"Fly... it's flying! The off-road vehicle is flying! Lord Immortal Fu is drifting around the corner..."
Gold-digging Town has roads, but once you enter the mining area, it's just dirt paths. The mining area is on a mountain, starting excavation from top to bottom, with yellow sandy roads everywhere. Master Fuli is calm as can be, racing up the mountain and drifting through the turns.
Driving on mountain roads feels like coming home, perfectly matching Master Fuli's strongest skill.
Whether it's going to tea gardens or fetching mountain spring water, a driver always needs to tackle mountain roads.
In the country, Ansheng is very restrained, fearing to hit and kill someone on the opposite side with a timber truck.
But Gold-digging Town is different; the mountains here are full of Beast Warriors or cyborgs, and crashing into them with a car won't kill them.
"Boom—"
The off-road vehicle reaches the mountain top, soaring high and crashing heavily onto the ground with a resounding boom, scaring the warriors who just finished their shift, fearing Master Fuli's projectile might come their way.
"Where's the person in charge? Come out!"
Master Fuli flips onto the roof of the car, brushing away the smoke surrounding the vehicle with his paws, and calls out to the mining area.
"Here! We're all here." Luo Ning raises his hand and jumps while greeting Master Fuli.
"Master Fuli... What brings you here?" Luo Ning says with a bitter smile, "We've just finished cleaning the upper collapse area, and the lower area still needs clearing. It's estimated we'll need another twelve hours of construction work."
"Don't call me 'master', call me 'king'—" Master Fuli gives Luo Ning a sidelong glance.
"Yes, Lord of the Extremes..." Luo Ning responds, still bitterly smiling at Master Fuli:
"About Noren... I don't know if you could help coordinate something for them."
"Noren? What's going on with them?" Master Fuli looks at Luo Ning, slightly puzzled.
"You... Well, I'm not sure how to put it." Luo Ning points toward the office area two miles away.
Following the direction, Master Fuli sees Noren dressed in cleric robes, holding a stack of flyers in his left hand and a farmer's whip in his right, with a kind expression.
A group of people surrounds Noren, shouting 'Long live the god of white fluffy things.'
"Huh? Is there a problem? It seems like the flyer mentions animal protection." Master Fuli remarks.
"...Though we and Changsheng are at odds, and we are extremely opposed to the extremist animal protection they support, we don't interfere when the followers privately enjoy these fluffy things."
"But yesterday, you shattered their worldview, and they're worried you'll come to crush them. Now, they're threatening to raise funds for compensation from the followers..." Luo Ning says with a wry smile.
The task of excavating the collapse area is assigned by Luo Ning and other priests and upper management, and it's a heavy task.
Beast Warriors work twenty-four hours a day, aiming to clear the entire mountain within a day, with no breaks allowed.
But the Inquisitor Squad intervenes, ordering those who pay the entrance fee to take a ten-minute break in front of the stage.
Luo Ning is numb now, using the god's name to extort followers is a minor issue.
But you can't delay the construction!
The Inquisitor Squad and Father Luo Ning do not have a superior-subordinate relationship.
Heretic Inquisitors are extremely violent, constantly indulged by the Pope in their killings and provided sanctuary.
Only by indulging in crime and offering limitless protection can you cultivate a lawless blade.
Anyway, Luo Ning doesn't dare to persuade them and can only honestly report to Master Fuli. If the excavation progress encounters any accidents, it's really not our problem.
"Is there such a thing?"
Master Fuli glances at Noren, shrugs his shoulders, and says: "I know about the situation. Later, when they're paying me, make sure they pay taxes."
"I can't be bothered to register for taxes myself..."
"Yes, yes..." Luo Ning, seeing Master Fuli not taking the matter seriously, loses interest in handling the mess.
The Inquisitors are extremely radical. If a dispute arises, they might even dare to cut themselves.
"After the earthquake, the gold mine collapsed. How did you get to the bottom layer of the mine?"
Large engineering machines work day and night, while Beast Warriors take on transportation duties, supplementing the machinery, extracting rock-soil from the mine. Master Fuli looks at Luo Ning and asks.
"We dispatched small-sized gene-shifters to scout the outskirts of the site and lay explosives..." Luo Ning leads Master Fuli deeper into the mining area, advancing three kilometers to reach a large drilling machine.
In the collapsed mining area, Luo Ning hasn't started excavation yet, but to understand the internal structure, they drilled directly, penetrating the water system of the site.
Just then.
Upon arriving at the drilling well, three unexpected people are already waiting.
"Unos?"
Master Fuli, sitting atop Lin Wanying's head, sees someone leaning against the mountain wall sitting on the ground, showing a surprised expression:
"You actually came here, which really doesn't fit your style..."
The gold mine site is dangerous, and theoretically, Unos isn't likely to charge to the front line.
"We're a bit anxious..."
Unos bows his head, showing no reaction, while the stunning Black Pearl at his side speaks to Master Fuli softly:
"This site is very peculiar, a special type never seen before, entirely wrapped in a metal sphere."
"A perfectly seamless metal sphere." Black Pearl smiles at Master Fuli: "According to the Second Epoch traits you once revealed to me, then..."
What Black Pearl wants to say is crystal clear to Master Fuli.
The Second Epoch had the ability to use 'Will' to manipulate material restructuring.
The sphere perfectly enclosing the site could mean two possibilities: it was sealed by a powerful entity or it chose to seal itself here.
Either way, whether the former or the latter, the site is not as dangerous as Master Fuli calculated.
"Who would've thought, you have quite the courage..." Master Fuli looks at the two guarding Unos's body, and roughly guesses their identities, both being Unos's avatars.
"Profits outweigh risks, so I'm unafraid." Black Pearl chuckles softly.
If the main brain doesn't die, losing an avatar is merely losing a mobile body, without further impact.
"Is that so?"
Master Fuli gestures towards Black Pearl, signaling her to come closer, whispering in her ear:
"Based on my investigation, something inside might have already escaped and is now hiding in the town."
"I'm here to check the site..."
Master Fuli finishes speaking with a mischievous smile, then closely observes Black Pearl's facial changes.
"Hiss..."
Black Pearl's rigid smile turns into stone-faced shock, her eyes slightly bulging out, showing an expression of "damn, I'm losing out."
"Rest assured! I'll go check, while you wait with Unos at the drilling entrance..."
Seeing Black Pearl and the strong man with their scalp tingling, even their heads exploding, Master Fuli lets out a joyous squeal, heading towards the drilling well.
Just then.
While descending the drilling well, Ansheng suddenly realizes a small problem.
Unos went down the well early.
But Unos's body is outside, so what goes into the well as Unos?
Could it be a snow-white brain flower?
"Damn, I've known Unos for so long, yet I've never seen its true form. I've been swindled by it!"
"Later, make it pay me two hundred!"