Su Qi wasn''t surprised that the old man knew about the Land of Extreme Evil and matters of the afterlife; after all, this place had existed for at least half a year now.

    A large number of creatures from the Present World who entered the Dark Zone never returned, nearly 80% of them; perhaps they perished there, or perhaps, just like now, were imprisoned in this place to labor in darkness.

    "So, kid, you''d better start mining. All you newcomers have to dig at least five energy stones, and at your rate, it will take at least four hours for each one," the old man said calmly. "And this environment is not suitable for an extended stay, it will cause problems."

    He looked at the terrifying electromagnetic storm in the Sky Dome... The air was also filled with tiny, drifting black particles.

    "Alright, but the energy stones..."

    Su Qi fumbled with a shiny blue crystal in his hand and said with interest,

    "Is this it?"

    The old man nodded: "Yes."

    "Wait, that''s not right!"

    The old man suddenly widened his eyes as he looked at the energy stone, and after confirming he hadn''t seen wrong, exclaimed, "Kid, how do you have this!!!!"

    Su Qi paused: "I just picked it up from here."

    The old man''s eyes bulged: "There''s no such good luck, and even if you pick it up, I''ve been here half a day, why didn''t I find one!"

    Su Qi: "It''s very normal for someone of your age to have blurry vision."

    However,

    he paused slightly, realizing that this thing... was the energy stone.

    He was only finding out now.

    Because this stone was not picked up here; it was a byproduct of when the Heart of Divine Weapon was used by Xiao Meng to harness energy.

    Just like when you burn coal, there are always coal residues.

    "I always thought it was just waste. Not only is the starship''s warehouse filled with it, which also poses an explosion risk, but I never imagined... it turns out to be an important energy stone needed by Mechanical Life in this world."

    After all,

    That Mechanical Core was equivalent to Unlimited Energy, so Su Qi didn''t value these ''coal residues'' very highly.

    "Anyway, let''s complete the task for one stone first." Su Qi prepared to toss it directly into the energy storage box labeled with his code. This device was also a transport tool and could protect the energy stone.

    But at this moment, the old man suddenly looked somewhat dazed, staring intently at the energy stone in Su Qi''s hand.

    "Wait!"

    He suddenly couldn''t help but widen his eyes and speak.

    Su Qi paused: "Eyes as big as copper bells?"

    The old man took a deep breath: "Let me take a closer look."

    Su Qi raised an eyebrow slightly, spreading his hand to reveal the blue energy stone in his palm.

    The old man murmured: "This purity, this magnitude of energy, is a rare existence among many energy stones. I haven''t seen many of these even in this mine."

    "Is that so?"

    Su Qi: "Then I must be pretty lucky."

    The old man suddenly reached out and grabbed Su Qi''s arm: "Kid, do me a favor!"

    "Don''t hand over this energy stone."

    Su Qi paused, a look of interest appearing in his eyes: "Why?"

    "Because someone needs it."

    The old man pursed his lips and said solemnly: "I will give you all the energy stones I dig up, to allow you to meet a higher quota and get more benefits."

    Su Qi watched the old man''s serious expression but didn''t hurry to respond:

    "I remember the rules laid out by the Mechanical Life mentioned very severe punishments for those hoarding energy stones."

    "And there''s surveillance everywhere."

    The old man shook his head: "Don''t worry, this is the Magnetic Storm Zone, all machinery will malfunction, the surveillance is weak."

    "Moreover."

    He looked at the entire mine with a firm voice:

    "I will not let you risk it for nothing, I will provide you with Sanctuary and resources, and also..."

    The old man whispered:

    "The only chance to escape from here!"

    It seemed this statement was somewhat earth-shattering or extremely taboo; no longer did he seem like the mining old man, but instead like a warrior. sea??h thё N?vel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Su Qi''s gaze paused: "Escape?"

    The old man said gravely: "This place is a huge prison, and it''s completely controlled by those Mechanical Life."

    "Anyone who enters here is enslaved for eternity, never able to leave."

    Indeed.

    This place contained not only a large number of ancient creatures but also many Present World adventurers who came here after the Recovery. Some had been here for more than half a year, their expressions numbed with despair.

    Su Qi''s expression had a faint smile: "Have things gotten to this stage?"

    "Well then, elderly sir, I shall join you on this venture."

    The work lasted a total of fourteen hours, and it was time for everyone to submit their energy stones. The time was set, and those who didn''t meet the quota of stones faced third-level punishment.

    After all.

    This world isn''t afraid of death, as the heat from the Extremely Evil World continued to bring waves of forced laborers.

    "Beep—"

    Su Qi handed over the five energy stones he had mined.

    These were the stones he had genuinely mined, after all, even the unwanted ''coal residues'' and ''waste'' produced by the Heart of Divine Weapon were extremely precious and rare here.

    At the same time,

    Su Qi had a deeper conversation with the old man, enhancing their understanding.

    This imprisoning prison was vast, with hundreds of energy mining areas to dig, and the number of people in each area varied but all were above a hundred. In total, at least a hundred thousand people were detained here.

    And Bai Yilin, Jiang Zhi, and Long Xun must have been among them; they just didn''t know where exactly.

    However,

    Su Qi was not in a hurry to find them. The three''s strength and abilities were top-notch, posing no significant danger in the mining area.

    "Su."

    "Let''s go, we can move freely now."

    At this moment,

    They took the transport elevator back from the mining area to the prison, but instead of the corridor leading directly to their rooms, they arrived in a vast, white mechanical city.