The male supporting character was actually myself.

Although there are more than forty people now, as long as they don't have bad intentions, they can deter those unarmed miners.

"Everyone hurry up, I need to meet up with a friend after dawn, so I can't linger here too long." Qin Xiaoyao finished redistributing the work according to Mr. Devil's instructions and looked forward to the new friend He mentioned.

A good person with magical powers should be able to help Mr. Demon and make his life easier, right?

Chapter Thirty-Two: Killing the Chicken to Warn the Monkey

"Splash!"

The iron chains on the dilapidated wooden door were clattered open, and Qin Xiaoyao, carrying a portable lamp used in the mine, walked into the cell where the miners were held.

Startled awake by the sudden noise, a group of dark-skinned, thin, and dirty miners scrambled to their feet in a panic, avoiding the glaring lights and not daring to look up.

“Many of these people are heartless.” Jiang Chen glanced at them and immediately identified a group of bad guys emanating a dark aura from top to bottom and inside out. He reminded her, “Xiao Yao, we need to make an example of them when necessary.”

The room had an unpleasant smell that gave everyone a headache, so Qin Xiaoyao had no choice but to wave her hand and shout, "Line up and get out, everyone behave yourselves!"

At first glance, it sounded like a young girl's voice. The miners were puzzled, but the girl waved her gun, making them afraid to make a sound and obediently line up to leave.

The supplies in the square had long been confiscated, and soon forty or fifty people stood there, leaving the square empty.

Wang He led the way, carrying a long gun in his arms, which was very intimidating. Standing next to him was a row of former resistance soldiers who were given guns to show off without bullets.

"If they're not dressed like soldiers, who are they?"

“Look at that little girl, she’s not very tall, but she looks like she’s in charge.”

"Could it be a rebel army? Are they finally going to declare war on the garrison and have even reached the mines?"

"Great, there's hope now..."

…………

The miners stood in rows on the square, whispering to each other.

"We are the resistance!" Zhao Yiqing cleared his throat and began to explain the operation plan to the miners according to the agreed procedure. "The garrison at the mine has been cleared out by us."

Now is the crucial moment for you to make a choice—those who want to join the resistance and make a difference are welcome to join our ranks!

We are all people who have suffered hardships; from now on, we will share both good times and bad.

Those who do not wish to join the resistance can choose to leave after receiving two days' worth of rations!

Our resistance only recruits those with aspirations; we never force anyone to join. Everyone should think carefully before making a decision.

After giving a brief explanation, Zhao Yi stood aside and watched the miners, who all looked very similar, with wariness.

Before meeting Qin Xiaoyao and her group, he had never considered how to develop his team, let alone things like planning, selection criteria for the resistance, rules, ideology, and beliefs.

Zhao Yi was most concerned about how to feed such a large group of people and where to scavenge for more supplies.

The rebels' goal was simple and clear—to survive.

As long as they survive, that's all that matters. The attitude towards the garrison is that killing one is enough, killing two is a bonus!

Therefore, Zhao Yi was stunned when Qin Xiaoyao said that she would select people of reliable character to recruit into the resistance army.

People's hearts are hidden behind their skin. If you don't even know yourself and don't have the discerning eye to see through them, how can you tell which people are reliable and which are not?

Previously, he led more than a hundred brothers and sisters, all of whom had gone through life and death together.

When it comes to the crucial moment, aren't there still so many who back down and choose not to follow you?

"Have you thought it all through?" Zhao Yi was unsure of himself, and after a couple of minutes, he waved to his subordinates to begin preparing the assignments.

The miners, subjected to long-term beatings, hunger, and manual labor, were all emaciated.

Basic necessities were not guaranteed, and bathing was certainly out of the question. As a result, everyone was covered in a thick layer of grime, filthy and dark, making it impossible to tell what they really looked like.

Many people can't even afford clothes and shoes, and in this season they only have ripped underwear to barely cover themselves.

Hearing that they were indeed rebels, some people's eyes lit up with excitement; others remained numb, heads down, seemingly lost in thought.

"What are the benefits of joining the resistance?" someone mustered up the courage to ask.

Zhao Yi didn't see clearly who asked the question, but replied loudly, "Our team is now starting to get into order. At first, it will be tough, but we'll just be able to make ends meet. As we develop, we'll launch an attack on the garrison base of Luoyue City!"

We, the resistance fighters, represent the interests of the people; we are here to fight for the people's right to freedom.

When the world is at peace, we can all live a peaceful and prosperous life!

One of the miners scoffed, "Tch! I thought there would be some benefits. If I don't become a mountain king, I can't drink and eat meat to my heart's content and play with women as I please. Why should I follow you guys around risking my life?"

"Exactly! Since everyone can live a good life, why should we rebel and die? We might as well just go home and wait. If the rebels win, everyone will have a good life; if they lose, we won't lose anything, right?"

"You can't say that. If everyone thinks like that, no one will join the army, and how can we fight back? Someone has to stand up!"

"You think you're so high and mighty, so righteous and great? Then go ahead and do it!"

"Speaking of which, if you join, you'll be among the lucky ones who win and survive, and your descendants will enjoy the benefits."

"You said it yourself, first the resistance has to win; then you have to be tough enough not to get killed. To enjoy great fortune, you have to take great risks. Look at how they're dressed, can they defeat a regular army? They're probably going to die here..."

…………

After a few whispers and murmurs, most people gave up.

Liu Yihong, carrying a gun, led a few people to distribute supplies. After giving those who chose to leave enough food for two days, they let them go from the mine to pursue their own futures.

Each round consisted of dozens of people, and soon the miners in the prison were all gone.

Of the more than 500 people in total, only more than 200 ultimately decided to join the resistance; the rest left one after another.

"Hey, this girl is really fierce!" A miner who had just joined the resistance stood near Sun Dieqi. He looked around and saw that everything was quite lively, so he sneaked closer to her.

He'd been craving women for ages, and today he finally saw a beautiful girl he'd never seen before. Wouldn't it be a waste not to take advantage of the situation and grope her?

"Don't push, line up one by one!" Sun Dieqi was in charge of registering the roster.

After all, if they want to develop into a regular army, Xiao Yao and her team, as managers, must know the names, ages, special skills, and other basic information of their subordinates so that they can send people out for any future operations.

She is indeed beautiful.

Sun Dieqi's appearance is already eye-catching enough to make her a top-tier star in a big city. Coupled with her extensive knowledge and star quality, Sun Dieqi's beauty is as undeniable as the moon when she stands in the mining square and is compared to the dusty girls of Luoyue City.

With a figure that garners praise from hundreds of millions of viewers, she is like a 220-volt voltage to men who have never seen a beautiful woman's slender figure before—the mere thought of touching her makes them tremble and their hearts pound.

Amidst the chaos, a pair of eyes, practically spitting fire, stared at her figure. He casually and nonchalantly circled behind Sun Dieqi, and a dark, unwashed hand slowly reached out to touch her surging breasts.

"Sister Sun!" Qin Xiaoyao, reminded by Mr. Devil, immediately felt a surge of anger and shouted in that direction.

Sun Dieqi was busy registering when she heard the call. She looked up blankly and asked, "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

The owner of that hand was abruptly interrupted and pulled back.

She walked over and glanced at the other person's delicate handwriting, but her right hand naturally went to her waist and touched the dagger. "It's okay. Let me see how much longer it will take to finish here. It's getting late, we need to hurry."

"Okay, it'll be ready soon!"

The man, who was startled while hiding in the shadows, saw that it was a young girl with blond hair and immediately felt disdain.

While others were scrambling to introduce themselves, he brazenly reached out his hand, but this time he didn't target the overly obvious breasts; instead, he aimed for the more concealed, round and full buttocks.

"Ah! Who touched me?!" Sun Dieqi immediately became alert as soon as the hand touched her elastic part.

Before she could finish speaking, Jiang Chen had already started controlling Qin Xiaoyao's actions.

She gripped a gleaming dagger in her hand and thrust it forward, feeling almost no resistance as it pierced her heart. With a kick of her right foot, she knocked the groper to the ground.

The man clutched his bleeding wound, convulsing all over, and soon fell silent.

"Open your eyes wide and look carefully!" Qin Xiaoyao skillfully wielded the dagger, her gaze sweeping over the instantly frightened crowd as she coldly declared, "We are a legitimate resistance force."

After you chose to join, Brother Zhao explained the military regulations very clearly.

Petty theft, harassment of women, and other violations of military regulations will result in the same fate as him!

The bloody examples not only shocked the rebels, but also startled the viewers in front of the screen.

"Killing people at the drop of a hat, isn't that just being a demon?"

"Although... it doesn't warrant killing him outright, does it?"

"He only touched Sun Dieqi, he didn't do anything else, so why should he take her life?"

"Just a touch? What the hell?! You offer your wife, your mother, your daughter for everyone to touch? Anyway, we're not doing anything else, it's just a touch."

"Without rules, there can be no order. Someone who joins the army and disregards discipline and law by touching female comrades must be severely punished!"

"It's a case of killing the chicken to scare the monkey. Otherwise, how could a young girl like Qin Xiaoyao keep things in check? Her goal is to lead an army into battle, not just some small-scale fighting."

"Wait, did nobody notice that she kept talking about fighting the federal army? From the show going out of control to the power outage and internet shutdown, I don't think this is a show, folks, it's war!"

"Who cares if it's a show or not, as long as there's something to watch and it's not boring. The only problem is that the Federation hasn't fixed the lines yet, and I'm so hungry!"

"Fight against the Federation army? What a joke! These peasants? It's not that I look down on them, but one female war goddess like Qin Xiaoyao is far from enough to go against the Federation."

"The most important thing is to solve our own food problem. We've already gone hungry once, and if we can't order food tomorrow, we'll have to find a way to go out and find something to eat..."

…………

While the comments section was buzzing with discussion, the mining plaza in the video remained eerily silent.

No one expected that someone would die at this time, and that Qin Xiaoyao would personally kill someone without any mercy.

"What happened?" Wang He rushed over upon hearing the commotion and immediately spotted the corpse lying on the ground.

Qin Xiaoyao casually flicked the blood off the dagger and waved her hand, saying, "It's nothing. A sleazy guy reached out and touched Sister Sun while she was registering. I was so close, but I couldn't stop him right away."

It seems we need to streamline our team further. There are probably quite a few people with such wicked intentions hiding within us. We won't have any peace and quiet until we find them all.

Those imprisoned in the mines to do hard labor were all strong men. Given the garrison's character, if they had captured women, they would have abused and amused them long ago. Even if they brought one or two women over, they would have been given to the mine garrison as playthings as a reward.

Those women either managed to escape or were tortured to death and thrown into the deep mountains; it's impossible for them to still be here now.

However, among the former resistance fighters led by Zhao Yi were a dozen or so women, young and old, all covered in dust and grime, their clothes barely covering their bodies. They were already in a miserable state; wouldn't it be even more pitiful if these savages who had infiltrated took the opportunity to humiliate them?

Jiang Chen originally wanted to find an opportunity to reduce the number of people and sweep those guys with black smoke out of the team. If someone foolishly ran into the line of fire, he would naturally take advantage of the situation.

"You, you, and you..." He directed from the side, while Qin Xiaoyao coldly pointed out the people with her dagger and made them stand aside.

After finding about twenty people, she gestured for Liu Yihong to get some food and water and throw them over, saying, "Everyone has their own path to follow. You'd better watch yourselves from now on and get out of here!"

Some people were quite indignant, sticking their necks out and shouting, "That kid was being indecent and touching us all the time. We didn't do anything wrong, so why should we be kicked out?"

"That's right, we're law-abiding citizens..."