83: Don't panic, it's a cave!

Diaobingshan Coal Mine.

After the roof collapse in Shen Bei's working face, the coal mine's safety officer immediately detected the anomaly and reported it to the mine's central control room.

The coal mine's emergency plan was efficiently activated.

All workers operating underground were brought to the surface.

This was not to prevent them from participating in the rescue, but rather because they had been working for a long time.

Their physical strength was insufficient, making secondary injuries highly likely.

The rescue efforts were then handed over to the coal mine's rescue team, who began descending into the mine.

However, at this very moment...

Liao Jianguo, Director and Principal Zhang arrived with a team from the Martial Arts University to provide support.

Their appearance instantly stunned the mine leaders.

"Director Liao? Why have you come?"

Liao Jianguo, Director frowned and said, "Tell your rescue team to stop. We'll handle the rest."

"Hmm?"

The mine leaders were briefly stunned, then immediately realized: the tremor that had just occurred underground in the coal mine, could it be...

An earthquake?

Otherwise, a normal safety production accident wouldn't have alerted the Earthquake Detection Bureau.

"A... a Dungeon?"

"That's right. We detected an earthquake right at the Diaobingshan Coal Mine. What's the situation down there?"

"A tunnel has collapsed, and the people inside are of unknown status."

Liao Jianguo, Director stroked his chin: "Can you confirm if the Dungeon will appear in this tunnel?"

It's important to know that while the coal mine's surface only had a dark, sloping entrance about five meters wide.

Once inside, the various tunnels and passages were crisscrossing, with main tunnels extending for more than ten kilometers, covering a very large area.

And the exit of a First-Rank Dungeon was only about three meters wide.

It required manpower to search for it.

Especially in a dark environment, searching for a Dungeon exit carried a certain degree of danger.

At this point, the mine leaders shook their heads: "We can't be sure. We just thought the tremor was caused by blasting. If it weren't for the roof collapse, we'd still be in normal production."

Liao Jianguo, Director frowned deeply, then turned to Principal Zhang and said, "Three people per group, all go down. Search for the Dungeon entrance. Once found, everyone push forward. Do not allow any Vicious Beasts or Mutated Humans to escape the wellhead."

Principal Zhang nodded and, led by the mine staff, went to the changing room to change into work clothes.

At the same time, Liao Jianguo, Director issued an order to the coal mine: "I hereby declare a state of war. All workers in the coal mine are to evacuate immediately."

The mine leaders nodded and immediately instructed the coal miners to evacuate.

Some workers were even washing themselves in the bathhouse; upon hearing about the Dungeon's appearance, they didn't even have time to put on their clothes and started fleeing naked.

At this point, a problem arose.

Everyone had evacuated, so what about the collapsed tunnel?

The rescue team members were also ordinary people. Facing a sudden attack from Mutated Humans and Vicious Beasts, there was only one outcome: death!

In the end, Li Quanyou and the others, whose lives were unknown, were left unattended!

Of course, the mine leaders wanted to help, but they had no one available.

They considered asking Liao Jianguo, Director to lend some students to dig the tunnel, but Liao Jianguo, Director's attitude seemed more concerned with the Dungeon than with the lives of a few workers.

The mine leaders sighed.

In the face of a Dungeon, everything else had to give way.

In the face of a Martial Artist, ordinary people had to give way.

Although Li Quanyou was a Martial Artist, he was merely a civilian Martial Artist, far from important enough to prioritize over finding the Dungeon exit.

After all, finding the Dungeon sooner meant being able to fight sooner and nip the crisis in the bud.

Therefore, the people on site selectively ignored the collapsed tunnel.

Soon.

Over a hundred Second-Rank Martial Artist students from the Martial Arts University began descending into the mine.

Yu Hao led the way, staring at the map in his hand, constantly assigning teams to search the corresponding tunnels.

When passing the collapsed tunnel, Yu Hao paused.

He felt that digging into it would be a waste of time and manpower.

What if there was no Dungeon inside, and they worked for nothing?

Then he left...

...

At this moment, Li Quanyou calmed the laborers and said, "Turn off all your mine lamps, leave only one for illumination."

This was also to conserve power and maintain lighting for as long as possible.

In such an environment, people would go mad if they lacked light.

Then, Li Quanyou picked up a piece of gangue and went to the coal wall, just about to smash the compressed air pipe to send out a signal.

But he found that the pipe had already fractured and was buried deep within the rubble and coal slag.

"Damn it!"

Li Quanyou's face showed worry. He returned to the others, slumped onto the floor, and said nothing.

Time slowly passed.

Shen Bei felt that one second was as long as an hour.

Shen Bei couldn't sit still. He stood up, grabbed a shovel, and began digging.

Li Quanyou shouted, "Don't bother! With our strength, we can't dig through it."

"We can't just sit here, can we?"

Shen Bei's answer was simple.

Then.

As soon as Shen Bei finished speaking...

In the tunnel, which originally only had one beam of light, a white light suddenly burst forth!

The brief white light was like a falling sun, dispelling all the darkness in the tunnel, making it as bright as day.

But this phenomenon only lasted for a second before disappearing.

Li Quanyou, Shen Bei, and the others suddenly turned their heads.

Anyone could see that the white light came from deeper within the tunnel!

"What was that!"

"It almost blinded me."

"What happened in there?"

"How could it be so bright?"

"Boss Li, Boss Li, what's going on? Isn't it a dead end in there?"

...

Several laborers screamed in panic, their faces filled with terror.

This was not normal, absolutely not normal!

Even if the roof continued to collapse, everyone could accept it.

But for an extremely strong light to suddenly appear from the depths of the tunnel for no reason!

And it was a dead end in there, with no one present!

Li Quanyou was also dumbfounded. Although he was a Martial Artist, he was merely a civilian Martial Artist and had never received systematic training.

Moreover, he became a Martial Artist only to elevate his status, not to serve the country in the military.

"I... I don't know either."

Li Quanyou only felt as if the space before his eyes had dimmed, his former confident expression completely gone, replaced by an unprecedented feeling of terror filling his heart.

Shen Bei put down his shovel, looked up sharply, his eyes trembling, his face frozen like ice, an uneasy feeling assailing his heart.

If... if he hadn't guessed wrong...

It was a Dungeon, wasn't it?

That is to say, the tremor just now wasn't blasting, but an earthquake!

Moreover, according to the knowledge Professor Gu Xinrou had taught him, Dungeons always emitted light before appearing.

The light was very brief, almost disappearing in the blink of an eye.

It was usually not easy to detect during the day.

But in such a pitch-black tunnel, it was exceptionally dazzling.

Shen Bei took a deep breath, looked back at the blocked tunnel, then at the tunnel hidden in the darkness.

His mouth twitched; it was truly a string of bad luck, even drinking cold water would get stuck in his teeth.

Just at this moment...

Under the gaze of everyone, a highly abnormal crimson light suddenly flickered in the darkness, growing brighter and brighter.

It looked exactly like the pupil of some unknown animal!

Rustle...

Thump-thump...

Footsteps echoed in the darkness.

This scene utterly terrified the laborers.

Although the thing in the darkness had not yet revealed itself, anyone could guess that, apart from creatures from a Dungeon suddenly crawling out, no other creatures could exist beneath a coal mine!

Even if there were rats, they wouldn't glow red!

"Holy crap! The floor tremor just now wasn't blasting, it was an earthquake!"

"Boss Li, you've completely screwed us over!"

"What do we do, what do we do! People are going to die, people are going to die!"

"We're doomed! The exit is blocked, and the damned Dungeon appeared in this tunnel. We're all going to die!"

...

The laborers' eyes were bloodshot, their faces ashen, their bodies shaking like sieves, uttering intermittent, frantic roars.

At this moment, Li Quanyou swallowed, his face contorted into a mess, changing dramatically, and he stammered:

"Don't, don't panic! I, I'm also a Martial Artist!"

"Everyone hide behind me. If anyone dies, I'll be the first!"

"If I can survive, I promise I'll get you all out!"

"Now. I'll take the lead!" Saying this, Li Quanyou resolutely erupted with an aura of self-destruction, then added, "Shen Bei, you lead the men to dig an escape tunnel, quickly!"

Shen Bei: ...