46: Chapter 46 Feeding Her

With Wu Fu's single sentence, "The incubation pool is hungry," the last half-trough of soft ash in the rear warehouse bottomed out.

The Breeding Cave was tensely quiet.

The Nest-Paste Worker Rats were still running back and forth along the side troughs, the white paste in their mouths already thinning.

The two Spore Nest Breeders huddled in the deep nests, the spore sacs on their backs swelling and contracting, clearly waiting for the next mouthful of feed.

The group of Red-Eyed Rats in the outer ring had just been stabilized; their breathing was steady, but their bellies were empty.

At this moment, anyone could tell.

Wu Fu had been pulled back, but this newly opened Brood Nursery Court had suddenly become the hungriest place in the entire mine.

Shi Jiukui burst into the connection room at this very moment.

As soon as the door opened, before he could even catch his breath, he slapped a black-silver transport slip onto the table.

"The North Rail is open for transport."

"The league resource carts are taking the Sinking Rail Slope today, heading to the Grade A warehouse and the league rear depot."

"I just came back from the transport slip wall; the manifest includes spiritual liquid, brood powder, stability stones, and a cart of repair paste."

Lu Jin looked up.

The transport slip wall was where the Zhuixing Divine Academy posted their transport battle placards.

The academy wasn't afraid of students robbing them; in fact, they intentionally put some resources on the road.

Whoever had the ability could intercept them.

The rules were written clearly: until the resource carts entered the warehouse, they were considered active quotas.

If you hung an interception flag in advance and took them down within the designated interception lines, the goods belonged to you.

But if you acted without hanging a flag, or forcibly seized them outside the interception lines, that wasn't considered transport competition—it was breaking the rules.

He had to take this cart.

And he had to take it clean.

"Who is escorting the cart?" Lu Jin asked.

Shi Jiukui grimaced, his smile not the least bit relaxed.

"Zhou Jibai."

"After losing that match on the Earth Ranking yesterday, he went straight to escort the rear depot carts today. It's clear he wants to win back the transport line."

Zhong Xiaoqi stood by the door holding the beehive.

She glanced at Lu Jin first, then at the dimming side troughs in the mental projection screen.

"How much longer can the Brood Nursery Court hold out?"

Lu Jin didn't answer, his divine sense sinking into the Dead Ash Mine first.

Wu Fu had already walked to the feed tray.

She didn't look up; she just lightly touched the edge of the empty tray with her finger, pointing out all the places most in need of feed.

The intersection of the main and side troughs, the two deep Spore Nest chambers, the base of the heating trough, and the newly opened heat-transport trench at the base of the outer wall.

Her speech was a bit smoother than before, but her voice was still soft.

"Take the spiritual liquid first."

"Brood powder second."

"I also need the stability stones."

"If you can bring back the repair paste, don't leave it behind."

Grey Pupil stood in the outer ring, watching her, his grey eyes never relaxing.

"The carts are on the line."

"If we take them down, can you handle it?"

Wu Fu raised those milky white eyes and looked at it.

"If the carts come in, I can open the troughs."

The sentence was very light.

But the meaning was very direct.

You bring the feed back, and I'll handle the rest.

Lu Jin made the decision on the spot.

"Hang the flag."

"We're eating this cart."

The Black Well Outer Ring quickly sprang into action.

Shi Jiukui went to the transport slip wall to hang the interception flag.

Duan Chenzhou dragged the large dragging snail to the bottom of the Sinking Rail Slope to inspect the slope's shape.

The white paste that the dragging snail spat out was slippery and sticky; spreading it on the stone slope and rail gaps was perfect for jamming wheels and tripping beasts.

Zhong Xiaoqi ran with the beehive to the high beam frame near the interception line; the Copper Needle Bees weren't heavy, but once the swarm scattered, they were perfect for stinging eyes and distracting hands.

Zhu Qinghe went to the rear warehouse to count empty boxes and bone ropes; seizing the cart wasn't the end—how to drag the cart into the Black Well was the real skill.

Lu Jin himself returned to the divine domain.

Two Black Shield Bone Carriages were parked under the outer wall; the left carriage's shield face had been repaired, and the right carriage's wheel side still had wind-guiding buckles.

Eight Cart-pulling Rats bit the bone ropes and crouched behind the carriages, twelve Ambush Rats lay in the shadows, ten Tunneling Rats sharpened their claws, and six Fire Oil Throwers half-knelt by the feed troughs.

The six newly emerged Nest-Paste Worker Rats were also called out; they weren't big, but they ran incredibly fast.

The Spore Nest Breeders didn't move.

Those two things were more precious than anything right now; it would hurt to even break one.

Lu Jin scanned the formation one by one, issuing commands rapidly.

"Tunneling Rats go first; dig shallow shells on both sides of the third interception line for me."

"Divide the Cart-pulling Rats into two teams. Four follow the left carriage, four go to the bottom of the slope to prepare to pull the heavy cart."

"Fire Oil Throwers, don't hit the people; aim for the coupling hooks and beast ropes first."

"Nest-Paste Worker Rats, follow the Cart-pulling Rats. Once the cart is disconnected, seal the wheels first, then the boxes."

"Grey Pupil, follow me on the central axis."

Grey Pupil nodded.

"What about Wu Fu?"

Lu Jin looked toward the Brood Nursery Court.

Wu Fu had already walked back to the edge of the pool, the three bundles of nest silk trailing behind her, connecting to the side troughs and nest chambers.

She was like a newly grown white main vein now; if she left the court, the whole system would go weak.

"She's guarding the base."

"We'll drag the feed back, and she'll take it."

The Sinking Rail Slope was in the rear section of the Zhuixing North Rail.

To put it plainly, it was an old track specifically for transport carts to go downhill.

There were double tracks at the top, a sand slope at the bottom, and semi-collapsed retaining walls on both sides.

The slope wasn't long, but the turns were sharp; it was the place most prone to accidents, marked by three white lines.

The academy had drawn those three white lines very clearly; as long as the flag was hung, anyone could intercept transport within these three lines.

When Lu Jin arrived, a crowd had already gathered on both the Black Well and Grade A sides.

Some were here to watch the spectacle.

Some were here to watch him court death.

The grey-robed deacon at the transport slip platform stood high up, holding the Black Well interception flag that had just been hung, his voice cold and direct.

"Lu Jin of the Black Well Class, flag hanging successful."

"According to academy rules, the third transport line of the Sinking Rail Slope is open for competition."

"Before the resource carts enter the warehouse, the captor may take them."

"Forcible seizure outside the lines is considered a violation."

"Causing excessive injury to the escorting students will result in a deduction of ranking points."

As soon as these words fell, Zhou Jibai walked out from the opposite slope entrance.

He wasn't wearing his short gold cape today, but the sponsorship badge on his chest had been changed to a new one, blindingly silver.

Behind him was the same familiar setup: two silver-plated tiger-carrying machines, four magnetic-cable work puppets, and ten hook-cable operators.

Three transport carts were stuck on the rails one after another; the front one contained repair paste and spare parts, the middle one held four black boxes of brood powder, and the last one, the heaviest, had eight stability stones pressed at the bottom, with six vials of silver-blue spiritual liquid locked on top.

Everything was exactly what Lu Jin needed most right now.

Zhou Jibai stood beside the front cart, looking at him, his expression very cold.

"You really aren't picky."

"Yesterday you stole my points, today you want to steal my carts."

Lu Jin glanced at the three transport carts.

"Before the carts enter the warehouse, anyone can seize them."

"If you can protect them, they are yours."

Zhou Jibai smiled, his smile chilling.

"You want to rob league carts with just these few rats?"

Lu Jin replied calmly.

"I'm here today to take the feed."

As soon as the gong sounded, the Sinking Rail Slope immediately sprang into motion.

Zhou Jibai did not hesitate in the slightest.

"Front cart, clear the way; middle cart, hold the line; heavy cart, take the inner rail!"

"Puppets, raise the cables; whoever approaches the heavy cart, strangle them first!"

The two tiger-carrying machines exerted force first, their heavy hooves pressing down on the rail surface.

The front cart carrying repair paste moved the fastest, the middle cart with the brood powder followed closely behind it, and the last heavy cart was the slowest but the most stable.

The four magnetic-cable work puppets were divided on both sides; with a flick of the silver cables, they could pull a derailed cart head back on track on the spot.

This was the confidence Zhou Jibai had in escorting the carts.

His setup was best at protecting transport.

Lu Jin didn't rush to move.

He first looked at the distance between the carts, then at the slope angle, and finally at the wheel position of the heavy cart.

"Left carriage, push to the second white line."

"Right carriage, stick to the lower rail, don't take the lead."

"Tunneling Rats, rise."

The ten Tunneling Rats had long since dug shallow shells on both sides of the third interception line.

Now, at the command, their claws all pushed down together, hollowing out a section of the already thin sand layer.

It looked fine from the surface, but once a person or cart stepped on it, they would realize it was hollow underneath.

The two Black Shield Bone Carriages also moved.

The left carriage went straight to the second line, blocking the waist of the slope, as if it were going to collide head-on with the middle cart.

The right carriage didn't charge up; instead, it slid along the lower rail to the edge of the sand slope, wedging itself behind the semi-collapsed retaining wall, with only half of its front exposed.

Zhou Jibai only glanced at them and immediately sneered.

"Trying to cut off the carts again?"

"Puppets, watch the heavy cart; ignore him on the front line."

His judgment was correct.

Lu Jin was indeed here to cut off the carts.

But what he was cutting wasn't just the carts.

As soon as the front wheels of the heavy cart rolled over the second white line, Lu Jin raised his hand and pressed down.

"Fire Oil, hit the coupling hooks!"

The four Fire Oil Throwers swung their arms simultaneously.

The grey-red fire sacs didn't hit the people; they all smashed onto the black iron coupling hook between the middle cart and the heavy cart.

As soon as the fire touched the iron, it burrowed into the seams.

That area suffered constant wear and was most afraid of heat expansion; it began to glow red as soon as it was burned.

Zhou Jibai's expression darkened.

"Pull it back!"

The four magnetic-cable work puppets raised their arms in unison, the silver cables all lashing toward the head of the heavy cart, trying to stabilize the carriage body before the coupling hook broke.

This was the moment Lu Jin had been waiting for.

"Left carriage, ram the tail of the middle cart!"

"Downhill team, pull the rear wheels of the heavy cart!"

Thud!

The Black Shield Bone Carriage on the left gave a fierce shove, crashing right into the tail beam of the middle cart.

The middle cart was tilted forward by this impact, and the coupling hook, which had already been burned red, suddenly let out a shrill cracking sound.

Snap!

It broke.

The heavy cart behind lost its tether, and the entire carriage body slid down the slope.

The four Cart-pulling Rats, long since buried at the bottom of the slope, exerted force simultaneously; the bone ropes tightened, directly snaring the right rear wheel of the heavy cart and yanking the front of the cart hard toward the side of the lower rail.

With a boom, the heavy cart swerved by half a foot.

With this swerve, the front wheels happened to roll right onto the shallow shell that the Tunneling Rats had hollowed out.

The sand layer collapsed on the spot.

The heavy rear carriage's wheel assembly sank halfway into the slope's crust, and the carriage swung sideways, wedging itself behind the partially collapsed retaining wall.

The entire scene fell silent for a moment, then erupted.

"He actually cut off the heavy carriage!"

"He's not going for the front carriage; he's going for the most valuable one first!"

Zhou Jibai's expression shifted.

He had anticipated that Lu Jin would attempt an interception, but he hadn't expected him to bite off the fattest piece in one go.

"Full line, press right!"

"Drag that heavy carriage back for me!"

The ten hook-rope handlers turned in unison, black hook-ropes whistling through the air to latch onto the trapped heavy carriage. Four magnetic-rope work puppets exerted force simultaneously, pulling the silver ropes taut until they were straight. The carriage groaned and screeched, looking as if it were about to be dragged back onto the track.

Lu Jin's voice remained perfectly steady.

"Nest-Paste Worker Rat, to the wheels!"

"Grey Pupil, sever the two ropes on the right!"

Six Nest-Paste Worker Rats scurried along the ground, moving even faster than the Ambush Rats. They ignored the people and the positions, pouncing directly onto the heavy carriage's wheel assembly and box locks, smearing white paste over the cracks. Once the white paste touched the surface, the wheel assembly became sticky, then seemed to grow a protective soft shell, forcibly stabilizing the axle that had been on the verge of collapsing.

Grey Pupil, leading four Ambush Rats, slipped underneath the carriage.

It ignored the work puppets' chests, focusing solely on the rope loops. With a strike of its ritual staff, the two Ambush Rats followed the staff's shadow and pounced, sinking their teeth into the thinnest section of the silver rope.

Snap! Snap!

The two silver ropes on the right snapped one after the other.

Zhou Jibai roared in anger.

"Replace the ropes! Get them back on!"

But just as his men pressed to the right, the hollowed-out section of the shallow slope beneath them completely collapsed.

Three hook-rope handlers lost their footing, tumbling into the sand pit along with their ropes. A magnetic-rope work puppet behind them tried to step over, but as soon as its foot landed, it slipped on the white paste Duan Chenzhou had smeared in advance. The entire puppet toppled sideways, its chest lock-plate slamming into the ground and sending sparks flying.

This was the most ruthless part of Lu Jin's strategy.

He had never intended to break through the entire transport line from the start.

He only wanted to pry the most valuable carriage out of Zhou Jibai's hands in the shortest possible time and drag it away.

"Right carriage, advance!"

The second Black Shield Bone Carriage, stuck behind the lower track, finally moved.

The eight-yard Cart-pulling Rats exerted force along the ground, shoving the entire bone carriage hard against the side of the heavy carriage. They didn't aim for the people, only the wheels. With a muffled bang, the heavy carriage's left wheel assembly was shoved, and the entire carriage shifted another segment toward the Black Well side.

The carriage was skewed.

It was easier for the Cart-pulling Rats to pull now.

The empty boxes and bone ropes Zhu Qinghe had prepared came in handy. The members of Black Well Class didn't bother engaging with Zhou Jibai's men at all. They sealed whichever box lock was loose, and the Nest-Paste Worker Rats applied paste wherever a carriage beam threatened to crack. Even Zhong Xiaoqi's Copper Needle Bees didn't sting the guards' necks, instead buzzing around their hands and eyes, making it impossible for those hook-rope handlers to fasten their locks securely.

Zhou Jibai realized something was wrong, his face turning ashen.

Lu Jin wasn't fighting this like a normal interception.

He was targeting logistics.

He only wanted the carriages and the materials, ignoring everything else. Whoever tried to stop him, he dismantled their hands, cut their lines, and jammed their wheels.

Up on the high gallery, Instructor Gu had arrived at some point, unobserved.

A fellow instructor beside him watched the heavy carriage being dragged inch by inch away from the center of the track, frowning as he spoke.

"His fighting style is like a Military Court supply interception."

Instructor Gu only replied with one sentence.

"It's more competent than most freshmen."

The situation at the foot of the slope was stretched to the breaking point.

The new badge on Zhou Jibai's chest suddenly flared, and the entire section of track hummed. The remaining two magnetic-rope work puppets pressed in from the left and right, attempting to leverage the metal tension of the entire track to drag the heavy carriage and the Black Shield Bone Carriage back.

As this move was unleashed, even the white paste applied by the Nest-Paste Worker Rats began to tremble under the tension.

Grey Pupil's expression darkened.

"He's activated a sponsorship divine art."

Lu Jin stared at the ground beneath the two work puppets, his gaze growing colder by the second.

"Then we'll flip the slope."

"Fire Oil, burn the dry beam beneath the third white line."

"Left carriage, push again!"

The third round of Fire Oil smashed directly into the cracks of the old beams at the base of the slope.

Buried there were the support beams for the old transport track; their wooden cores had long since dried out. No one touched them usually, as they would collapse at the slightest contact. A grey-red line of fire shot along the cracks in the beams, and the entire sand slope instantly erupted with crackling explosions.

Just as Zhou Jibai realized something was wrong, the Black Shield Bone Carriage on the left rammed into it for the second time.

Bang!

The heavy carriage was knocked, wobbling outward.

The next instant, the support beams at the base of the slope burned through, and the entire edge of the lower track collapsed. The ground beneath the two magnetic-rope work puppets gave way, and the tension force violently shifted. Taking advantage of the momentum, the eight-yard Cart-pulling Rats and the Black Shield Bone Carriage shoved the heaviest resource carriage, forcibly dragging it past the third white line and sliding it directly into the collection port on the Black Well side.

A white light flashed from the high-altitude transport sign platform.

[Third Transport Line: Black Well Class · Lu Jin, Interception Successful]

As this announcement rang out, the surrounding crowd erupted in uproar.

"He did it!"

"He actually hijacked the league's heavy carriage!"

"He dismantled Zhou Jibai's escort line again?"

Zhou Jibai stood on the slope, his expression as sour as if he'd swallowed iron.

It wasn't that he lacked the means to fight back.

It was that Lu Jin had kept him pinned to the transport carriage, preventing him from ever striking where he wanted.

Lu Jin, however, didn't stop.

"Drag the middle carriage, too!"

The heavy carriage had already entered the Black Well collection port, making the second middle carriage, loaded with Brood Nursery Powder, the next piece of meat. Zhou Jibai wanted to turn back to save it, but if he attended to the middle carriage, he couldn't protect the front carriage; if he protected the front carriage, the Stabilizing Stone heavy carriage in the back would be completely lost.

He hesitated for only half a breath.

Lu Jin had already bitten off the middle carriage as well.

This time, it wasn't as clean as before. They only dragged away half of the middle carriage, snatching three of the four black boxes of Brood Nursery Powder, along with two barrels of repair paste. Zhou Jibai guarded the front carriage, which was loaded with parts and spare paste, with his life, and ultimately managed to save it.

But for Lu Jin, it was enough.

He tallied the battle damage on the spot.

Three Cart-pulling Rats had their hind legs crushed by the heavy carriage's wheel assembly; two died, and one was crippled.

Two Ambush Rats had expired, four Tunneling Rats had cracked claws, and the axle of the Black Shield Bone Carriage on the right had a crack in it.

The Black Well side was also exhausted.

But the haul they brought back was even more substantial.

Six vials of Spirit Liquid, eight Stabilizing Stones, three large boxes of Brood Nursery Powder, two barrels of repair paste, and a section of the heavy carriage's load-bearing beam that hadn't been burned.

This trade was a huge profit.

Shi Jiukui looked at the heavy carriage that had just been dragged into the collection port, still trembling, and laughed until his voice went hoarse.

"This time, we really did raid the supplies."

Lu Jin raised a hand to silence him.

"Enough talk. Drag it back."

"Brood Nursery Powder goes first, Spirit Liquid follows the central axis, and Stabilizing Stones bring up the rear."

"If anyone drops a single box, I'm holding them accountable."

The Black Well Class sprang into action.

They laid down paste for the drag-screws, the Cart-pulling Rats bit the ropes, the Nest-Paste Worker Rats sealed the boxes and smoothed the seams, and even the Copper Needle Bees were driven by Zhong Xiaoqi to guard the box openings. The entire sequence of actions was performed in one fluid motion, fast as if they had practiced it countless times.

Up on the high gallery, Instructor Gu watched the line of resources being dragged all the way back to Black Well, and suddenly spoke calmly.

"Make a note of this."

"This person doesn't just know how to fight."

"He also knows how to cultivate a battle line."

As soon as the resources entered the Divine Domain, Wu Fu took over.

She didn't need anyone to teach her.

She pressed the first vial of Spirit Liquid into the warming tank, the second into the junction of the main and secondary tanks, and the remaining four followed the white veins into the two deep nests and the main position at the bottom of the pool. The three boxes of Brood Nursery Powder were opened on the spot; one box fed the side tanks, one fed the deep chambers of the Spore Nest, and the last was pressed into the outer preparation room. The eight Stabilizing Stones were dragged by the Cart-pulling Rats and Nest-Paste Worker Rats to the base of the walls, the edge of the well, and the outer ring of the Brood Nursery Court, where they were embedded one by one into the areas that had originally been the weakest.

As soon as the materials were in, the entire mine immediately changed.

The Brood Nursery Court lit up first.

The circle of grey veins at the base of the outer wall also lit up.

The ball of black fire within the Return Fire Well sank, and the three lines—Fire Room, Battle Nest, and Brood Nest—seemed to be twisted together in an instant. Even the spore sacs on the backs of the two Spore Nest Breeders swelled and grew firmer. The Nest-Paste Worker Rats ran twice as fast as before, and the group of Red-Eyed Rats in the outer ring prostrated themselves in unison, their lines of faith pressing one by one into Lu Jin's Sea of Consciousness.

This time, it wasn't just stability.

It was as if the entire Divine Domain had taken a step forward.

Lu Jin had just pressed the final Stabilizing Stone into the outer ring of the Brood Nursery Court when a deeper, hollow sound suddenly resonated from the strata beneath his feet.

Thump.

Thump.

It was as if something much larger was slowly awakening in the depths of the mine.

Grey Pupil was the first to look up.

Wu Fu also stopped what she was doing.

Two completely different gazes fell simultaneously onto the patch of strata at the center of the mine that had just stabilized.

The next instant, the black fire in Lu Jin's Sea of Consciousness flared brightly.

A deep black prompt floated out from the fire.

[Divine Domain structure completion has reached the upgrade threshold]

[Outer Wall Prototype: Formed]

[Return Fire Well: Stabilized]

[Brood Nursery Court: Activated]

[Currently available upgrade path: Furnace Cave Fortress]

[Begin construction?]

Lu Jin stared at those lines of text, his gaze deepening.

The materials had been seized.

And the fortress could finally be built.

Furnace Cave Fortress, ready to build.