Chapter 71: Chapter 69: The Caravan’s Journey and the Chosen Candidates (Part 1)
"The currently explored rich mining area has approximately close to twenty thousand parent-child matrices, with a 24-hour extraction volume of about one thousand units?"
In the command room.
Lin Li looked at the mining report sent back by Lei Wenjun, quickly calculating in his mind:
"Assuming each parent-child matrix produces two Spirit Stones... then it’s two thousand Spirit Stones per day, right.
The total price for two thousand is about twelve million. According to the agreement we signed with the Wei Mansion, after converting resources, we split thirty to seventy...
This means our daily revenue is... less than nine million Huaxia currency?
Given the basic camp setup, it’s still too little."
Shi Zehong, who was beside him, showed a trace of helplessness and said:
"There’s no way around it. Currently, we are short of professional miners, and inside the mine pit, only two groups can work simultaneously, extracting approximately every ten minutes.
And due to the passage capacity of the portal, we can only bring in one to two pieces of equipment above thirty meters each day.
Additionally, each extraction raises concerns about potential damage to the parent-child matrices, forcing us to adopt a very conservative semi-mechanized extraction method temporarily, which can keep the efficiency only at this level."
On hearing this, Lin Li regrettably sighed inwardly.
As Shi Zehong mentioned.
Transporting large mining facilities is indeed a very troublesome task.
Take the super-sized hydraulic excavator of the Sany Heavy Industry Group as an example.
This hydraulic excavator weighs over 500 tons, with a height of more than fifteen meters, and, including the matching mining truck, a standard mining module weighs over twenty-four hundred tons.
Coordinating this kind of equipment is all well and good.
After all, the project in Damo Realm is arguably the most important one right now. A directive from the head department can coordinate everything within minutes.
But transporting this equipment is quite the headache — although Modu has the renowned Baosteel Group, Baosteel primarily focuses on steel smelting. Mining facilities, while they do exist due to the steady nature of the bunnies, are actually not plentiful.
As it stands, these facilities are located in the central or western parts of the country.
After all, our country’s resource layout is typically rich in the west, scarce in the east, affluent in the north, and impoverished in the south.
These facilities need to be transported from outside areas to reach the portal, and considering the confidential nature, they cannot all be passed through at once—a module of more than two thousand tons must be divided into dozens of containers at least.
Furthermore, due to the impending battle of capturing the double-headed bull, domestic logistics have reached a limit.
For example, military supplies, living supplies, various resources for laboratories, etc...
Therefore, while the Spirit Stone mine is important, other projects cannot easily yield.
For instance, a large amount of jade and servers required for talisman development are the highest priority, and the precision calibration of weapons at the military base is of utmost importance, with daily consumption at a significant volume.
If supplies to Chixian City were to decrease, the hard-won public support and reputation would be damaged.
In conclusion.
Modu needs to consider the bigger picture, so allocating a fifth of the transportation capacity to the mine each day is already commendable.
After thinking about all this, Lin Li set the mining report down and took a sip of water from his teacup.
Then he asked Shi Zehong:
"Director Shi, what brings you back today?
Could it be that there’s some issue with the second recruitment?"
Though the distance between the camp and Chixian City is only eighteen kilometers.
As the current person in charge stationed in Chixian City.
Many matters need his approval to proceed to the next step, and his functions limit his movement.
In other words, something significant must have brought him back to the camp.
And given that the key focus these days is the commencement of the second recruitment, Lin Li couldn’t help but speculate on some potentially unfavorable scenarios...
However, Shi Zehong’s response relieved him as Shi Zehong shook his head and said:
"Captain Lin, the second recruitment is progressing very smoothly.
This time, we recruited over fourteen hundred workers, covering more than eighty percent of the healthy male refugees in the city, and even some unstable-living civilians joined.
Luckily, the six dormitory buildings we built earlier are spacious enough; otherwise, many refugees would have had to sleep in tents for at least one or two nights."
Hearing about the massive increase in recruitment numbers, Lin Li immediately expressed a hint of joy:
"It’s going well, that’s good to hear.
If the dormitories are tight, we’ll just build more. Once the city’s refugees gradually stabilize, the number for the next recruitment batch will certainly be higher.
Quantity is never an issue; we can handle however many come. I’ll coordinate this with Chief Engineer Ye Jinyan over it."
Shi Zehong nodded and continued:
"Captain Lin, the main reason I returned to the camp is to report something to you in person — the Wei Mansion plans to dispatch a trading convoy to a major city for a significant commercial trade."
Lin Li exclaimed in surprise, "Commercial trade?"
Shi Zehong handed him a materials statistics sheet and explained:
"That’s right, commercial trade.
During the previous siege battle, we annihilated most of the beast tide, but considering how Chixian City also killed numerous beasts while defending the city, suffering significant casualties as a result.
We allocated about thirty-five percent of the beast carcasses to them when we cleared the battlefield — however, due to the damage many beasts suffered during the cleanup, this so-called thirty-five percent of beast carcasses actually accounts for less than twenty percent of the beast tide in numbers.
The Wei Mansion processed these carcasses, extracting valuable materials, and plans to send a trading team to trade them far away.
This is a common way to handle beast tides; many families rely on this for the Spirit Stones they need for cultivation."
Then Shi Zehong paused briefly before continuing:
"This time, the Wei Family Trading Team is planning to head to a major city over two thousand miles away, where a Seventh-Layer Core Formation Realm cultivator is stationed, and the city’s population exceeds two million.
According to the agreement signed between Chixian City and us, the Spirit Stones are distributed as annual dividends, so the Wei Mansion did not request an advance from us.
They plan to engage in pure barter, trading beast materials for talismans, pills, and array resources to compensate for the losses suffered during the city’s defense."
Lin Li picked up on his implication:
"Director Shi, are you suggesting... we send a group to purchase things as well?"
Shi Zehong nodded affirmatively, making his intentions clear, and said:
"The trading convoy from the Wei Mansion is set to depart in ten days. By then, we will have around ten thousand parent-child matrices extracted.
If we ramp up our efforts in the next ten days, extracting twelve to thirteen thousand is entirely feasible.
Assuming an average of two Spirit Stones per matrix.
That amounts to approximately twenty-five thousand Spirit Stones, enough for us to buy some good things.
For example, as far as I know.
The Damo Realm has a special Sword Qi Talisman that can be used by someone at the First-Layer Qi Cultivation, potent enough to harm a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator — though the price is overwhelmingly expensive."
Lin Li quietly listened and pondered.
As Shi Zehong mentioned, this trading convoy expedition is a great opportunity.
Firstly, it allows us to see other cities in this world and broaden our horizons, enabling us to gather some information about the Damo Realm.
After all... Chixian City is indeed too small.
Secondly, we can purchase potent talismans, pills, and array resources.
According to our plan, in due time, the camp will launch an attack on Xiaolianzi Mountain.
If we have a batch of array talismans to aid us by then, the campaign will be much easier.
Despite the restriction of cultivation levels, some items are temporarily unusable by our warriors.
But the bunnies can undoubtedly request the assistance of the Wei Mansion’s cultivators.
For instance, a talisman requiring activation by a high-level Foundation Establishment cultivator, capable of incapacitating a Core Formation Realm cultivator.
Wouldn’t Patriarch Wei be glad to help a bit?
You know, that small warrior standing guard at the Happiness Supermarket entrance is named Wei Siyuan...
Ahem.
Overall, the proposal that Shi Zehong suggested is indeed quite enticing.
Of course, executing it poses significant challenges.
The first issue to consider is the problem of signal transmission.
The city that the Wei Family Trading Team plans to visit is over two thousand miles away from Chixian City, about a thousand kilometers away.
But the problem is...
This is the Damo Realm.
While the Wei Mansion Trading Team may have their own means of getting around, possibly even the flying ship in their mansion.
But in terms of communication, the Damo Realm lacks any ground signal stations or terrestrial relay equipment.
The inability to communicate is something the bunnies absolutely cannot accept.