994: Chapter 993 Mine Slave—Amu

The Black-Armored Overseer leader stood at the edge of the high platform, triumphantly looking down at the dense black crowd below.

"Look closely, all of you!" He exerted his full strength, his voice echoing in all directions. "This lowly slave dared to defy his superior and intended to resist! This is the consequence!"

He gave a sudden wave of his hand.

Below the platform, the dry firewood piled at A-Mu's feet was ignited.

The flames were small at first, crackling, then quickly spread with the help of accelerants, greedily licking the firewood and spitting out scorching breath and thick smoke.

A slight commotion broke out in the crowd, but it was quickly suppressed by the fierce glares and raised whips of the surrounding Black-Armored Guards.

People lowered their heads, unable to bear watching any longer, yet forced to listen to the sound of the burning flames, imagining the terrifying scene to follow.

Thick smoke choked A-Mu, and the heat of the flames began to sear his legs. The intense agony caused him to writhe uncontrollably, an irrepressible, desperate cry escaping his throat.

A cruel and satisfied smile appeared on the Black-Armored Overseer's face.

The flames were like greedy venomous snakes, coiling around A-Mu's body, frantically licking his tattered clothes and already scarred skin.

The smell of charring mixed with the horrific sound of burning flesh, permeating the deathly silent air.

The intense pain was enough to make anyone break down and scream, but after his initial struggle, A-Mu strangely and gradually calmed down.

He bit down so hard his teeth cracked, his mouth filling with the metallic taste of blood as he forcibly suppressed all groans of pain.

His vision, blurred by the searing flames, locked onto the cruel and gratified faces of the Black-Armored Overseers below the platform, scanning them one by one as if to brand their images into the depths of his Soul.

The leather strap bound across his mouth was burned through, falling away as charred debris.

"...Look at them!"

A-Mu's voice was as raspy as a worn-out bellows, yet it carried an eerie, Soul-piercing power that spread through the crackling of the flames.

"Look at these pieces of trash, these lackeys wearing the colors of the Black Cloud Empire!

Every bite of food they eat, every drop of wine they drink, is bought with our blood and our lives!"

The Black-Armored Overseer leader's expression changed, and he barked sharply, "Death is at your door and you still dare to talk nonsense! Add more wood, burn him to death!"

But A-Mu's voice grew even louder, as if his burning life force had transformed into a final roar.

"The Ore we dig up has become their blades and whips!

It has become the shackles that bind our sons and daughters! Our blood and sweat have fattened these parasites!

They fear us! They fear us remembering that we are still human! They fear us remembering that we have fists too!!"

The flames had already spread to his chest, his skin making a horrific sizzling sound, but he continued to roar:

"Kneel... and we can only be stepped on like insects!

Stand up... and even if we die, we die standing!

If you are our kin, pick up your pickaxes! Look at the people falling beside you!

Today it is me, A-Mu! Tomorrow it will be your brothers! Your fathers! Yourselves!!"

That raspy voice, burning with ultimate fury and defiance, was like a dull knife suddenly prying open the numb, cold shells of tens of thousands of hearts.

In the crowd, a man covered in coal dust suddenly looked up, watching the figure on the platform that was gradually charring in the flames yet still stood straight; the deathly numbness in his eyes was torn apart by intense pain and rage.

He remembered his son, who had been beaten to death three months ago.

"Ah—!"

He let out a non-human roar and suddenly raised the iron pickaxe in his hand, "Fight these beasts!"

"Save A-Mu!"

"Kill them!"

Emotions suppressed to the extreme found a breach, and hundreds of miners whose hearts had long been eroded by despair and hatred were the first to explode.

With bloodshot eyes and wielding crude tools, they rushed toward the high platform like a bursting flood!

However, the cruelty of reality far exceeded their passion.

The well-trained and well-equipped Black-Armored Guards reacted extremely quickly.

*Puchi!*

Sharp Alloy Spears easily pierced the thin chests of the first miners to charge; hot blood sprayed onto the faces of those beside them, their fanatical expressions instantly freezing.

*Swish! Swish! Swish!*

The whistling sound of Energy Crossbow Bolts pierced the air; the dozens of miners in the front fell like wheat being mown down, their wounds scorched black.

Whips, swords, shields... the cold killing machine operated with high efficiency.

The resisting miners relied only on a surge of courage; they were thin and weak, their weapons crude, and many had been hungry for a long time.

Faced with the highly organized guards, their charge appeared tragic and futile.

The area below the high platform instantly turned into a bloody slaughterhouse.

Screams, curses, the sound of blades entering flesh, and the cold shouts of the guards mixed together.

More people were terrified by this instantaneous, brutal suppression; the sparks that had just ignited were almost completely extinguished by cold blood.

They stood in place, trembling, not even daring to look at their fallen comrades or the nearly burnt-out A-Mu on the platform.

In the flames, A-Mu watched helplessly as those hundreds of brave kin fell like moths to a flame, ruthlessly slaughtered.

His heart felt as if it were being torn apart; his final roar stuck in his charred throat, turning into silent despair.

His gaze finally turned toward the boundless, numb, and terrified crowd; there was no blame in his eyes, only endless sorrow and a faint, extreme glimmer of hope.

The flames finally consumed everything he was.

On the high platform, only a charred remains, still bound by iron chains, was left emitting wisps of blue smoke.

The resistance was easily crushed, and blood soaked the yellow earth.

The Black-Armored Overseer leader triumphantly surveyed the Mine Slaves below, who had once again become silent and lowered their heads deeply, and spat.

"Bah! Lowlives! This is the consequence of resistance! Did you all see?! Get back to work! If anyone dares to slack off again, this is your example!"

The whips whistled again, driving the crowd back to their respective pits like livestock.

The pits returned to their previous deathly silence, with only the monotonous sound of pickaxes striking Ore, sounding heavier than before, as if striking everyone's hearts.

But in the air, something seemed different.

The smell of char and blood lingered for a long time.

Many people silently swung their pickaxes, their nails digging into their palms until they bled, yet they were completely unaware.

Deep in their eyes, something that had been completely buried was quietly undergoing a change amidst the faint flame A-Mu had lit with his life and the blood sprayed by their compatriots.

Once the seeds of hatred fall into soil soaked with blood and despair, they begin to grow wildly in silence.

On this day, what the miners of Planet 9527 remembered was no longer just the whipping and hunger, but also the figure roaring in the flames on the high platform and the blood blossoms that bloomed as hundreds fell.