The night was windy, with howling winds that buffeted the bandits guarding the Lake Mine, sending most of them into the comfort of their tents. With fewer bandits on patrol, Gray could have easily made his escape but he had already chosen otherwise. He filled in the tunnel where he had been buried and headed down the slope.

He silently entered one of the still existing tunnels at the bottom of the lake and began to search for Krish. It was dark inside and filled with people sleeping anywhere there was space. He stepped carefully around and over them, making no more noise than a cockroach. He examined each person as he passed by and eventually found Krish and his three sons by themselves in a side chamber. They were all much thinner but otherwise fine.

Gray squatted next to Krish and shook the old man until he stirred.

“Ugggg… Kirit, if you have to go piss, just go piss… Don’t have to tell me…” The old man grumbled, still half asleep.

“Krish, hey, guess who?” Gray said in barely a whisper. "It’s me, Gray!”

“Huh… who… who are you!” Krish curled up fearfully. “I have no food!”

Gray prodded the man again, “No, don’t you recognize my voice? It’s me, Gray.”

“Gray… oh, Gray!” The old man finally realized. “Gray!”

He grabbed Gray's arm excitedly as if in disbelief.

“Shh, keep your voice down,” Gray whispered.

“Okay, okay. But what are you doing here? I thought you managed to escape that night.”

"I... uh... I did but I thought about you guys and felt bad for leaving everyone behind so I stayed back. I found an opportunity to sneak in and see if I could help.” Gray said.

He couldn't just say that he wanted to steal from the bandits so he came up with a more plausible and righteous reason. It was sort of true so Krish didn't need to know otherwise.

The old miner became teary-eyed. “Young man… you really didn’t have to do this, to risk your life. You’re very brave, you know that?”

Gray chuckled, satisfied with the reaction, "No worries. As a friend of the Patels, how could I sit idly by and let this happen to you all? I had to do something!”

Krish hung onto his every word in desperate hope. When the three sons awoke from the noise, they were also awed by Gray's supposed bravery and honorable intentions.

---

The next morning, Gray stayed deep inside the mine and remained hidden. Krish went around after breakfast and gathered the leaders of the Jade Hill Mining Company. The foreman was dead but there were still team leaders and senior miners that held respect and influence among the people. Together, they formed an informal council of sorts that managed their fellow prisoners.

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The council gathered in a deep chamber, away from the others. There were ten of them including Krish who did not inform them of Gray's arrival. Instead, once everyone was inside, Gray appeared from the shadows and blocked off the exit.

"Who?"

"What is this?"

"Everybody calm down!" Krish said as he walked over and stood beside Gray, "This is Gray. He came with me to the River Mine and was on my team before we were attacked. He has come back and I believe he can help us."

"Bison shit!"

"This is ridiculous!"

"How can we trust him!"

Krish waited until the chaotic protests died down and said, "We can trust Gray, he is a house guest of the Patel family. An ally of the Patel family is the lord's ally and he is our ally."

A middle-aged man with wild hair and a bushy beard stood up and walked over. He held a lantern in his hand and used the light to study Gray closely.

"Well, I certainly have never seen a bandit as big as you." He then held out a hand, "My name is Huzhi Peng."

Gray took it but then, the man gripped his hand tightly and refused to let go.

"Where did you stay?" Huzhi asked aggressively.

"The Patel gem shop."

"Which floor, first or second?" The miner asked again.

"The basement." Gray answered confidently.

Huzhi laughed and released Gray's hand, "Young man, a friend of the Patel family is my friend. Welcome."

Most of the others were satisfied with this exchange. Both the first and second floors were incorrect. Only someone who had stayed at the shop before like Huzhi would have known about the basement. But there were still a few who were unconvinced, including a female miner with a stocky build that was not inferior to her male counterparts.

"He's in here so he's just another prisoner like the rest of us. What good is that?" She asked.

"Don't worry. I'm strong." Gray said, "I managed to not get caught by any of the bandit leaders and I even sneaked in here without being detected. Can you do that?"

"... No." The woman admitted.

"I am also a pretty good miner. I can help you guys there."

He went over to the dirt wall of the chamber and started digging energetically. He moved huge chunks of earth with every swing of his pickaxe. In just a short moment, he managed to create a deep, man-sized tunnel.

"Oh! Lucky me." Gray said and rummaged in the pile of dirt.

He pulled out a chunk of spiritual stone as big as his fist and showed it to the others.

"Really!"

"What in the Holy King!"

"Amazing!"

The council members were firmly impressed. Gray's strength and mining prowess were clear to anyone with experience. They all now believed him. He was the first good thing to happen to them since they had been captured and enslaved.

Gray was formally inducted into the council and they came to a suitable arrangement on how he could help everyone through mining. Based on his insistence, he was given exclusive access to a section of the mine and nobody else was allowed in. He didn't explain why but they accepted the condition without question.

He intended to use up any jade he found for himself and give the spiritual stones to the council to exchange for extra rations from the bandits. The rations would be distributed fairly to the weakest miners who were starving. The council aimed to keep everyone alive and he had no objections to it.

"Great! We are all in agreement. Now, for the final matter on everyone's minds. We miners are simple people. We dig the earth. We value strength of ability and of character so we always follow the strongest." Huzhi looked around the chamber and finally at Gray. "Gray is now the strongest amongst by far. Thus, I nominate Gray as our new foreman!"

"I agree!" Krish jumped up first.

Other council members soon followed.

"Foreman Gray!"

"Welcome, Foreman Gray!"

They all saluted Gray who was left speechless.