NOVEL NEXT Chapter 56: The Ice Chunks
Seeing the miner walking off into the distance while wiping tears from his eyes, Bach Ponce couldn't help but be speechless.
They were acquainted—though not close, they knew a fair bit about each other's lives. Bach's wife dying because of the Fissure was a well-known fact, especially since it had been reported on TV.
Being a somewhat known Primer, Mira attracted media attention.
And of course, as her husband, Bach had also appeared on television—he was already a miner at the time.
It was a tragic story, one that moved people to sympathize with him. Even now, they avoided casually mentioning the word wife in Bach's presence—a gesture of respect he appreciated, though he had told them it was already fine, as his wife's death had happened years ago.
Once he was sure the miner who confronted him was gone, Bach let out a sigh and started looking for Kael.
"Kael… where are you?" Bach hissed, his voice hovering between a shout and a whisper—loud enough to call out, quiet enough not to alert more miners.
He looked around but still couldn't find the person he was searching for. Then, the elevator on the side opened, catching his attention.
Seeing the person step out, Bach let out a sigh of relief. "There you are. How did you hide so quickly?"
"Hide?" Kael tilted his head. "I didn't."
"Eh? But you suddenly disappeared when that man appeared," Bach said, surprised.
"I went straight to the elevator, but the door closed. So I pressed the button and waited for you below. I thought you'd follow, but you were taking longer, so I came back up," Kael explained.
"Is that so." The miner chuckled. "My bad then."
The two of them entered the elevator to head down to the mine pit.
…
Standing in front of one of the decline tunnels, Bach turned to Kael. "This is the tunnel where I found you."
"Hmm," Kael nodded, and without waiting, he walked inside first.
Seeing his eagerness, Bach shook his head and followed after him. The tunnel was dark, so the miner took out a flashlight to illuminate the path.
Kael looked around and saw that the tunnel was quite large. Visible signs of excavation machinery scarred the walls and the ground. Two-meter-tall rocks were scattered everywhere—some looked like ordinary stone, while others looked like they might be valuable.
However, from the way they were piled up, some already cracked, their worth seemed no different from regular rocks.
"I do the same routine every time I come to this mine—excavate useless stones and clean up the area. Rare materials show up sometimes, but the company that owns this place doesn't care about them," Bach explained.
"If they don't care, can't you just sell them yourselves?" Kael asked, glancing back at the miner.
"We can't. They don't like it when people like us try to 'do them dirty,'" Bach said. "The management handles those rare rocks. We can only drool over them while they throw them into some warehouse. Sh*tty company, but they're not someone we can mess with."
"This company… what company?" Kael asked, though he already had an idea—especially after seeing the symbol on the mine gate.
"New One," Bach said, his face turning serious. "The same New One company behind the woman who helped you back at the Grey Fissure."
"Oh," Kael nodded, unsurprised by the answer.
"Is this New One the one responsible for all the mines in this city?" Kael asked.
"No," Bach shook his head. "From what I know, they only handle five or six mines in this city. Maybe in another city, they have more, though I doubt they dominate the market. They're a Primer Company, after all."
"This mine's been here for decades, right? Does that mean this Primer Company has also been around that long?" Kael asked, his eyes glinting with doubt.
"Maybe?" Bach shrugged his shoulders. "But they're an old company. They started as one of the weapon manufacturers for the country's military. Their influence spread across the nation—that's how they easily became a Primer Company."
Weapon manufacturers before becoming a Primer Company? And they're the ones managing the mine where he was found? Even after all these years, even when the mine has basically become useless, they still didn't abandon it…
Kael's mind worked quickly, forming theories based on the information he had gathered so far.
"They don't want to let go…" Kael muttered, his eyes shining with understanding. With this realization, a new plan began to form.
"What?" Bach asked, not hearing what Kael had just said.
"You said this is the very first mine? The first mine in this city?" Kael asked, a small, cold smile forming on his lips.
"Yes, this is the very first mine in this city. Why?" Bach tilted his head.
"The very first mine, and they're the 'owner.' I see," Kael nodded, scratching his chin. "Do you know where their headquarters is located?"
"No," Bach shook his head. "You should ask that on Uni-Net. That thing knows more than this old man does."
"Haha, you're right," Kael chuckled. "Though I doubt I'll find more than what they want to show the public."
"You sound like you're up to something—and I'll guess, it's not anything good," Bach narrowed his eyes at Kael. "Do you think they're hiding something they don't want people to know?"
"Maybe," Kael smiled mysteriously. "Everyone has secrets. They just need to make sure theirs don't come back to bite them in the end."
"Just like any Primer Company," Bach sighed. "Anyway, we just need to turn right. That's where I found you."
They turned into the right passage and walked for a few more minutes before finally reaching their destination.
"This is where I found you," Bach said, pointing to the middle of the area.
Kael stepped forward, observing the tunnel more closely.
In the center lay giant chunks of ice—the smallest at least two meters tall, the tallest reaching ten meters. They were scattered around the area, gleaming like diamonds under the beam of Bach's flashlight.
His gaze fell on the space between the ice chunks—just wide enough for a person to lie down.
"This is that b*tch's ice,"