Chapter 979: The Battle for High Tower (Thirteen) (Patreon)

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Batman didn't know what Schiller's true intentions were, but he was certain they weren't good.

Gradually, Batman noticed Schiller's unusual behavior. Schiller wasn't as weak as he initially appeared. On the contrary, he seemed to be getting more energetic. Judging from his Soul's manifestation, his Soul was becoming increasingly active.

This was not a good sign. Batman knew that whether Schiller was weak or energetic, it didn't mean he was healthy or normal. When he was mentally weak, he would become more erratic, and when he was mentally energetic, he might engage in even more reckless behavior.

Apart from completing the task of connecting the shadow monsters, Batman knew he had to keep an eye on Schiller to prevent any terrible changes from happening, causing a big mess when they returned from hell to the mortal realm.

After the meeting ended, Batman returned to his dormitory, where Hexagon was still awake, so they resumed their conversation.

Hexagon was somewhat verbose, and his language was a bit confused. To Batman, he seemed more like a child, with incomplete intellectual development, making him particularly susceptible to manipulation.

During their conversation, Batman learned that Hexagon was indeed a newcomer. He had not been awakened for even a hundred years, making him a baby compared to the lifespans of the races in hell.

But perhaps his previous acts of revenge had stimulated him, keeping his spirit in a highly excited state. He confided many secrets of the mines to Batman.

No one understood the mines better than the Shadow Vines that had lived here for thousands of years. Hexagon told Batman that the entire continental shelf of the Wasteland Continent was built upon magma, and beneath the mines, there was a sea of magma, which was very dangerous.

The magma sea would ebb, exposing the ore called Lava Stones. Those who made mistakes in the mines would be sent to carry Lava Stones.

The freshly erupted Lava Stones had extremely high temperatures, even hotter than magma itself. The majority of the races in hell couldn't endure such temperatures, including the Lava Demons born from magma.

Furthermore, Hexagon described with great fear the execution scenes he had witnessed. Overseers would whip the slave miners who had made mistakes, driving them to a cliff at the bottom of the central mine, then push them into the magma sea to be incinerated into ashes.

From time to time, Batman would pose his own questions. Some questions Hexagon couldn't answer, but Batman would infer possible conclusions from his reactions.

And so, throughout the entire night, Batman emptied Hexagon's knowledge, which wasn't much because this young monster had never left the Seven Peaks Mine since its birth.

The next day, Batman distinctly felt a change in the atmosphere in the mine. Everyone was extremely nervous.

Before Batman could even fully wake up, the overseers rudely pushed open the door, dragging all the slave miners out of their cells and onto the square outside.

Once all the slaves were crowded together in rows, the overseer cleared his throat and said, "I'll tell you, from today onwards, we have a big job to do!"

"Just this morning, the great Belial declared war on Astero!"

"The army has reached the border, and a continuous supply of armor and weapons from the rear will be the talisman for the soldiers' victory!"

"General Putrescent, who rules the Seven Peaks Mine, has assured His Majesty that although the Seven Peaks Mine is the second largest in His Majesty's territory, it must strive to be the top producer!"

"From today onwards, all rest times are canceled, meal times are canceled. You must work day and night in the mines until the mission is accomplished. Until the target output is achieved, no one is allowed to leave the mine!"

"I know, some weak Demons can't survive without food, but you must understand, if the task is not completed, your fate will be worse than starving to death!"

"To ensure your work efficiency, General Putrescent has borrowed many beholders from his kin. They will watch over you in various parts of the mine..."

The Demon overseer snorted, then Batman saw a giant eyeball floating overhead in the center of the mine.

Many smaller eyeballs flew out from behind it, heading towards every corner of the mine. They were connected by purple nerves, so it seemed that everything the smaller eyeballs saw would be transmitted back to the larger one.

"General Putrescent is in the palace of the big beholder overhead. He's watching each and every one of you. Anyone who dares to slack off..."

Instantly, all the slave miners trembled, but they were more afraid of the death the overseer spoke of than they were prepared for what they were about to endure. However, Batman had already anticipated it.

Sure enough, as soon as they entered the mine, there were Demon eyes everywhere, tightly watching every person entering the mine.

And as many Demons who hadn't yet reacted grabbed their pickaxes and began working as usual, a group of overseers barged in shortly after.

"You! And you!" The head overseer pointed at two imps with a whip, menacingly saying, "The beholder saw you two slacking off! Carrying empty baskets twice! Come with us!"

These two overseers were humanoid Demons, one with blue skin and one with red. The red-skinned Demon was particularly tall. When he lifted the imps, these two small Demons couldn't even struggle.

"Where are they taking him? What's wrong with him?"

"Why can't we carry empty baskets? What are we supposed to do now? What's happening?"

Chattering discussions arose, but when the beholder's gaze swept over them again, everyone fell silent and got back to work.

The overseers came several times, taking away one or two slaves each time. It wasn't until it was almost time for a break that everyone was taken to the lowest level of the mine and saw the group of Demons hanging in nets. Only then did they realize what General Putrescent was up to.

At the lowest level of the mine, there was a massive cavern with only a small area of ground near the entrance for standing. Across from it was a cliff with a cave entrance, evidently leading to another path.

At the edge of the cliff stood a tall pillar with a crossbar, extending towards the magma sea ahead. At the end of the crossbar hung a large net, containing the daytime miners who had been taken away.

From Batman's perspective, within the large net, there were at least dozens of various types of Demons, all struggling and calling out, evidently foreseeing their fate.

Almost all the slaves had been brought here, herded by the overseers to gather and witness this execution ceremony.

After a while, General Putrescent made his appearance. He slowly walked to the edge of the cliff, illuminated by the firelight from the magma sea, appearing very imposing.

He was a humanoid Demon with dark green skin. According to Hexagon's description, he should belong to the ancient Demon type, with a tall stature, sturdy limbs, and a head resembling a fly.

And the reason he was called General Putrescent was because there was a fluorescent green pattern on his chest that spread outward, resembling radiation-induced mutation.

He held a weapon resembling a harpoon, and when he spoke, his voice was hoarse and rough, making people's eardrums ache.

"Look at these scum! The fools who slack off at work! Those who dare to defy my orders, they will—"

General Putrescent intentionally dragged out a long note, then raised his voice, saying, "They will be plunged into the magma, scalded to death alive!"

"Watch closely, if you make it impossible for me to complete the task, this will be your fate!"

With that said, he controlled the large net, slowly descending it until it reached above the magma sea. The skin of the Demon at the bottom almost touched the magma, causing it to scream in agony, while the Demons above continued to grab onto the net's mesh, trying to climb up, emitting heart-wrenching cries.

In the crowd, Batman saw Schiller's figure. At this moment, the Professor's face showed disgust, seemingly finding the Demons' cries too piercing. But Batman felt that Schiller might be repulsed by General Putrescent's unrefined methods.

After dealing with these lunatics for a while, Batman found that he could also judge whether something was in line with their values from their perspective.

These types of lunatics detested carnage; they considered it a waste of precious life. They did not delight in mass slaughter of their own kind. On the contrary, they hated such acts, calling them "repetitive and mundane assembly-line work" and saying they were "more suited for butchers to slaughter chickens and cows," deeming such behavior lacking in aesthetics and artistry.

However, General Putrescent seemed oblivious. His purpose of using the deaths of a few to warn the many had been achieved. Now, the Majority's slave miners were either kneeling or lying down, continually crying out, begging the overseers and the general to spare them.

The fear of Death is inevitable for intelligent beings. In the face of Death, whether human, Demon, or Angel, all life is equal, and fear is also equal.

But General Putrescent seemed to want to intentionally torment the dying Demons. He used arrows to shoot the ropes holding up the large net, deliberately missing, causing the arrows to graze the edges of the ropes, making the entire net sway.

The cries and screams mixed together. In such an environment, Batman felt that there was a bit of hell here.

And amidst the chaos, only General Putrescent's laughter echoed through the sky of hell, where there was no sun, only the continuous flow of magma for millennia.

With a "thud," the large net finally fell into the magma. The dying screams of the Demons were etched into every Demon's heart, so much so that when they returned to the dim mines, everyone felt a bit dazed.

Batman knew that this grand execution was providing him with the best opportunity. These slaves, drowning in panic, needed someone who could soothe them, someone to lead them.

Just as Batman singled out his target, another group of overseers walked in. This time, they pulled in two empty mine carts along the tracks. The leading overseer spoke up:

"By tomorrow morning, I hope to see these two carts filled. Otherwise, all of you will be thrown into the magma!"

Upon hearing this, all the miners were stunned, staring at the two massive transport carts, and many began to cry.

"How is this possible?! This is absolutely impossible! This is the workload of seven or eight days normally. How could it be completed in one night?!"

"There isn't that much ore here at all! We don't have time to dig through the rock layers, without Thorn Spikes and Blast Tails, we can't excavate the rock layers. Even if we can, they will collapse!"

"Who can save me! I don't want to fall into the magma and die!"

At that moment, Batman saw an Imp, crying and somewhat delirious, bump into his leg. He bent down, picked up the Imp, and asked him:

"Is it really impossible to mine so much ore in one night?"

"Of course it's impossible! Of course! It's impossible!!!"

Batman surveyed the scene in the mine and silently estimated the quantity of surface minerals. Then he shook his head and said quietly:

"Perhaps not necessarily."

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 980: The Battle for the High Tower (14)