To prevent anyone from slacking off, each miner had a daily work quota. Failure to meet this quota meant no pay, which in turn meant no daily food ration.

Those with children to feed had to exceed the quota to earn enough extra rations for them.

Even the strongest man needed most of the day to meet his own quota. Yet Chen Gu and his group finished in just over an hour.

Then Chen Gu stood on the hillside, sunbathing…

Old Charles was utterly baffled. They ate so little last night and didn't even have breakfast this morning. Where did they get such tremendous strength from?

After lazing about for a while, Chen Gu returned to the mine pit. This time, he carried eight large baskets by himself!

He carried four in his hands, clamped two under his arms, and shouldered two more! He still managed to haul the ore out steadily.

As he passed, the miners were stunned. What kind of monster is this?

After a few trips, Chen Gu found it inconvenient. Noticing an oxcart nearby without an ox to pull it, he asked Old Charles, "May I use this?"

Old Charles didn't dare make the decision himself and went to ask the foreman. The foreman had already taken note of this 'anomaly,' Chen Gu, but was still skeptical. "Can you pull it?" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Yeah," Chen Gu replied.

The foreman waved his hand magnanimously. "Alright, I'll let you use it."

The oxcart itself was very heavy. Chen Gu piled over a thousand pounds of ore onto it and then pulled it effortlessly, humming a tune. Along the way, he consistently 'overtook' the old oxen, delivering the ore first.

"'This guy... he's not human,' the miners conceded, completely in awe. His strength was clearly in a different league from theirs."

The foremen were overjoyed, as they too faced pressure. If the amount of ore mined did not satisfy their superiors, they risked being replaced.

If they were demoted from their foreman positions, they would have to return to being miners—a fate even worse than that of an ordinary miner!

Now, with Chen Gu, this extraordinarily strong laborer, their mining quotas could be easily met.

Meanwhile, Gong Shuxu quietly pulled Chen Gu aside. "What are you up to?"

The others had all performed well but had also suppressed their abilities, appearing only slightly stronger than ordinary people.

Chen Gu smiled. "Don't worry, I have my own plans."

「In the afternoon」

The ground suddenly shook. This was followed by a thunderous rumble as a great plume of dust erupted from the mine!

Old Charles turned pale with fright. "A cave-in..."

Everyone scrambled to escape. Thankfully, the collapse wasn't large and soon subsided. But when a few skinny miners risked re-entering the mine to investigate, they emerged with ashen faces. "Nineteen people are buried!"

Everyone sighed and lowered their heads. Mining disasters were frequent, and anyone buried in a cave-in was as good as dead. They felt a pang of shared sorrow, for who knew who might be the next unfortunate soul?

The foremen cursed their rotten luck. This would undoubtedly delay progress, meaning they'd have to exploit the miners even more ruthlessly in the subsequent extraction to catch up.

They waved their hands dismissively. "Go and clear out the mine pit..."

A group of excavators picked up their tools, cautiously probing as they prepared to descend. The collapsed section of the tunnel stretched over thirty meters. Clearing it would take more than four days, leaving anyone trapped inside with no hope of survival.

Furthermore, there was the risk of a secondary collapse. The miners would be risking their lives to attempt a rescue, so their enthusiasm was understandably low.

But then, everyone watched as a man strode forward, snatched two pickaxes, and entered the mine. A rapid series of CLINKING and CLANKING sounds followed, as rock fragments flew and sparks scattered!

Old Charles and the others exchanged glances. Was that Chen Gu? What was he trying to do?

Honestly, even with Chen Gu's superhuman strength, clearing the mine tunnel without using his professional abilities would be no easy feat.

Behind them, Gong Shuxu quietly asked Chen Jixian, "What should we do?"

Chen Jixian pondered for a moment before replying, "He wouldn't act recklessly during a mission. Since he has an idea, let's support him."

So, the word was passed, and the entire special operations team moved as one, following Chen Gu into the mine. Soon, the cacophony of digging and striking grew even more intense.

Huge piles of rock were hauled out. The miners outside hadn't dared enter for the rescue, but they could help move the excavated rock. Old Charles bellowed, "What are you all standing around for? Help out!"

And so, everyone pitched in, even the foremen joining to quickly clear away the excavated rock.

Barely half an hour later, a voice echoed from within the mine: "We've broken through!"

"We found someone!"

"Found a second one..."

One by one, the injured were brought out; they were all battered and unconscious. Fortunately, those rescued after them had only minor injuries and helped each other walk out.

But when Old Charles examined the first three brought out, he sadly shook his head. The relatives of these three men collapsed beside them, wailing loudly.

They were all men in the prime of their lives: one newly married, the other two with children to support. Their wives could barely complete their own work quotas, earning just enough to feed themselves, let alone provide for their children.

It now seemed that three families were ruined.

Old Charles heaved a long sigh, his faith in the "Great True God" growing even firmer. Only by following Him, he thought, can we unite, help each other through hardship, and ultimately achieve true salvation by eliminating the high and mighty royals!

He went over to comfort the grieving women. Chen Gu, drenched in sweat, then emerged from the mine. The rescued miners, deeply grateful, hurried forward to thank him for saving their lives. Every eye that fell upon him held a look of reverence.

To clear a collapsed mine in such a short time... such astonishing power!

Chen Gu waved his hand dismissively, walked over to Old Charles, and patted his shoulder. "Let me try."

Old Charles was stunned. What did he mean, 'try'? Was Chen Gu offering to take his place comforting these widows?

He stepped aside, a little flustered, then realized that wasn't Chen Gu's intention at all. Chen Gu paid no heed to the three women. Instead, he knelt beside the three seriously injured, unconscious miners, took their hands, and began to murmur something.

Surprise flickered in Old Charles's eyes. Though he couldn't catch every word, Chen Gu's murmurs were unmistakably the prayers to the "Great True God"!

One cannot know these prayers without being a believer. And recently, there had been no news of any messenger from another city-state sanctuary coming to make contact.

If Chen Gu knowing the prayers—making him a likely believer—had surprised Old Charles, what happened next made his eyes bulge in utter disbelief.

He saw a faint, reddish glow emanate from Chen Gu's body and flow onto the three severely injured, unconscious miners. Their wounds slowly began to heal; even broken bones started to realign and knit back together on their own!