Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 697: Excavation! [6.8k words]

Pyroxene veins.

According to the knowledge they had retrieved from the database inside the tower, the pyroxene veins in this world were almost all transformed from normal minerals. In human terms, a large number of normal minerals underwent directionally mutations under the influence of the highly penetrating pyroxene energy, transforming from different types of minerals into pyroxene veins doped with a large amount of pyroxene crystals.

The internal structure of these pyroxene veins can be divided into three layers as a whole. The outermost layer is a mixture of coarse pyroxene ore with more impurities and incomplete mutations. Although this part of the vein area cannot be used to obtain too many pure pyroxene crystals, the mixed minerals in it are an important source of extraordinary materials for the entire fortress.

The middle layer is a large amount of pyroxene ore of average purity + a small amount of mutant mineral materials. This area can be called the core of the entire vein. Not only can it obtain a large amount of pyroxene ore that can be processed into pure pyroxene crystals, but the small amount of mutant minerals it produces is also the only source of pyroxene conductor materials today. Strictly speaking, the value of this part of conductor material is actually much greater than that of pyroxene ore. After all, if the fortress did not have these conductor materials, today's various pyroxene technologies would simply not be able to develop.

As for the innermost layer of the ore vein, it is a combination of ultra-pure pyroxene crystals of such high purity that they almost do not need to be processed before use, and ultra-rare minerals that are produced with extremely small probability. Needless to say, the former is a precious material that is guaranteed to start at the legendary level, and it has extremely good compatibility with all kinds of minerals produced from pyroxene veins. Only a very small amount is needed to turn a pyroxene extraordinary metal with a strength of only level two into a pyroxene alloy comparable to a level three extraordinary metal. It can be said that the reason why the three major forces were able to build such a huge fortress, in addition to using the remains of behemoths, the biggest contributor is these ultra-rare minerals that can serve as raw materials for high-strength pyroxene alloys.

Not only that, because pyroxene veins are all normal veins that have undergone benign mutations under the influence of pyroxene energy, the quality of the minerals produced and the purity of the pyroxene crystals are also very obviously related to the quality of the original veins. Simply put, the higher the quality of the original veins, the higher the value of the mutated pyroxene veins.

As luck would have it, according to the theory in Tianqi's mining manual, as long as the ocean accounts for more than 70% of the world, if you want to make a fortune by mining in it, you only need to follow one wise saying -

——Dig the ground when the poor are poor, dig sand when the rich are rich, and dig in the sky and in the sea if you want!

"Ling Yuzi, how are Bai Mo and Randy doing?"

"Just like you guessed, Lailai, the White Demon is assisting the Evil Moon in killing the behemoths in the north of the Old Continent. Now the hive is almost upgraded to the fourth level, and six third-level overlord-level Moon Demon behemoths have been produced. In addition, the number of other elite Zergs is about to break through one million."

"As for Randy, he is currently leading Yun Duo to find ancient battlefields with deep resentment. He has gathered an army of more than 500,000 and has also cultivated a fourth-order sub-overlord-level undead leader."

In the room, Ling Yuzi's voice sounded from Xin Lailai's mind. During the few days that Xin Lailai stayed in the tower, she was not idle either. Relying on the advantages of the soul anchor ability brought by the soul body + soul master LV.20, she had already used these few days to plant soul anchors throughout the two continents. It might be a bit exaggerated to say that she had control over any disturbance in the two continents, but at least she could ensure that all major events happening in the two continents and the movements of the White Mage and Randy were all within her sight.

A million Zerg troops and a fourth-order sub-overlord Undead Commander? The speed was about the same as he expected...

"Very good. Thank you for keeping an eye on that side. How is the situation with the instigator?"

"Just like before, he is following those wandering pyroxene patients. It seems that he is simply observing them."

"Is that so? Then just do as before. Don't bother with him. Just wait and see."

After hearing this, Xin Lailai thought for a while and then spoke. He had just heard about the situation on the instigator's side from Ling Yuzi two days ago. Although he was somewhat puzzled about what the other party was planning to do by following those wandering pyroxene disease patients, since the other party did not make any suspicious moves, he would not interfere with the other party on purpose.

"As for the rest..."

In the bedroom, Xin Lailai glanced at the marine technology displayed on the fortress management interface, squinted slightly, opened the communication interface designed by Xiaobai specifically for the pyroxene technology signals of this world, selected Ryan's name, and pressed the call button.

"Master Black Sword, what do you want from me?"

The dial tone sounded, and soon Ryan's voice came from Xin Lailai's mind, and Xin Lailai pressed the input device next to his ear and said:

"How is the training of the marine mining team going?"

"Okay, let me see... As of now, 15978 people have completed the initial training, of which 3389 have passed the novice operator training, 18 have completed the entry-level operator assessment, and 1 has completed the senior operator assessment in just half a day."

Hmm? It only took half a day to complete the senior operator assessment?

When Xin Lailai heard this, his eyes moved and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.

You should know that the information he gave Ryan was modified according to the contents of the mining manual he got from Quan Momo. In addition to being able to quickly train a large number of new miners, that method also has a good screening effect. Although he asked Xiaobai to make a lot of simplifications based on the actual situation on his side, even so, he was able to complete all the training content in just two days and pass the assessment of senior operators. This means that the other party's talent in mining and mechanical operation is absolutely extraordinary.

"Notify everyone who has completed the initial training to gather at the south coast line. Also, appoint the person who has completed the senior assessment as the captain of the seabed mining team. If he feels that he is not up to the task, he can be promoted to deputy captain. Also, give him the power to decide who to choose as his teammates, and give him independent authority to choose equipment."

"Yes, Lord Black Sword!"

A sonorous reply came from the communication channel. Upon hearing it, Xin Lailai nodded slightly without saying anything else. He got off the bed calmly, adjusted the instruments casually with the help of the Star Luo Domain Perception, opened the window habitually, jumped out, spread out the Dark Scale Sky Feathers, and flew towards the core tower of the Kota Fortress.

In order to prevent the Zerg and Undead spies released by White Mage and Randy from noticing anything unusual, he not only specifically instructed Ryan and others to transport various marine technology parts to the bottom area of ​​the Kota Fortress for assembly, but also used his own earth element magic + the excavation machinery technology provided by Xiaobai to open a secret tunnel at the bottom of the Kota Fortress that leads directly to the coastline.

Not only that, he also specially sent a large number of land excavators to the mining areas near the tower to confuse the view, and even equipped them with armed mechanical troops to drive away the pyroxene beasts, just to make the Reincarnation and Death Paradise have the illusion that they were not targeting the ocean.

And now, after holding back for so many days, it is time to reap the rewards.

……

Half an hour later, at the southern coastline of Dark Glow Continent.

Wow~!

The surging tides were crashing in from afar, and the thick sea fog was spreading over the sea surface. Combined with the eternally dim sky, it added a disturbing sense of mystery and ominousness to the sea before our eyes.

"Master Black Sword, everyone is here."

At the foot of a cliff adjacent to the coast, Ryan respectfully reminded Xin Lailai who was sitting cross-legged on the reef beside him in meditation. Xin Lailai, who had been waiting there for half an hour, slowly opened his eyes and looked at the river channel beside him that was more than 300 meters wide and had been opened up by himself.

Buzz, rumble—! !

A faint humming sound came from the cave inside the river. Through the dim light, one could see that on both sides of the river, members of the seabed mining team wearing light armor were standing a little nervously next to powerful deep-sea operating machinery. On the surface of the river, huge warships that were more than 200 meters long and hundreds of meters wide were arranged in two parallel rows. The dark silver armor plates coated with a protective layer reflected a metallic luster under the dim sky, like strange aquatic monsters lurking in the river.

"Master Black Sword, the person standing over there is the one I mentioned to you earlier who completed the senior assessment in just two days. His name is Lakan Alt, and he is from a small fortress. He participated in the recruitment four days ago. When he started working half a day ago, he was found to have a good talent for mechanical operation. He was recommended to the Deep Sea Project by the person in charge of the fortress, and he passed all the assessments in just half a day."

"According to the report and his own description, he seemed to be able to learn those machines by himself when he came into contact with them. Although he had no experience, he was able to operate those things skillfully just by reading the instructions. He also had an extraordinary sensitivity and intuition to the pyroxene energy fluctuations emitted by the veins."

Ryan reported, pointing to the fully armed figure at the front on the right side of the river, whose equipment was obviously richer than the others, and spoke.

Just by looking at the instruction manual, you can learn how to operate the machine in the test without any instruction?
Upon hearing this, Xin Lailai showed a hint of curiosity in his eyes. He opened up the Star Field and swept it towards the young man in the front who was obviously very nervous.

[Detection completed. Since the Pioneer Soul Strength attribute judgment value is 14.58 times that of the current detection unit, this detection can obtain 100% of the target's information.]

……

Name: Lakan Alter
Category: Native residents of Dark Glory Continent

HP: 92.37% (reduced by 7.63% due to erosion of pyroxene energy)

Mana: 336/336
Strength: 13 (reduced by 1 point due to erosion of pyroxene energy)
Agility: 14 (reduced by 1 point due to erosion of pyroxene energy)
Physical Strength: 10 (reduced by 2 points due to erosion of pyroxene energy)
Intelligence: 23 (increased by 2 points due to erosion of pyroxene energy)
Charisma: 6
Skill 1, Mechanical Affinity (Talent·Passive, LV.MAX): Mechanical aptitude level +3, the ability to memorize mechanical knowledge at a glance, and the ability to quickly absorb and apply it to other situations.

Skill 2, Pyroxene Spell Basics (Spell Passive, LV.3): Entry-level Pyroxene spell ability, can use simple 0-ring Pyroxene spells (3 in total: Metal Transfiguration, Small Illumination, Pyroxene Energy Guidance)

Skill 3, Mechanical Manipulation Expertise (Technique·Passive, LV.12): The mechanical technical abilities that are acquired unconsciously will unconsciously cover the currently manipulated machinery with one's own body energy, increasing the mechanical strength by 34%, greatly improving the proficiency in manipulating mechanical items, and moderately increasing the speed of learning mechanical knowledge.

LV.10 Additional ability, Mechanical Perception (Passive): When touching mechanical items, one can subconsciously perceive their internal structure, and the upper limit of perception is expanded by 34m.

Skill 4, Pyroxene Disease Erosion (Negative Passive, LV.2): A negative state caused by pyroxene energy erosion. Strength, agility, and stamina will decrease to a certain extent, while intelligence and pyroxene energy perception ability will increase to a certain extent.

……

A talent for mechanical affinity that awakened on its own? And also the ability to manipulate machinery to a master level?

Xin Lailai looked at the skill panel in front of her with a hint of surprise in her eyes.

According to the information reported by Ryan, the infected youth named Lakan should be only 21 years old. At this age, he can comprehend the main expertise level of mechanical operation by himself. His mechanical qualification level is likely to have reached S or even S+ level. Although he can't be compared with Dao Ji, a pervert who can comprehend the master-level passive by himself in the reality without any extraordinary energy, he is also a top qualification that is rare in Paradise.

"I unexpectedly discovered a good talent..." Xin Lailai thought, and took out a one-way space scroll and some alchemical materials from the storage space. With his mental power surging, he quickly made those alchemical materials into a magic storage item that could be used by pressing a switch, and engraved his crystal blocking technique and ordinary spell shield into it. After setting the coordinates of the one-way space scroll, he looked at Ryan on the side and said:

"Give these two items to him. There are two spells in the spherical item. One will take effect automatically when worn, and the other will be activated by pressing a switch. If you encounter an irreconcilable crisis, you can inject magic power into this scroll to save your life."

It would be fine if the other party was just an ordinary talent, but S or even S+ level mechanical qualifications are already quite valuable even if thrown into the paradise. With such qualifications, he can completely introduce them to the paradise after the end of this war world, throw them to Xiaobai for training, guide them to become a top employee, and serve as a core employee of the Black Bug Chamber of Commerce established by Xiaogu.

As for why not let the other party stop the work at hand and wait for the war to end in the fortress, but instead choose to give him some life-saving items?
What he wants to cultivate is not some pretty but useless vase. Even if the horny protagonists in those third-rate amateur novels that Ling Yuzi read want to have a harem, it still depends on how much their cultivation can be improved after dual cultivation. What benefits can it bring? Not to mention him. If someone can't even do a simple thing like going into the sea to operate machinery to dig a mine, he has no interest in investing in him even if the other party has S or even S+ level qualifications.

Of course, he has to bring it back to the park. After all, helping the park to recruit talents can increase his credibility. The hidden benefits of this thing are huge, so he naturally won't miss it.

When Ryan heard Xin Lailai's order, he showed a look of surprise at first, but then nodded and said respectfully:
"Understood. Please wait a moment."

Although he was somewhat surprised that Xin Lailai would value a member of the mining team so much, he had already developed the habit of unconditionally obeying the other party's instructions, especially when it came to things he did not quite understand, having witnessed the other party's many magical tricks as a performer.

In Ryan's own words, Lord Black Sword must have his own considerations for doing this.

"Master Black Sword, I have handed it over to him."

A few minutes later, Ryan, who had successfully made a quick round trip with the flying vehicle produced by Xiaobai, returned to Xin Lailai and answered respectfully. Upon hearing this, Xin Lailai just nodded slightly, glanced at the infected young man who was looking at him carefully with astonishment and nervousness, then moved his gaze back to the foggy ocean in front of him and said:

"Well, it's about time, let them get started."

"Yes."

After the words fell, Ryan took a deep breath, pressed a button on his helmet, and skillfully switched the communication channel to the frequency band where the members of the ocean mining team were located. He sent out the words that had been edited long ago. The next second, a sonorous electronic sound rang in the ears of everyone present through the communication device of the light armor:
[Attention everyone, entering the first level standby state! Please quickly go to your respective positions and get ready! ! ]

[Repeat once more, entering the first level standby state! Please quickly go to your respective positions and get ready!! ]

Om-! !

For a moment, the humming sound of the power furnace could be heard continuously from the entire river and even the mine cave at the rear. Dazzling searchlights were emitted from the warships with half of their hulls exposed in the river. More than 10,000 deep-sea mining team members on both sides of the river, guided by the AI ​​chips carried in the light armor, followed one deep-sea operation machine after another and quickly took up their respective posts along the lowered bridge. In less than ten minutes, the two banks of the river, which were originally lined with long queues, were completely empty.

"Report, all crew members of battleship A001 are ready!"

"Report, all members of the battleship A032..."

The voices of reports kept ringing in Ryan's ears through the communication channel of the helmet. Ryan looked at the numbered icons that kept lighting up on the virtual screen in front of him, nodded slightly, and a look of satisfaction appeared in his eyes.

[Ding~! Detected that all fleet members are ready, please issue the next step of instructions! ]

Finally, with a clear and pleasant electronic sound, Ryan looked at the small area of ​​the sea that was illuminated abnormally brightly by the searchlight, took a deep breath, and gave the order:
"Deep Sea One, notify everyone, the operation begins!"

【Command confirmed! 】

[Attention everyone, we are about to start diving. Please strictly follow the inauguration manual, stay at your post, and do not walk around the ship at will! ! ]

[Repeat again, we are about to start diving, please strictly follow the inauguration manual, stay at your post, and do not walk around the ship at will! ! ]

Buzz, rumble—! !

A humming sound like the breathing of a giant beast began to sound from under the sky. The Deep Diver warships floating on the river were seen moving slowly along the river channel, like giant whales waking up from sleep, with the roar formed by their power reactors.

[Deep Sea Plan, execution begins! ]

Boom~!

Finally, the leading warship broke through the fog amidst the rolling waves and dived under the sea with pleasant electronic sounds, followed by the second, third, and fourth batches...

The warships, like sea beasts returning to their nests, turned into huge shadows under the sea. Only the light of the searchlights remained, forming a scene like the reflection of a full moon on the sea surface, and then quickly disappeared in the sound of surging waves. Finally, only the humming sound of the power furnaces remained echoing in the sea breeze.

"Master Black Sword, next..."

"I'll just watch here, you can go and take care of the fortress."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work, Lord Black Sword."

Ryan nodded, gave a brief answer, and then with the help of the flying device, he flew quickly along the direction of the river towards the cave under the Kota Fortress. Xin Lailai calmly released his mental power, sat cross-legged on the reef, and took out a book called "Advanced Construction and Application of Intermediate Spells" and read it carefully.

Although this world is a world battle and the opponents should not be underestimated, for Xin Lailai, as long as he has time, he will still stop and take one or two unfinished theoretical books or materials to read to expand his knowledge base.

In fact, it's not just him, it's also the case with Ling Yuzi. Apart from occasionally reading novels of interest, the other party spends most of his time helping him with various behind-the-scenes work and studying spiritual studies, and rarely has any real free time.

After all, for them who are both pioneers and mages, given their shortcomings in inheritance and talent, if they want to become the strongest, they must make use of every minute and every second.

Moreover, even if we put aside the pursuit of the strongest, from the perspective of the external echelon itself, due to their rapid promotion speed, the foundation they laid in the first and second stages actually has the hidden danger of being insufficient.

This was a very dangerous sign. You had to know that all along, they had relied on learning various spell knowledge in advance, allowing themselves to release large-scale magic that was one or even two levels higher than their own, in order to ensure the spell suppression power in various battles.

After all, they are not elemental scholars and cannot maximize the power of elements like their opponents. Although ordinary large-scale elemental magic is powerful, it can only reach the top echelon or super top echelon level in the same level. If they want to be useful in battles in the outer echelons, they can only cast spells across levels.

Normally speaking, this step would definitely become more and more difficult. After all, the reason they were able to cast spells across levels was entirely because of the solid foundation they laid in the Demon Slayer world and their encounter with Kagus, the strongest remnant soul. However, as their ranks increase, the little advantages they had accumulated would only become weaker and weaker in the face of increasingly difficult and complex mid- and high-level knowledge.

Fortunately, they now have the title of "Diligent Scholar" and "Pale Redemption" which can greatly improve their learning efficiency, and their magic qualifications have been upgraded to A-level. They also obtained the "Origin Stone·Remnant" which can further enhance their perception ability. In this way, as long as they can plan their time reasonably, even at the current promotion speed, they can still ensure that their magic knowledge and theoretical level are ahead of the current level.

"Hmm... I see. It seems that I can optimize it this way after I return..."

"And here, this structure... although it requires at least fourth-order mental power, if it is slightly improved, it may be possible..."

Shasha~!

The sound of pages turning came from the sea. The light in the distance dimmed silently. Under the dark night, groups of holy light were seen floating quietly beside the coast, creating a pure land in the darkness. The black-haired young man just sat cross-legged on the reef, immersed in the book in his hands and the spiritual world in his mind, sometimes frowning, sometimes chuckling, sometimes rubbing his forehead, and sometimes with a shining eye.

At last……

"Ok?"

When the sky in the distance changed from pitch black to slightly dim again with the light rising from the earth, the sound of surging tides rang in the ears of the black-haired young man. The black-haired young man seemed to have discovered something, put down the book in his hand, looked up at the sea in front of him, and finally chuckled.

"It seems that the results are good."

Wow——! !

The sound of huge waves was heard, and a wave of dozens of meters high was seen rising from the sea surface. In the waves, one could see dark silver warships covered with seaweed and the remains of sea beasts rising from the sea surface like whales taking breaths, forming a huge fleet, slowly approaching the coast from afar.

[Ding~! The operation is over. We are counting the final harvest of this deep-sea operation...]

[Statistics completed. This deep-sea operation lasted a total of 23 hours and 37 minutes. The cumulative harvest is as follows]

……

359876.76 tons of pyroxene crude ore to be refined (estimated to produce 215986.36 tons of extraordinary metal + 6762.14 tons of pyroxene crystals)
Pyroxene ore to be refined*188974.59 tons (estimated to produce 136692.37 tons of pyroxene crystals + 9789.67 tons of pyroxene conductor materials)
Pyroxene crystal marrow to be refined * 49872.66 tons (it is estimated that 48125.57 tons of pyroxene crystals + 1289.33 tons of super rare pyroxene special metals can be refined)
……

(End of this chapter)