The mountain wind cuts like a blade, slicing through the unending mine ridges along the northern edge of Snow Peak County. The thick snow has yet to melt, but the mountains have already exposed layers of mottled rocky bones, resembling a slumbering steel giant.

Louis stands atop a mountain hollow, draped in a heavy cloak, overlooking the bustling scene below.

The sound of axes and chisels echoes between the mountain walls, carrying rhythm and power.

Artisans wield pickaxes before the mine tunnels, with rows of half-underground wooden cabins neatly embedded into the ground, smoke rising from ventilation shafts.

A few snow-horned cattle slowly amble out from the barn, pulling sleds loaded with stone materials towards the dispatch area.

A small aqueduct channels water through the cracks in the rocks, crystal clear, bypassing a purification device, and into the drinking water tanks.

The entire mining camp has already taken on the shape of a "territory in embryonic form."

This is his newly named Star Forging Territory.

Unlike the Mai Lang Territory, which Louis started from scratch, this critical land, with a mining line stretching thirty miles, located at the northern edge of Snow Peak County, has long been scattered with abandoned mine veins.

Now, under his leadership, it is being reawakened.

Flint marrow oil, gas vein stone, demon marrow ore, burnt iron…every vein seems like a wealth network handpicked by fate, crisscrossing under his feet, waiting to be awakened.

Louis can instantly see that these ores will form the backbone and lifeblood of the future Red Tide military industry.

Louis stands on the snowfield, gently exhaling, draped in a gray-white windbreaker.

This is not the end, but the beginning of fire.

In his mind, he seems to see a future city forged by fire; this is an important cornerstone for his conquest of the Northern Territory.

"My Lord." A middle-aged knight, clad in thick robes and armor, rides up swiftly, bowing slightly, "Supervisor of the Star Forging Territory, Kael reporting to you."

"You've worked hard." Louis pats his armored arm, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings, "This place has developed even faster than I expected."

Kael, hearing this, reveals a proud smile, his somewhat gruff voice tinged with a rasp: "Several foundational constructions have been completed. The dormitory area is built, capable of housing nearly ten thousand residents.

The preliminary support for three main mine tunnels is complete, the truss structures are fully reinforced, and the tracks have already been reserved. Furthermore, there is a dispatch center for daily affairs arrangement and inventory registration."

He pauses, then points to four watchtowers further up the mountain paths: "Of course, the defensive outposts are also completed, even though they are temporary wooden structures, but they're sufficient."

Louis scans the camp, his gaze sweeping from the neatly arranged dormitory area, temporary command post, to the mine tunnel entrances reinforced at the mountain foot.

He slowly lifts the corners of his mouth, with a subtle smile: "Kael, you've done well, I chose the right person."

His voice is not loud, yet carries weight.

Kael instantly straightens his back, unable to conceal the pride and gratitude in his eyes.

Then he solemnly kneels on one knee: "We can begin extracting the first batch of ore layers anytime, my Lord need only give the order."

Louis gently shakes his head, withdrawing his gaze from Snow Ridge.

He looks toward the undulating mine slopes below, speaking steadily: "No rush, let's take it step by step. Not just any place here can be mined freely."

Kael is momentarily taken aback, then suppresses any eagerness, waiting quietly for the Lord's explanation.

"This place…" Louis slowly walks toward an exposed rock layer, placing his hand on the cold stone, "may seem busy from the surface, the mine tunnels are formed, artisans orderly, manpower ample, but in reality, every stone beneath is buried upon bones."

His tone is not high, yet carries a heavy and steady weight, like a knife pressed beneath snow.

"Long before we arrived, too many nobles attempted to develop the mine veins here. They brought miners, technicians, mages, knights, and even an entire train of gold coins and ambition, but in the end?" He lightly flicks the ice shards from his fingertips, "The people were gone, and the mine wasn't opened."

Kael's brow subtly moves, revealing a sliver of concern.

"The main issue is the terrain's complexity, the mine veins are as fragmented as fish bones, and the rock layer has serious fractures. One mishap, and it could collapse entirely."

Louis gazes at the chasms in the mountain slopes, those abandoned mine tunnels like deep and dark rifts: "Beside, among all the mountain tunnels, which are true paths, and which are dead ends? No one knows."

Kael's expression darkens: "I know it's difficult here…but hearing you say this, it sounded more like a cursed land."

"It is a curse." Louis looks at him, yet his tone is exceptionally gentle, "But a curse itself is also an opportunity, an opportunity to dominate. The question is whether you can bear the cost."

Kael hears this and furrows his brows, considering that the task would be tough, however, he hadn't anticipated it being so tough as expressed by Louis.

Louis turns around, smiling: "But just because they couldn't do it doesn't mean we can't. Don't worry, how could I not have been prepared before coming?

I've been preparing for a long time, and I'll forge this Star Forging Territory into the sharpest blade of Red Tide!"

Kael suddenly lifts his head upon hearing this, a flicker of fiery light in his eyes.

"Pass the orders." Louis surveys the burgeoning camp, "Let the accompanying knight order and artisan teams rest for a day, replenish, repair, and inspect all mine shaft supports."

His tone was decisive: "Tomorrow, the extraction officially begins."

...

The next day arrived swiftly.

Before dawn fully broke, the mountain ridge had taken on a pale blue snowy light, the wind still carried the night's chill, yet voices began to rise before the mine tunnels.

Louis stands at a high point below the command platform, gazing down at the Seventh Mine Ring.

He didn't hurry to mobilize all the laborers but instead set the mining point on the western side of the mine ring, a section of rock belly that had not yet collapsed and had relatively flat terrain.

This place was originally a branch of the old mine shaft and was judged by the mining master Valentine to be a "low-risk area" due to its relatively stable rock layers and minimal temperature variation.

"Here," he nodded to Kael beside him, "let's dig a new shaft from scratch."

Kael took his orders and then sounded the pilot horn.

Those who entered the mountain were all old miners and skilled technicians brought from the Red Tide Territory, experienced, speaking little, and moving steadily.

Louis's goals were very clear and quite straightforward:

Verify the distribution depth of the ore layers, confirm whether the Demon Marrow Ore and Qi Vein Stone are buried 20 feet below as predicted by the maps;

Also, test the stability of the rock layers, analyze the reverberation after blasting, and avoid large-scale collapses;

And monitor the geothermal reactions, observe the flow direction of the hot rock belts and their interaction with the permafrost boundary to prevent high-temperature steam from destroying the main shaft in the future.

However, before the formal mining started, the entrance to the mine shaft did not immediately reverberate with the sound of hammers and pickaxes striking.

Instead, a group of old craftsmen busied themselves around a bunch of strange devices.

Heavy boxes were opened, parts were taken out, wiped, and assembled, some people squatted on the ground to tighten bolts, others carefully hammered copper pins along the rock wall.

The whole mine shaft front seemed not prepared for mining but like an impromptu installation of techniques.

Kael glanced and said, "Is this… a new blasting device?"

"No, it's more important." Louis stood aside, looking at the crowd with a calm expression, "I ordered them to install the 'Earth Vein Sound Wave Device'."

"Sound Wave Device?" Kael frowned slightly.

"To put it simply," Louis turned his head and whispered, "it's a device that charts the mine using sound echoes by striking the ground."

This equipment was the result of an idea proposed by Louis a few months ago, slowly researched, improved, and tested by the experienced mining master Valentine and a group of craftsmen from the Red Tide Territory.

Its structure is crude, even a bit savage — but it's indeed effective.

The whole set of devices is divided into three parts:

The most conspicuous is a machine called the "shock head," which looks like a giant steam hammer.

It uses pulleys and steam to drive a heavy hammer, repeatedly pounding on the rock wall or ground, each blow emitting a low sound, like thunder, tingling the feet.

These shockwaves penetrate the ground and bounce back upon encountering cavities, ore veins, or other structures.

The second part is the "echo reception nails," which the knights drive a dozen metal pins into the rock wall, each connected to a thin copper wire, all leading back to the main equipment.

These pins act like ears, "hearing" the movement when the sound waves return, transmitting the sound back to the main device.

And these echoes finally display on something called the "sound membrane analysis disk."

It's a tightly stretched animal skin drum, with copper rims around its edges.

When the echo returns, the drum surface slightly trembles, indicating hollow spaces, ore layers, or other anomalies beneath where it jumps higher.

A few old craftsmen closely observed the drum membrane, some even taking notes beside it.

Master Valentine patted the drum surface, smiling as he explained:

"Simply put, it's listening for sound by pounding the ground. Where the sound seems off, there's likely something good hidden."

He pointed to a slightly raised area: "This sort of thumping sound indicates solid rock. The hollow sound here is likely an abandoned mine shaft.

And here, repeated echoes… can't say for sure, maybe an interlayer, maybe a dense ore."

He shook his head and chuckled, sighing, "I've been in mining for thirty years and never thought we could explore mines by listening. This is all thanks to Lord Louis's idea."

He paused, his gaze on the young lord in the distance speaking softly with Kael, his eyes full of admiration, his voice involuntarily lowering:

"Honestly, in our line of work, we rely on old experience, and Lord Louis isn't one of those with calloused hands, but he sees clearer, thinks further than us, that's why he came up with this great invention…"

Meanwhile, Kael stood by, watching the tightly stretched animal skin drum surface tremble slightly with the shockwaves, feeling a kind of illusion.

This old mining mountain that had been silent for centuries seemed truly "alive."

They were conversing with this mountain in another language.

Not with flame, steel chisels, or blood and sweat, but with sound waves and echoes.

This instrument, with its crude appearance, had little trace of magic, yet it made the entire pilot exploration shift from "blind digging" to "information-based mining warfare."

It was like lighting a torch, so the path ahead was no longer entirely unknown and life-threatening.

And this was something only Louis, from Earth, could conceive, not magic, but a crystallization of technology.

He looked at that circle of craftsmen busy in front of the device, then at Louis who was poring over the maps not far away, feeling a sense of solidity swell within him.

Soon, they would truly swing the hammers and begin mining.

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