After Chun's physical recovery, he proceeded through the passage again, and dense mining sounds came from ahead once more.
As he approached, he saw another large mine pit and a big group of level 1 Little Demons mining away. These Little Demons all looked up at him in unison but did not initiate an attack.
Chun arrived at the molten lava pool in the middle of the mine pit, where there was an array, needing the insertion of six stones, not knowing where it leads. He guessed that once he took out the stones, they would swarm at him.
In any case, continue exploring the map.
Chun spent nearly an hour traversing various passages, discovering seven large mine pits, seven arrays, nearly a thousand Little Demons, avoiding the unseen Supervisor's voice fifteen times—since he didn't dare to meet him, Chun couldn't determine the number of Supervisors, only estimating the patrol time from these fifteen encounters.
Then there were no more paths, and he didn't find a cafeteria! Not even a blade of grass or an insect.
Chun was a bit confused!
What's going on? Could it be they use the teleportation array to leave for meals after work? But the teleportation array is expensive, would they teleport so many Little Demons? Unless these Little Demons eat some kind of mineral crystal, if that's the case, wouldn't I starve?
It's undeniable, hunger is truly the most torturous setting in the game, making players suffer even if they do nothing.
The only solution is to leave through the teleportation array.
But which array to use? Before using the array, must he kill all and grab the Little Demons' stones? But is it possible that once he starts killing, they might scatter and report to the Supervisor for aid? It seems these intelligent monsters, who don't initiate attacks, are the easiest to cause trouble when killed.
Suddenly, Chun recalled the Little Demons in the first mine pit. They were whipped earlier, wonder what's happening now?
If they were injured from the whipping...at least it would be easy to kill them! If they are afraid of getting whipped, dare not fight back—go verify!
So Chun returned to the first mine pit, hearing a curious mix of laughter and miserable groans from afar.
Laughter? An event triggered!
As he got closer, he saw bloodied whip marks on each one's back. They were mining earnestly despite the pain causing them to groan miserably. Among them were two who seemed weak and couldn't even hold their pickaxes steadily, with more than a dozen whips on their backs!
Chun realized these were probably the two who had betrayed him earlier. The other Little Demons had physical strength, so getting whipped made them mine harder, but these two lacked physical strength and couldn't double their efforts, hence got whipped harder?
But Chun quickly noticed the Little Demons seemed to be mocking those two getting whipped harshly.
Got it! Perhaps this reveals Demon logic, competing in misery! As long as they see someone worse off, they get happy and energize their mining efforts, collectively compensating for the loss from the two's inability to mine efficiently. It doesn't exclude that these two "traitorous" individuals are being punished.
Chun felt a bit sorry for those two, what would happen if they couldn't complete their tasks in this state?
Chun suddenly had an idea, what if he took their pickaxes and helped them finish mining? Finish early, use the teleportation array to go back to eat? Would taking their pickaxes lead to an attack? If attacked, this blocking strategy could continue.
The main point is Chun also wants to try dual wielding mining to see its effect, plus he wants to know what they are mining.
Let's act.
Chun approached those two, and they looked at him fearfully with their grotesque faces showing they got what they deserved.
Chun activated his disarm skill, grabbing their pickaxes effortlessly, the two were powerless to resist, directly losing their pickaxes and lying flat on the ground.
—System prompt: You have obtained two mining pickaxes, your Basic Disarm skill proficiency +2!
This skill proficiency came in surprisingly low, perhaps because they lacked physical strength making it easier?
At this moment, the surrounding Demons didn't help; instead, they laughed even more gleefully!
Chun seriously doubted if he went on a killing spree, would they have any bottom line or rally together against a common foe?
Fine then! Ignoring these scoundrels, Chun began setting up the mining mode.
There are three mining modes; one is the Efficiency Mode. Mine and pile everything aside, collectively transported to the mining cart. This mode is used when idling safely in the Main City's mining pits, and if anyone dares to rob your mining, it'll immediately alert and label them as Red-name, repossess, and return.
Another is the Pick-up Mode. Whatever is mined is immediately packed onto oneself, continually increasing load affecting efficiency. Typically used for outdoor adventures.
The third is the Mixed Mode—valuable minerals are picked up directly and non-valuable are tossed aside casually.
Chun sets the Mixed Mode, automatically picking up any minerals at the Expert level or above and leaving others on the ground for them to snatch.
Setup complete, dual-wield mining begins, a pickaxe in the left hand mining Red Ore Crystal, and a pickaxe in the right hand mining Yellow Ore Crystal...
—System prompt: You have dug up an unknown Molten Crystal Ore, your Basic Dual Wielding Pickaxe Skill proficiency increases.
Holy Shit!!
This is the dual-wield feeling, simply amazing! This is the Master level mining, one swing yields so much, at least double compared to the Advanced level. Yet it doesn't increase Master mining proficiency, indicating this ore's tier is not high.
The Little Demons present were in an uproar, the two small ones instantly regained sense trying to get up.
Only now did Chun notice that compared to his glittering digs, theirs was merely rubble.
Ignoring them, continuing to mine, quickly piling into a waist-high small ore heap.
Finally, the Little Demons couldn't hold back any longer and began to stir. Chun really wasn't interested in starting a battle, engrossed in increasing his dual-wield proficiency, so he simply left the ore heap, mining on the other side of the pit.
Once Chun left, the Little Demons swarmed the ore heap, each grabbing a handful to throw into the molten lava pool there.