"This is it. I heard that when it was time to evacuate, a lot of machines were left behind."
"With any luck, the steam engine inside hasn't been damaged yet."
"It's the era of magic energy, but those people still want to collect steam engines. I really don't know what they think."
"What do you know? People in the upper class play the same games as you, so why are they still called people in the upper class?"
"As long as you can change money, why bother with so much."
A group of five people were standing at the entrance of the mine, looking inside.
They are the "gold diggers" in the mines, after the reform and popularization of steam into magic energy.
The steam engine gradually disappeared.
Therefore, gadgets that can be driven by steam engines have become scarce and are something that the upper classes like to play with.
In the formerly abandoned mines, there are remaining steam engines.
The five people turned on their searchlights and walked into the mine, which was as dark as an abyss.
In the empty mine, their footsteps traveled far and bounced back, forming several echoes.
It's like they are not the only ones walking here.
The rock walls here glowed with a dark cold light, as if they were made of darkness, swallowing up all light.
Without strong light, the range of searchlight illumination is very limited.
However, on this black rock wall, there are scattered red ores that remain from the original excavation.
These minerals emit a faint red light in the dark. Although it is very soft, it can penetrate the darkness and form a halo of light.
It looks like red eyes staring at you in the dark.
But it can also tell them that they are not in the darkness that engulfs everything, but in a mine.
The atmosphere here can make people go crazy and feel suffocated.
The five people took a deep breath, and one of them relieved the atmosphere and said:
"Hey, have you heard that several groups of gold diggers like us have disappeared recently?"
"That seems to be the case, but it's normal. This business is not without risks. The mine may collapse and we won't be able to get out."
Someone thought for a while: "It seems that either the mine collapsed or it disappeared."
"His grandma, can you guys say something auspicious?"
While they were talking, a rustling sound suddenly came from their feet.
A huge shadow was elongated by the light and cast on the ground.
With their teeth and claws open, they look like those terrifying and strange creatures.
The five people were all startled and their bodies trembled: "What~ thing!"
"It's a mouse, damn, it scared me to death."
Everyone looked at the owner of the shadow. It was a huge rat close to thirty centimeters. Not only was it huge, its head was like batter, and its facial features were all blended together.
"Damn it, why is there such a big deformed rat here?"
Someone pulled out a long knife from his waist and chopped the mouse in half with one blow.
They were already familiar with deformed mice, but they had never seen one this big.
The five people calmed down their nervousness, breathed a sigh of relief and continued moving forward.
I met a lot of deformed mice on the way, but I ignored them all.
Not long after walking, someone sniffed.
"Did you smell it? There seems to be a disgusting rancid smell."
"Huhu~ Are you aware of it? I don't feel it."
"Yeah?"
Not paying attention, they continued walking forward.
But before walking too far, the man's ears moved and he asked uncertainly:
"Did you hear it? There seems to be a rat's noise."
"No, you won't have any mental problems, right?"
"Besides, it's not normal to have rats here."
"No...it's...it's a dense sound, I...I'm not sure, it seems to be gone..."
"Don't be so surprised. In your state, you could easily be sent to Arkham Asylum. That's not a place for people to stay."
"Sorry, maybe it's too depressing."
Someone patted him on the shoulder: "Don't be nervous. You can see that there are more and more ores on the surrounding rock walls, which means we are about to officially enter the tunnel."
"Before entering the tunnel, there must be an expanded space to house the conveying machinery. By then, the steam engine will be ours."
Looking at the red halo radiating around them, it seemed as if they were surrounded by a dense mass.
That feeling is even worse.
But thinking about the money he could earn from the steam engine, the man nodded.
Continuing forward, the space ahead is getting larger and larger, and there are traces of mining all around.
Soon, they came to a gourd-shaped passage.
The space in front is used to place the transmission machinery.
The expressions on the faces of the five of them finally showed a hint of joy.
Entering the space in front, there was indeed a huge rusty machine placed here.
Next, they only need to verify the quality of the steam engine, and if it can be taken away, they can take it directly.
If not, wait to return and get the tools.
The main purpose this time is to find out more about this place.
Everyone immediately started to check the condition of the steam engine.
But the person who was startled before smelled a rotten smell here again.
He looked around suspiciously. There was no red light emitted here, indicating that there was no exposed ore.
Darkness was like air, surrounding them and affecting their perception.
The range of the searchlight was only about five meters. He illuminated the surroundings, but could not illuminate the rock wall at all.
"Everyone, the mined space here seems a bit big."
Someone said angrily: "It's as big as it gets. Why do you care so much? Come here and lend a hand and lift the lid."
However, this person did not go directly to help, but adjusted the searchlight above his head to strong light mode.
Although it consumes a lot of magic energy, he wants to see how big it is here.
The radiating light gradually brightened and converged into a beam of light, directly piercing the tide-like darkness and illuminating the rock wall here.
However, the moment it was illuminated, the man's expression was startled, with a look of panic on his face.
"This...this...what on earth are these!"
The rest of the people raised their heads one after another, and someone was about to get angry and scold this person for not doing the right thing. What was he doing there?
His eyes subconsciously followed the gathering bright light and looked over.
At this sight, the anger in their hearts disappeared and was replaced by panic.
I saw that the dark and cold rock wall within the area illuminated by the strong light was covered with large and small holes.
In the residual light of the light, there are many holes with only half or part of them exposed.
They all turned on the strong light of their searchlights and pointed them at different places.
The places that have been illuminated are, without exception, holes of different sizes.
The small one is as big as a fist, while the large one can accommodate a person crawling.
It is riddled with holes, just like a beehive, and no one knows where these holes can lead.
Someone said tremblingly: "I...I said, this doesn't look like it was mined by humans..."
He swallowed: "Yeah, it doesn't look like it was formed naturally. What's going on here?"
"I don't know. It seems...a little weird here. How about we retreat first?"
As the man spoke, he turned his head, trying to get a clear view of the surroundings.
But just as he finished speaking, he quickly turned his head and passed by a rock wall.
I vaguely saw reflective things in those large and small holes.
Subconsciously, he turned his head again and fixed his position in that direction.
At this sight, his face turned pale with fright, and he spoke with a trembling voice and fear:
"Old...mouse!"
"So many rats!!!"
The rest of the people looked over and saw that the large and small holes were filled with densely packed, deformed rats of different sizes.
And the reflection we saw when the searchlight passed by just now was the reflection of their eyes!
When they didn't realize it, they were ready to leave here immediately.
When the searchlight turned around and passed over the other rock walls, all the previously empty cave entrances, without exception, began to reflect strange brilliance under the light.
Rats, aberrant rats, filled most of the burrows!
The rats jumped down from their holes and swarmed towards the group like open faucets.
And here, there are hundreds of faucets.
They panicked. Most of the rats were much bigger than they had ever seen before.
Moreover, when rat tides broke out before, there were reports of rats attacking humans.
What's more, there are only five of them now.
These deformed rats will die if they are flooded.
The squeaking sound in their ears was like a reminder, and the group of them were ready to run outside.
But just as they turned around, at some point, a large group of deformed rats crowded together and swept toward them from outside like a wave.
There was no way out, and the deformed rats all around him also surrounded him like a tide.
Their expressions are extremely ugly. Why are there so many deformed rats here?
But at this time, someone noticed that there were no mice in the holes in the surrounding walls where people could crawl.
It's not joy, just a subconscious survival instinct.
Someone immediately shouted: "Quick, there is passage!"
Before he finished speaking, he rushed over.
He fell headlong into the cave and suddenly crawled inside.
The rats that bit on his legs were kicked off.
The others rushed over immediately, and three of them successfully fell into the cave.
The last one ran too fast and slipped on a huge rat.
The ground was already covered with deformed rats, and they fell down.
The surrounding rats directly overwhelmed it, and then only harsh, heart-rending screams echoed in the abandoned mine.
The remaining four humans, with pale faces and their hearts beating wildly, quickly crawled inside.
And there are many branches in this cave halfway through.
These caves are like a huge maze.
They couldn't care so much and just crawled around.
But okay, after they crawled some distance.
No mice appeared.
But they didn't relax at all. Instead, their faces became even more ugly.
In this dark and oppressive cave, people can only crawl and cannot even adjust their posture.
They had forgotten which fork they had climbed to get here.
There is no retreat, only unknown progress.
Their emotions collapsed.
But I can only bite the bullet and continue to crawl forward in the unknown.
