He dug until past two in the afternoon.
A five-meter-deep pit had begun to take shape.
Jiang Ye squatted at the bottom of the pit, drenched in sweat and parched, constantly drinking water. He quickly finished the bottle he had brought.
He sniffed, and the strange smell was growing stronger. If nothing unexpected happened, he was close to the ore.
Jiang Ye continued to swing his shovel and pickaxe, digging earth and breaking stones, excavating deeper.
Suddenly, there was a crisp snap.
A spark flew out, disappearing in an instant.
Jiang Ye paid it no mind, swinging his pickaxe and continuing to dig.
Snap! Another crisp sound.
More sparks flew out, emitting a flash!
Jiang Ye stopped.
He squatted down, peering closely at the bottom of the pit.
Some dark stones were revealed, all about the size of eggs. The largest was only the size of a duck egg, embedded in the brown soil.
The luster on the surface of the stones was very much like the lead core of a 2B pencil.
Jiang Ye lay on the ground, bringing his nose close to the black stones to smell them.
The smell was potent!
That was right, the ore he had smelled was these black stones!
But what were these stones?
Graphite? Lead? Coal?
Many ores looked alike. If one wasn't a geologist or an experienced miner, it was difficult to determine what it was from its appearance. Jiang Ye certainly couldn't figure it out.
But whatever it was, it was definitely valuable, so he had to dig it out first!
Jiang Ye slowed his excavation, using a small knife to meticulously clear away the dirt, extracting the egg-sized black stones one by one.
One!
Three!
Five!
Ten!
By dusk, Jiang Ye had cleared all the black ore from the bottom of the pit. They were all oval stones the size of eggs and duck eggs.
He counted them twice, for a total of 20.
Not bad. In terms of quantity alone, it was a better haul than yesterday.
He had no pockets, and he didn't want to make extra trips. After several attempts, Jiang Ye finally managed to cradle all 20 small ore stones in his arms.
He carefully climbed out of the pit and headed back to the base.
The sunset was like blood, with the distant mountain ranges bathed in a golden-red glow. Beautiful and desolate.
Such a scene stirred Jiang Ye's poetic muse. He stopped and recited loudly:
Ah!
The sunset!
So red!
Then he opened his mouth for a long time, but couldn't come up with a fourth line. The poem was complete. Jiang Ye was quite satisfied. It was good enough to manage three lines on his first attempt at poetry. He couldn't be Li Bai overnight, could he?
He continued walking, his gaze fixed on the black ore in his arms.
The more he looked, the more worried he became.
What kind of ore were these twenty dark, small stones?
How could he sell them?
Yesterday's emeralds were easier to sell. After all, many people recognized them. Even if they didn't, their beauty was obvious at a glance; even a fool could tell they were valuable.
But these that he had spent all day digging out today had a poor appearance. If one didn't look closely, they seemed like ordinary black stones.
If they didn't sell, his entire day's work would be in vain.
Jiang Ye desperately searched his mind for any knowledge of ores he had heard of, trying to identify this pile of stones.
He felt like he had seen them before, but he couldn't be sure.
Lead? The color wasn't right. Graphite? The weight wasn't right. Coal? Much harder than coal.
It felt like returning home for the New Year and seeing many distant relatives of aunts and uncles. They looked familiar, but he couldn't recall their names.
Finally, he reached the entrance of the base.
Unable to use his hands, Jiang Ye carefully nudged the hatch open with his shoulder.
As soon as the hatch opened, the pile of ore in his arms swayed precariously and finally couldn't hold on, slipping from his embrace!
Clatter! A pile of stones rolled all over the ground.
As the stones hit the metal cabin walls, large sparks flew out, glowing like embers. The cabin lights were off, and it was dim. In the darkness, the sparks from the falling stones appeared exceptionally bright.
Jiang Ye paused for a moment, then suddenly understood what these black stones were.
Flint!
In common terms, firestones!
They produced so many sparks upon impact, they were definitely flint!
Jiang Ye was instantly overjoyed. Why? This was a vital necessity! Currently, no colony commander had anything to start a fire. However, to survive for an extended period, fire was indispensable.
He crawled into the cabin and closed the hatch tightly.
While tearing open a packet of biscuits to fill his long-starved stomach, Jiang Ye opened the control panel and entered the chat channel.
Evening was the peak time for chatting, and the channel was flooded with messages:
Demon King: Ate three children today, still very hungry. Anyone have food? I can trade an axe.
Hacker d: It was so hot today, I only have a small cup of water left. Does anyone have water?
Little White Who's Starving: I'm back to begging. Yesterday I got "Thank You for Playing," and now I have no food or drink. Is there a kind soul to save me? Wuwuwu, I'm really dying.
Jiang Ye scrolled through dozens of messages, all asking for food and water.
This was within his expectations, as most people didn't have enough food and water.
Many people wanted to trade tools and weapons for food and water, and the prices were much higher than yesterday!
A few IDs Jiang Ye remembered had wanted to trade a bow for ten loaves of bread last night, or a set of farming tools for twenty bottles of water.
Tonight, they were only offering one loaf of bread or one bottle of water.
The prices for food and water in the entire chat channel had basically increased more than tenfold!
Jiang Ye looked at the storage box in his base. He still had 9 cups of cappuccino, 6 bottles of water, four packets of biscuits, and three baguettes. Compared to those who were starving, he was practically swimming in wealth!
If he were to trade this food and water, he could get a large number of tools and weapons.
However, Jiang Ye was unwilling to sell.
The greater the shortage of food and water, the more he needed to stockpile.
Because every day, everyone was consuming more food and drinking more water. The total amount was constantly decreasing, and the shortage would become more severe!
Jiang Ye typed silently and sent a sales message to the chat channel:
For sale: 16 pieces of flint, also known as firestones.
Price negotiable, come with sincerity. Serious buyers only.
Jiang Ye had already prepared himself. If no one was interested, he would, like last night, spout a lot about the value of flint and trick people into buying. With so many people, surely some would be fooled, or rather, persuaded.
However, tonight's sales turned out to be surprisingly smooth!
As soon as he posted the message, the chat channel became lively:
Meng'er: Boss Jiang Ye is here again! Got more ore? Da Feng Novel Network
Bookworm: Flint? I want it, I want it!
v: I'll buy two! Boss, check your private messages!
Really So Lonely: Damn, this is good stuff! I want to buy two to start fires!
Jiang Ye's private message inbox was constantly pinging. Soon, nearly a hundred people came to buy flint.
There were a total of 20 pieces of flint. Jiang Ye planned to keep 4 for himself and sell the remaining 16.
Most buyers weren't purchasing just one piece; they were buying in pairs. Jiang Ye didn't bother haggling much and directly chose the highest offers for transactions.
The first two pieces were sold to someone with the ID "v" in exchange for two 1L bottles of water.
He then sold four pieces to someone with the ID "Teacher of Toilet Paper" in exchange for a samurai sword.
Jiang Ye drew out the samurai sword and examined it against the light. The blade was sharp, and the body was solid. It should be a very handy weapon.
Even if he wasn't cutting people, it would be very useful for cutting other things!
When he went out mining tomorrow, he would wear the samurai sword at his waist, which would give him peace of mind.
If he encountered any aliens, he would draw his sword and chop them!
Cao County Citizen, whom he had traded with yesterday, returned. Jiang Ye thought he had squeezed him dry yesterday, but he still had capital.
Cao County Citizen: Boss Jiang Ye! Do you remember me?
Jiang Ye: Of course, I remember. You still owe me ten cups of cappuccino.
Cao County Citizen: Ahahahahaha, yes, boss, your memory is excellent. I don't have cappuccino right now, but I have a bag of magical seeds here. I'd like to trade them with boss for ten pieces of flint.
Jiang Ye: What the heck are magical seeds?