Evelyn Wynn still wanted to say something, but in the end, she could only stomp her foot in frustration, cautiously glancing at Henry Lang from the corner of her eye before quickly turning and walking away...

Henry Lang truly breathed a sigh of relief, relaxed his tense body, and went off with the other convicts to drive stakes and set up tents.

After Evelyn Wynn left, N/A frowned slightly.

A burly, fat man with a big head and ears walked up behind him. This man was a trusted subordinate of Charles Quinn, and he whispered, "Sir, when the little ghost appeared, that kid was gathering his strength to strike." As he spoke, he pointed at Henry Lang's back.

N/A smiled and said, "I know. This isn't your concern!"

The fat man Ethan Green immediately bowed and withdrew...

Early the next morning, the large group set out again. On the road, some convicts noticed there were few supervising officers and thought they could escape. As a result, every single person who tried to run was mercilessly executed. After more than a hundred people died, the convicts finally understood that these Green Guard had eyes like hawks, ears sharper than cats, and every one of them had a dog's nose!

Two days later, Henry Lang finally arrived with the group at the place of the strange rock formation. Although he had mentally prepared himself, he still couldn't help but gasp in shock, his mouth agape. All his companions did the same, and for a moment, the sound of sharp intakes of breath echoed one after another... From a distance, everyone wore the same stunned expression.

All over the mountains, densely packed blue-black tents were set up, and countless ragged convicts were hauling earth and stone, looking like busy ants.

A huge, hideous gash had already been dug into the ground, and in the center lay a grayish-white, sickly-colored stone vein. The stone vein was shaped like a bamboo shoot, growing thicker as it extended westward, stretching all the way to the edge of sight and disappearing beneath Mount Kunai. Around the exposed stone vein, wooden scaffolds had been erected to prevent accidental deaths.

Teams of Jiulong Ethan Green patrolled the area, strictly guarding against convicts escaping or slacking off; sword lights often flashed overhead, as cultivator experts from N/A patrolled on flying swords, ignoring mortals and only searching for demonic presences!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

With the earth trembling, deafening explosions rang out in succession—the convicts were using fire-thunder to blast open the mountain...

Henry Lang swallowed hard. "Aren't they afraid of collapsing the whole mountain?"

The N/A Centurion was at the head of their team, not far from Henry Lang. Hearing his muttered exclamation, he actually turned and smiled for once: "It's collapsed countless times already! After it collapses, we just dig again, reinforce it, blast it again, then collapse, dig, and so on..."

Henry Lang didn't dare reply, closing his mouth and thinking to himself: Would this count as spreading rumors and causing panic?

Before long, the centurion's subordinates finished the paperwork, and before Henry Lang and the others could react, they were herded off to start working.

Every thousand convicts were guarded by a hundred Jiulong Ethan Green; together, these eleven hundred people formed a 'Mountain-Breaking and Evil-Dispelling' camp. At this moment, there were more than twenty such camps hard at work in Mount Kunai.

...

Not all of the twenty thousand convicts were there to dig at the mountain's roots.

Usually, about ten thousand were stationed around the ominous stone vein, constantly excavating. The rest of the camps were scattered on the surrounding mountains—some digging ditches to divert springs, some felling trees for firewood—all busy with various tasks in the area...

The camp where Henry Lang was assigned remained by the stone vein, responsible for breaking open the mountain.

The convicts dug at the mountain's roots by first burning the rock with fierce fire, then dousing it with cold water. The rapid alternation of heat and cold would crack the rock, after which they would reinforce the rock and chip away at it with picks and chisels, greatly reducing the risk of cave-ins. Only when they encountered extremely hard, unbreakable rock would they use fire-thunder.

Once the excavation went underground, because the stone vein was dangerous, every step forward required laying down wooden planks to insulate against the stone's malice, allowing the convicts to work safely.

Even without cave-ins, many convicts died every day. Their bodies were already frail, and after the long journey, they had to carry heavy stones. It was common for someone to suddenly roll their eyes and collapse dead on the spot...

Perhaps the local officials feared that at this rate, they'd soon run out of laborers, so the convicts' meals improved noticeably. Not only did they get white rice, but sometimes they could even find a scrap of meat among the vegetables.

In the blink of an eye, three or four months passed, and every day Henry Lang worked down in the pit.

Over time, Henry Lang gradually got used to the current corvée. This strange stone vein, aside from being untouchable, didn't seem all that dangerous... The N/A Centurion also wasn't as sinister and cruel as the rumors about the Jiulong Ethan Green claimed. Most of the time, he just stood by with a sullen face and didn't randomly beat or scold the convicts.

The project progressed at a snail's pace, but step by step, the stone vein grew longer and thicker. By now, the excavated section was nearly a thousand zhang long, and the base at the end was a full two hundred paces wide!

On this day, the camp where Henry Lang was stationed was working down in the pit. Ahead of them, two other camps were responsible for breaking open the mountain rock. Henry Lang and the others kept carrying cold water and firewood forward, while N/A and his men supervised the work. If a convict accidentally fell, the Ethan Green would even reluctantly help them up.