When Batman went to get food, he kept his gaze on Alfred, hoping his butler would look at him. However, the same Alfred who had been so attentive in the manor now acted as if he did not know him and chatted with the demons while eating.
Some of the burly old miners were also sitting with the supervisors, chatting warmly. Soon, Shiller and the supervisor he had met earlier joined them. The table was filled with seven or eight demons and two humans, creating a lively atmosphere.
The food in the bowl wasn't anything special. There was boiled vine and a couple of pieces of strange grilled beast meat. Although the taste was nothing spectacular, it was still edible. As Batman ate, he kept an eye on the ongoing events at the table.
With a clatter, utensils were placed on the table. Batman turned to see who had caused the noise. It was Merkel, who was also staring straight at him. Before Batman could say anything, Merkel sighed and said,
"I've been mining all morning, and I couldn't see how Mr. Pennyworth got in with them. Mr. Wayne, did you see?"
"Call me Batman." Batman turned and glanced around at the surroundings. He slightly lowered his voice and then asked, "How did you and Alfred get here? Where is Zatanna?"
"Miss Zatanna opened the portal. Then, well, she fainted due to fatigue. Mr. Alfred took her upstairs in the manor to rest. We entered the portal and ended up here."
"You weren't brought back by that big sandworm?" Abked Batman.
Merkel shook his head and said, "The place where we landed was not far from here, in an underground cave. Seeing signs of habitation here, Alfred led me over."
"Did you come here looking for me and Shiller?"
"Initially, yes. But then, it seemed as though Alfred had other things he wanted to do, so we decided to stay."
As Merkel was saying this, he noticed a dark tentacle stretching over from his side. Before he could stand up, Batman turned and said, "Hexagon, I was just looking for you."
Hexagon slowly moved over. In the clearer light, he looked like a ball of black vine twisted together, not so much like a demonic monster, but more like a sentient plant. Seeing Batman's gaze, Hexagon lowered his eyes to look at himself and then said,
"What's so surprising? Shadow Monsters are just cave plants, Shadow Vines, that have awakened their consciousness. Oh, right, you've just come to Hell. You probably wouldn't know..."
Hexagon grabbed a chair with his tentacle and sat down. He then threw a piece of meat into his mouth with his tentacle. Batman didn't quite see where his mouth was, but the meat disappeared into the center of the cluster of tentacles.
"Is he your friend?" Hexagon swiveled his eyeballs to look at Merkel. Merkel looked back at this creature with caution. Batman nodded lightly and glanced at Hexagon's tentacle, "Has your wound healed a bit?"
"Your healing magic is indeed effective. The wound doesn't hurt anymore, but..." Hexagon waved a tentacle and then sighed, "Forget it."
Batman wanted to ask more, but then he saw Alfred and Shiller leaving their table. Most likely, they were going to a secret meeting.
Both Batman and Merkel stood up, aiming to go over, but the supervisors had finished their meal and again were paying attention to them, Batman and Merkel knew that they could not act rashly. So they sat back down and started eating again.
After a while, lunchtime ended, and on the way back to the mine, Shiller slowed down his pace and came over to Batman. He left him with a single message: "Midnight tonight. Meet at the abandoned mine halfway up the mountain."
After another afternoon of work, Batman began to slack off a bit too. Instead of stealing other demons' minerals, he concealed the heavy broken rocks he had chipped off from the ore at the very bottom of the basket.
The one responsible for transporting the ore cart was Shiller. He was not really paying attention to the cart. The basket Batman carried was full of minerals and appeared to be the result of hard work, but when he poured the contents into the cart, the bottom layer was all broken rocks.
Shiller glanced at the rubble inside the cart and raised an eyebrow at Batman. Batman heard him whisper, "Too bad, you've already graduated. Otherwise, I would indeed like to give you two extra points."
Batman shook his head and said as he walked back, "If I were still a student, you would definitely deduct two points."
At midnight, Batman quietly removed the straw mat and began to examine the crevice in the corner of the wall. He suspected it might be a trap set by the demons, so he proceeded cautiously.
First, he brushed away the broken stones with his hand and felt the airflow coming from within, then took a torch to look down the crack. There indeed seemed to be a pathway there.
According to the direction and strength of the airflow, there must be an exit on the other side, and the pathway wasn't too rugged. There was no concealment at the exit as well.
This meant that the exit itself was probably in a fairly concealed place. Thus, there would be no need for additional concealments to hide the entrance which is why there was such a strong opposing airflow.