I handed over to another world

The redevelopment momentum of the Origin Star is extremely strong. Because the Earth has rapidly completed the overall technological transformation in the past ten years or so, there is no conflict in transferring the dividends to the mining area at this time.

The mining operation in the Chiyang mining area of ​​the Origin Star began with the full-band detection of the "Earth Vein Resonance Scanner". Three survey ships hovered above the mining area, emitting quantum resonance waves to the surface, and constructed a hologram of the mineral veins within 3000 meters underground through the echoes.

This process should have been completed several years ago. Unfortunately, the Origin Star was put at the back of the list and naturally these things were not used as it did not have high priority.

"Area B-7, high concentration quantum crystal reaction detected!"

The technician's voice came over the communication channel.

Zhao Mingzhe narrowed his eyes and wrote an order on the holographic sand table: "Activate the crust stripper and remove the surface rock layer for me."

"Yes!"

Ten heavy engineering mechas landed from the transport ship, and the plasma cutting cannons on their backs fired simultaneously.

The blazing white energy beam cut through the surface as precisely as a scalpel, peeling off the hundreds of meters thick rock layer.

The huge rock slabs were slowly lifted up by the anti-gravity tractor and transported to the crushing and recycling station nearby.

As the surface peeling was completed, three hundred "Digger-VI" drilling robots formed a honeycomb array. Their heterogeneous titanium alloy drills advanced at a speed of 2000 revolutions per minute, while spraying liquid nitrogen coolant to prevent overheating.

"The drilling depth reached 800 meters and the first rare metal vein was discovered!"

Real-time images from underground showed that dark blue iridium-ruthenium alloy veins were embedded in the rock formations like blood vessels, and the drilling robot's robotic arm immediately switched modes, deploying a nano-scale separation screen at the front end to directly separate the ore from impurities.

The mined ore is transported to the quantum refining tower through magnetic levitation pipes. Dark purple light patterns flow on the surface of this pyramid-shaped building, and its core is the "atomic rearrangement reactor" newly developed by the Red Dragon Association.

……

"Starting the 37th refining test."

Zhao Mingzhe entered the permission password, and soon the base of the refining tower in the distance emitted a low humming sound. This was the sound of the ore being decomposed into elementary particles under the catalysis of antimatter, and then recombined in the strong magnetic field.

At this time, the data on the monitoring screen was jumping wildly: Input - 10 tons of ordinary iron ore; Output - 99.99 kilograms of quantum crystals with a purity of 3.2%...

"It's amazing! The conversion rate is even higher than that in the laboratory!"

The engineers all cried out in surprise, and the space around the refining tower began to distort. Tiny crystalline dust floated in the air, refracting a nebula-like halo in the sunlight.

Zhao Mingzhe now realized what kind of treasures there were on the Origin Star. They had struggled to find similar energy mines in the solar system and even in more distant galaxies, but they never imagined that the best things were on the Origin Star - the place where everything originated for them.

The drilling mecha "Titan-IX" unfolded its eight hydraulic support legs, and the main drill head on its head began to rotate at an overclocked frequency. With a deafening roar, the last rock wall was pierced - a blazing blue-purple light gushed out from the hole.

The helmet visors of the expedition team in front dimmed automatically, and the scene before them made everyone hold their breath: it was an underground cavity the size of a football field, with countless prismatic crystals growing inside like living things.

They changed in brightness and darkness with the breathing rhythm of the expedition team, and inside some of the larger crystals, one could see fluid-like golden substances slowly flowing.

"Carry out the mining test as planned!"

A voice was heard from the communicator, and a robotic arm made of special material carefully peeled off a fist-sized piece of active crystal from the rock wall.

And at the moment of breaking away from the rock wall, the crystal suddenly shrank to the size of a pearl, and then expanded back to its original shape, as if protesting against being taken away.

“Detection of vital signs: Neural network-like activity.”

The accompanying AI calmly reported, "It is recommended to put it into the quantum isolation box immediately."

The expedition member immediately threw the crystal into the quantum isolation box according to the AI's instructions. When the sample box was closed, the crystals in the entire underground space suddenly flashed three times at the same time, as if saying goodbye. The expedition team recorded this mysterious phenomenon and will conduct relevant research on it after returning.

The command center of the Red Dragon Association headquarters.

Chen Lin's holographic projection was suspended in the center of the data stream, and Zhao Mingzhe's exploration report was unfolding in front of him one by one.

When he saw the line "Active crystals have neural network-like reactions", his pupils contracted slightly.

"Immediately block the news and set all research data to top secret."

Chen Lin's voice was low and decisive, "Notify Irina, I need her to go to the mining area in person."

In the underground research institute of the Chiyang Mining District on the Origin Star, Irina's royal robe fluttered gently in the zero-gravity environment. She hovered in front of the quantum isolation cabin, staring at the constantly pulsating crystal inside.

The fluid substance inside the crystal was changing color with the rhythm of her breathing, from dark blue to dark gold.

“It’s not a mineral.”

She suddenly spoke, her fingertips lightly touching the outer wall of the isolation cabin, "This thing was mentioned in the Great Library's Geographical Atlas before... The ancestors of the Empire believed that this was a carrier of consciousness left behind by an ancient civilization."

The chief scientist of the institute called up a set of data: "What's even more shocking is this——"

The holographic screen shows that when the crystal is exposed to quantum fluctuations of a specific frequency, its atomic arrangement will autonomously reorganize to form a micro logic gate circuit.

"They are... calculating?"

"Do not."

The royal pattern on Irina's neck suddenly lit up, "It's communicating."

Irina's fingertips gently slid across the surface of the quantum isolation chamber, and the royal ring made a crisp sound when it touched the glass.

She stared at the active crystal in the cabin that was constantly changing its shape, and her eyes gradually became firm.

"Notify President Chen immediately," she turned to the director of the research institute and said, "These crystals do contain some kind of consciousness, but they have been dormant for at least 100,000 years... Judging from the energy readings, their core consciousness has long dissipated, and what is now displayed is nothing more than an ecological memory similar to that of a coral reef."

The supervisor's pupils dilated slightly: "You mean... can we continue mining?"

"of course."

Irina's lips curled up into a cold smile. "The interests of the Red Dragon Association are above all else. Tell the engineering department to speed up the process. I want to see the first batch of refined products shipped to Earth within three months."

After obtaining the relevant information, Chen Lin was not surprised. He just said that he would just execute it according to the original plan.

Three months later, at the refining center of the Chiyang mining area, the first batch of high-purity quantum crystals were loaded into a special antimatter stabilization cabin, ready to be transported to the Earth through the portal, and then transported from the Earth to the Mars base in the solar system.

The roar of the refining tower never stops day and night, and the scale of mining in the mining area has expanded three times. Irina previously determined that there would be no problems with these things, so all kinds of in-depth research were quickly stopped, and the mining of related quantum mines was artificially accelerated.

"It seems we worried too much."

Zhao Mingzhe stood on the observation platform, looking at the busy conveyor belt below, with a smile on his face. "These so-called consciousness reactions that we thought of before were just illusions caused by quantum resonance."

Ever since Irina issued the mining order, the engineers of the Red Dragon Association have completely lifted the restrictions on active crystals.

Drilling robots advance deeper into the earth's core day and night, and the efficiency of the refining tower is also increased to the limit.

Those crystals that once sparkled and pulsated are now nothing more than raw materials to be cut and melted.

Three "Star III" laser cutting machines are suspended in a triangular array above the raw material platform. Each machine is equipped with 128 independently adjustable plasma cutter heads. When the conveyor belt delivers football-sized ore into the working area, the cutter head immediately ejects a quantum confined plasma beam with a temperature of up to 15000°C.

"Pay attention to the lattice direction of crystal number seven!"

The supervisor warned loudly, and the holographic projection showed that the golden fluid inside the crystal was flowing in a spiral shape.

The operator immediately adjusts the cutting path so that the plasma beam follows the flow path for precise segmentation.

The cut crystal blocks are immediately sent into an absolute zero chamber at -273.14°C, where the superconducting magnetic field locks the quantum state of the crystal to prevent phase change during subsequent processing.

The data on the monitoring screen jumped wildly - quantum coherence: 99.9998%!

"Beautiful! The purity of this piece is a record!"

The engineer slapped the table excitedly, and some fine runes appeared on the surface of the crystal, but were quickly erased by the next process.

The stabilized crystals are transferred to the antimatter furnace. The inner wall of this 30-meter-diameter spherical device is covered with single-atomic-layer graphene, and the interior maintains an extreme vacuum of 10^-12Pa. Only in this environment can the overall operation be completed.

Once the crystals were in place, the system was injected with 1 mg of antihydrogen atoms.

"The casting sequence is activated!"

As the command was given, the antimatter came into contact with the crystal surface, emitting faint blue sparks of annihilation.

The crystals began to slowly liquefy, forming perfect spheres under the constraints of the magnetic field, and temperature sensors showed that the core temperature of the melt reached an astonishing 5 million degrees Celsius at this moment.

The liquid crystals are introduced into nanoscale molds. The inner walls of these molds made of carbonyne material are engraved with fine quantum circuits that can guide the crystals to form specific microstructures when they re-solidify.

The operator quickly adjusted the parameters on the holographic interface. With the command "Start pulse modulation!", the ultrafast laser bombarded with unimaginable precision, and the liquid crystals solidified into shape instantly.

The surface of the newly formed artificial quantum crystal has a metallic luster, and the golden fluid inside is divided into millions of independent microcell structures.

The final product is sent into a circular test cabin and undergoes a series of tests including hadron collision test, quantum tunneling scan, dark matter irradiation, etc. The hadron collision test is mainly to verify the structural stability, while the quantum tunneling scan is to detect the coherence length, and the dark matter irradiation on the other side is to evaluate the energy absorption rate.

“All indicators exceeded expectations!”

The quality inspection supervisor excitedly announced, "This batch of finished products can increase the computing power of quantum computers by 300 times!"

The work below is not over yet. The debris produced by cutting is sent to the atomic recovery furnace, where even the smallest quantum fluctuations are extracted and utilized - 1 gram of debris can provide energy for the entire refinery for a week...

Zhao Mingzhe looked at the finished products with satisfaction and reported to Chen Lin on the other end of the communicator: "President Chen, we are turning Shenhua into assembly line products."

Chen Lin is very satisfied with the efficiency of the association now. The quantum minerals on the Origin Star are of extremely high purity, and they will be perfect when they are really put to good use.

In fact, it was exactly as Chen Lin had guessed. When the first batch of quantum crystals were injected into the central reactor on Mars, the energy output of the entire base increased by 400% in an instant, and even the surrounding ecological dome became brighter.

“This is simply the most perfect energy source!”

The person in charge of the Mars base excitedly reported to Chen Lin in the holographic projection, "This thing is more stable than any quantum mine we have used before, and it has almost no loss!"

Chen Lin sat in the main control room of the Red Dragon headquarters, listening to the good news from various base star systems with a smile on his face.

In fact, it is not just the quantum mine on the Origin Star. The Chiyang Quantum Mine is only a small part of the newly developed things on the Origin Star. In the "Valley Rift" on several continents of the Origin Star, the second exploration team is facing an even more shocking discovery.

The geological scanner here shows that the underground cavity system in this area is ten times larger than that of the Chiyang mining area.

"The energy readings are abnormal!"

Chief geologist Wang Xiu stared at the holographic panel, his voice trembling slightly, "This is not an ordinary quantum crystal... This is..."

Before he finished speaking, the real-time images sent back by the drilling robot "Deep Diver-7" made the command module fall into silence.

In the picture, a giant crystal structure with a diameter of more than two kilometers is quietly suspended in the mantle cavity, and its surface is covered with golden lines similar to a neural network.

What's even more creepy is that these lines are pulsating in sync with the exploration team's vital signs.

"Oh my God..."

The young engineer opened his mouth, "It... it's breathing?"

Wang Xiu quickly called up the data analysis: "No, it's not breathing... This is some kind of quantum entanglement phenomenon - it is synchronizing the brain wave frequencies of all of us. This rhythm is very strange. I always thought this was a phenomenon that only existed in imagination. Who would have thought that I would actually see such a scene!"

He signaled the entire exploration team not to enter rashly. While he contacted the outpost base headquarters on the Origin Star, he also designated all surrounding areas as forbidden areas - the continental plates here have been rarely explored, and this place is not like the Stuttgart continent, but more like a primitive wasteland.

"What did headquarters say?"

“I haven’t received a response yet.”

While debugging the equipment, Wang Xiu said to the leader of the exploration team, "Abiding by the exploration rules is the key. Don't make me tell you multiple times."

"Discovering new things is indeed a merit, but if you fail to follow the rules during exploration and cause casualties, I'm afraid you will be severely punished when you return!"

The exploration team members looked at each other in bewilderment. They all knew that Wang Xiu was definitely not joking. The association had extremely strict requirements for such things. (End of this chapter)