"Xiao Liang, the sun is about to cross the ridge, we have to go back to dinner." In a hole full of broken stones, a swarthy man with a sturdy figure tightened the burlap bag around his waist, stood up, and casually shouted hello in a direction in front of him.

In the pile of rubble, there was immediately a thin child standing nearby, about seven or eight years old, not tall, his body had not fully grown, and he looked malnourished. It's just that between the faces and eyebrows, there are some vicissitudes and old age that are quite different from other children.

"Okay, Uncle Li." Maturity is only a moment, and the child has already smiled stupidly, and walked to the man in a few steps.

The strong man didn't say much, he copied him under his armpit very skillfully, kicked his feet violently, and bounced up about two feet high: "You kid, how is your harvest today?" Asked casually, but they had easily jumped out of the small hole they were in.

Outside the cave there is a vast blue wave pool, the water is clear and visible shallow bottom, faint water vapor evaporates, calmly sits among the dotted rocks, and occasionally there is a craggy dew rock platform, but it is just enough for the burly man with a child to settle down easily, and then continue to bounce up, straight to the shore of the nearest lake, speeding past.

"Hehe, Uncle Li, I found two miles today." At this time, the boy did not look like a child at all, but deliberately pretended to be stupid, imitating the tone of a child's speech.

"Yes, yes, I didn't pick you up in vain." The man was very satisfied with what he heard, and although he was still moving around, he could not see the strange expression of the child at the moment, but he still did not forget to boast about him on the way forward, which showed his liking for the child.

After all, this doll is a baby bump that he picked up from the ruins of the cave. That day, when he was discovered, the boy looked stupid and refused to speak, and when he was supposed to bring him back to the tribe, the others were reluctant.

Unexpectedly, this kid was extremely sensitive to fire crystal energy, and saw through the treasure hidden in their cloth pocket at a glance, and then, on the way they were about to take him back to the station, they stupidly took out two pieces of ore that were buried in the dust and they did not find from an extremely hidden crack in the stone.

That's right, this is the most mysterious energy mineral area in Huazhou Country - Fire Crystal Valley. The nature that can be produced is the most important supply energy in the world today - fire crystal. And their group of coolies who were driven out of the cave and cleaned up the mess are a group of 'miners' who have been exiled here and live a difficult life - the only thing they need to do every day is to find the ignocrystal ore scattered everywhere.

"You kid, I don't know what kind of luck it is, you're stupid and stupid, and you just awaken such a sensitive perception." The man recalled the experience of discovering this doll the day before, and couldn't help but sigh, "It's also thanks to you that the big guy hasn't been hungry in the past few days." ”

All the people in this Fire Crystal Valley will inexplicably awaken some special abilities, the most common of which is the different degrees of increase in the explosive power of the flesh. Of course, there will also be very few 'special awakenings' - such as the man who took this child: his physical strength did not increase, but his perception of fire crystals was extremely keen.

At this time, the rocky col, the scorching sun had already tilted to the west, and half of it was intercepted by the flush ridge that towered on one side, casting most of the shadow. And the two people who jumped out of the pit were rushing under the scorching sun above their heads, avoiding the sun shining on the other side.

Farther on, there was a craggy mass of rocks, which curved and curved upwards and rose a hundred feet high, until they were almost near the end of the mountain, and then they were almost flush, winding to the right and left, and finally merging with them again at a great distance behind them.

Yes, the place where they are now, though it is called a valley, is actually in the middle of nowhere, in a circular sinkhole somewhere that I don't know how it was formed.

All the people living under this huge pit are miners, isolated between the rock walls with very limited resources, relying on the fire crystal ore they have worked so hard to collect and the mecha camp stationed on the ridge for necessary living materials.

The man with the child, and a few more vertical jumps, landed safely on the shore of the lake. As soon as he landed, a call was heard in the distance: "Lao Li! This way! When the strong man heard this, he turned his head sideways, looking for prestige, and immediately noticed that there were already several people standing in front of a hole on the mountainside not far away, waiting for them.

This group of people, two men and three women, of different ages, some old men with white hair, some young men with short mustaches, some have big shoulders and round waists, and some young women are light and healthy. The only thing they had in common was that they were all in good health, and each of them had a small square sack of burlap hanging from his waist, either shriveled or bulging, and they all looked at the people and children, and all of them looked at the people and children, and all of them grinned with anticipation.

The man didn't say much, he took a few steps, and came to the middle of a few people, and after putting down the child, he smiled and glanced at the crowd, patted the protruding sackcloth on his waist, and whispered: "Today's harvest is also good, and it can probably be exchanged for our two days' rations." ”

The others were naturally reassured when they heard this, and the three women even dragged the child who was seven or eight years old, laughing and putting their hands up and down, and after a shh

The men didn't have the time to pay attention to the grievances of the children at this time. One of the older men, Lao Li, who pulled him back, walked into the hole that had just been cleaned up, took out the bulging pocket on his waist, took out a lot of food, and said to the man: "I have already divided your food, you and Xiaoliang will come back the latest, and fill your stomach quickly." ”

The man didn't say much, took the food, walked into the inside of the hole, found a fairly clean place, sat down, and asked while eating: "Big brother, have you found anything else in that cave in the past few days?" After speaking, he did not forget to separate one of the balls wrapped in lotus leaves in his hand and threw it to the child who had just escaped the siege of a group of women and followed the child in the cave in embarrassment.

"Not really." The older man also followed behind the man, walked to the side, and sat down cross-legged, "I specially asked when Xiao Xu came back just now, since the strange bird went crazy last time, it has been a long time since he came back. ”

The place they were talking about now was the half-collapsed cave where the boy had been found, and it was also an important place in the valley where all the more powerful miner slave groups would have arranged for people to keep an eye on.

That place is guarded by the red-clothed soldiers of the mecha battalion on weekdays, and they are generally not allowed to approach. However, unlike the 'intruder, shoot, shoot' officer camp, every three or five days, a soldier on duty here will issue a special task to the miners wandering around: enter the cave and clean up the mess.

It's a good job to easily trade in supplies - after all, those big soldiers who don't have to worry about food and clothing don't bother to recycle cards for these useless ''. Everything that can be found in it, daily utensils, fire crystals, food, and even the 'newcomers' who are extremely rare, and it is rare to survive in case can be attributed to the first mine slaves to be found, and they can be seized at will, first recruited, first come, first served.

However, since the last time the cave was pecked in half by a large monster bird that attacked from the other side of the ridge, it seemed to be abandoned, and there had been no mecha warriors on duty for a long time. Without the attraction of the task, that wasteland is naturally empty, and few mining slaves will continue to wander.

However, it is clear that Lao Li did not give up. As the last lucky man to enter the cave and bring back the 'baby pimple', the man listened to the elder's story, stopped eating in his hand, and suggested: "You better let Xiao Xu and the others, continue to stare at it, we have been lucky in the past few days, we have found a lot of fire crystal mines, and we should not be hungry for a while." ”

As he spoke, Lao Li saw that his eldest brother was a little embarrassed, as if he was still a little hesitant, and then continued: "That giant bird has been fed by their bloody clothes camp for several years, and it is impossible for it to fly away so easily, give up the food that is delivered to his mouth every day, and he will definitely come back." Yes, he was very confident that the frightened bird would not let his comfort nest stay and wander away.

The elder also nodded, and suddenly remembered something, so he whispered again: "When I changed the food today, I heard one of their veterans say there: In the violent ant cave they fed in the Bloody Clothes Camp, there seems to be something wrong, and a lot of insects have disappeared in plain sight. The strange bird didn't return for a long time, I'm afraid it had something to do with it. After speaking, he looked at his own not far away.

The mine slaves who can escape from the ant cave will have some special skills to a greater or lesser extent. For example, the child they only picked up recently, although he is usually stupid, is already the most important thing for their group to find the fire crystal ore now to ensure that they have enough to fill their stomachs.

It's just that, as the old mine slave who has suffered the longest in this Fire Crystal Valley, this man has always been a little uneasy, even if this stupid child is lowering his head at this time, eating the real fragrance, it seems that he has not heard the two of them speak at all.

Lao Li naturally knows his eldest brother's worries, so these days, he has always been the most powerful in the camp, and he has always taken Xiao Liang with him, going in and out together, one is to protect, and the other is to be vigilant. At this time, following the words of the elder, he looked at the silly baby who had been with him for a few days, shook his head, and smiled slightly: "Xiao Liang is a stupid child, he shouldn't be able to cause such a movement." By the way, the little old man who was found by Wang Fatzi and them last time, did you remember anything when you heard about it? ”