Chapter 1 Midnight

It was 5:25 AM.

Uncle Jiu and 113 newly recruited miners, along with 16 technical personnel from the engineering department, rode the elevator down to the mine shaft, about 370 meters deep, to temporarily inspect and maintain the mine tunnels, mining equipment, and pipelines.

This was a coal mine with deep and dimly lit tunnels. After arriving at the work area, the engineering department divided Uncle Jiu and the others into temporary groups to begin inspecting and maintaining the tunnels in a mentor-mentee fashion.

It is necessary to mention that because the Dragon City coastline has a tropical rainforest climate, the natural conditions for mining are prone to change. For example, this emergency repair was in response to a sudden heavy rain.

Heavy rain can cause landslides, mudslides, and the breaching of underground rivers. These situations may not affect ordinary people, but they can significantly impact mines.

For example, if you dig a mine on a mountain, with semi-open-pit mining, and suddenly it rains heavily for three days, causing a mudslide or a landslide, the moving rock and soil layers may deform. If they squeeze the working area of the mine, it becomes very dangerous. These accidental natural situations cannot be predicted by any sophisticated instruments.

Even the most advanced equipment cannot monitor soil movement or the hardness of rocks inside the mountain. Therefore, temporary inspection and maintenance are essential qualities for the mining industry.

…

Inside the main tunnel of Mine No. 03, Uncle Jiu, who was over fifty years old, was inspecting with the engineering department due to his extensive experience.

After working in the tunnel for about half an hour, the group had not found any anomalies. The main tunnel wall was very solid, and the data from various testing devices were normal.

"Engineer Li, everything is fine." A young man wiped the sweat from his face and said softly, "Let's fill out the form and report the values."

Engineer Li was the head of the engineering department for Tunnel No. 03. He had drunk some wine before going to bed the night before, and although he was awake now, his eyes were still red.

"You go and collect the values from each work area. I'll report them all together, otherwise the monitoring department will have to wait." Engineer Li dusted himself off and said into the walkie-talkie, "Equipment inspection team, hurry up and send over the values."

"Tap, tap!"

Just as everyone was preparing to report the values and finish work, a burst of footsteps sounded, and a young man from the engineering department rushed out from inside: "Engineer Li, Section 223 has water seepage!"

"Huh?" Engineer Li was taken aback.

"Small scale!" the young man added.

"Let's go, take a look!" Engineer Li responded, leading everyone towards the depths of the tunnel.

About three minutes later, near an equipment storage area at a corner of the main tunnel, Engineer Li personally climbed a ladder, shone a flashlight on the ceiling of the tunnel.

Visible streams of water were dripping down in a streamlined pattern from the gaps in the cement board, but the density was not high, similar to the trickling tap water after the water supply is stopped.

Sweat broke out on Engineer Li's forehead, and he turned back and asked softly, "Wasn't this checked?"

"It was checked before, there were no abnormalities, and the underground river isn't on this side either!" the person in charge of the area replied.

"Here, bring two more ladders, two people come up, pry open a gap in the board and try to divert the water." Engineer Li had been in this business for a long time and was very experienced.

The others did as they were told. Two workers climbed up the ladder and pried open the water outlet a little by pressing on the cement board.

"Sizzle!"

The water flow became faster and larger. Engineer Li stood at the bottom of the ladder watching, listening to the movement above the ceiling, feeling that there was not much change.

Five minutes later, the water flow noticeably decreased, eventually becoming dripping water.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. Engineer Li's face was gloomy as he pointed at the person in charge of the area and scolded, "Damn it, look at how wet the ground is! This leak has obviously been going on for more than ten hours. How did you check when you left last time? Don't want to work anymore?"

The person in charge lowered his head: "I...we didn't see it when we left, and the data was normal."

"You have to write a report later." Engineer Li said, preparing to call everyone to leave.

At this moment, Uncle Jiu stepped forward and asked, "Engineer Li, water up there isn't a small matter, should we...!"

"I'll tell you how the water is formed." Engineer Li interrupted directly, "When you build a tunnel, you need to smooth the rock layer above to make its surface smooth. But after the cement board is in place, no matter how much artificial treatment is done, there will still be a little gap in the interlayer. The people, lights, and equipment in the tunnel will generate heat, which will make the upper layer hotter and humid, so it is normal for some accumulated water to flow into the gap."

Uncle Jiu frowned and did not respond.

Engineer Li said very professionally, "Did you see? After the diversion just now, the water is all gone, which means it's just a fixed amount of water stored in the gap! Making this judgment requires practical experience. You all remember this for me in the future. When there is water flowing in the tunnel, you need to distinguish whether it is natural seepage or artificial by the speed and density of the water flow...!"

"Boom!!"

Halfway through his words, a muffled sound suddenly came from above the tunnel.

Everyone immediately looked up at the sound.

"There is a change in the rock layer!" A young member of the engineering department blurted out.

"Changes my ass, don't be alarmed!" Engineer Li was very confident, like a fisherman who walks by the water all year round, feeling that his swimming skills are enough to cope with any emergencies.

"Boom, boom!"

Two more very dull noises.

Uncle Jiu heard the sound and immediately said, "Something's wrong! It's a change!"

This time, Engineer Li didn't argue and took a few steps forward!

Five seconds later, shouts suddenly came from the deep mine tunnel: "The water is coming!!! The board in Section 225 has collapsed!! Water, water!!"

"Rumble!!"

In the long and dim tunnel, a collapse suddenly erupted. Engineer Li stood at the fork in the road and looked up, seeing the three or four-meter-high tunnel instantly filled with rolling water!

Uncle Jiu turned around and ran: "Son, son!!"

…

On the ground, the monitoring department.

"Report, report!" A technician rushed into the office and shouted, "We have detected a change in the rock layer above Tunnel No. 03, there is a large amount of water!"

"Flap!"

The head of the monitoring department stood up: "Source of the water flow?!"

"It's the underground river!"

"The water from the underground river can't reach Tunnel No. 03!"

"It may be that the heavy rain has caused the water to rise, causing changes in the underground soil and rock layers, and the water has broken through several gaps... All the monitoring charts here are red...!"

"Damn it!"

The head of the monitoring department turned and ran.

In the tunnel, Uncle Jiu, who was running and looking for his son, turned his head and saw that the tunnel behind him had begun to collapse irregularly!

Disaster has struck!!