"Don't be as impatient as you were then, eh...... You know how troublesome it is to tear your face with those stubborn businessmen and try to reconcile. ”

Rhodes kept a bitter face, kept walking, and didn't close his mouth, repeatedly reminding Hodge beside him.

The purpose of their trip was originally just to visit the Taura Chamber of Commerce on a regular basis, which only required Rhodes to go, but I don't know what Hodge thought, and suddenly told Rhodes that he would also go with him, and by the way, observe what the ore business in Blackstone Town is like.

Considering Hodge's "bad deeds", Rhodes was quite reluctant for him to get involved, but this time Hodge insisted on doing so, and he had to agree, but the nagging along the way was obviously essential.

"All right, my Lord Rhodes. After being talked all the way, Hodge's ears were about to hallucinate, revealing a look of crying and laughing, "You've said this dozens of times, do you have to make up a hundred times before you can stop?"

Maybe a hundred times isn't enough, Rhodes sneered.

"Besides, I didn't already say it, this time I just wanted to see the workings of the mine to get a clearer understanding of Blackstone, you see- I didn't bring Daphne with me, what are you worried about?"

Hodge's words sound very reasonable at first glance, and seem to be full of sincerity and convincing, but how can Rhodes be a young man who is stunned by a few words?

He didn't buy it, and looked away from Hodge's sincere face to the little girl who was following him.

You really didn't have the red-haired witch with you last time...... But isn't the little girl with white hair a witch???

Slander is slander, and Rhodes still didn't dare to say it back then.

Because Hera's current status is very special, she is equivalent to several guards who used to protect Pollit's safety, and it is not inappropriate to follow Hodge who is out at this time, and if Rhodes has an opinion on this, it seems that he is quite unreasonable.

Forget it, as long as you don't cause trouble, how happy this adult is.

Rhodes sighed and accepted the fact resignedly.

......

Gould is still the same, he has a stinky face when they first meet, sometimes Hodge is really a little curious, he has never seen Gould's calm or happy look, is this president of Toula born with a fierce look?

The vice president Hardy, who had met with Hodge, was also among them, and Rhodes exchanged polite greetings with Gauld and Hardy for a while, after all, he was an old man who had been in charge of Blackstone's finances for many years, and he had almost figured out the preferences of these businessmen, and when the conflict of interest had been lost, even Gauld could not be rude at will, and his face quickly turned up.

Rhodes is very good at seizing the moment and bringing up Hodge's intentions just right without being abrupt.

Galder glanced at Hodge, then Hardy, nodding at him.

After following Gauld for many years, Hardy understood almost instantly, and greeted Hodge with a smile on his face and said, "My lord, it seems that the president and His Excellency Rhodes will have a long discussion, if you don't mind, I will take you to the mine to visit." ”

Hodge didn't care who he was going with, and he looked at Rhodes and agreed to Hardy's request.

"Then please come with me. Hardy led Hodge and Hera through the corridor of the Chamber of Commerce to the back door, where there were many unused torches on the wall and a burning brazier in the doorway.

Hardy stopped suddenly, took a torch from the wall, walked over to the brazier and lit it, and turned to face Hodge: "My lord, and this young lady, please take a torch." ”

The orange-red glow of the torch reflected on Hardy's face, making his face look distorted and unreal.

I only heard his mouth move slightly, and he whispered, "It's dark in the hole." ”

......

The mine wasn't as wide as Hodge had expected, and it was only possible to walk side-by-side with three people...... Maybe if you squeeze it, you can barely get four people through.

As Hardy had said before, the light in the mine was rather dim, and only one torch hung on the wall about every ten meters, not all of which were burning, and many of the torches were already charred and blackened, and the resin on the cloth had already burned off.

Probably because of the cost?

There was no one to be seen in the first part of the mine, and Hardy explained to him that it was because the ore in the front part of the mine had been excavated, and there was no need to waste manpower digging deeper and deeper, and the miners were now digging deeper.

After walking for a while, he finally heard a voice in the distance.

Sonorous, sonorous, sonorous......

There is not only one sound source, the closer you get inside, the more and more frequent the sound will be.

It sounds like a shovel hitting a rock.

"My lord, miss, cover your mouth with this. Hardy took out three thick handkerchiefs from the liner and gave them to Hodge and Hera, and covered his mouth and nostrils with cotton handkerchiefs, "There was a lot of dust in them. ”

Finally approaching, and by the light of the torches, Hodge could see the slave at work.

The miners were not just men, he saw a few women also digging into the rock wall with shovels, both men and women, who were unclothed on their upper bodies, except for their lower bodies, similar to the rag scarbs he wore when he was a child trapped in the basement of Pana Castle, and many of them were torn.

Despite this, Hodge couldn't see anything in the eyes of the naked miner.

** Buried in hard work, the shriveled and drooping X room swayed at will, but they didn't seem to notice it, and they didn't show the shame and humiliation they deserved.

And the same is true of the male slave who stood beside the woman, raising the shovel high and chiseling it down heavily, and so on, ignoring the naked body of the woman next to him, and his eyes appeared like a saint without desire.

How should the eyes of the miners be described as empty? But I always felt that the power of the word was not enough.

After thinking about it for a moment, Hodge remembered what such a look was.

That's numbness.

Numbness like a walking corpse.

These miners are like emotionless puppets, working mechanically under the control of the "thread", and there is little to arouse their attention except for the work in their hands.

None of them were very strong, most of them were skinny due to nutritional deficiencies, and their shriveled skin was covered with many stone scratches, and as Hodge watched, it was clear that one of the male slaves had lost his balance while lifting his hoe and was lying backwards, while his double-pointed shovel was stuck on the back of another miner behind him.

The wounded miner lay with little blood from his wound, and he instinctively muttered in his throat, but even then the shovel in his hand did not stop waving until the wound in his spine made him unsteady on his feet, and he still waved the shovel numbly as he fell to the ground with a grunt like firewood.

Hodge, who had seen countless deaths, still had palpitations when he saw this scene.

"Useless thing!" Hardy scolded, gesturing at the two male slaves next to him, "You two, drag this waste out and bury it." ”

The paralyzed slave was still alive, but Hardy said he was going to bury him.

What is even more surprising is that when Hardy spoke, the two numb male slaves actually shrank their bodies, and then obediently dragged the male slave who had collapsed to the ground and dragged him violently outside the mine.

"Let you see the joke. Hardy touched his sweat and bowed down to apologize to Hodge.

Hodge didn't respond, just remained silent.

Joke?

It's a big joke indeed......

But he did nothing, let the slave boy who had lost his labor force be dragged down, took a deep breath, and said quietly, "Take me to the other mines." ”