Apocalypse: System of lotteries

Sam and Gandis watched as Ming waved at a lion not far away. The lion roared as if it understood Ming\'s gesture, and disappeared into the grassland.

Also a puppet master, Gandis asked in confusion, "Don\'t you want that lion anymore? Why did you let it go?"

Ming smiled and replied, "It wanted to go for a walk, and I agreed."

"Um~ You really are a gentle master."

Gandis nodded lightly, feeling a ripple of emotions within him. Ming was powerful. When he controlled puppets, the connection would break if the distance exceeded 300 meters. But Ming seemed to control his within at least 1000 meters.

Impressive.

He wondered when he would be able to control puppets with such ease. It must be hard, right?

"Do you have any other requests?" 

Sam walked behind Ming, keeping a respectful distance.

"There\'s no rush. We\'ll talk more once we get to the place. Don\'t worry, I keep my word."

"Alright!"

A while later.

The three of them stood on the edge of a large pit. The pit was approximately 50 meters in diameter and about 40 meters deep. The bottom of the pit was filled with murky underground water.

Ming picked up a rock from the collapsed edge of the pit and threw it down. After hearing a dull thud, he thought, it\'s pretty deep.

Sam and Gandis\'s eyes were focused on the rock layer at the bottom of the pit\'s inner wall. There were many stones flashing with various colors of light. They knew those were element stones.

This was indeed a considerable fortune.

"How did you discover the mine here? It\'s incredible~ Do you have any special abilities?" Sam asked, staring at the stones.

"Not exactly."

Ming shook his head and smiled, "Because this is my family\'s mine."

"..."

Both Sam and Gandis were taken aback, looking at the young man beside them. This was the African savanna, and he was casually claiming the mine was his. It seemed quite an audacious lie.

"You guys must be tired, let\'s sit down and have a drink."

Ming brought out a two-seater sofa, inviting Sam and Gandis to sit down. Although they hadn\'t joined his company yet, they could be considered temporary workers from this moment onwards. He would in treating his employees well.

He sat down on his own exclusive sofa, placed a small square table in front, and prepared a fruit plate and three coconuts.

"..."

Sam and Gandis sat down somewhat awkwardly. The first thing they noticed was how soft the sofa was. The second was how professional Ming made their business conversation feel. They didn\'t know why, but they found the young man in front of them incredibly reassuring.

"In fact, you should understand that other mutant creatures capable of coexisting in this area with my lion are stronger, not weaker. What do you think?" Ming pushed the coconuts towards them.

"We do acknowledge that, which is why we want your help," Sam nodded, and Gandis expressed his agreement.

"Well, I agree to give you a mutant creature. That\'s our business deal. However, you should understand that 4,000 gold coins are not enough," Ming leaned forward, pointing to the large pit filled with elemental stones next to them. "But, I can provide you with a job opportunity to earn money for purchasing the mutant creature. So, this is not a business deal anymore, but an employment relationship. You understand what I mean, right?"

"..."

Sam and Gandis exchanged glances. They knew the consequences could be dire if they returned empty-handed and failed to pay the mercenaries and the gang members. Now they had this opportunity, and Ming seemed very professional and trustworthy.

"Okay, we understand. Let\'s get to work."

"Good, but first, let\'s eat. We\'ll work after the meal."

Ming took out an alcohol stove, added some basic ingredients, and prepared meat rolls, vegetables, and ham sausages - all leftovers from the master chef\'s excess production. Nothing should go to waste.

Sam and Gandis looked at the food in front of them, their eyes gleaming. Ever since they fell to Area 1001, they rarely had the chance to enjoy such a rich meal.

"Enjoy. If it\'s not enough, I have more."

"Thank you."

A moment later, Ming stood on the edge of the large pit, instructing Alia to retrieve all the elemental stones on the surface. Gandis, who watched the whole process, felt another surge of awe.

Ming knew that the deeper ones could only be dug up. The last time when he used a car to blast the mountain, many elemental stones were shattered into powder, so the manual excavation was the safest.

He then asked Alia to survey the distribution of elemental stones in the pit, and after confirming that the largest deposit was on the west side, he let Sam and Gandis descend into the pit using ropes tied to the tree trunks, to mine the deeper elemental stones.

"Your Da Vinci and Foodie are hopping around in the low bushes, feeling a pang of conscience, thinking that they should do something useful and contribute to the family."

"Your frogs notice an animal with white fur walking out of the front, and Foodie goes forward to greet it politely. The honey badger looks at Foodie blankly. \'I... I\'m only one year old.\'"

"Da Vinci pats Foodie and tells the honey badger that his younger brother was born not long ago and hasn\'t seen much of the world, so don\'t be offended by him. Da Vinci was curious if the honeypot hair turned white because of too many things to fret about? The honey badger looks at Da Vinci blankly. \'I\'ve always been very happy, but after meeting you guys, it just disappeared.\'"

"..."

Ming smiled and descended into the pit with the ropes, securing himself before starting to cut through the soil and rock with an electric saw. At the same time, he carried on an intermittent casual conversation with Sam and Gandis.

"To facilitate communication, Foodie gave the honey badger a nickname, Little White."

"The frogs have established a friendship with Little White. Little White tells them that the only treasure nearby is not far ahead, and it\'s planning to fight a crocodile for it. The frogs are interested and decide to join the fight for the treasure, agreeing to share it equally afterward. Little White agrees to their proposal."

"Your frogs and Little White officially declare the formation of the \'Crocodile Hunting Squad\'."

"They really know how to have fun," Ming chuckled, then turned to Sam. "If you had the chance to have your own shop in Area 1001, what kind of business would you want to do?"