Chapter 87
The bright yellow light inside the gold crystal vein was even stronger than at the entrance—the continuous rocks looked as if they were soaked in molten gold, and the gold patterns on the surface flowed with the light, shimmering with fine ripples. The metallic coolness in the air was stronger, and when you breathed it in, even your chest felt like it was being gently chilled, without the heat of the outside world.
Su Jing leaned against the rock at the entrance of the mine, her fingertips sensing the digging dynamics of 10 robots through her consciousness: they were scattered within a 50-meter radius inside, their diamond-coated drills spinning at high speed, making a soft "rustling" sound when they touched the rock, slightly louder than in low-power mode, but still controlled below 35 decibels, so as not to trigger the alien guards' perception threshold. The gold crystal ore they dug out shone with a bright yellow light, and as soon as it left the rock, it was simultaneously collected into the spatial "ore zone" by her consciousness. The number of ores on the panel increased at a visible rate.
Just then, a pale red notification popped up on the long-silent system panel—
It wasn't a dungeon quest notification, but a "highly trending message on the global channel" that was being pushed even after being completely blocked. The red US logo was particularly glaring on the panel, and Jack's message was at the top of the trending list, arrogantly inflammatory: "Brothers! We've found 'I'm the God of Wealth'! She's at the Gold Crystal Mine, and she's brought 10 mining robots! Anyone who wants to get rich, follow me! We'll take her robots, split the gold crystals we mine, and even compete for the top 10 ore-related abilities! I've posted the coordinates below, gather in 30 minutes!"
Below the message, the red U.S. logo instantly flooded the screen, filled with echoing comments:
- "Hunter (US) Jack": "Coordinates: 800 meters northeast of the No. 1 entrance to the Gold Crystal Mine. I've already brought 5 people there. Whoever comes will make a fortune!"
- "US User 345": "I'm in! I was previously ranked second by her and she stole my bot, but this time I'll definitely surpass her!"
- "US User 678": "I brought two iron bars. When we arrived, we just grabbed them. She was all alone. How could she stop us?"
Several messages with gold EU logos echoed the sentiment. Emily's statement, though hesitant, couldn't hide her greed: "I have three people here. If we can get the robot, the resources of the gold crystal mine will be enough for us to use for a lifetime. It'll be worth it to split it with Jack!" The message also included a blurry map of the mine route. Although the markings were rough, it accurately pointed to Entrance 1 where Su Jing was, indicating that someone had scouted the route in advance.
Su Jing's fingertips paused slightly on the panel. Her gaze swept over the words "Assemble within 30 minutes" and "Take her robot." She felt no panic, but rather became even calmer. Jack thought she was alone, but he didn't know that she had the cultivation level of the second stage of Qi Refining and an enhanced laser gun. He also didn't know the situation inside the mine. This kind of blind incitement was just because he had more people.
Before she could think it through, a system warning popped up, the pale blue light membrane carrying a serious tone: [12 energy fluctuations of mission participants detected approaching the entrance to the Gold Crystal Mine No. 1, of which 8 are identified as US, 3 as EU, and 1 is unknown;]
They are expected to arrive in 30 minutes and have a clear intention to seize the mine. There are currently no guards at the mine entrance, so we need to be vigilant for sudden conflict.
The warning also includes a real-time trajectory map of energy fluctuations. The 12 red dots are moving at a relatively fast speed, getting closer and closer to the entrance of the ore vein. The closest one is less than 500 meters away.
"Instead of wasting time with them, let's mine more gold crystals first." Su Jing muttered to herself, her fingertips quickly sliding across the panel, issuing new instructions to the 10 robots through her consciousness: "Switch to medium power mining mode, increase drill speed by 50%, prioritize mining areas with dense gold veins, no need to deliberately control noise, collect all mined ore into the space in real time, objective: complete the high-density ore mining in the current area within 25 minutes, and then move to the depths of the vein."
Ten robots responded instantly, their side displays changing from light blue to light green, and the diamond-coated drills began to rotate at a significantly faster speed. The "rustling" sound turned into a low "humming" sound, but still did not exceed 40 decibels, so as not to attract the attention of the alien guards in the distance.
The two robots closest to the depths of the ore vein quickly unearthed a rock with extremely dense gold veins. The gold veins on the surface of this rock were covered like a spider web, gleaming with a rich, bright yellow light. As soon as the robot's drill bit touched it, gold crystal ore rolled down along the spiral veins, gleaming with a warm luster. As soon as it landed, it was stored in the space. The panel indicated: "[Gold crystal ore purity 95%, hard texture, can be used to strengthen the core components of cultivation items]".
Su Jing walked to the inside of the mine entrance and peeked out – under the deep purple sky, several figures could be vaguely seen moving in the direction of the hematite mine in the distance, moving very fast, obviously Jack and his group.
Without pausing, she turned and walked into the mine, following the route the robot had taken. Occasionally, her fingertips would touch the golden crystal rocks beside her, and she could feel the gentle energy emanating from within the rocks, purer than that of hematite. The system notification read: "[Golden crystal ore contains trace amounts of spiritual energy affinity components, which can improve the efficiency of spiritual energy conduction when enhancing items]."
"Robot No. 3, there is a cluster of high-purity ore 10 meters to the left. Prioritize mining." Su Jing adjusted the robot's digging direction with her mind. Robot No. 3 immediately turned around, aimed its drill at the rock on the left, and drilled in with a "whoosh." Soon, a large piece of gold crystal ore was dug out, gleaming with a bright yellow light. When it was put into the space, the "Ore Area" prompt on the panel refreshed instantly: [Gold crystal ore storage continues to increase. An ore pile has now been formed and can be extracted at any time for enhancement].
Meanwhile, the global channel was still refreshing its feed. Jack's latest message was urgent: "15 minutes left! Don't rush in at the entrance to the gold crystal mine. Wait for my signal, then we'll all grab the robot. Whoever moves first gets no gold crystals!" The comments below were even more enthusiastic, with some even discussing how to distribute the ore after grabbing the robot, completely ignoring Su Jing. Su Jing immediately turned off the channel notifications and focused all her attention on mining—
The efficiency of the 10 robots far exceeded expectations. In medium power mode, each robot could mine at least 3 pieces of gold crystal ore per minute. The ore pile in the space grew larger and larger, and the bright yellow light shone through the space barrier, casting a faint halo inside the ore vein.
Suddenly, a slight tremor came from deep within the mine, stronger but more stable than the tremors from the alien guards, as if a huge, heavy object was slowly moving.
Su Jing immediately stopped and raised her hand to signal the robots to mute temporarily—the drills of the 10 robots stopped rotating instantly, their bodies pressed against the rocks, the displays went dark, and the interior of the mine instantly returned to silence, with only the faint footsteps of Jack and the others in the distance remaining.
Su Jing held her breath, carefully sensing the source of the vibration—the vibration came from about 200 meters deep in the ore vein, with a stable frequency and extremely strong energy fluctuations, far exceeding any alien guardian she had encountered before. The system panel instantly popped up a new warning: [An unknown high-energy entity has been detected moving deep in the ore vein. Energy level: S-level, far exceeding alien guardians (B-level). The energy type is suspected to be plasma. There is a high risk of attack. It is recommended to avoid it for the time being.]
“It seems the depths of the ore vein are not simple.” Su Jing realized that this should be the dungeon boss she would encounter in the next chapter. She did not approach rashly, but instead used her consciousness to make the robot resume digging, but adjusted it to “dig and move deeper at the same time”: “Maintain medium power digging, move slowly towards the source of vibration, stop for 1 minute every 5 meters, and monitor the changes in energy fluctuations.”
The ten robots immediately began work, the drills resuming their rotation. A low hum echoed within the mine, but it couldn't mask the steady vibrations emanating from deep within, nor the approaching footsteps of Jack and his companions in the distance.
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