After Lucheng learned from Scarre about the open-pit mine at the northern end of Scarre Royal City, he dispatched a reconnaissance team to check the specific situation there in advance.
There were twelve people in the reconnaissance team. The task of leading the city was assigned to Tiehuan. At the same time, the reconnaissance team also brought a refugee who wanted to return to the royal city...that was Derek.
Derek sat in the back seat of the SUV holding the backpack he had bought in exchange for his daily necessities tickets.
As the best gladiator in the royal city, he thought he was so brave that he was not afraid of death. However, when he sat in the back seat of the SUV, he was so timid that he shrank his head.
There was an atmosphere in the SUV that made it impossible to speak a word. Derek looked around at the soldiers sitting next to him. They had serious expressions and were staring straight ahead, holding their weapons in both hands and pursing their lips tightly.
This feeling of intimidation without even getting angry made Derek feel his entire body stiffen.
Derek stayed in the camp for half a month, and he was sure that the soldiers in the camp were completely different from Scarre's soldiers. There was a huge difference in temperament alone.
The soldiers of Scarre are not easy to mess with. Even the knights are one level higher than the civilians. Derek doesn't like the soldiers of Scarre, especially the city guards. Those guys are complete scoundrels with weapons on them.
Derek, the lowest-level slave, was the target of their bullying. He had many wounds on his body from fights with the city guards.
But when living in the camp, those soldiers in the camp... Derek didn't even dare to think of making enemies with them.
The most important thing is that you can't beat them. Secondly, although they have an aura of being difficult to approach when on duty, they are very friendly in private. Due to his lack of education, Derek can only think of this way to describe them.
Just as Derek was thinking about some strange things, the SUV suddenly stopped.
"We can only take you here because of the mission." The researcher sitting in the co-pilot seat turned his head and said to Derek.
This researcher is Professor Lin Yuping's assistant. This reconnaissance mission is only to explore the situation around the mine. He serves as an interpreter to avoid conflicts with local residents due to language barriers.
The door behind the SUV was opened, and Derek reacted and got out of the SUV carrying his luggage.
"Thank...thank you." Derek responded in awkward Chinese.
At the same time, these are also the two words he says most often in the camp.
"If you want to go back, just wait here at the same time the day after tomorrow." After the researcher left this instruction to Derek, the door of the SUV closed again.
Derek came to the Royal City of Skare this time hoping to bring his adoptive father back to the camp. Due to his excellent performance in the farming plan, Niu Shan took the lead in giving Derek this opportunity.
He was carrying a heavy backpack, looking at the off-road vehicle in the distance, and raised his voice to shout "Thank you."
After Derek finished saying thank you, a cold wind suddenly blew into his clothes.
This made Derek shudder.
Is the winter in Skare so cold
Derek looked at the ruins on both sides of the city in a daze. His life in the camp was either working hard in the fields or learning Chinese with his sister in the warm tent.
In Niu Shan's words, he lives a fulfilling life every day.
"We must find my father quickly." Derek walked on the dilapidated Scarre Street with a backpack on his back.
The trauma brought to this country by the blood crystal beast has not been eliminated yet. The streets are full of empty buildings. Even if Derek occasionally sees one or two passers-by, they will quickly avoid him after seeing his "strange clothes".
Derek doesn't like this city, he prefers to stay in the camp. If possible... Derek wants to stay in the camp forever.
When he told Niu Shan about this idea, Niu Shan scolded him harshly.
'The most important thing for a person is not to forget his roots. Our country had nothing in the past, but it was through the efforts of our fathers that we gradually became rich and strong, hammer by hammer and hoe!'
Derek roughly understood what Niu Shan meant, which was that outsiders are outsiders after all, even if Derek obtained permanent residency in the camp, he was still an outsider.
But... rebuilding your own country
Derek's eyes swept over the civilians who were hurrying along the streets in the cold wind, and then he looked at the towering walls of the inner city.
If this country really belonged to him, Derek would certainly be happy to devote himself to rebuilding it, but Derek knew that his work in this country belonged to the nobles, not himself.
Derek pulled the scarf higher around his neck and walked towards the home he remembered, carrying his backpack.
… … …
Derek did not find his adoptive father at home, but he got a bad news from an acquaintance, that is, his adoptive father was taken to the Black Flame Stone Mine at the north end of the royal city to dig those stones.
Every winter, the demand for Skare's Black Flame Stone increases significantly because this stone can burn for a long time and generate heat.
The only mine in the royal city that mines black flame stone has always been controlled by the royal family, and it is almost impossible for ordinary people to buy it.
When Derek arrived at the Black Flame Stone Mine, there were not many guards around... After Skarre suffered the blood crystal beast disaster, there were only a few survivors in the royal city.
It is a miracle that this mine can still continue to operate. These guards are no longer there to prevent civilians from coming in to steal the Black Flame Stone as before, but to prevent the miners who are mining the Black Flame Stone from escaping.
In this situation, Derek easily sneaked into the mine and found the wooden house provided for the miners to live in.
The temperature in the cabin was not as cold as Derek had imagined, but there was an unpleasant smell. More than thirty miners gathered in the cabin, and he soon found his adoptive father among the miners.
"Father?"
Derek quietly came to the side of his adoptive father. The other party raised his eyes a little tiredly, and when he found that the person who spoke was Derek, an expression of surprise and anger appeared on his face.
"You bastard! Why are you back again?" He lowered his voice and said to Derek, "And you came here! Aren't you afraid of death?"
"Father, I brought you some food."
Derek was used to being scolded by his adoptive father. He put his backpack on the ground. Inside was the food he had exchanged for his meal tickets in the past few days.
"Were you driven out by those people?" said the adoptive father, putting his hands covered with mining dust on Derek's shoulders.
"No, I came here to find you." Derek shook his head and replied.
"Me? Go together? Damn it! Get out of here quickly! Derek." The foster father pushed Derek from behind and said, "The lord knows exactly where each of us is! Your entry into the city must have been discovered! Get out! Before you get caught!"
Derek knew that this was the "mark" of Skarre on his body, which represented that he was a citizen of Skarre... no, it should be his property.
The existence of the mark will be felt by the bearers of the mark of Skarre, that is, the noble class. As long as Derek enters their perception range, they will notice it.
This is also the reason why this mine sent so few soldiers but was still able to effectively prevent the miners from escaping.
"I'm not leaving, Father! I have no reason to run away." Derek said what he had always wanted to say.
"Are you crazy? Those damn nobles are arresting people everywhere to dig up the Black Flame Stone. If you are caught, you will be thrown here too." said the adoptive father.
Derek did not answer his adoptive father. He turned around and looked at the other miners present.
"Brother Derek?"
Someone among the miners recognized Derek, and Derek also recognized the other person, who was an orphan who usually followed him on the street.
Derek used to be quite famous on the streets, but of course this kind of fame was only limited to the lowest level of the poor.
"Everyone come here, I brought you food." Derek raised his voice and spoke to everyone.