"Good to know the mission wasn't in vain."

Jack walked over with a grin, his clothes covered in dust from the explosion, his face dirty, yet unharmed.

"The place was quite convoluted, but it couldn't hold me and Frost Moon back."

Gesturing as he spoke, Jack explained, "The deteriorated tissues underground seemed near death due to nutrient deficiency, so we only activated 300 kilograms of explosives and blew it, along with the flesh walls, into dust."

"Things went smoothly on your end, right? On my way over, I saw the townsfolk had laid down their arms and abandoned their aggression..."

Yun You nodded and said, "All sorted... should be all sorted."

Pointing to the purple rock ceiling, she said softly, "Look, the Death Domain Space has begun to disintegrate."

"It's a sign of the complete extinction of Death Domain creatures."

"Though many secrets remain unsolved, since the Death Domain is breached and the workers rescued, let's leave it at that."

"After all, we're mercenaries, not top-notch detectives, right?"

"Let the professionals handle the puzzles; we're essentially just here for money and rewards, no need to fret over them."

Frost Moon and Jack both nodded in agreement to this.

While the pursuit of answers might be innate, and they all wished to uncover more secrets, Yun You, being their employer, had spoken, leaving them no room for dissent.

"Speaking of which..."

Not dwelling on the same topic for too long, Yun You asked decisively, "After the mine detonation, did you see any special 'passage' in the rock walls?"

"Currently, there are two ways back: one is to dig straight up... The surface is only five hundred meters away, and we have over a thousand workers here, so theoretically, it should be possible."

"But if we were to really do that, it would probably take a year or half a year, since we lack large machinery."

"The second way is the mine tunnel hidden by the experimental team, leading directly to the mine we walked through before. If we can find it, we'll be home soon."

"Have you seen any passage resembling this mine tunnel?"

Upon hearing this, Jack immediately nodded.

"Yes! I was about to mention that!"

"Chica, come with me."

With that, Jack pulled Yun You along, jogging all the way to the town's mine.

After the explosion, the wooden structure of the mine had collapsed, making it impossible for the little girl to see inside.

Sparks filled the air, resembling fireflies, dancing in the dark, damp cave.

Yet, this wasn't the focus.

The mine at Yangshan Town was on the edge of the town, near the woods, an 'impenetrable' area.

So, after the Death Domain collapsed, parts of the forest, including sections of the mine, gradually became part of the cave's wall.

The focus lay in that purple wall.

As the Death Domain perished, a football-sized soil pit appeared on the perfectly intact wall, its rubble and dust slowly vanishing into nothingness, as if an invisible miner were gradually broadening the cavity.

"When we first found it, this thing was only the size of a grain of rice."

Jack patted the soil pit, gesturing as he explained, "But it's expanding constantly, and its pace is accelerating."

"I had Frost Moon use instruments to scan it, revealing the rock wall here is only over 50 meters thick, indicating the other side isn't rock, but a man-made mine tunnel."

"If I'm correct, the hidden path should be here."

Upon hearing this, Yun You breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and nodded.

"Seems like we shouldn't need to dig to the surface forcefully."

"Can we manually expand the soil pit to accelerate its growth pace?"

"No need."

Frost Moon shook her head beside him and explained, "Its expansion pace is already fast, calculated to widen in a minimum of 12 hours and a maximum of one day."

"And if we start digging too, it might damage the mine tunnel's structure, causing a collapse, which would be the last thing we want."

"The wait for one day shouldn't be an issue, boss, right?"

"..."

"One day, huh?"

Yun You pondered briefly before activating the information reconnaissance chip behind her ear, then lowered her head, focusing her gaze on her undisturbed chest...

Soon, the information panel appeared before her eyes.

[Aalis toxin effect active, predicted to trigger heart failure soon, estimated onset time limit is...]

[6 days 3 hours 03 minutes]

The deadly toxin brought by the Death God Potion.

Heart failure induced by it is a forced lethal means, only if Yun You lies in the intensive care unit now, surrounded by life-support machines, would she be spared her little life.

Otherwise, she faces nearly certain death, even if surviving, losing the power of an Apprentice Death God, which the little girl would never accept.

That's why she's so anxious, wanting to complete the task before the toxin's effect to receive the antidote.

Perhaps due to the different time flow, Yun You has spent 5 days along the journey, leaving only 6 days to spare.

6 days...

Giving a day for waiting should not be a major problem.

Forcing to dig the mine tunnel to save time, resulting in a collapse in the end, would be regrettable indeed.

With a 50-meter thick rock wall, finishing the excavation in 6 days, even with 1000 people, might be tough.

Upon this realization, Yun You nodded in agreement.

However, she didn't plan anything further, simply sitting by the rock wall, putting down her backpack and the Aurora in her arms.

"Let's wait here; we won't go elsewhere to prevent any accidents."

At this moment, the little girl's attitude was remarkably calm.

She didn't wish to cause any further incidents.

"Alright."

For this, Frost Moon and Jack also didn't object, easily sitting on the ground, gathered in a circle, beginning the long wait...

With the disappearance of the 'sun,' Yangshan Town suddenly dimmed, temperatures plummeted swiftly, soon reaching below zero.

The townsfolk still spoke nothing, just quietly walked behind Yun You and the four, sitting down with them, shivering in the cold breeze, recalling their past.

Aurora wore the least, a tattered robe hanging on her, underneath only T-shirt and thin pumpkin pants, completely non-insulating.

Thus, even nestled closely to Yun You, she was still shivering from the cold.

Yun You was likewise quite cold.

Though the Apprentice Death God's physique meant she wouldn't freeze to death, the wind was like a knife, making her body stiff as it brushed her skin.

Jack clearly noticed this, and rising in silence, he grabbed some wood from nearby ruins, broke it into small pieces with his hands, stacked them before the two girls, then fetched his lighter, igniting the makeshift 'campfire.'

Whoosh!

The flames rose, dispelling the chill for Yun You and Aurora, illuminating Jack's face.

For some reason...

Yun You suddenly discovered a hint of sadness on this man's face...

And deep bewilderment.

Though it vanished quickly, replaced by calmness, Yun You still noticed it.

At this moment, Yun You realized... this boisterous, ever-optimistic man's face before her seemed to hold stories unknown to her.

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