The death rate for miners here was tragically high; surviving to 30 years old was already a blessing, and many more miners died in their twenties for various reasons.
"It seems we're about to hit a adamantium mine!" Swain put down his power pickaxe and picked up the raw ore, examining it carefully. Evidently, the purity of this adamantium raw ore was higher than any previous pieces he'd found. Lycaeus itself was a world abundant in mineral resources, so extracting adamantium wasn't uncommon.
"Swain, you found another ore containing adamantium? How did you do it?" The burly Medan asked in surprise. This was already the sixth piece of adamantium raw ore Swain had found this month.
"This one just felt right, so I picked it. I reckon we're close to hitting the adamantium vein. Let's have everyone gather tonight," Swain said.
"Alright, I'll pass your message on to everyone," Medan replied to Swain, before resuming his struggle with the ore.
Before Primarch Corax descended upon Lycaeus, the local miners had already begun to form mutual aid organizations. However, these groups only provided internal assistance, and the miners scattered across the planet lacked communication tools, forcing them to largely operate individually.
Swain happened to be the leader of one such organization, and he even had the rather dark humor to name this nameless group "Saviors"—a nod to Corax, who would later rename Lycaeus to Savior after the uprising's success.
Swain's ability to become the leader was mainly due to his unusually keen sense for rare minerals, which consistently yielded high output. This allowed him to trade for the most food. Swain originally thought that his new body simply had a special affinity for mining, a natural-born mining physique.
But as the instances increased, he realized things weren't so simple; he just hadn't understood everything since he had just transmigrated. Besides feeding himself, he also had to set aside a portion of emergency rations for the organization to help companions who occasionally failed to complete their tasks, making life constantly tight.
"Lord Swain, you're back! You all worked hard," a little girl, appearing less than ten years old, dressed in thin linen clothes and with a dusty face, ran over enthusiastically to greet Swain, who had completed his mining task for the day and was returning with his team.
Looking at the dusty-faced little girl, Swain smiled knowingly. "Ephrenia, we're back. Today's harvest was pretty good. You must be obedient at home, don't run around everywhere." Swain was naturally very happy to see this little girl. It was precisely because of this little girl that Swain was able to maintain an optimistic mindset when he first transmigrated.
This little girl was the foster sister of Primarch Corax, and later the captain of Corax's flagship, the Shadow, Ephrenia herself. She was the first to discover Corax's amniotic sac, which had fallen deep into the mine, and brought Corax back to raise him.
Furthermore, she continued to accompany the Primarch after she became a rebel and after Corax took over the Raven Guard, until she became the captain of the Primarch's glorious Queen-class flagship, the Shadow.
The young Primarch, who had fallen from the sky, quickly attracted the attention of the politicians, thinkers, and strategists on Lycaeus. They saw too many incredible things in this unique child. The young Primarch was like a huge sponge, rapidly absorbing the knowledge taught by these elites on Kiavahr, and constantly innovating.
Thus, people named him Corvus Corax, which means Savior in the Lycaean language. Under their tutelage, the young Primarch quickly became a qualified leader, leading the miners on Lycaeus to truly become their own masters, becoming the owners of this planet.
When Corax unified his homeworld and Kiavahr, the Emperor descended from the sky. After the Primarch talked with the Emperor for a day and a night, he joined the Emperor's grand cause of the Great Crusade. No one knew what the Emperor and the Primarch discussed, but the next day, Corax began to take over his legion and started leading his companions from Lycaeus to conquer across the galaxy.
"Lord Swain, I just walked around a bit nearby, I didn't run far," the little girl said, lowering her head somewhat guiltily, not daring to look Swain directly. Her small hands, which should have been tender at this age, were calloused and now fidgeted restlessly. For active children, it's incredibly difficult to keep them from running around. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been the first to discover Corax, who had fallen deep into the mine.
"Alright, you can explore nearby, just don't run far. If you encounter those overseers, stay far away. Go play," Swain said happily, looking at the restless little girl. Enthusiastic and polite children are always so likable.
"Soon..." Swain murmured, watching the little girl skipping and running off to play. Ephrenia found her Primarch brother at roughly this age.
"Swain, you like them youn-?"
"Get lost, go do what you're supposed to do..." Swain kicked the guy, who was full of wild thoughts, making him stumble.
"Tomorrow, take today's minerals to exchange for supplies. Bring more people, and if anyone tries to rob the supplies, kill them directly," Swain said to the burly man he had just kicked. His two-meter height and explosive muscles were extremely oppressive to the thin, yellow-skinned miners on Lycaeus.
Although the miners on Lycaeus were relatively simple, this didn't mean that exchanging food was absolutely safe. No matter where, there would always be lazy people with crooked ideas, especially those heinous criminals who were exiled here.
"Leave it to me, boss. I'll definitely bring back every bit of the supplies," Medan promised Swain, patting his chest with his large hand. As Medan moved, a large amount of dust rustled down from his coarse linen clothes...
"Alright, alright, stop patting. We've been busy all day, everyone go rest first..." Swain dismissed the mining team.
The ruling class on Lycaeus managed the miners very loosely. If you wanted to live, you exchanged minerals for it. They wouldn't care even if you didn't mine for a week, as long as you didn't cross the red line they drew.
Miners could do whatever they liked, but when they couldn't meet the quota, the overseers would compress the exchange ratio of ore to living supplies. This method was rough but effective, and they didn't have to risk managing these miners; occasionally sending armed overseers to patrol the mine was enough.