Chapter 23 The Empty Hell and the Wrath of the Fourth Calamity
The battle at the outpost was over, but there was no cheering.
What was left for the eight survivors was a ground littered with corpses and a mountain of debris.
"What canned food?" He glanced at the time on the breastplate and frowned. "Gangzi and the others will have an hour's cooldown for resurrection, and it will take at least twenty minutes to run from the temple. We can't just wait here."
"That boss named Gru has escaped. If he has time to reset the traps or move the treasure, we'll be at a huge loss."
The husky wiped the blood off its dagger and glanced at the dark entrance to the mine: "Shall we sneak in first? We can scout ahead."
"Yes, but be careful." Canned Food tied several fine iron longswords on the ground together with rags and carried them on his back. "Our task now is to clear obstacles and mark them. Husky, you go first, only dismantle the traps, don't engage the monsters."
"Understood."
...
The interior of the Black Rock Mine is more complex than imagined.
This is not just a mine pit, but more like a huge underground labyrinth. Countless branching paths extend like a spider web, and the air is filled with the damp smell of mildew and sulfur.
The eight surviving players had a difficult journey.
Not only because they had to be constantly wary of tripping ropes and falling rocks, but also because—they were too heavy.
To prevent their fallen comrades from losing their equipment, each of them carried a lot of items on their bodies.
The canned food carried three swords and two shields on its back, and had an axe tucked into its waistband. When it walked, it looked like a mobile blacksmith shop, making a clanging sound.
The other players weren't much better off; some were carrying bundles of spears, while others were carrying leather armor bundles they'd stripped from the kobolds.
"I can't... I can't take it anymore..."
One player, leaning against the wall and panting, said, "This is way too hardcore. Isn't this weight system a bit excessive? I feel like my stamina bar is constantly flashing red."
"Stop talking nonsense and save your energy for the journey."
The husky stopped ahead and drew a large arrow on the wall at the fork in the road with a fluorescent stone. "Leave a mark, so that Gangzi, that terrible navigator, doesn't get lost anytime soon."
The journey was not peaceful.
Although the main force left, Gru left behind a lot of disgusting "little gifts".
Some intersections were piled with barbed chevaux-de-frise, while others had makeshift animal traps buried in the ground.
"Snap!"
The husky skillfully triggered a pendulum trap that fell from the sky with a long spear. The huge log crashed into the open ground with a whooshing sound, making everyone's scalp tingle.
"If this hits solid, I guess I'll get back to the city for free."
More than an hour passed in this cautious manner.
They finally traversed the winding, labyrinthine passageways and arrived at a huge gate deep within the mine, sealed off by rough wood and iron chains.
The air here became unusually stagnant, and the temperature was terrifyingly cold.
"There's no road."
Canned Food put down the heavy equipment pack on his back, plopped down on the ground, and panted heavily. "This should be the core area. Husky, scout it out."
Before the husky could even step forward, hurried and rapid footsteps finally came from the passageway behind them, along with Gangzi's signature loud voice.
"Canned Food Guy! Husky! Where are you guys?"
Follow the arrows! Don't step on the places I've marked with an X!
A few minutes later, a dozen energetic figures, dressed only in novice clothing, rushed out of the darkness.
It was the main force that had been resurrected and arrived.
"Holy crap! We finally caught up with you guys!"
Dangdangdang Xinzhi took the lead, looked at Guantou and the others who were slumped on the ground, and then looked at the equipment piled up like a small mountain around them. He was stunned for a moment, and then he was so moved that he almost burst into tears.
"Brothers! My sword! My shield! You really brought them in?"
"nonsense..."
The canned food pointed listlessly at the pile of equipment on the ground, rolled its eyes, and said, "You've finally arrived... Hurry up and take your stuff away. These lumps of iron are killing us."
A player next to him, exhausted, couldn't help but complain: "This game planner is really something else. Even if they don't give us storage space, they could at least give us a backpack! I feel like I've been shrunk by two centimeters from carrying this all the way here."
"Exactly! The higher the load, the slower your movement speed is halved, and you have to consume double the stamina. Isn't that just too realistic?"
Gangzi chuckled, quickly picked up his beloved fine iron longsword and shield, and rearmed himself: "Thank you for your hard work! I'll treat you to black bread when we get back! All you can eat!"
With the addition of fresh blood, the team regained its fighting strength.
As everyone organized their equipment, they jokingly complained about the game's "anti-human design," creating a very cheerful atmosphere.
"Alright, stop joking around."
Canned Food stood up again, took a sip of water, and his expression became serious. He raised the "Slime Magic Lamp" in his hand and shone it on the closed gate.
"Gru should be inside. And… I have a bad feeling."
He pointed to the crack in the door. "Can you smell it?"
Gangzi sniffed: "What's that smell? It smells a bit rotten. Did those kobolds poop in there?"
"It doesn't look like it." The fat man (Let me teach you a lesson) shook his head, his face turning pale. "I'm a chef, I'm very sensitive to this kind of smell. This is… the smell of spoiled meat. And it's large-scale rot."
Everyone stopped laughing.
"Open the door."
The cannery gave the order.
Gangzi and Hakimi stepped forward, and together they used an axe and a shield to smash the rusty iron lock.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
With a sharp crack, the chain snapped.
The heavy wooden fence made a teeth-grinding scraping sound as it slowly collapsed inward.
"boom!"
The gate was wide open.
Canned Food picked up the Magic Lamp and went inside first.
However, when the eerie green light illuminated the space inside, the players who were discussing "what purple gear the BOSS will drop" suddenly fell silent, as if they had been choked.
The entire mine was deathly silent, with only the dripping sound of water from the rock ceiling, each drop seeming to strike the player's heart.
It was a huge natural cave that had been converted into a "warehouse".
But what was piled up inside was neither grain nor gold or silver.
It's bone.
Thousands upon thousands of white bones were piled up haphazardly like garbage, forming a ghastly little mountain.
There were wild beasts, but more of them were... humanoid creatures.
Human skulls, slender elf leg bones, and dwarf's robust ribs... they were mixed together, bearing obvious signs of gnawing and knife cuts. Some bones still had bits of meat clinging to them, appearing particularly gruesome under the green light.
Beside the mountain of bones hung rows of rusty iron hooks. Inside several empty iron cages, black bloodstains and claw marks remained.
Further in, there were several bottomless dungeons.
"Waaah..."
A faint, almost inaudible groan came from the muddy dungeon floor.
By the light, the players saw a dozen or so emaciated figures, reduced to skin and bones, huddled in excrement and sewage. They were naked, their skin festering, and their necks were chained.
When the light shone on their faces, their reaction was not to cry for help, but to clutch their heads in terror, trembling as if by reflex, and uttering desperate sobs.
The vast dungeon was now empty, with only a dozen or so people remaining.
what does that mean?
This means that everyone else has become that pale, bone mountain outside.
"..."
On a chopping board near the dungeon entrance lay half a corpse, unprocessed. It was a little girl, only seven or eight years old, clutching a tattered rag doll tightly in her hand; most of the flesh had been cut from her thigh…
"vomit--"
A new player who had just been joking about eating Gangzi out of house and home finally couldn't hold back anymore and started retching violently while leaning against the wall.
The system of the heart-protecting mirror flashed red light frantically, indicating [excessive mental stress], and attempted to increase the intensity of the blurring filter.
But it didn't work.
This kind of soul-stirring visual impact, this cruelty that transcends the limits of gaming, cannot be concealed by mosaics.
This is the truth about the land forsaken by God.
There are no fairy tales or thrilling adventures here.
Here, weakness is the original sin. Kobolds, who are cute little monsters in most games who only make "waaaaa" noises, are the most brutal and greedy ogres here.
They treat humans as "two-legged sheep" and intelligent beings as food reserves.
"..."
Gangzi's knuckles were white as he gripped the shield, veins bulging, making a "crunching" sound.
He recalled that back in the temple, he had once thought, "Is this too cruel?" because the kobold prisoners who had been captured and forced to move bricks were too tired.
Right now, all he wants to do is slap himself twice.
"These...beasts."
Hakimi kept his head down, his voice terribly hoarse. The axe he had been showing off just moments before was now gripped tightly in his hand, the blade drawing a screeching trail of sparks as it cut through the rock.
"I take back what I said before."
"This is not a training kit at all."
The husky took off the mask (a protective filter) that always wore a smirk, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes.
He walked to the front of the dungeon, swung the iron bar in his hand, and smashed the rusty padlock that held the living person like a madman.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Every shot was taken with all one's might, sparks flying everywhere.
No one spoke, no one stopped them.
All the players silently stepped forward, slashing with their swords, smashing with stones, and even trying to break the wooden stakes with their bare hands.
They were just complaining that their backpacks were too small, their gear was too heavy, and the road was too difficult to walk.
But at this moment, they only regretted that they had arrived too late.
"Save people."
The canned food only said two words, his tone as cold as if he were pronouncing a death sentence.
The fence was forcibly broken open.
The players rushed into that stinking hell, took off their newly looted, relatively warm leather armor, and draped it over the dozen or so survivors.
Someone took out the black bread they were reluctant to eat from their backpack, dissolved it in a water bottle, and fed it little by little to the slaves who had difficulty even swallowing.
"Don't be afraid...we're here."
Gangzi held an old man covered in sores. The burly man, who was 1.9 meters tall, had red eyes. "It's alright now. No one will dare to eat you anymore."
Deep within the temple.
Seated on his throne, Li Wei quietly observed everything through the perspective of the breastplate.
He could sense that the mental fluctuations of the players were undergoing a dramatic qualitative change at the other end of the divine connection.
That was a shift from a "hobbyist mentality" to "extreme anger".
That was a shift in alignment from "chaotic neutrality" to "lawful evil (violence begets violence)".
Be angry.
A cold glint flashed in Li Wei's purple-gold eyes.
Only after witnessing true darkness will you understand how luxurious morality and kindness are in this world abandoned by God.
To survive and to establish order, the only way is to be more ruthless, stronger, and more decisive than those monsters.
[Hidden server-wide achievement triggered: The Awakened Judge]
[Note: You have witnessed the cruelty of the wasteland, and your souls have been tempered by rage. From this moment on, damage you deal to monsters will have an additional "Rage" bonus.]
Inside the mine, Gangzi raised his head and looked into the deep, dark tunnel—the direction Gru had fled in.
"Canned Food Guy".
Gangzi's voice was deep, yet it carried a chilling murderous aura.
"Bring out that map."
"No matter where it is, I'm going to bring that bastard dog named Gru back."
"Hang it on the lamppost at the entrance of the temple and light it as a sky lantern