before asking, "Therefore, we'll return to the previous question. Who are you?"

"It's not time for me to say my real name, but you can call me Presiding Judge."

"Then, Your Excellency, may I ask what gives you the confidence to make the duke hand over this mine and even the Elementium Silver refinery to you?"

Now, Sigmonds began to wonder if the person in front of him who claimed to be Presiding Judge was a lunatic.

"You've all been duped," the person suddenly said.

"How?" Sigmonds asked.

"Didn't you say that Mine #7 was sealed off because of the excavation of a skull temple from the Blackwater Kingdom two months ago?"

As William spoke, he raised his voice so that the sound of those digging could still hear clearly.

"Therefore, we're excavating Mine Path #9. Is there anything wrong?"

At this moment, they happened to turn a corner and walk into a wide area.

William looked at everything in front of him and said coldly, "But when I came in, I clearly saw the sign saying Mine Path #7."

At this moment, they were outside an open hall. All the miners who had gathered outside had entered the hall from different forks. Everyone's eyes were lifeless as they mechanically excavated the rock walls.

In the middle of the hall were countless fossilized skulls. More than ten phosphorescent spirits floated in the air, and glowing threads extended from their bodies to connect to the heads of every miner.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of a shovel hitting the rock wall kept echoing.

Sigmonds first looked at the strange scene in front of him with a matter-of-fact expression before looking strangely at William beside him.

"Isn't this Mine Path #9? Is there anything wrong?"

Pfft…

An ordinary straight sword had appeared in William's hand at some point. Before Sigmonds could react, the sword sank deep into the throat of the youth named Colt he had been holding.

"You…"

Everything happened too quickly. For a moment, Sigmonds didn't even know if he should rush over and fight the man to the death or try to save the youth first.

"You don't even know that you were sold to a Lunar Monster."

With that said, William drew his straight sword, and Colt collapsed.