More violent explosions instantly struck.
This time, the explosion was even more terrifying than before, because the detonators and explosives carried by the miners were also ignited, resulting in an astonishing force.
The entire mine began to shake violently, truly a terrifying earthquake.
A large amount of dust rained down from above, and a vague sense of unease spread.
Damn it…
This mine isn't going to collapse, is it?
At this thought, everyone's hearts involuntarily leaped to their throats with a "thump," and they looked up with a glimmer of hope, praying that the mine would not collapse.
After all, if a mine at this depth collapsed, rescue would be virtually impossible.
The crushing earth would instantly extinguish all the air in the mine, and they would all die from lack of oxygen and suffocation!
But fortunately,
Although the power of the detonator explosion just now was astonishing,
the wooden framework of the mine was barely adequate, with only dust falling and no large chunks of earth or rubble, thus preventing a collapse.
They were lucky.
However, this also indirectly served as a warning to Javier; he no longer dared to shoot and detonate explosives with bullets.
This was different from the surface; if the miners truly carried a lot of explosives, he might accidentally trigger a direct explosion that would collapse the mine.
Therefore,
Javier would have to handle it carefully next time and could not continue to blindly shoot and detonate explosives; this was not a good method…
"Fortunately, it almost collapsed just now."
"We can't stay here any longer; the entire mine could collapse at any moment.
We need to quickly deal with these miners and villagers in front of us and swiftly move to the next section of the mine."
As the aftershocks of the explosion slowly dissipated,
the Merchant and Leon slowly stood up from the ground, recalling the situation and quickly began to analyze it.
If another bomber miner appeared, this mine would truly collapse even if it hadn't before.
They needed to seize the moment and continue forward; they couldn't stay here any longer.
And so,
Under everyone's unanimous decision,
Javier, the Merchant, and Miss Ada formed the assault team, while Leon and Luis acted as left and right guardians protecting Ashley.
White Wolf transformed into a personal bodyguard, sticking close to Ashley's leg, the President's daughter.
The group advanced in an iron-barrel formation,
quickly breaking through this section of the mine and continuing to move rapidly deeper.
They ignored any miners or villagers they encountered along the way.
If they did not deliberately block their path, the group generally chose to ignore them, as continuing deeper into the mine was more important.
However,
As the group went deeper and deeper,
the changes in the Plaga parasite infected became more and more pronounced, and even the Exploding Bug developed a new form.
Previously, when the Plaga parasite infected's head exploded from an attack, what emerged from their necks, besides tentacles and scythes, were mostly large-suckered turbellarians and guillotine ants.
But just now,
on the body of a miner Javier had killed,
a new form suddenly burst out.
No… more accurately, it should be the Plaga parasite's main body.
The parasitic puppet body remained unchanged; instead, the parasitic Plaga parasite broke free from the spinal cord on the back.
Like a giant white spider, very similar to the pattern on The Illuminados's flag, it quickly detached itself from the back and attacked Javier and the others.
Their speed was incredibly fast, like ghosts, and they would attack with their front teeth and the stinging tentacles behind them.
If possible,
they would quickly cut open the prey's skin and muscle, and then rapidly parasitize it.
They were a very peculiar creature.
Moreover, their posture of actively detaching from the host was somewhat like a Gundam pilot escaping from a cockpit.
One could only say… they truly live up to the name of Plaga parasite—
However,
that being said,
due to the nature of being detached from the host,
although these Plaga parasite bodies are very fast, their defense is very fragile, basically to the extent of two shots to the body and one to the head for instant death.
They are generally not a concern.
They do not resemble a reinforced creature, but rather a sacrificial posture the Plaga parasite takes to survive.
"Thump, thump, thump…"
"Thump, thump, thump…"
As they continued to advance,
at this moment, everyone slowly began to notice the changes within the mine.
The entire mine tunnel became larger and larger, and the routes also changed, much like an ant's nest.
It was a labyrinth, initially only one mine tunnel, but later, numerous Fork in the Road appeared, making the group's choices quite difficult.
But fortunately, Luis, the human GPS, was there, preventing the group from getting ridiculously lost.
"This underground mine is indeed very mysterious,"
"Even the mine tunnels excavated underground in America are not that complex, after all, other mines are only used to find mineral veins, but the mine tunnels in front of us seem to have avoided the mineral veins, just recklessly dug through without regard for means, solely to find something."
Recalling the dense network of fork roads, Leon appeared somewhat surprised, and could not help but murmur as he looked at the mine in front of him.
After all, it was his first time seeing such an intricate and chaotic mine tunnel, as if he had shrunk down to an ant entering a complex ant nest, a true ecological environment, not one for prospecting.
"In a sense, this is indeed not for mining,"
"Although there are some basic coal mines inside, Raymond and Sadler's purpose from the beginning was not these things.
The coal mine was just a cover, after all, it's where the Plaga parasite fossils are hidden; they came to excavate fossils."
"That's why so many dense tunnels were created, and to find rare Plaga parasite fossils, such frantic excavation is naturally required."
Facing Leon's confusion, the Merchant slowly squatted down, picked up a piece of coal from the ground, and calmly explained to him.
"However…"
"Since so many mine tunnels have appeared ahead, it means we are gradually moving deeper into the central area.
This is actually a good thing, as generally by this point, there will be transportation available to spare us from walking."
"Speak of the devil, look… that thing, the rail cart! But it's not for carrying excavated coal and fossils, but for carrying us.
After all, if we really had to walk, it would take a very long time!"
While dispelling Leon's confusion,
the Merchant slowly raised his head, his cloudy eyes looking at the increasingly numerous mine tunnels ahead.
A slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and he continued to let out that hoarse, cackling laugh, pointing to the special mode of transport ahead.
This was the long-awaited underground transportation…
Not a tram or a subway,
but a rail cart.
It also required rails to fix its path, but its structure was very simple, only needing four wheels, a sturdy and durable iron basket, and a handle at the front for braking and turning.
These rail carts, in addition to helping miners transport minerals and excavated dirt and rubble, were also excellent means of transport, essentially allowing miners to move freely within the mine.
And now… Javier and the others planned to embark on a mine cart adventure in the mine tunnel, letting the carts carry them deeper into the central area, which could save a lot of time.
It could also largely avoid contact with some infected miners, after all, they were here to help Ashley get rid of the Plaga parasite, not specifically to fight—
Chapter 82: The Second Black Gold Card
Everyone slowly approached the rail carts.
There were no signs of any miners or infected villagers around, but it made sense.
Although the task of excavating the mine was important,
it was impossible to encounter people everywhere in such a large mine.
After all, if people could be encountered here too, Javier and the others could hardly imagine how vast Sadler's personnel distribution was.
"…"
"You all get on the cart first, I'll push them…"
Looking at the rail carts in front of him, Javier quickly called out to everyone.
There were enough carts, three of them, each capable of carrying two people, and they happened to be six people, which was perfect.
And everyone did not hesitate, one after another, they jumped onto the rail carts.
The first group was Leon and Ashley; as her guardian knight, he naturally needed to protect this princess inseparable.
Behind them were the Merchant and Luis.
Although Luis wanted to express his dissatisfaction, there was nothing he could do; the only remaining Miss Ada did not want to be in a group with the chatterbox Luis.
Even if Luis raised his hand in protest, Miss Ada remained unmoved, arms crossed, even looking at him coldly, just quietly watching Luis's performance.
In desperation,
Luis could only jump onto the cart and ride in a rail cart with the Merchant, who only let out eerie cackles.
Looking at the Merchant's cloudy, bloodshot eyes, to be honest, Luis was really afraid that the Merchant would be controlled by the Plaga parasite halfway through.
If that happened, he would be completely finished, with nowhere to escape, and being so close, it would be almost a certain death situation.
He couldn't possibly jump off the cart, that would only make his death even more miserable.
Finally, there was Miss Ada.
After carrying White Wolf onto the cart, Miss Ada lifted her vibrant red patterned cheongsam and lightly leaped into the cart.
Although it was covered in some dust,
at this moment, she couldn't care less.
After all, Miss Ada hadn't even had time to wipe the soot from her pretty face.
"Hold on tight, I'm going to start pushing…!"
Seeing that everyone was ready,
Javier used all his strength to slowly push the cart with both hands.
There are generally three ways for carts to operate: one is by electricity, like a tram, operating via overhead cables; the second is by human power, through a two-person rocking lever for self-propulsion, like a seesaw; and the third is simply by the curvature of the tracks.
By designing the tracks to be downhill, the carts would slide down on their own, requiring only a small push to get started, and then the cart could continue forward based on its own weight and acceleration.
The carts Javier and the others were riding clearly weren't powered by electricity or human effort, but simply relied on the downhill slope of the tracks to accelerate on their own.
"Click…"
"Screech—!!!"
The sound of wheels rubbing against the tracks slowly began to echo.
Under Javier's forceful push, the three rail carts slowly moved forward, and finally began to move, accelerating at a visible speed.
"It's started moving."
"But speaking of which, Leon, how do we brake this thing? We're not going to crash into a wall, are we!"
Looking at the gradually accelerating rail cart, Ashley, sitting in the same cart as Leon, seemed a little surprised.
Although she had studied excavator technology at Shandong Lanxiang Technical School, she had never seen a mine or a mine cart before, so she was very curious.
"It's not that exaggerated,"
"There are two levers in front, one for turning, and the other for braking.
By squeezing it, the iron wheels stop sliding, thus slowly braking.
The cart will slowly stop ahead; you just need to brake in advance.
After all, they are not as sensitive as car brakes."
And hearing Ashley's curious inquiry,
Leon patiently pointed to the two levers at the front of the cart and explained.
The cart needed to brake a certain distance in advance,
approximately twenty to fifty meters, since the cart itself relied on its own weight for acceleration, and braking wouldn't be as immediate.
If they only pulled the lever when they were almost at the end, the cart would probably crash head-on into the mine wall.
"…"
"Let's go, Sancho!"
And at this moment,
Luis also uttered his famous catchphrase, raising his M16 assault rifle high and shouting.
The entire rail cart suddenly accelerated, plunging into a downhill slope,
and began to sprint at an incredibly fast speed, while Luis, like a knight mounted on a warhorse, began to gallop freely—
"Now it's our turn.
Hold on tight, Miss Ada, the Autumn Mountain veteran driver is about to begin…"
After sending Luis off, Javier also pushed the last rail cart with force.
Miss Ada, sitting on it, glanced at Javier, shaking her head somewhat helplessly.
It was just a rail cart; why were they all so childish?
Did this thing even need to be controlled?
"Clatter, clatter…"
As the cart was slowly pushed, the last rail cart also successfully started operating.
Javier quickly jumped onto the cart and squeezed in with Miss Ada.
The three rail carts sped down the downhill section, the surrounding scenery rapidly receding.
The carts continued to advance at a good speed.
Now,
everyone was on the right track…
"The mission is almost over."
"So, what are your thoughts after this job? Are you interested in working with me again?
The reward is generous, not much worse than Wesker's.
Would Miss Ada consider it?"
As the carts slowly advanced, they saw no miners or infected villagers blocking their way, so they enjoyed the peace.
Out of boredom, Javier calmly asked Miss Ada beside him, probing for a chance for future cooperation—