Pirate: I was just slacking off, do you really think I'm bad?

Before long, two dirty men with leather whips around their waists walked out through the thick fog.

"Wolf, where the hell have you been slacking off again?"

The noise was so loud that it shook the dust off the dilapidated shed.

Long and Swall walked inside without making a sound.

There's no way around it; there's just too much dust here. If it's not cleaned up in a few days, it'll pile up into a thick layer.

The man who had been leading the group roared, and layers of black dust flew down from the tarpaulin.

"Shut up, you son of a bitch! I'll kill you!"

Wolf, who had just fallen asleep on the chair, was woken up by a loud voice before he could continue his romance with the girl in his dream.

Wolf was furious at being interrupted repeatedly at the most crucial moments.

The fat on his face was also twitching.

"The boss just said there aren't enough miners at the mine, and they don't know where they went. Are these two new workers you recruited?"

The leading man sized up Long and Swall.

He nodded at the dragon's tall stature, then shook his head when he saw Swall's thin and frail body.

"Wolf, what's going on? How many bags of coal can someone like that carry in the mine? I need someone who can actually do the work."

He loudly vented his dissatisfaction.

Wolf didn't tolerate him, putting his legs up on the table and acting as if he didn't care.

"If you're so capable, then you should do the job of recruiting workers."

"You should be grateful that there are still people signing up to be miners in this godforsaken place. And you're being so picky. If you don't want them, I'll give these two to Joseph. Don't push your luck."

Wolf wasn't worried at all that his words would anger the burly man in front of him.

Because they are all in the same system, he knows the rate at which miners in the mines abscond.

This is not the time when we could choose our miners.

Many of the people living in this kingdom already know about the darkness of the mines and are unwilling to become miners.

Only a small number of people who are out of touch with the world and those who have no other choice will choose to become miners.

"You're lucky if someone can help you; there's nowhere else for you to go."

Upon hearing Wolf's words, the burly man's face turned red.

He was naturally a hot-tempered person, but when you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head.

If you want someone, you really have to suck up to the guy in front of you.

Who could blame him when this man's sister is the wife of a squad leader in the King's Guard?

Since fighting was out of the question and evasion was impossible, all I could do was offer a fawning smile and say:

"Hey, Wolf, what are you saying? I just came from the mine and I'm in a bad mood."

"I'll take these two. I'll treat you to drinks later."

Wolf nodded and said lazily:

"I've already signed their contracts, you can just take them. And let me add, once they leave this shed, they're no longer my concern."

It's not that Wolf is petty; this kind of thing has happened before.

He was a perfectly fine person when he was hired, but he died on the way to the mine.

If someone dies, they're dead; they have no one to blame but themselves.

However, the foreman, relying on his father's power, got into an argument with the person who was assigning the miners.

Finally, the captain of the King's Guard stepped in to mediate, and each side received a slap on the wrist, thus ending the matter.

From then on, they had an unspoken rule.

Once a person signs a contract and leaves the recruitment office, they have no further connection with the recruitment office.

When foremen are recruiting workers, they sometimes give some benefits to the recruitment office staff in order to select some better people to be their subordinates.

These are all unspoken rules.

For the first time, Long and Swall truly understood what it meant for every action to be influenced by human relationships and social customs.

They had either been exposed to too high a level or too low a level before.

Although they had heard of such things before, this was the first time they had seen them clearly.

"See, I told you working in a mine would be useful. We've already learned a lesson before we even got to the mine."

Long felt that his theoretical knowledge had increased considerably.

To achieve justice and lead a people's uprising, it is essential to understand their way of life.

Understand what is the most powerful thing that oppresses them.

The two burly men seemed completely oblivious to the dragon and Swar behind them, chatting amongst themselves in front of them.

Dragon felt like he had walked a long way and finally arrived at a place that looked like a train station.

"What is this thing? How can it be so big? It looks like a monster that breathes fire."

Swall saw a large steam locomotive for the first time (an old-fashioned train, the kind that rattles and sparks).

His eyes lit up, and he couldn't resist going over to touch it.

Coming from an agricultural kingdom, he had never seen anything like this before.

Dragon was also very surprised. Although he had seen steam-powered vehicles before, theoretically these things were concentrated on the Grand Line.

It's truly extraordinary to see them all over the world.

"Hahaha, look at these two idiots, I told you this thing would scare them."

"They're just country bumpkins, they have no worldly experience."

The two burly men had seen the expressions on Long and Swall's faces, and they were laughing so hard that tears were almost streaming down their faces.

Swall could only ask with a forced smile:

"Boss, what is this thing? I've never seen it in my hometown before."

The burly man leading the group patted the body of the steam-powered vehicle and said:

"It's normal if you haven't seen it before. This thing was developed by scientists from the World Government at great expense, specifically for transporting materials such as coal and ore. People can also ride in them."

"Alright, hurry up and go in. Once you're there, get to work."

The four men boarded the steam engine and sat facing each other in the armchairs.

The two supervisors were quite content; they made this kind of journey countless times a year.

Long was deeply moved, while Swall was very excited.

Woo~woo~woo~

The steam-powered vehicle stopped in front of a sentry post, with a very tall city wall behind it.

Pairs of patrolmen in protective suits, wearing gas masks, and carrying rifles are constantly on patrol.

The two supervisors' expressions changed upon smelling the even stronger odor.

"You two, get inside and get to work!"

The foreman handed the contract to the sentry and took out two iron plaques.

Seeing the dragon and Swall standing there dumbfounded, he went up and kicked each of them, cursing as he did so:

"Damn it, you have no sense at all. You deserve to work in the mine."

Once they arrived here, the two overseers no longer needed to pretend.

They reverted to their original personalities, grumbling and pushing the dragon and Swall.

A sentry wearing a gas mask stopped Long and said in a muffled voice:

"Kid, let me tell you the rules here beforehand. The important thing is to work hard, whether you can do it or not. Don't even think about causing trouble, or else..."

His spear was pressed against the dragon's chin, and he let out a cold snort.

"Sir, I will definitely do my job well."

Dragon feigned a frightened and timid demeanor and spoke to the patrolman.

"Okay, let's go in."