Batman did not know Shiller's true profession, but he was certain it would not bring anything good.
Batman gradually noticed anomalies in Shiller. Shiller was no longer as feeble as before. On the contrary, he began to seem overexcited. His soul seemed more and more active in his spiritual form.
This was not a good sign. Batman knew that whether Shiller was feeble or overexcited, it did not mean he was healthy and normal. When he was mentally weak, he would become more insane. When he was overexcited, he might do even crazier things.
Aside from completing the task of linking shadow monsters, Batman knew he must keep an eye on Shiller, to prevent him from undergoing any dreadful transformation and causing chaos after returning to the human world from Hell.
After the meeting, Batman returned to his quarters. Hexagon was still awake, so they started talking again.
Hexagon was verbose and disjoint, his reasoning chaotic. To Batman, he sounded more like a child, his intellectual development incomplete, hence he was easily led on.
Batman learned from their conversation that Hexagon was indeed a newborn. His awakening consciousness had lasted for less than a hundred years. Compared to the lifespan of the races in Hell, he was still an infant.
Perhaps his previous acts of revenge had stimulated him, keeping his spirit in a state of high excitement. He revealed to Batman many secrets of the mine.
No one knew the mines better than the shadow vines that have lived here for thousands of years. Hexagon told Batman that the entire continental shelf of the Desolate Continent was built on magma. Below the mines was a sea of magma, a very dangerous place.
The sea of magma had tides, and the ores it exposed were called magma stones. Those who erred in the mine would be sent to carry magma stones.
Newly erupted magma stones had extremely high temperatures, even hotter than magma. The vast majority of the races in Hell, including the magma demons born from the magma, could not tolerate such temperatures.
Hexagon also described, in a tone of extreme fear, the execution scenes he had witnessed. Supervisors would drive the enslaved mineworkers who had erred up to a cliff at the very bottom of the Central Mine with whips, then push them into the magma sea to be burned to ashes.
Batman occasionally posed his own questions. Hexagon did not know the answers to some of them, but Batman could deduce possible conclusions from his reactions.
In this way, Batman emptied Hexagon of all the knowledge he possessed throughout the night. That was not much because this newly born little creature had never left the Seven Mountains Mine.
As the next day began, Batman distinctly felt a change in the atmosphere of the mine. Everyone was very tense.
Before Batman had even fully woken up, a supervisor brutally pushed open the cell door, tugged all the enslaved mineworkers out, and brought them to the square outside.
Once all the slaves were huddled together in lines, the supervisor cleared his throat and said, "I have to tell you all that from today onward, we have a big task on our hands!"
"This morning, His Majesty Beel declared war on Astro!"
"The army has already arrived at the border, and the continuous stream of armor and weapons from the back will become the soldiers' magic weapons for victory!"
"The Rotting Heart General, who rules the Seven Mountains Mine, has assured His Majesty that although the Seven Mountains Mine is the second largest mine under His Majesty's command, it will strive to be the first in production!"
"From today onwards, all rest times are canceled, even meal times. You must work day and night in the mines until you reach the target. Nobody is allowed to leave the mine before the target output is met!"
"I know that some weaker demons can't survive without food, but you must understand, if you can't complete the task, your situation will be worse than starvation!"
"To ensure your work efficiency, the Rotting Heart General has borrowed a lot of Eye Demons from his kind. They will be monitoring you all around the mine…"
The demon overseer snorted, and then, Batman saw a giant eyeball rise to mid-air from the center of the mine.
Many smaller eyeballs flew out from behind it, heading towards all corners of the mine. They were interconnected with purple nerves. It looked like everything those smaller eyeballs saw would be transmitted back to the giant one.
"The Rotting Heart General is watching you all from his palace above the big Demonic Eye… Whoever dares to be lazy…"
Immediately, all enslaved mineworkers shivered. They feared more the death the supervisor promised than they anticipated the workload ahead of them. However, Batman had already anticipated it.
Sure enough, when they entered the mine, eyeball demons were everywhere, staring intently at everyone who entered the mine.
Many demons, like usual, picked up their picks and started working. But not long after, a group of supervisors broke in.
"You! And you!"The overseer leader pointed at two miniature demons with a whip and said fiercely, "The Eye Demons saw you two slacking off! You walked around twice with empty baskets, come with us!"
These two supervisors were humanoid demons, one with blue skin, the other with red. The red-skinned demon was very large, When he picked up the miniature demons, they couldn't even struggle.
"Where are they taking him? What's going on?"
"Why can't we carry an empty basket? What are we supposed to do? What's happening?"
Chattering discussions ensued, but when the vision of the Eye Demons swept back, everyone shut up and continued to work in silence.
The overseer had visited several times, each time taking away a slave or two. It wasn't until their resting period was about to begin, when everyone was led to the bottommost layer of the mine and saw the group of demons caught in a net, that they truly understood what the Rotting Heart General intended to do.
The very bottom of the mine was a mammoth cavity, only a small patch of ground at the entrance usable as a foothold. Opposite was a cliff, behind which lay a tunnel, clearly leading somewhere else.
At this moment, a tall pole stood at the cliff edge, from which a horizontal bar extended over the lava sea ahead. At the end of this bar hung a large net, containing the miners who had been taken away during the day.
From Batman's perspective, there were at least a few dozen assorted demons in the net, struggling and calling out, clearly aware of their impending fate.
Almost all the slaves were brought here, herded together by the overseers to witness this execution ceremony.
After a while, the Rotting Heart General made his appearance. He walked slowly to the edge of the cliff, looking particularly imposing against the backdrop of the glow from the lava sea.
He was a humanoid demon with green-black skin. According to Hexagon's description, he was a type of ancient demon, possessing a tall stature, robust limbs, and a head resembling that of a fly.
The reason he was called the Rotting Heart General was because he had a radiating green pattern on his chest that seemed to bloom from inside out, appearing as if it had mutated from some sort of radiation.
He held a weapon resembling a harpoon. When he spoke, his voice was rough and rugged, causing a stinging pain in the listener's eardrums.
"Look at these scum! Lazy workers! Sinners who dare to defy my orders, they will——"
The Rotting Heart General deliberately prolonged the pronunciation, then raised his voice, "They will be sunk into the magma and scalded alive!"
"Watch closely, if you fail my task, this will be your fate!"
Afterward, he began to control the large net, lowering it gradually towards the lava sea. The skin of the demon at the bottom of the net was already scorched and it screamed in agony. The demons above desperately grasped at the holes in the net, trying to climb up, their heart-wrenching screams echoing through the air.
Within the crowd, Batman spotted Shiller. At this moment, the Professor showed a look of disgust, seemingly averse to the demons' piercing screams. However, Batman believed that Shiller might have found the Rotting Heart General's form of execution tasteless.
Having dealt with this group of lunatics for a while, Batman realized that he could also judge whether something was in line with their values from their perspective.
These madmen despised mass killing, viewing it as a waste of precious life rather than deriving pleasure from it. Instead, they particularly disliked the act of killing, condemning it as "repetitive and monotonous assembly line work" and "more suitable for butchers slaughtering chickens and cattle". They believed such behavior lacked aesthetics and artistry.
However, the Rotting Heart General failed to notice this. He had achieved his aim of making an example out of the demons; now, the majority of the slave miners were either kneeling or lying prone. They cried out bitterly, begging the overseer and general for mercy.
The fear of death in sentient beings is inevitable. In the face of death, whether they belong to the human race, demons, or angels, all lives are equal, as is their fear.
Yet, the Rotting Heart General seemed to be intentionally tormenting the group of to-be-executed demons. He shot arrows at the rope holding the net, purposefully missing so that the arrows grazed the edge of the rope, causing the whole net to shake.
The crying and screaming mixed into a dreadful din. It was within this setting that Batman was reminded of Hell.
Amidst the chaotic noise, the Rotting Heart General's laughter echoed through the hellish sky. There was no sun, only endless, slowly-flowing magma.
Accompanied by a "thump", the net finally fell into the magma. The dying screams of the demons were etched into the hearts of every other demon present, leaving everyone somewhat dizzy when they eventually returned to their dark mining cave.
Batman knew that this grand execution spectacle provided the best opportunity for him. The slaves wallowing in fear desperately needed a leader to reassure and guide them.
Just as Batman identified his targets, another group of overseers walked in. This time, they dragged in two empty mining trolleys, and the lead overseer commanded,
"By tomorrow morning, I expect these two trolleys to be filled. Otherwise, you'll all be thrown into the magma!"
Upon hearing this, all the miners froze. Looking at the two massive transport trolleys, many began to weep.
"How is this possible?! It's impossible! This is seven or eight days' worth of work. How can it be done overnight??!!"
"There aren't even that many ores here. We don't have time to mine any new ore veins. Without the Tunneling Demon and the Explosive Tail Demon, we can't excavate the rocks. Even if we do manage to do so, they will collapse!"
"Who can save me! I don't want to be thrown into the magma and scalded to death!"
At that moment, Batman saw a Miniature Demon, crying incoherently, bump into his leg. He bent down, picked up the small demon, and asked,
"Is it really impossible to mine this much ore in one night?"
"Of course it is! Of course! It is impossible!!!"
Batman surveyed the scene in the mine, silently estimating the quantity of surface ore. He then shook his head and said softly,
"Maybe not."