The Secret Code of Monsters.

Chapter 424: White Miners
Narrower corridors require people to bend over, and some even require people to crawl on all fours.

It is hard to imagine what kind of despair the trapped but not dead people will face if a section collapses - but even in such despair, Rose arranged the order for everyone to crawl in an orderly manner.

Paige first, then her.

Next came Roland, and finally Kingsley.

The meaning of this arrangement was unclear, and only Roland knew why she did it - for example, why she suddenly stopped while crawling.

"Your courage is admirable, sir and ma'am. I dare say that no one is willing to go into this hell with me, not even the police." Peggy sighed after a certain segment ended.

The frivolity on her face was gone now, and she only had respect for both Roland and Kingsley.

Although they have their own goals, it is not easy for them to condescend.

None of these three have toes of mud.

And she came here to suffer.

"Of course not the police," Rose wiped her sweat and her face was covered with coal dust, "If you rely on them, you're doomed."

Peggy moved her lips, and Roland translated: "What she meant was that if it's exciting enough, she'd be happy to continue taking risks with you indefinitely."

Rose took advantage of the darkness and pinched his arm.

Kingsley: "...I didn't mess with you, young lady."

Rose: ...

The young detective walked in silence, but his heart was filled with turmoil.

Just as his father said.

"You should open your eyes from serving and see what the real world is like. If you don't want to be an idle, moral gentleman and want to find trouble for yourself, then find out the origin of something, and I will agree to set up a detective agency for you."

miner.

Mine.

Life with muddy toes.

Kingsley had never been in contact with them, and never really saw how they lived - at most they were slightly worse off than him, but they could always drink red wine and eat steak.

At most, at most, a slightly worse red wine and a slightly worse steak.

Running all the way.

It gradually became clear to him that some people couldn't eat steak.

The days are long.

He found that some people could not eat meat.

Several months passed.

He saw that some people had to eat bread mixed with grit and sawdust.

If he had gone to London, or asked Roland, he would have seen with his own eyes how the tramps who could not afford bread mixed with grit and sawdust boiled their arms in vats.

He felt a little suffocated, and the feeling of suffocation made him uncomfortable.

After crawling all the way, my thighs and arms were sore.

There were fleas on my body and sweat was running down my forehead onto my eyelids.

But he said nothing.

If this most exquisite of creatures, Mr. Collins, could laugh and joke in hell, this green-eyed girl, this woman, could endure the rough stones and the nearness of death.

A future, famous detective must do better than him and her.

There was a clanging sound.

Will-o'-the-wisp lights were hung on iron hooks extending from the mine walls or on wooden stakes on the tunnel frames.

In this narrowest corridor, many miners are busy.

The dark stones were mixed with some white powder like star sand. They shone in the dim light, like the wishes left on the beach after the roaring tide in a dream receded.

Extremely Beautiful.

"This is the most primitive 'white mine'." Peggy bent down and led the three people forward, talking as she walked, and greeting the busy miners from time to time - she seemed to know everyone, and everyone seemed to know her.

"Miss Peggy!"

"Who asked you to come down?"

"You can't come here!"

"Miss, go away now, there's nothing much to do here. Why don't you go back to the Streeters', get some sleep in your own nice room, and then join us for a drink in the evening?"

Some people were worried, some people scolded, they hoped that Peggy would leave this road and this particular mining site.

"Street isn't my home right now."

"Yeah, fuck Streeter... Sorry, I didn't mean you, Peggy." Roland noticed that the miners didn't tie their sleeves and trousers tightly, and didn't wrap their faces with cloth. "Get out, leave, don't come near us!"

Peggy thanked them and said she would take the three people behind her to see it.

"What's there to know about this thing?"

The old miner spat, his mouth full of spit.

He seemed to be wet with sweat, his face was stained with white minerals, and he looked shiny and beautiful. "If you three want to buy it, go to the Streeter family, that heartless big man and buy it from him - but stay away from our Peggy, she never does this."

While they talked, Rose just stared at the glittering minerals in silence.

An explorer from the first ring of the secret scroll, she is able to identify valuable items to a certain extent.

just now.

The shining white ore in front of her was shining brightly in her sight.

This is not right…

Even if white ore can bring wealth, it shouldn't have such a huge 'value'——

Rose frowned: "How do you separate the coal and the white ore?"

She found that all the stones were piled in baskets, and the ones that shone were like the meat in their broth - neither there nor there.

"How should I know?" The miner cursed rudely, bent down, opened the paper bag, took out a piece of hard bread, put it in his mouth, and chewed it softly: "Maybe the big guys have their own ways... factories... or something like that."

This is even more wrong.

Judging from the 'harvest' Rose had seen, there was no way she would produce a bag of white ore in a day - how much could this little stuff be sold for?

The miners don't know either.

They said that just working here, the weekly wage is twice as high as outside - yes, you may get sick, but not everyone will get sick, right?
Someone has to pay for life.

If you work here for two or three years, you can save a lot of money and live a rich life.

"If you get sick, you'll have to be sent to a mining town farther away... that's a bit troublesome. But I heard there are people who can treat illnesses there, so you can just go there and stay for a few years before coming back."

Further mining towns…

Rose glanced at Paige.

In the other person's eyes, she found the same answer as she had guessed.

So did Kingsley.

He did not believe that an owner who was unwilling to spend money to buy birds for the miners could arrange for the sick to go to a "further mining town" - he did not understand, did these miners trust Streeter so much?
This Mr. Henry was by no means as popular as her sister.

The detective was thinking about it when he heard the miner say:
"We believe in Peggy. If Peggy becomes the true heir of the Streeter family, we would rather give this kind-hearted girl..."

"Shut up John!"

Someone shouted.

The miner named John disagreed: "If it was Miss Peggy, she would be satisfied with this job even if she risked getting sick. She has always been good to us. Don't you know how much she has done for us?"

The miner in the darkness ran over angrily, punched John, grabbed him, and dragged him away.

'I'm asking you not to say that in front of strangers, idiot...'

Paige cried silently.

(End of this chapter)