Dawn in the Pit wasn't heralded by sunlight, but by the brutal clangor of an iron bell and the bark of guards. Chen Fan jerked awake, every muscle screaming protest. Bruiser's looming shadow fell over him before his eyes fully adjusted.
"Up, rock-boy," the thug growled, kicking Chen Fan's pallet. "Time to earn your keep. Double time."
Deep Vein Nine lived up to its reputation. The air hung thicker, colder, and carried a sharper, more acrid tang than Seven. The tunnels were narrower, the ceiling lower, the rock darker and denser. The Spirit Iron veins were thinner, harder to find, and laced with more unstable impurities. The faint, ominous hum Chen Fan had felt in Seven was a constant vibration here, resonating deep in his bones. *Unstable energy. Proximity to the Chasm.*
Bruiser shoved a heavier, slightly less rusted pickaxe into Chen Fan's hands. "Kael wants ore. Rich ore. You see your fancy weak spots? Point 'em out. Crusher breaks 'em." He gestured to the hulking, two-fingered man who stood nearby, cracking his massive knuckles, his expression bored but dangerous. Watcher lingered further back, eyes scanning the shadows.
Chen Fan swallowed, his throat dry. *System. Minor Environmental Scan. Focus: Ore Density. Minimize Cost.*
```
Scan Activated (Focused: Ore Density). Cost: 0.9 SP/Minute. Stability: 32.0%
```
The world shimmered faintly. The rock walls became a patchwork of dull greys, but scattered within were pockets of faint, shimmering blue light – concentrated Spirit Iron. He pointed a trembling finger at a section about ten paces in. "There. Thicker vein. About... two feet in."
Crusher grunted, hefted his enormous pickaxe – more like a mining sledge – and swung. The impact was thunderous, sending chips flying. He struck again, precisely where Chen Fan indicated. On the third blow, a satisfying crack echoed, and a large chunk of rock split away, revealing a decent cluster of Spirit Iron nuggets glinting dully.
"Huh," Crusher grunted, a flicker of something almost like respect in his eyes. He tossed the nuggets into a basket Watcher held. "Faster than sniffin' for it. Point again."
Chen Fan scanned, pointing out another faint blue cluster. Crusher broke it free. Then another. The baskets began to fill at a pace noticeably faster than the usual brutal slog of Deep Vein Nine. Bruiser watched, arms crossed, a satisfied smirk playing on his lips. Chen Fan was delivering. For now.
But the cost was brutal. The System Stability ticked down relentlessly: 31.1%... 30.2%... 29.3%. Maintaining the focused scan was draining his lifeline. He needed to find the shortcut *fast*.
*System. Overlay Known Plot Points: Secondary Chasm Access. Approximate Location Relative to Current Position.*
```
Plot Point Overlay Activated. Cost: 1 SP.
Secondary Access Point (Designation: "Whisper Shaft") Estimated Location: 35 meters Northwest. Depth: -50 meters from current level.
Environmental Note: Rock Strata Highly Unstable. Chaotic Qi Concentration: Extreme. Collapse Risk: Critical.
```
Northwest. Chen Fan subtly shifted his scanning focus in that direction as he pointed Crusher towards another vein. The faint blue ore signatures were scarcer that way, replaced by swirling patterns of angry red and sickly yellow in his System vision – unstable formations, toxic mineral pockets, and... *voids*. Empty spaces where the rock had fractured or dissolved. One void, larger than the others, pulsed with an ominous dark purple light. The Whisper Shaft access point. And between them and it, the rock wall the System highlighted was a spiderweb of crimson stress lines. *Critically unstable.*
His heart hammered. This was it. The shortcut. But triggering a collapse here... it could bury them all. Or open a path straight into the chaotic embrace of the upper Chasm. He needed to direct Crusher *precisely*.
"Strong vein here," Chen Fan lied, pointing towards the edge of the unstable wall, a few meters away from the densest cluster of crimson stress lines. A faint blue glow pulsed there – actual ore, but acting as bait. "Deep. Hit hard."
Crusher shrugged, lining up his swing. Bruiser leaned forward, eager for the rich haul. Watcher shifted, perhaps sensing something in Chen Fan's tense posture.
*Now!* Chen Fan thought desperately, as Crusher's pickaxe descended. *System. Micro-Burst Scan on Weakest Stress Point! Just as the pick hits!*
```
Micro-Burst Scan Executed. Cost: 3 SP! Stability: 26.3%
Target: Critical Stress Node (Intersection Gamma-7)
```
The scan lasted a millisecond, but it gave Chen Fan the exact point. He subtly shifted his pointing finger a fraction of an inch. "Angle left! Harder!"
Crusher, mid-swing, instinctively adjusted his aim based on Chen Fan's previous accuracy. The massive pickaxe head struck the rock precisely where the System had highlighted the critical stress node.
The sound wasn't a crack. It was a deep, groaning *SNAP*, like the spine of the mountain breaking.
The ground lurched violently. A section of the tunnel wall, directly where Crusher had struck, exploded inward, not outwards. Not just rock, but a cascading torrent of loose scree and dust, accompanied by a chilling rush of air that whistled like a thousand damned souls. The purple void pulsed violently in Chen Fan's vision.
"COLLAPSE!" Bruiser roared, stumbling back.
Crusher, caught off-balance by the inward collapse and the sudden vacuum pull, staggered forward with a bellow of surprise, not fear. Watcher dropped the basket, scrambling backwards.
The hole wasn't large, maybe three feet wide, but it was deep and dark. The air screaming from it was frigid and carried the same metallic ozone stench as the fissure in Seven, but a thousand times stronger, mixed with something ancient and decayed. The chaotic hum became a deafening roar. Unstable violet energy crackled around the edges of the hole.
Chen Fan was thrown off his feet by the initial shockwave, landing hard. He scrambled backwards on his elbows, chains clanking, his eyes fixed on the terrifying opening. *The Whisper Shaft.* It was real. It was open. And it led *down*.
Bruiser recovered first, fury replacing shock. He rounded on Chen Fan, drawing a crude, serrated knife. "YOU! You did this! You led us into a death trap!" He lunged.
Chen Fan rolled desperately. The knife scraped sparks off the stone where his head had been. "The rock was weak! I didn't know!" he shouted, the lie tasting like ash. "We need to get out! The whole tunnel could go!"
As if to emphasize his point, another section of the ceiling near the hole cracked, showering them with dust and pebbles. The violet energy crackled more fiercely.
Crusher, instead of joining Bruiser, was staring into the hole, a strange fascination warring with primal fear on his brutish face. "The whispers..." he rumbled, his voice barely audible over the howling wind from below. "I hear 'em..."
Watcher was already backing away down the tunnel, his face pale. "Bruiser! Forget him! This whole vein's gonna pancake! Move!"
Bruiser hesitated, torn between murdering Chen Fan and self-preservation. The mountain groaned again, a deeper, more threatening sound. More cracks spiderwebbed across the ceiling.
Chen Fan saw his chance. He scrambled towards the hole, not away. Not deep in, but close enough to feel the terrifying suction of the air rushing downwards, the chilling caress of the chaotic energy. He needed a sample. Proof of proximity. *System. Scan Chasm Energy Signature! Quick!*
```
Scan Activated (Target: Ambient Chaotic Qi). Cost: 2 SP! Stability: 24.3%
Signature Acquired: Abyssal Chasm - Upper Reaches (Confidence: 98.7%)
Qi Density: Extreme (Unstable)
```
It was enough. He pulled back as another chunk of rock fell near the hole. He turned, meeting Bruiser's murderous gaze. "Tell Kael!" Chen Fan yelled over the din. "Tell him I found the source of the whispers! Tell him the path is open! But it's unstable! It needs *me* to navigate it! Tell him!" He infused his voice with desperate conviction, playing the terrified but valuable asset.
Bruiser stared at him, then at the hell-mouth spewing cold and violet light, then at the cracking ceiling. Survival instinct won. With a final venomous glare, he spat, "This ain't over, rock-boy!" He turned and sprinted after Watcher, who had already vanished into the gloom. Crusher lingered a second longer, still mesmerized by the whispers from the hole, before the mountain's groan spurred him to follow Bruiser.
Chen Fan was alone. The howling wind from the Whisper Shaft whipped his hair and stung his eyes. The violet energy snapped and hissed. The tunnel groaned ominously. He needed to leave *now*. But he needed one more thing. He scooped up a small, loose rock from the collapse debris right at the edge of the hole. It felt unnaturally cold and vibrated faintly in his hand. *Chasm-touched stone.*
He stumbled back down the tunnel, away from the unstable shaft, his chains rattling. He didn't run; he needed to look shaken, not guilty. He forced himself to move with panicked haste, not calculated escape.
He rounded a bend and almost collided with Teng and another guard, weapons drawn, faces tense, drawn by the noise.
"You!" Teng grabbed him, his eyes wide with alarm, glancing past him towards the groaning sounds emanating from Deep Vein Nine. "What happened? Was it another surge? A collapse?"
Chen Fan let himself slump, playing the traumatized survivor. "Collapse... big one... in Nine... Bruiser and Crusher... they were there... I barely got out..." He gasped, holding up the cold, faintly vibrating rock. "The air... it came from there... it burns..."
Teng snatched the rock, flinching at its unnatural coldness and the faint chaotic tingle. He exchanged a horrified look with the other guard. "Whisper Shaft... It's breached." He looked at Chen Fan with something akin to terrified awe. "You... you survived a breach? And you brought proof?" He shoved the rock into his pocket like it was radioactive. "Come on! We need to seal the area! Report to the foreman! Now!"
Teng half-dragged, half-pushed Chen Fan back towards the main tunnels, the other guard keeping a wary distance. Chen Fan kept his head down, his mind racing. He'd done it. He'd opened the path – or at least proved its existence. He'd survived. He'd potentially bought immense value in Kael's eyes by "discovering" the breach. And Teng was unwittingly delivering him back towards the center of the mine, away from immediate retribution from Bruiser... for now.
As they hurried through the tunnels, miners and guards alike stopping to stare at their panicked progress, Chen Fan clutched the lingering chill of the Chasm-touched stone in his memory. The Whisper Shaft was open. The path to the Abyssal Chasm, and the God-Slaying Scripture, was real. The 0.8% chance felt fractionally less impossible.
He was pulled into the foreman's office – a slightly larger cave with a rough wooden desk. Lao Jin, the calculating guard from his first day, was there, along with a harried-looking mine foreman. Teng thrust the cold rock onto the desk, babbling about the collapse in Nine and the breached Whisper Shaft.
Lao Jin picked up the rock, his sharp eyes widening almost imperceptibly as he felt its unnatural properties. He looked from the rock to the trembling, grime-covered Chen Fan. "You," he said, his voice dangerously quiet. "You were at the breach? You saw it open?"
Chen Fan nodded mutely, playing shell-shocked.
"And Bruiser? Crusher? Watcher?" Lao Jin pressed.
"Ran... after the collapse..." Chen Fan stammered. "Before... before the hole opened fully..."
Lao Jin stared at him for a long, intense moment. His gaze wasn't just assessing; it was probing, suspicious. He knew about the Blood Iron. He knew Teng was jumpy. He knew Kael had taken an interest. And now this boy, this mortal waste, was at the center of a major geological disaster and the confirmation of a legendary death-trap.
"Lock him up," Lao Jin ordered Teng, his eyes never leaving Chen Fan's. "Not the barracks. The secure cell. By himself. No one talks to him. Not Griss. Not Kael's rats. *No one.*" He tapped the Chasm-touched rock on the desk. "I need to speak with Elder Zhu. Immediately."
As Teng grabbed Chen Fan roughly, the foreman paled at the mention of Elder Zhu. Chen Fan felt a new kind of chill. He'd traded Bruiser's immediate threat for Elder Zhu's direct attention. He was out of the frying pan and into the celestial forge. But as he was dragged away to solitary confinement, a single thought burned bright:
He had touched the edge of the Abyss. And the System, starved and strained, had tasted its power. In the cold dark of the secure cell, the interface flickered violently, then stabilized, displaying a new, terrifying line: `Ambient Chaotic Qi Detected... Initiating Passive Absorption Protocol? (Y/N)`