Sniffing the scent, he searched the shore.
The vicinity was all gray soil, appearing like black sesame paste covering the ground. There were few stones, small as eggs.
Jiang Ye found the strongest scent and began digging at his feet!
Gray soil was continuously unearthed, piling up.
A small mound became a large one, a large mound became a small hill, and a small hill grew into a large hill.
Jiang Ye had already dug three meters deep but still hadn't seen any stones.
It was all loose soil, like black sesame paste.
He suddenly doubted if this gray soil itself was the ore.
He grabbed a handful of soil and sniffed it.
No, he tossed it aside.
After a short rest, he continued digging.
At five meters deep, he finally hit something hard.
Jiang Ye switched to a pickaxe, smashing it a few times, and dislodged a piece of ore the size of a human head.
The ore was white overall, but its cross-section revealed a radiating golden hue!
The gold was exceptionally beautiful, like golden needles, as if a cluster of something had grown or exploded forth.
Jiang Ye leaned in and sniffed. The rich mineral scent confirmed it; this was the stuff.
He returned to the fishing boat with it and placed it in the trading bay.
The scan results appeared:
[Item: Needle Nickel Ore]
[Item Description: Needle nickel ore forms radiating crystals. Nickel is often used in alloys and is also found in meteorites or volcanic sublimates.]
[Estimated Value: 30 Yuan]
Jiang Ye was disappointed. The ore he had toiled to dig up was so worthless.
However, he still recorded the location's coordinates.
After all, judging by the intensity of the scent, needle nickel ore was quite abundant in this area. It could serve as a backup mining site, or he could let the mining team investigate.
He tapped the screen and continued north.
After sailing for half an hour, another strong mineral scent appeared.
The planet's ore was truly abundant; he encountered a deposit every so often. It was also possible that with the increased utilization of different stones, many types of rocks were now classified as ore.
Jiang Ye carefully discerned the scent of this deposit, which resembled frozen wafer biscuits with a hint of citrus.
He stopped the boat and went ashore.
As soon as he landed, Jiang Ye froze.
The scent was overwhelming, indicating it was very close.
He looked down at his feet. The ground was covered with yellowish-black stones, their surfaces coated with white powder, resembling old droppings in the snow.
Bending down and sniffing, he confirmed it: an open-pit ore deposit.
Jiang Ye picked up a piece and immediately took it back to the boat for examination:
[Item: Monazite]
[Item Description: Monazite is a phosphate, with three types: cerium monazite, lanthanum monazite, and neodymium monazite. Its colors range from pale yellow, reddish-brown, brown, pale green, or near white. It is suitable for commercial development and has wide-ranging uses, being relatively scarce.]
[Estimated Value: 120 Yuan]
Jiang Ye breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, he had found an exploitable mine.
However, he had never heard of this stone before. Monazite? A solitary stone?
In an instant, Jiang Ye conjured up many stories to explain the name, some of which could be quite amusing.
He noted the coordinates and the fishing boat set sail for home.
Over the next week, Jiang Ye expanded the mining team to twenty people, all recruited from the town's farmers.
The twenty miners were divided into two teams. One team mined the fir stone ore, supervised by Shao Wan. The other team mined the monazite, supervised by Jiang Ye.
Both Shao Wan and Jiang Ye carried communication tablets, allowing them to contact each other at any time.
Jiang Ye's account balance also grew day by day.
Monday: 27.8 million Yuan
Tuesday: 38.5 million Yuan
Wednesday: 49.1 million Yuan
Thursday: 59.98 million Yuan
By Sunday morning, it had reached 89,702,000 Yuan!
Jiang Ye didn't mention taking the weekend off, nor did the miners. At six o'clock on Sunday morning, everyone assembled and set sail.
The fir stone had been depleted, leaving only dregs, not worth sending ten people to work on.
Therefore, the fishing boat's first stop was directly to the needle nickel ore.
This mine wasn't particularly valuable, but it would be a shame not to mine it.
At eight fifty in the morning, the fishing boat docked.
Shao Wan led ten miners ashore.
Jiang Ye didn't delay. He immediately set sail, heading north to find the monazite mine. The monazite deposit was quite extensive, covering an area of at least five to six football fields, and would require a long time to mine.
It seemed to be another monotonous day: mine, sell, mine, sell, repeating for hours.
But just ten minutes after the fishing boat headed north, something happened.
Jiang Ye's communication tablet rang.
As soon as the tablet rang, his heart rate immediately accelerated.
According to his agreement with Shao Wan, they were supposed to call every two hours to confirm the situation. But the call had come early, meaning something must have happened on their end!
He answered, and Shao Wan's furrowed brow appeared on the screen.
"What's going on?" Jiang Ye asked.
"That needle nickel mine, it seems to be a meteorite," Shao Wan said.
This statement didn't surprise Jiang Ye. When he had first found the needle nickel ore, the scan results had mentioned its presence in meteorites or volcanic sublimates, so it wasn't strange for it to be a meteorite.
But Shao Wan's next words made his heart race again.
"We used the excavator to chip away a bit of the meteorite's outer shell, and we saw some egg-like objects. They might be alien creature eggs," Shao Wan said seriously.
After speaking, he turned the camera.
Jiang Ye, who had been sitting while taking the video call, stood up abruptly upon seeing what was on the screen.
The meteorite's cross-section was at least five meters long. The deeper it went, the darker the color became, with the innermost part being a deep black, like soy sauce.
At least fifty eggs, each the size of a mortar shell, were embedded in the core.
The eggs weren't white or yellow, but a particularly beautiful blue.
Jiang Ye recognized this shade of blue; it was Tiffany blue, a color associated with happiness in Western culture. Of course, "Western" here referred to the West of Earth many years ago; the West no longer existed today.
Among Earth's creatures, Jiang Ye only knew that robin eggs were this color, but they were certainly not as gigantic as mortar shells. Such large eggs would burst a robin's backside.
Furthermore, the arrangement of the eggs was unique, not randomly embedded but spaced every ten centimeters or so, forming a perfect fan shape, a truly exquisite mathematical pattern.
Shao Wan's face reappeared on the screen. "So, what should we do with these eggs? Should we pry them all out? Should we crack one open to see what's inside?"
"Don't do anything yet," Jiang Ye said urgently, his fingers tapping the screen simultaneously. "I've already started returning. I'll be back soon. You guys should retreat to a safe distance. Who knows what's inside those eggs?"
"Okay, we'll wait," Shao Wan nodded and hung up.
The fishing boat turned back, and Jiang Ye's mind was in turmoil.
Alien creature eggs, encased in a meteorite.
Was the meteorite naturally formed, or was it a stony cradle?
He picked up his tablet, deciding to ask Li Nannan. The Air Force should know more about alien creatures.
He found Li Nannan in his contact list and tapped it.
However, the call didn't go through. Instead, a line of text popped up:
[The user you are calling is in a no-signal area.]
Jiang Ye scratched his head and gave up.
When he arrived, he would use the trading bay to scan those eggs. Perhaps then he would know what they were.