Chapter 6: A Warning from the Apocalypse Paradise
Mud surged out from a metal pipe as thick as a water vat. The few contractors had vanished, all leaping into the earthen hole on the ground.
Su Xiao concealed his aura and approached the hole, peering down. The pit was at least five meters wide, sloping diagonally underground, and he could still faintly hear that maniacal laughter.
He had lost count of how many battles he had fought against contractors from the Apocalypse Paradise. He had once created Demon Beasts to besiege these people, had been besieged by them as an Overlord-level boss, or rather, had chased a group of them while hacking away.
Now, for the first time, Su Xiao encountered Apocalypse Paradise contractors mining. If one called them cowardly, they dared to dig beneath the walls of Arans City. For a city, this level of hatred was comparable to digging up someone's ancestral grave.
Crack~
A crisp sound rang out. Su Xiao looked toward the city wall ahead. Several cracks spread across its surface, while the nearby dirt had already piled up over ten meters high.
"Baha, keep an eye on the surroundings."
"Understood."
Baha soared into the sky, beginning aerial surveillance. Those ores were practically benefits within reach, and Su Xiao certainly wouldn't give them up.
157 meters underground, three drilling robots were operating at full capacity. The remaining two were fully extended, propping up the earth above to prevent a collapse.
A metal pillar stood at the center, slowly releasing oxygen while detecting toxic and hazardous gases, as well as nearby energy fluctuations.
Clang, clang, clang...
Crisp tapping sounds came through. Mining rare minerals wasn't as simple as imagined; it was a technical task. If machinery replaced manual work, it could damage some fragile rare minerals, reducing their value.
Six contractors were sweating profusely before a mineral vein wall. Five men and one woman, united in purpose, digging in the same direction.
"Stop."
A man wearing a high-tech miner's helmet and protective suit spoke. He pulled out a metal tube and pressed it against the mineral wall.
Hum~
The metal tube sucked out a stream of deep blue liquid from the wall. After going through over a dozen steps—cooling, oxygen molecule removal, internal transformation—he pressed a groove at the back of the tube, and a sapphire-colored ore popped out. The ore was about the size of an egg, irregular in shape.
"Just as I thought, there's a T19-Yahe mineral vein underground here."
The 'T19-Yahe mineral vein' the miner-helmet captain mentioned was a technical term. This ore had high biological activity, usable for forging life-type equipment (healing/life recovery type), cultivating summons, and in alchemy, it was a core material for giant alchemical creatures.
"We're rich."
"Calm down, steady. We have to pull out by 3 o'clock. If we get caught, we're dead. This is a country ruled by the Saint Descendants; those undying are absurdly strong."
After a brief celebration, the six continued sweating with joy.
They worked until 2:59 AM before reluctantly stopping.
"We've only mined less than 2.7%. Damn it."
"Don't be greedy. Pull out."
"Listen to the captain."
The group quickly walked back, arriving beneath the earthen hole they came from. They pulled out climbing ropes and began ascending.
Moments later, the six crawled out of the pit, their faces dirty like refugees from Taonan.
"After we retreat a kilometer, Reef Mountain, you handle remotely retrieving the underground robots."
The miner-helmet captain spoke. The one he called Reef Mountain was a burly man about two and a half meters tall, his muscles bulging against his protective suit. With that build, it was a waste he wasn't a tank—naturally strong and incredibly tough.
"Got it, Captain."
Reef Mountain patted the military computer hanging on his chest. He could remotely control the underground robots. These people were experienced, knowing that after retrieving the C-type support robots, the surrounding ground would immediately collapse, possibly taking a section of the city wall with it.
"If I'm not mistaken, you've hollowed out the underground dirt. Pulling out those robots will likely cause the city wall to collapse."
Hearing this, the slightly dark-skinned girl in the team smiled.
"That's common sense, okay? The soil nearby is suitable for planting, with a soil density..."
The miner girl stopped mid-sentence, puzzled about who had just spoken.
The six turned their gazes simultaneously toward the edge of the city wall. There stood a man with a longsword hanging at his waist.
No aura at all, even giving the six a sense of 'safety.' It felt like a silent call to walk over, that the man posed no danger.
As this feeling emerged, the miner-helmet captain's scalp tingled, a chill spreading from the soles of his feet upward.
Safety? Don't joke. This was perception misdirection caused by too great a disparity in strength. The last time the miner-helmet captain felt this way was when he woke an underground creature while mining—a fifth-rank boss, ranked in the top three in combat power within that world.
"Who are you!"
The miner girl was about to draw her gun, but a hand pressed down on it—her captain's.
The miner-helmet captain shook his head slightly. Based on his experience, besides attempting to flee, doing anything else would only hasten death.
"Friend, are you from Death Paradise? Reincarnation Paradise? Or one of our own?"
The miner-helmet captain swallowed saliva, probing cautiously.
"Reincarnation."
Su Xiao spoke with a smile on his face.
"Hmph~"
The miner girl let out a groan, her eyes reddening. Her inner thoughts were: 'It's over, everything's over. Encountering a madman from Reincarnation Paradise means certain death. If I resist, I'll be tortured to death.'
"Wait!"
The miner-helmet captain shouted low, took a deep breath, and pulled an iron box from his storage space. He placed it on the ground, stepped on it with one foot, and kicked it toward Su Xiao.
"Inside are 125 T19-Yahe ores, also called blue ore or life ore. Very precious. It's yours. Let us go. Our equipment isn't worth much in your Reincarnation Paradise."
The miner-helmet captain decided to try. Though hope was slim, maybe they could survive.
"There's still a vein underground?"
"No..."
The miner girl started to speak but was cut off by her captain.
"We've only mined less than 2.7%. Mining blue ore is precision work. According to the survey map, continuing forward would gradually reach directly beneath Arans City."
The miner-helmet captain had rich life experience, so he chose to tell the truth. Lying at this point was too costly; if discovered, death was certain.
"Is that so."
Su Xiao hooked his finger, and the iron box at his feet opened. In the night, the sapphire ore's light flickered.
"What's your cost for mining these ores?"
"70% net profit!"
The miner-helmet captain raised his chin slightly, a point of pride for them.
"..."
Su Xiao crouched before the iron box, pondered for a moment, then took out 63 blue ores and closed the box tightly.
Just then, a sky-blue notification appeared. Su Xiao had seen such a notification once before—that time, the Apocalypse Paradise had tried to recruit him. This time, it was a warning notification.
[Warning (Apocalypse Paradise Notification): The Hunter is attempting to encroach upon Apocalypse Paradise resources.]
[Warning: Please cease the current encroachment immediately, Reincarnation Paradise Hunter.]
[Warning: A Battle Angel is about to be teleported to adjudicate the Reincarnation Paradise Hunter's actions.]
[Verifying...]
[Verified Hunter ID. This ID previously invaded World: Siren Star, resulting in numerous contractor deaths, multiple Battle Angel casualties, massive resource plundering, and a change in ownership of the Primordial World: Siren Star's World Core.]
[Judging...]
[Judgment complete. Battle Angel teleportation has been halted.]
Seeing the last notification, Su Xiao felt a slight disappointment, as Battle Angels had a higher chance of dropping Scarlet Cards.