The next day, at five in the morning, Jiang Ye woke up.
Isabelle was still asleep, looking like she would sleep until dawn.
Jiang Ye got up, cooked two corn, and ate them.
After eating, he slung the Kai Xi assault rifle over his shoulder, picked up a shovel, a pickaxe, and a sack, and went out.
He crawled on all fours towards the crashed spaceship.
The spaceship had been completely burned through, reduced to a pile of black parts. Some steel skeletons stretched towards the sky, like the ribs of a giant animal.
Jiang Ye had intended to collect some steel pipes to support the tunnel walls of the mine.
However, among the pile of parts, he saw many metal plates.
He picked one up casually. It was ice-cold, and his hand immediately froze.
Jiang Ye could only wait patiently for it to thaw, while examining the metal plate.
It was light, not like steel. It was likely some kind of high-tech material.
It was about the size of a door panel. He tried to bend it with his hand, but it was quite hard.
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Perhaps he could use this metal plate to make a pair of skis?
No sooner said than done.
Jiang Ye placed the plate on the ground and smashed it fiercely with the pickaxe.
This thing was tougher than he imagined. After several hard blows, not even a white mark appeared!
It was likely the outer skin of the spaceship, hence its extreme hardness.
Jiang Ye stuck the metal plate into the snow, retreated a dozen steps, and hid behind a rock.
He raised the Kai Xi assault rifle and pulled the trigger!
He fired three shots in rapid succession, and the plate fell over.
Jiang Ye walked over to inspect it. The bullets had only left three white streaks on the surface; they couldn't penetrate it at all! This thing was much harder than steel!
His eyes immediately lit up. Such excellent material could be used to make bulletproof vests!
However, he still needed to make skis first, otherwise, traveling in the snowfield would be too difficult.
Jiang Ye rummaged through the pile of burned parts, like an old lady sifting through a garbage heap.
Finally, he found two suitable plates!
They were similar in length to skis, the only unsuitable aspect being that the two plates differed in length by two centimeters.
Jiang Ye felt this wasn't a big problem and immediately took out the two plates.
He placed them on a thick snowdrift and stepped onto them.
They actually held him up without sinking deeply.
However, he still needed ropes to secure them.
Jiang Ye continued to search the surroundings and successfully found several thick electrical wires. He placed them on the snow, cut them with two blows of the pickaxe, and then used them to tie the skis.
After tying them, he slipped his feet in.
With the homemade skis on, Jiang Ye tried to walk forward.
Except for being heavy, everything else was perfect.
He used the shovel as ski poles and pushed himself forward.
He actually started sliding!
It was just a bit difficult to control the direction, as the shovel was not suitable.
Jiang Ye went back and found two long steel wires from the pile of scrap parts. The entire set of ski equipment was finally complete!
He had never practiced skiing professionally before, only played around a couple of times as a child.
So, Jiang Ye swayed on the snow, teaching himself to ski.
The tools were too rudimentary and not as good as professional ski equipment, but it was much faster than crawling, and his speed in the snowfield increased significantly.
After practicing skiing, Jiang Ye began his main task.
He carried the sack and picked up the scraps from the pile of parts.
Metal pipes, take them! They could be used to support the mine shafts.
Metal plates, take them! These could stop bullets!
Wires, take them! They could serve as makeshift ropes.
Once the sack was full, Jiang Ye slowly skied back to the base.
Before dawn, he had transported four sacks of metal parts back and forth. They were all stored in the warehouse, temporarily placed with the coal briquettes.
Isabelle woke up, stretching her arms high. Her curves were particularly beautiful in the sunlight.
She waved to Jiang Ye outside the window, and Jiang Ye waved back, as if to say good morning.
He took off the skis and placed them by the perimeter wall, then picked up the pickaxe and went down into the mine.
He had already dug two mine shafts yesterday, but the reserves of stibnite silver ore were still considerable.
Jiang Ye sniffed around, swung his pickaxe, and began digging the third mine shaft.
Every two meters he advanced, he used the steel pipes salvaged from the spaceship to support and reinforce the tunnel.
The dark red and black stibnite silver ore continuously broke off and rolled onto the ground.
When the ground was covered with ore, Jiang Ye collected it with the shovel, shoveled it all into sacks, and carried it back to the base to sell.
In the span of one morning, he had opened two more mine shafts.
The reserves of stibnite silver in the mine pit had visibly decreased.
The scent of the ore was also very faint when he sniffed.
During lunch, Jiang Ye checked his personal account balance:
3,527,000 yuan!
He was only seventy-three thousand yuan away from upgrading to a Level 9 base!
Jiang Ye was very excited. Almost every base upgrade brought him surprises. He wondered what this one would bring.
Lunch was scrambled tomatoes with bear meat. Isabelle had messed up, and it tasted terrible.
Jiang Ye took a few bites when a message popped up on the chat channel.
Courier Chen Xiongmao: Hello, the delivery spaceship has entered planetary orbit and is expected to arrive at your base in about an hour and a half. Please notify courier Isabelle. Is she doing alright?
Jiang Ye: She's fine, I'll tell her.
In another hour and a half, that Chen Xiongmao will be here to pick you up. Jiang Ye turned to look at Isabelle.
Isabelle nodded, and a strange expression reappeared on her face.
The name Chen Xiongmao must have some special meaning to her, otherwise, her expression wouldn't have changed so drastically.
After the two finished eating, Isabelle got up and put on her clothes: overalls, a sweater, and a down jacket, quickly returning to her appearance when she first arrived.
Jiang Ye took the shovel and went out, further processing the airstrip.
This cargo spaceship should not have any accidents. The rotorcraft was arriving soon, and he planned to test fly it immediately.
The airstrip was very large. Just as he finished processing it, a rumbling sound came from overhead.
Jiang Ye looked up. A huge iron-blue spaceship descended from the sky, its belly engines spewing flames over ten meters long!
A moment later, the spaceship landed on the open ground next to the base.
Isabelle pushed open the door and came out. As soon as she stepped out, she sneezed.
The rear of the spaceship opened, revealing a vast interior, much like a cargo ship's hold.
Jiang Ye and Isabelle stepped forward, their feet sinking into the thick snow.
A man emerged from the rear of the spaceship and immediately shook hands with Jiang Ye.
Hello, I'm Chen Xiongmao. Where is your rotorcraft?
Chen Xiongmao looked like a rough character, with a weathered face, a nearly shaved head, and dirty hands.
Put it on the airstrip over there, thank you, Jiang Ye said.
Chen Xiongmao handed Jiang Ye a piece of paper and a pen, then turned and headed back into the spaceship's cargo hold.
Soon, two robotic metal figures came out, carrying the rotorcraft.
The rotorcraft was much as Jiang Ye had imagined: a three-wheeled shell, with a small propeller at the back and a large propeller on top. It was entirely white, almost blending into the snow.
The robots placed the rotorcraft at the beginning of the airstrip and immediately jogged back to the ship's cabin.
Jiang Ye looked at the paper in his hand, which was a delivery receipt. He signed his name with a flourish and handed it back to Chen Xiongmao.
Is this all? Jiang Ye asked.
Yes, you're busy. The gift has been placed in the rotorcraft's storage compartment. You can check it, Chen Xiongmao nodded, then turned to Isabelle beside him and said, Let's go, wife.
Isabelle nodded, waved to Jiang Ye expressionlessly, and slipped into the rear of the spaceship.
Jiang Ye was surprised. Were these two married?
While he was still stunned, Chen Xiongmao had already returned to the spaceship. The rear slowly closed, and then the engines spewed flames, kicking up a massive gust of air. The entire cargo spaceship lifted off like a small mountain, rising into the clouds with a thunderous roar.