I Can Only Cultivate In A Game-Chapter 258: The Unexpected Reveal

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Chapter 258: The Unexpected Reveal

Victor joined the guard rotation without fanfare, donning the half-plate of a Bai–Qin sentinel.

He greeted his fellow guards, most of which were haggard looking with long hours and little food. Only a few were youngsters like him.

Victor took his station on the ledge overlooking Pit Four: the deepest, most lucrative chamber.

He spent the day learning the rhythms of the operation: the dual carts that clattered along rail tracks, packed heavy with iron-laced crystal ore; the overseers who counted loading quotas; the slavers who watched the laborers’ exhaustion, meting out rations of stale bread to keep them alive.

In the third watch, after dusk had settled into the mine’s bone-deep dark, Victor slipped from his post and crept along the narrow catwalk that ran beside the pit wall.

Beyond the bustle of carts, he found a hidden door. It was a seam in the stone where Jang, a junior overseer, slipped in and out.

Jang’s lantern bobbed ahead, and Victor followed at a distance until the guard vanished behind the door.

Victor pressed his back against the damp rock and peered through the crack as Jang opened into a dim chamber lit by phosphorescent moss.

The moment Victor noticed the rows of chained laborers his eyes widened.

In the flicker of mosslight, he saw Chen Wen draped in rags, face gaunt, arms heaving with pickaxes that struck the gleaming ore.

Each blow rang like a hammer on Victor’s ribs.

"Chen Wen!" Victor whispered through gritted teeth, but the roar of the mine swallowed his voice.

He flinched as Chen Wen’s arm rose for another swing with sweat and blood spattering the stone floor.

The young barkeep looked older but the same fierce spark lit his eyes when he caught Victor’s silhouette beyond the crack.

Victor’s eyes narrowed in understanding. Chen Wen’s father had vanished the day before—presumed dead—and Chen Wen himself had disappeared soon after.

Bai Ting Ting had feared the worst, believing Chen Wen to be dead. Now he saw the truth: Bai Qin’s iron-fisted annexation had enslaved them both, shackling them to endless labor.

It looked like jealousy is reason Qin Fei let Bai Ting Ting believe Chen Wu was dead.

[ New Objective Unlocked: Rescue Chen Wen from the Iron Vein ]

’Oh it’s on...’ Even if he hadn’t gotten this objective, Victor would have rescued him.

Victor proceeded to slip away, retracing his steps to the guard post where his half-plate waited.

Over the next days, Victor mapped the mine’s secret passages and guard rotations. Each night, he returned to the hidden chamber to check on Chen Wen but didn’t reveal himself just yet.

And when the plan was almost completed, he finally decided to approach Chen Wen.

He slipped through into the chamber where copper cauldrons stewed with bitter porridge and racks of steaming bread lined the floor.

The laborers were having dinner.

Victor pressed himself against a shadowed pillar and scanned the surroundings.

Chen Wen sat at a corner with his head bowed and spoon dipped into thick porridge. The boy’s gaunt cheeks sank under the lantern glow, eyes hollow with fatigue. Beside him, half a dozen other laborers slurped their meager rations, silent as tombstones.

Victor drew in a steady breath and stepped forward.

A guard by the door moved away, giving Victor the opportunity to slip in completely.

Victor approached Chen Wen’s and lowered himself onto the floor. Chen Wen eyes narrowed as he looked up. "Another... conceited guard," he whispered with a brittle voice.

Victor smiled at the misunderstanding. "I’m not here to command. I’m here for... a chat." He brushed a strand of hair from Chen Wen’s face. "It’s Fang Chen— friend from Lingyun’s Rest."

Chen Wen spoon froze midway to his lips.

A look of disbelief and hope flooded his features. "Fang Chen... you?"

Victor nodded with a smile. "It’s me. I infiltrated the Bai–Qin family under the name Chen Fen. I found out about everything that has been going on and found you—all of you here." He paused, lowering his voice. "I’ve been making plans to free every slave in this entire mine. The Qin superiors don’t suspect a thing. But I need you to help gather everyone at the east tunnel entrance two nights from now, after the second bell."

Victor had picked this particular time frame because his one week guard duty here would be ending today.

This was the best way to make sure the situation was never traced back to him.

Chen Wen’s eyes glistened. "My father... he’s here, too," he said quietly. "In Pit Seven oversight. He’s weak but still alive."

Victor pressed Chen Wen’s shoulder. "We’ll get him out as well. Two nights from now."

Chen Wen nodded fervently. "Leave it to me. I’ll secretly spread the word. Everyone will be there."

Victor rose, giving him a conspiratorial nod. "I’ll see then. Stay hidden." He slipped away down the corridor as unnoticed as a shadow.

...

...

Chen Wen spent the next two days passing the information around to the other slave laborers.

At night, he slipped through the tangle of narrow tunnels deep within the Iron Vein Ores with lantern in hand.

He navigated the twisting passages by memory: past the shaft where the air turned chill, beyond the flooded sump where the lantern’s glow faded into black. H

Here, in the miners’ refuge, nearly forty slaves shuffled in small clusters with faces drawn with exhaustion.

Chen Wen drew in a trembling breath.

Tonight was the night he had pledged: in two nights’ time, Fang Chen would free them all. He lifted his lantern onto a wooden crate and let its halo expand.

"Gather close," he whispered with urgency.

The laborers pressed in with teir pickaxes leaning against the stone walls. Some faces brightened with hope, remembering Chen Wen’s promise about the mysterious rescuer.

Others eyed him with skepticism.

"Remember that we are being rescued tonight, at the second bell," Chen Wen began, "we meet at the east tunnel entrance. No guards will stand watch—Chen Fen’s sabotage will see to that. There, we slip through the hidden passage to freedom."

A few gasps of amazement stirred among the crowd. A young woman with dirt-streaked cheeks clutched her eldest daughter’s hand. "My baby," she breathed, "we’ll be free?"

Chen Wen nodded. "Yes, you’ll go back to Willowbrook. They’ll feed you and shelter you."

A ragged laborer with his beard singed by furnace heat clapped Chen Wen on the shoulder. "We’ll choose to believe you," he exclaimed. "Let’s hope you won’t disappoint."

Others murmured their desire to believe. But a tall man named Orin stepped forward with his arms folded. "You’ve told us this everyday for the last two days," he spat with dark eyes. "Every dawn you come with hope on your tongue. And still we toil. Where is your freedom, boy?"

"I said tonight," Chen Wen reminded him.

He turned on his heel. "Stop the fairy tales. No one is coming for us."

At Orin’s words, a ripple of uneasy nods passed through the laborers. Doubt gnawed at their courage.

Chen Wen’s chest tightened. He strode forward with a lantern. "Chen Fen is risking everything to free us. I trust him with my life."

Orin sneered. "What is he supposed to do? Fight all the guards here? You’re drunk on your hope."

A younger man, Zhang Wei, tightened his grip on his pick handle. "Let him speak," Zhang Wei muttered while backing Orin away from the circle’s edge.

Orin glared at Zhang Wei. "Afraid of truth, boy?"

Several laborers exchanged uneasy glances. For a moment, Chen Wen feared all his efforts would collapse. Then, a wiser elder, Old Liu, stepped forward and laid a hand on Orin’s arm. "Give the lad a chance. This mysterious Chen Fen brought us rations that healed our sores."

Orin shook her off. "My sores were healed by rest, not romance." He stalked closer to Chen Wen. "You think you’re a hero? You’ll see that heroes need more than hopes."

Orin’s harsh voice cut through the silence. "I’m out," he spat, turning on his heel. "I’ll see you all die trying, but I’ll be safe."

Moments later, Liang Shu, Orin’s friend followed after him in order to try and reason with him.

"Are you really not joining? You know this might be true, right?" Liang Shu voiced as they got out of sight.

"It doesn’t matter. They will just get caught anyways so its pointless," a grin appeared on his face at this moment.

"I’m going to tip off the guards—tell them about this rescue—and then I’ll get better rations and a real bed."

Liang Shu paused with a shocked look as Orin stormed off.

Liang Shu suddenly turned around and bolted towards the gathering place of the slaves.

He rushed up to Chen Wen with a pale face. "Chen Wen—stop him," Liang panted. "He’s already halfway to the guard post. He’ll ruin everything. He is going to tell them about the rescue!"

Chen Wen eyes widened in horror as the lantern fell from his hand.

He couldn’t let everything go to shot right now. Not when they were so close.

"Stay here and keep the others calm. I’ll handle him."

...

...