173: Chapter 173 It's you I'm robbing!

Zone I, Southern Mining Area.

The blazing sun hung in the sky, and the earth was scorched hot.

Babu swung the iron pickaxe in his hand, smashing it hard against a piece of stubborn ore.

Sparks flew in all directions.

The impact split the skin between his thumb and index finger.

But he didn't dare to stop.

As a Dalit, the lowliest "Untouchables" in the A San hierarchy.

After transmigrating to this cruel world of highway survival, his fate had not changed at all.

In fact, his life was even more miserable than before.

Here, the high-caste Kshatriyas controlled all weapons and supplies.

While Dalits like them could only eat moldy bread every day and perform the dirtiest, most exhausting labor.

"Cough, cough..."

A violent fit of coughing came from beside him.

His fellow Dalit friend, Sanjay, leaned weakly against the mine wall, his face a sallow yellow.

"Babu, I can't hold on much longer."

Sanjay gasped for air, his eyes filled with numbness and despair.

"When will these hellish days ever end?"

Babu gritted his teeth and whispered comfortingly, "Endure a bit longer, Sanjay."

"The gods said that our suffering in this life is to wash away the sins of our souls."

"As long as we finish our suffering in this life and obediently listen to the Kshatriya masters, we can be reincarnated as Vaishyas in the next life."

This illusory rhetoric of reincarnation was the only spiritual pillar supporting countless Dalits to keep living.

Just as the two were taking a brief breath.

*Hum—*

A slight tremor suddenly came from the ground beneath their feet.

Babu looked up.

On the distant horizon, yellow sand billowed into the sky, blotting out the sun.

"Is another sandstorm coming?"

Babu wiped the sweat from his face and prepared to pull Sanjay toward a dilapidated workshop to take temporary shelter.

This kind of extreme weather was common in the mining area; staying outside meant being buried alive.

But just as he turned his head, he found Sanjay staring blankly into the distance.

Sanjay's clouded eyes were wide open, as if he were seeing something extremely terrifying.

"Babu... look..."

Sanjay's voice was trembling violently as he grabbed Babu's arm.

"That... that's not a sandstorm!"

"My god! What on earth is that?!"

Babu followed his gaze.

In the next second, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning; his legs instantly went weak, and he began to shake uncontrollably.

Beneath that billowing yellow sand, it wasn't a sandstorm at all!

It was a vast, red ocean that stretched as far as the eye could see!

It was thousands upon thousands of blood-red heavy war vehicles, charging toward the mining area with a terrifying momentum that could topple mountains and overturn seas.

Even from a distance, a murderous aura blew toward them like a gale.

While all the miners were frozen in fear.

*Crack!*

The crisp sound of a whip exploded over the mining area.

A Kshatriya overseer wearing high-quality armor swung a barbed leather whip, lashing it hard against a miner's back.

The flesh was torn open.

"What the hell are you all dazed for?!"

The overseer roared with a hideous expression.

"Enemy attack! Quick! Pick up your pickaxes!"

"Everyone, get to the front line and hold them back!"

Hearing this command, Sanjay was so scared that he knelt directly on the ground and began to cry out in despair.

"Lo... Lord! How can we block that?"

"The other side is full of heavy war vehicles, and we only have mining pickaxes in our hands!"

"At least... at least give us some weapons!"

"I beg of you..."

*Bang!*

A dull gunshot rang out.

Sanjay's cries came to an abrupt halt.

A bloody hole appeared between his eyebrows, his eyes wide open as he fell straight down at Babu's feet.

Blood splattered all over Babu's face.

The overseer pointed his gun at the sky, his gaze as contemptuous as if he were looking at a Ye Gou that had been trampled to death.

"Weapons?"

"You lowly Dalits, you're worthy of touching weapons?"

The overseer raised his gun again, aiming it at the remaining terrified miners.

"Listen up, all of you!"

"Fucking charge! Use your worthless lives to hold them back for me!"

"If this batch of ore is stolen by the other side, you're all going to fucking die!"

Looking at his best friend who had died with his eyes open.

Babu's whole body was shaking, tears mixing with blood as they flowed down his face.

But he didn't dare to resist.

He didn't even dare to harbor a thought of anger.

He was a Dalit, the lowest pariah in this world.

The ideology instilled in him since childhood told him that defying a high-caste Kshatriya would not only result in death now but also mean continuing to be a pariah in the next life.

His life was truly too bitter.

He only hoped to finish his suffering in this life quickly so that he could be reincarnated as a Vaishya who didn't have to worry about food or clothing in the next life.

"Aaaahhh!!!"

Babu let out a howl of despair.

He raised the battered iron pickaxe in his hand and, along with thousands of equally numb Dalits in the mining area, charged toward that red flood of steel like a zombie.

And behind them.

The Kshatriya overseers, who had been so fierce just a moment ago, had no intention of drawing their weapons to fight.

"Quick! Quick! Brothers, retreat!"

The overseer leader jumped onto an off-road vehicle and roared frantically at his subordinates.

"Let those pariahs go to their deaths to buy us time!"

"Quickly drive away the trucks loaded with ore and retreat to the main base immediately!"

...

Babu and thousands of Dalits wailed in despair as they charged toward that blood-colored ocean with their eyes closed.

He was already prepared to die.

How many war vehicles were in front of them?

Fifty thousand?

One hundred thousand?

Or even more?

He couldn't count them at all.

Charging at the very front was a blood-colored heavy tank as massive as a small mountain.

Looking at that oppressive red giant, Babu's life even flashed before his eyes.

However.

The expected pain of being crushed into meat paste did not come.

*Boom!*

A violent gust from the engine swept over.

The wind kicked up by the Red Wolf Tank knocked Babu and a dozen miners in front of him to the ground.

Immediately after, "Beep— Beep-beep—" the deafening sound of horns echoed through the mining area.

The vehicles of the Red Wolf Army roared past them one after another, completely unconcerned.

This terrifying red ocean didn't seem to have the slightest interest in killing them.

Those cold gazes were like looking at a swarm of insects by the roadside; they even felt that firing their weapons would be a waste of ammunition.

The Red Wolf Army was warlike but not bloodthirsty.

Looking at this group of white-named players with (Pariah) IDs, who were poorly dressed and skin and bones.

All guild members tacitly chose to let them go.

...

On the other side of the battlefield, the Kshatriya overseers were fleeing frantically in their off-road vehicles.

The vehicles were fully loaded with the high-grade ore they had just exploited.

"Hmph! Those lowly Dalits are finally worth something!"

The overseer leader floored the accelerator while laughing loudly, "With tens of thousands of worthless lives, they should be able to hold back the other side for at least ten minutes!"

As a result, he glanced in the rearview mirror.

With just one look, his soul was almost scared out of his body.

On the horizon behind them, that red flood of steel was like the descent of the Grim Reaper, less than a thousand meters away!

"Damn it! Those cursed pariahs couldn't even hold them back for a single second?!"

"Quick! Speed up for me!"

The overseer leader shouted frantically in fear.

"Step on the gas..."

Before he could finish his sentence.

On that mountain-like red wolf heavy tank in the rear, the secondary gun's fire control system had completed its lock.

Several dazzling beams of light instantly crossed the battlefield.

The secondary gun spat out large-caliber Induction Armor-piercing Rounds, which, with the howl of the Grim Reaper, accurately struck the fleeing convoy ahead.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Violent explosions rang out one after another.

The off-road vehicles were as fragile as paper in the face of the violent firepower and were instantly blown to pieces.

The convoy was forced to stop, with flames soaring into the sky.

The Red Wolf Army surged forward like a tide, instantly surrounding them in layers.

These thugs driving heavy war vehicles didn't even bother to look at the heavily injured Kshatriya masters on the ground.

Each one pounced on the high-grade ore scattered all over the ground with glowing eyes.

"Holy crap! Top-quality Purple Ore! We're rich!"

"Quick, quick, quick! Pack it up and take it away!"

Not only did they snatch the ore, but these red-clad thugs even dismantled their off-road vehicles right in front of them.

Under the overturned lead vehicle, the overseer leader's legs had been blown into a bloody mess in the explosion.

He lay on the ground like a dying dog, spitting out large mouthfuls of blood.

His eyes looked maliciously at the approaching Zone C players.

"Dragon Country people! Just you wait!"

"How dare you steal things from our A San Empire? The gods will surely send down punishment!"

Just as he finished speaking, the ground trembled with a dull vibration once again.

In the distance, a massive and luxurious Golden War Chariot, pulled by countless mutated beasts, slowly appeared on the horizon.

Looking at that glittering golden chariot, the dying overseer leader suddenly let out a fit of manic, miserable laughter.

"Hahaha... good!"

"You're finished..."

While coughing up blood, he stared fixedly at the Red Wolf Players in front of him.

"Lao Xian is here..."

"I want all of you to be buried with me!"