Chapter 1 The First Horizontal Tunnel
Jiang Ye dug ten meters into the first horizontal tunnel in one go.
By the end, not even sunlight could penetrate, leaving him in complete darkness.
As he dragged a sack out, dirt suddenly fell from overhead, hitting Jiang Ye on the head.
The clod of dirt wasn't large, about the size of a book. It didn't injure or hurt him.
However, it jolted Jiang Ye into a state of heightened alert.
He feared a cave-in.
Digging alone in this mine, if the tunnel collapsed, he'd be buried alive, with no one to call upon and nowhere to turn.
Therefore, he had to erect supports within the tunnel.
Jiang Ye's first thought was to pour water.
Just like building a wall, he could use the extreme cold of minus thirty degrees Celsius to freeze the poured water, hardening the tunnel walls.
But after careful consideration, he found it unreliable.
Firstly, pouring large amounts of water into the tunnel was itself a taboo. How many miners had been killed by water? Countless!
Secondly, carrying pot after pot of water to pour in was also incredibly strenuous, a massive undertaking.
It would be best to have simple supports like wooden or steel poles, as in ordinary mines.
Wooden poles were definitely out. The pile of firewood only contained dry corn stalks, brittle as rolled-up newspapers. Relying on those to support the tunnel was pure fantasy.
Steel poles…
Jiang Ye suddenly thought of something.
He emerged from the deep mine tunnel and scrambled back to the surface, returning to the base.
Isabelle was fast asleep, wrapped in a bear fur blanket.
Jiang Ye gently shook her awake.
"What's wrong?" Isabelle mumbled, opening her eyes and yawning.
"I have a question for you. What will happen to your spaceship in the end?" Jiang Ye asked.
"It's been scrapped. They'll only take the black box, and the rest will be left here," Isabelle replied.
"Then can I come and take some parts? Jiang Ye's eyes lit up. You don't need them anyway."
"Sure." Isabelle perked up, sitting up and speaking seriously. "But my spaceship is quite special. Once it catches fire, it's almost impossible to extinguish. It's already mostly burned. All the valuable parts are likely burnt to a crisp, leaving just a broken shell. It could collapse suddenly. If you're dismantling it, you must be very careful."
"Great!" Jiang Ye rejoiced. "I don't need any valuable parts. I just need to take some metal plates and metal rods to support the tunnel. You go back to sleep. I'm heading out."
Isabelle lay down, yawned, and fell back asleep.
It was evident she trusted Jiang Ye greatly, and this base made her feel secure, allowing her to sleep soundly.
Jiang Ye picked up an empty sack, slung the Kexi assault rifle over his shoulder, and grabbed his pickaxe.
The snow was thigh-deep, making every step incredibly difficult.
Jiang Ye tried crawling, kneeling in the snow and moving forward like a quadruped.
Surprisingly, it worked. Crawling was much faster than walking!
Jiang Ye had no choice but to wiggle his hips and crawl through the snow.
Humans had spent many years learning to walk upright, and now Jiang Ye was regressing.
Finally, he reached the crashed spaceship.
It had been nearly a day and a night, and it was still burning!
Nine-tenths of it had been consumed by fire, with only some dark parts on the ground still emitting flames and wisps of smoke.
Most of the spaceship's components were scattered on the ground, charred black, like a pile of junk.
Some metal frames remained intact, extending towards the sky like a net.
Jiang Ye walked to the scattered parts on the ground and bent down to pick them up.
He was mainly looking for steel rods, and he found quite a few.
Most were arm-length steel rods, many already bent by the heat, with a thick layer of black dust on their surfaces.
Jiang Ye picked up a black steel rod and rubbed it against the nearby snow.
The black soot immediately stuck to the snow, revealing the original color of the rod.
Jiang Ye was delighted. With these steel rods, he could provide excellent support for the tunnel.
He filled a sack in one go and returned to the base.
The sack was too heavy to carry, so he had to drag it.
Jiang Ye kept pulling his legs out of the accumulated snow, grunting as he moved forward.
His legs were about to break, but he finally reached the base.
Isabelle was still sleeping, soundly. She had kicked off her blanket, her fair legs stretched out carelessly, wearing only half a white sock on one foot.
Jiang Ye couldn't help but glance at her a few more times before placing a steel rod into the trading console.
After a brief scan, information appeared:
[Item: Hollow Stainless Steel Alloy Tube]
[Item Description: Hard and corrosion-resistant, often used for structural support in spaceship cabins. A cheap and useful rod-like item.]
[Appraised Value: 1000 Yuan]
Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow. Even bent by the fire, it could sell for so much?
Judging by the scene of the spaceship crash, there were at least over a thousand such steel tubes.
At a thousand yuan each, they could sell for a total of 1 million!
This was no small sum. With this money, he could directly upgrade the base.
However, Jiang Ye didn't sell them. He took the steel rods out of the trading console.
He still needed these rods to ensure his safety; he couldn't impulsively sell them all.
Carrying a sack of steel rods, he left the base and headed for the mine.
The tunnel was deep and dark, stretching forward.
Jiang Ye took out the steel rods one by one, fixing them to the tunnel walls to build simple load-bearing supports.
Three, five, ten…
Twenty, thirty…
The entire ten-meter-long tunnel used thirty-five steel rods, completing all the supports.
With these supports, Jiang Ye no longer had to worry constantly.
The safety factor had increased significantly. Without any major accidents, he shouldn't be buried in the mine.
Jiang Ye picked up his pickaxe and, guided by his sense of smell, began excavating the second tunnel.
During the excavation, sulfur-antimony-silver ore was constantly chipped off by the pickaxe.
As the scattered ore on the ground increased, Jiang Ye collected it into sacks with his shovel.
He had brought many empty sacks with him, placing the filled ones in the corner.
He worked until dusk, accumulating a total of eight sacks!
At the same time, the second tunnel was also completed, longer than the first, extending twelve meters.
Jiang Ye dragged the sacks filled with sulfur-antimony-silver ore towards the surface.
First, he transported all the sacks to the surface, then dragged them one by one back to the base.
He dumped them into the trading console and sold them all!
[Sale Successful! 47800 Yuan has been credited to your personal account.]
[Sale Successful! 50100 Yuan has been credited to your personal account.]
[Sale Successful! 42300 Yuan has been credited to your personal account.]
The last sack was emptied and sold. Da Feng Novel.
Jiang Ye, sweating profusely, checked his personal account.
2,754,800 Yuan!
He was still 845,200 Yuan short of upgrading to a Level 9 base.
Jiang Ye estimated it would only take a few days.
Isabelle had slept through the entire afternoon. It wasn't until Jiang Ye returned and the sound of ore being dumped woke her.
"Finished?" Isabelle got up, yawning, and put on her down jacket. "Wait a moment, I'll go get the vegetables. I'll make a stew tonight."
"I'll go get water," Jiang Ye said, also heading out.