As he spoke, he hit a pickaxe into the mineral vein, but no sparks flew out. Wolf Ribot didn't know what metal the mining pickaxe was made of.

Aru, who was listening to the old miner's words, felt intense discomfort all over his body, because he panicked and discovered that he had almost adapted to the current life like the old miner.

The fear in Aru's heart made him want to get a cigarette uncontrollably. He wanted to use cigarettes to calm himself down, but his reason told him that he must not light an open fire in the coal mining area.

Instinct and reason clashed violently, causing his whole body to tremble like an epilepsy.

Until a hand was placed on his shoulder.

He gradually calmed down in just two seconds. When he turned his head in confusion, he saw that the red hair under the miner's hat looked so dazzling under the dim scattered light of the searchlight...

Aru came back to his senses, looked at Messiah gratefully, clasped his hands together, and gently clasped his chest.

The next moment, in Messiah's field of vision, the [Patio] and the real world overlapped. In the world on the side of the [Patio], a light group appeared at the location of Aru in the real world. At the same time, a voice

Clearly emerged from the ball of light in front of the Messiah.

'Spring God bless...'

The girl was at a loss.

No one, including Aru, noticed the change in her mood.

Wolf Ribot looked at the old miner and said stumblingly:

"The work here must be very hard...it could cost you your life...this is inhumane..."

He looked at the bulging hunchback on the old miner's back. Although he knew that the situation might be different from what he imagined, he still asked according to his original thinking:

"If you need it, I can... help you leave."

He originally wanted to say "get you out," but what the old miner said was beyond his imagination, and he unconsciously used more conservative language.

"What are you doing out there?"

The old miner looked at him with doubtful eyes:

"Except for the work in the mine, I can't do anything when I go out."

The old miner said in a proud tone:

"When I first entered the industry, my master told me that the industrial age would last for decades or hundreds of years, and the empire would always be short of coal. As long as I worked hard, I would never be unemployed. Now it seems that he really didn't lie to me.

!”

The old miner put the mining pick aside and counted with his fingers like Wolf:

“Let’s talk about the treatment on the island:

Eat, three meals a day on the island. Although the food is not very good, you can spend your own money to buy meat. Although the quick-frozen meat on the island is more expensive than outside, it is not much more expensive.

Wearing a miner's uniform all day long is considered a sum of money. Although you have to spend money to buy it, a miner's uniform lasts a lifetime! Look at what I'm wearing, I've been wearing it for eight years, and it's just fading!

Although the clothes outside are not expensive, they certainly cannot be worn for eight years, and the jobs outside are unstable. If you change jobs, you will probably have to change clothes.

Living, this can save a lot of money. How much does it cost to rent a house outside? I heard that the current rent in Days Island is worth half of the salary!

But in the mining area of ​​Kaki Island, you can live for free!

Although the place where I live is a bit shabby and cold, as long as I spend a little money to add a quilt, I can sleep comfortably at night.

As for other expenses... On those two days every month, women come to the island tavern, and there is money to buy cigarettes and meat... Even if all these are calculated, how much money can you spend?

Much cheaper than outside!”

To him, is the Gaki Island mining area so wonderful?

Wolfe was unwilling to give in:

"What's the use of saving so much money? The work pressure is so high, you can't do it to your death for the sake of your health!"

The old miner sighed:

"Hunter, how old do you think I am?"

Wolfe looked at his face covered with ravines and guessed in an uncertain tone:

"You...are fifty, right..."

The old miner stretched out his hand and compared a number:

"I am thirty-five years old."

Wolfe looked at the white hair on his temples and didn't know what to say.

The old miner said with a smile:

"But I don't feel very tired. Life for people like us is worthless.

My brain is not very good, and I can't learn very advanced skills, so I can only mine here. After a long time, I got used to it, and that's it, it's not tiring.

Moreover, the money I save can be sent back home. My son is sixteen years old and studying, which is the right age to spend money. I just had a baby girl two years ago, and the family is under great pressure.

, I have to put food on the table for my family, right?

My family is in a rural area and my wife doesn’t work. What if I don’t make money to support her and my wife steals someone behind my back?”

If you give her money, won't she stop stealing from others...

Wolfe wanted to laugh, but couldn't.

The people he wants to save don't need him to save him. His so-called "rescue" lies in the old miner...

In front of this "big brother miner", it's just self-motivated and sentimental!

Wolfe was at a loss and babbled nonsense:

"Now that there is the Internet outside, there are also well-developed new media newspapers, and automated mining equipment. We can try to communicate with the outside world and purchase equipment for the mining area..."

The miner's face darkened:

"What are you talking about, kid! If machines come in, wouldn't we old miners all be unemployed?"

His face became stern, and a fierce temperament of a desperate poor man immediately hit his face:

"Baby! Don't think of bad ideas!"

Wolfe turned pale.

The miner brother looked at Wolfe's expression, laughed out loud, and softened his tone:

"Just kidding, even if you make a bad idea, the mining area will not be affected. Since Jiaji Island can have a mining area, it is allowed and approved by the higher authorities. As long as Jiaji Island still provides minerals to the island chain, who can go outside?

It’s hard to speak!”

The miner's brother looked at Wolfe's strange expression and patted him on the shoulder. The bad breath in his mouth almost made him faint:

"Now that you're here, don't think so much. Work hard and survive this year, and then you can change the contract... Oh, no, I heard that the agency contract for new employees starts at three years. As long as you survive this year,

After these three years, you will be able to sign a contract directly with the mining area, and the salary will be very high at that time! It is a full 2 ​​pounds a month!"

Wolfe subconsciously thought, if a month's salary is really 2 pounds, if most of the 2 pounds can be saved, that would be a lot...

In a daze, Wolfe saw the miner's brother's right hand.

His right hand also only has three fingers.

Looking at his calm and "poor and happy" expression, Wolfe felt more and more frightened, turned around and ran away.

The other three chased after him, but the miner brother just sighed. His sigh didn't contain much emotion, just a touch of "regret" - I'm afraid someone is going to lose two fingers tonight.

…

Under Aru's guidance, a group of four people left the mine and climbed up the hills.

Wolf Ribot stepped on the snow and breathed in the air-conditioning in the cold night. He had not yet recovered from the miner's brother's narrative.

‘Why am I so surprised? The situation in Yanan City should be similar to here, right? Then... then, this is normal!

Since this is normal, why can’t I accept it?!’

Everything he did was denied, and his loss of control quickly accumulated due to emotional confusion.

'Because what the miner brother said is wrong... Although it is his way of survival, it is fundamentally wrong! People cannot just be changed by the anti-human environment! Everything in the mine is a trampling on life itself!'

'But how else can he live? His abilities only stop here. What else can he do after leaving the mine? Apart from working hard, what other value can he show?'

Wolf Ribot was surprised to find that the current situation in the mine turned out to be the best solution for the miner to survive in this world!

'But this is wrong! He...he didn't stay here because of his own wishes - he only had three fingers, and he resisted at the beginning! He was just forced by life and had no choice but to stay here, yes

Because of poverty and helplessness, I was forced to adapt to this kind of life!'

'But if he doesn't live like this, what will happen to his family? Who will raise the children?! He can't do any other job!'

'But he is a human being! He is a being like me! He was just distorted into this by everything that happened around him!'

Wolf Ribot almost went crazy.

'What the hell is going on?! Why is this happening?!'

He only felt a sharp pain in his brain, as if his eyebrows were about to split open.

It would be comfortable if it really cracked, but the pain had not yet reached the point of tearing the bones. Just holding his breath caused his cranial pressure to soar, and he lost his ability to think. His whole mind was filled with countless words from countless miners.
To be continued...