Powerstone Goal = 150 Powerstones.
--
Zeke looked back at one of the players, [God-Tier Mechanic].
This core member of Crimson Machina was the most heavily augmented member of the Chapter, second only to Cogboy.
He had already completed a basic neural interface implantation, and his right arm was entirely mechanized from the shoulder joint down to his fingertips. The silver-grey metal casing gleamed coldly under the sunlight. Right now, he was contemplating augmenting his left arm as well.
Even more eye-catching was the half-human-sized toolbox backpack strapped to his back, stuffed full of all sorts of custom-made tools.
"Got a way in?" Zeke asked.
"Easy."
[God-Tier Mechanic] flexed the fingers of his mechanical right hand. A miniature scanner slid out from his palm, and he swept it over the entrance of Mine Shaft One for a few seconds. "The boulder structure is unstable, and there are fissures inside."
"We can blow a path open using directional blasting without triggering a secondary cave-in."
"What materials do you need?"
"Black powder, potassium nitrate, sulfur, charcoal. They're all sold in the shop, dirt cheap."
"And get me some metal containers for the casing."
[God-Tier Mechanic] ran the calculations. "Total cost won't exceed 500 Coins. I can rig up a directional explosive device equivalent to a 300-kilogram TNT yield."
Zeke nodded. "Approved."
"How long do you need?"
"Twenty minutes to prep, ten minutes to set the charge, three minutes to evacuate, and then—"
[God-Tier Mechanic] formed a "boom" shape with his mechanical right hand. "My... art is an explosion!"
Zeke patted his mechanical arm.
"Get to work, Deidara!"
Twenty minutes later.
The players had all pulled back to a safe distance along the edge of the pit.
[God-Tier Mechanic] stood alone, thirty meters from Mine Shaft One, holding a long, thin fuse with his mechanical right hand. To save Imperial Coins, he hadn't even bought an electronic detonator, opting for the most primitive powder fuse instead.
"Lighting it up! Tremble before the art of explosions!"
Even though he was a Mechanicus player, his chūnibyō soul remained unchanged.
He sparked a windproof lighter bought from the shop, lit the fuse, turned, and sprinted.
He instantly broke into a hundred-meter-dash pace. He cleared the thirty meters in three seconds flat.
Three seconds later.
BOOM!!!
The massive shockwave staggered [God-Tier Mechanic], who hadn't quite made it fully out of range, sending him sprawling flat on his face.
A muffled explosion tore out from the depths of the shaft, rumbling like thunder.
The ground vibrated slightly as a massive cloud of dust erupted from the entrance, but the surrounding rock walls held firm.
They waited ten seconds. No secondary cave-in.
"It worked!"
[God-Tier Mechanic] slowly got to his feet and flashed an 'OK' sign.
Zeke led the way toward the shaft.
The entrance, previously sealed tight by the boulder, now had an irregular, eight-meter-diameter tunnel blasted through it, with thin wisps of smoke still drifting from the jagged edges.
The players lit up torches—[Long-Lasting Cold-Light Torches] bought from the shop for 10 Coins each, which provided illumination for eight hours—and filed inside.
The interior of the mine was far more spacious than they had imagined. The main tunnel was over five meters high, wide enough for two transport trucks to drive side-by-side.
The walls were solid rock with obvious signs of artificial excavation. Rusted metal support beams lined the walls every twenty meters.
After walking for about five minutes, a massive natural cavern opened up before them.
And then, everyone froze.
The light from their torches danced across the cavern walls, reflecting countless specks of faint, pale-blue luster.
It wasn't rock.
It was crystal.
Naturally formed promethium crystals were embedded in the rock layer like sapphires—densely packed and stretching as far as the eye could see.
Some were as large as a fist, others the size of a thumb. Under the torchlight, the entire cavern wall looked like a night sky studded with countless stars.
"Holy... shit..."
Tax Bro's jaw dropped, his shotgun nearly slipping from his grasp.
Zeke walked forward and reached out to touch the nearest cluster of crystals.
They felt warm to the touch, and he could sense a faint flow of energy inside.
He snapped off a small piece. Crack. It broke off crisply.
[Detected: Natural Promethium Crystal (Medium Purity)]
[Estimated Salvage Value: 1.4 Imperial Coins]
The System prompt automatically popped up.
Zeke stared at the ore in his hand.
A piece this small was worth 1.4 Coins? And the total reserves in this cavern...
He raised his torch, illuminating the depths of the cavern.
As far as the light reached, the walls were covered in these pale blue crystals. In some spots, the crystal veins were nearly half a meter thick.
"We struck gold."
Zeke muttered, then roared into the regional channel:
"Everyone! Stop farming mobs outside!"
"Get in here and start mining! It's time to shovel money into sacks!"
The channel instantly exploded.
"What's going on?"
"A mine? An actual mine?"
"The Chapter Master says we're shoveling money! Charge!"
"Move, move, move! I'm a level 10 professional miner!"
In less than ten minutes, every player outside the pit who had intended to form mob-farming groups flooded into Mine Shaft One.
When they saw the sea of crystal veins, everyone went wild.
"Holy fuck! Did we just walk into a treasure vault?"
"One piece is worth a few Coins? Every swing of my pickaxe is going to rake in dozens!"
"Who needs to farm mobs! Mining is the real endgame!"
"Step aside! I grew up in a mining family in real life! Let me show you how a pro does it!"
Players whipped out mining pickaxes and chisels. Some even started cutting the rock using their lasguns on low-power mode—it wasted energy, but the efficiency was unmatched!
The clinking and clanging of pickaxes instantly echoed throughout the cavern.
Standing at the entrance, Zeke watched the fervent, bustling scene and finally cracked a smile.
An hour later.
At a makeshift command post erected outside the shaft, Zeke examined the yield from the first haul.
A mountain of promethium crystals sparkled enchantingly with a pale blue glow under the sunlight.
Two players from Crimson Machina were rapidly sorting and appraising the haul using a portable scale and a scanner.
"Preliminary estimates: the yield over three hours is approximately 3.4 tons."
Cogboy walked over holding a data slate, his eyes gleaming behind his glasses. "Average purity is medium. Total salvage value... 345,000 Imperial Coins."
A collective gasp swept through the surrounding players.
340,000 in three hours?
Then thirty hours would be 3.4 million?
If they ran three shifts a day...
"Don't get too optimistic," Zeke said calmly. "Mining efficiency will drop as we go deeper. Plus, we have to factor in tool wear-and-tear and personnel fatigue."
He paused, then continued, "But even so, this mine is enough to sustain our development for a very long time."
He looked at the Chapter Masters present. "My suggestion is to split into three teams."
"Team One: the primary mining crew." Zeke pointed at Tax Bro. "Crimson Strike will deploy eight hundred men. Three shifts, twenty-four-hour non-stop mining."
"Prioritize mining safety. If necessary, exchange for [Small Mining Mech-Arms] from the shop to boost efficiency."
Tax Bro thumped his chest. "Leave it to me! I guarantee we'll dig fast and we'll dig right!"
"Team Two: the hunting and security squad." Zeke looked at White Scars. "Crimson Wind will deploy six hundred men to patrol the perimeter of the pit. Clear out any mutant beasts and salvage their corpses—we double-dip. At the same time, secure the transport routes."
"The extracted crystals must be transported back to base promptly. We can't let them pile up here."
White Scars nodded. "Understood."
"I suggest forming a few more mobile squads to explore the other four mine shafts to see if there are more veins."
With the division of labor settled, the players immediately sprang into action.
The mining crew swung their pickaxes with rhythmic clangs, while the hunting squad fanned out, establishing a perimeter around the mining pit.
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