Chapter 447: Chapter 447: Ore Vein

Long Ming, walking beside Luoxue, asked curiously.

"Why did you choose the right?"

"Because I found small amounts of gray-brown stone on the right-hand wall."

"What’s gray-brown stone?"

"It’s a type of ore without much value. However, it often appears near higher-quality mineral veins, so I’ve been trying to search through any passage that has it. Of course, that’s just one reason. Sometimes, multiple branching tunnels have gray-brown ore. In those cases, I’ll take things like the color and hardness of the rock walls into consideration."

Luoxue explained simply to Long Ming.

"I didn’t realize you knew so much about this."

Long Ming was a little surprised.

He remembered Luoxue’s major wasn’t anything like surveying or geology.

"Long Ming, there are very few ways to make a lot of money quickly in this universe, especially on your own. There are probably three realistic paths. The first is to use a ’civilization invitation’ to explore undeveloped civilized worlds, but those invitations are almost all monopolized. You can hardly find any good ones on the market."

"True."

"The second is mining. Mining is extremely dangerous, but the returns are also astonishing. If you’re lucky enough to find a rich deposit, getting rich overnight isn’t just a dream. After all, we’re currently in the universe of a Level 5 civilization. There are plenty of resources in the cosmos for us to exploit, which is why I’ve worked so hard to study this field."

"I see. And the third?"

"The third is exploring ruins. Our universe is full of ruins left behind by fallen civilizations, and they hold countless riches."

"Right."

Long Ming nodded.

「Time trickled by.」

The two piloted their Mechanical Gods deeper and deeper into the subterranean Insect Nest.

Now, chunks of dark red stone began to jut out from the tunnel walls on both sides.

As Luoxue stared at the stones jutting from the rock walls, her pace quickened.

"What is it?"

Long Ming asked, confused.

"I think I’ve just hit the jackpot."

A trace of excitement colored Luoxue’s otherwise cool voice.

"The jackpot?"

"Do you see the dark red stones jutting out from the walls?"

"Yeah. Aren’t all the rocks around here that color?"

"They’re different. Haven’t you noticed that the color of the stones jutting out here is deeper?"

"I guess you’re right."

"This is Level 3 ore: Bloodhorn Stone. It’s one of the better ones in its class."

"Awesome!"

Long Ming’s eyes lit up.

Just then, they emerged from the tunnel into a massive cavern.

The cavern’s walls and floor were covered in protruding chunks of dark red ore.

"We found it!"

Luoxue stopped in her tracks, her voice filled with excitement.

"This is a huge deposit!"

A look of astonishment spread across Long Ming’s face.

"Let’s go. We’ll head back and get Qian Wei and the others!"

Luoxue said to Long Ming without a moment’s hesitation.

"Right!"

Long Ming immediately followed Luoxue out.

...

「Much later.」

Long Ming and Luoxue flew out of the cave, returned to the ship, and summoned Qian Wei and the rest of the team.

They gathered in the control room.

"What’s going on? Why call us all back in such a hurry?"

Qian Wei looked at Luoxue and Long Ming, confused.

’Vice-Legion Commander Bassaf had made it sound nice, calling this mining operation a bonus for them.’

’But if you slacked off and didn’t hand over ore of sufficient value, there were still penalties.’

"Long Ming and I went to explore that Wormhole."

Luoxue said to Qian Wei and the others.

"Luoxue, that was a little too risky."

Qian Wei cautioned, his brow furrowed.

"I know, but we didn’t have a choice. The good news is, we found something."

"Found what?"

"We found a rich vein of Level 3 Bloodhorn Stone inside!"

Luoxue announced to Qian Wei and the team.

"Level 3 ore? Does that mean we’re going to strike it rich?"

Qian Wei, Jing Chuan, and the others all had looks of excitement on their faces.

"Yes. Our next step is to mine that deposit. It’s risky, but it’s worth a shot."

Luoxue had decided to take the risk.

"Fortune favors the bold, but there’s one thing we need to be careful about."

Qian Wei said, taking a deep breath.

"Go on."

"We have a lot of people with us this time, and some of them aren’t part of our core group. It’s best if we keep the mining of that new deposit from them."

"Exactly. Jiang Heng, you’ll stay behind with them and continue mining the Level 2 deposit."

Luoxue said, looking at Jiang Heng.

"No problem. I’ll take care of it."

Jiang Heng replied to Luoxue with a smile.

"Alright. Let’s get moving!"

Luoxue gave the order, her expression serious.

...

「Several hours later.」

Long Ming and Luoxue led Qian Wei, Jing Chuan, and the others to the Bloodhorn Stone deposit inside the subterranean Insect Nest.

Seeing the Bloodhorn Stone jutting out from the walls and ground all around them, Jing Chuan and the others shouted with excitement.

"We’re rich!"

"Alright, let’s get to mining! And be careful!"

Luoxue said to Jing Chuan and the others.

"No problem."

Jing Chuan and the others immediately began to dig, piloting their extractors.

Long Ming and Luoxue stood at the edge in their Mechanical Gods, watching the others work.

He watched as Jing Chuan and the team piloted their extractors, digging out chunks of dark red ore. They then crushed the rock to extract the horn-shaped minerals from within.

"So that’s how Bloodhorn Stone is mined. I thought the entire rock they dug out was the valuable ore."

Long Ming remarked to Luoxue with interest.

"The higher the grade of an ore, the more complex the extraction process. Bloodhorn Stone is actually one of the easier ones."

Luoxue explained patiently to Long Ming.

"I see."

...

「Two days later.」

Mira and the others were piling the extracted Bloodhorn Stones in a nearby corner.

"How much is all this ore worth?"

Long Ming asked Luoxue curiously.

"Over thirty million Star Coins, I’d say."

"In that case, our share should be over three million."

"Yes, that’s a very high return. But at our current pace, we’ve already mined almost half of this deposit."

Luoxue said after a moment of thought.

"About right."

Long Ming said, turning to look at the progress of the excavation around them.

At that moment, Jing Chuan was piloting an extractor, working hard at mining a section of the wall.

BANG!

Suddenly, a huge hole was torn in the rock wall.

Jing Chuan, also surprised, piloted the extractor into the newly formed opening. When he saw what was inside, a look of utter astonishment appeared on his face.

He quickly piloted the extractor back out and shouted to Long Ming and the others.

"Luoxue! You guys, get over here, quick!"

Hearing Jing Chuan’s shout, Long Ming and Luoxue hurried over.

"What’s wrong?"

"Look what I found!"

Jing Chuan led Long Ming and the others through the opening into a large insect burrow.

The walls of the entire burrow were embedded with blood-red, crystal-like ores.

"What is...?"

Long Ming asked, his voice trailing off in confusion.

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