Chapter 116: The Power of a Scholar, Ninth Stage
Protests were futile. Ten minutes later, Ren Zhong and the team, led by the robot, arrived at the dorm suite on the second floor of the pyramid.
The suite consisted of eight bedrooms and two living rooms, covering over four hundred square meters.
There was a large living room and a small dining room.
Six bedrooms each had their own bathroom, along with a kitchen, gym, and home theater.
In a way, Junren Yu had not lied; the logistical arrangements were indeed thorough.
Though the living conditions provided by Morning Glory Corporation could not compare to a manor, they were quite comfortable. Even Ren Zhong, who was considered a dead weight, had a private room.
“Everyone rest for now. In one hour, each of you will enter the wristwatch space to study the new mining operation manual. The exam must start no later than 3 a.m., and you must pass and obtain your professional license before waking at 6 a.m. tomorrow,” Lin Wang instructed in the living room.
The team nodded in unison.
Lin Wang continued, “Ren Zhong, Song Qianlian, this is your first time working with the new mining operations. Don’t underestimate this exam. The total score is 1000 points. Though 600 is passing and allows mining, the other four average around 800. I expect you two to score at least 700. The team’s average affects the mining area allocated by Morning Glory, which directly impacts our income. We are here to work hard and make money, not to be assigned to some remote corner to waste time.”
Song Qianlian seemed a bit nervous. “Understood, Captain.”
Ren Zhong clenched his fist, making a passionate gesture. “Captain, rest assured, I won’t be a burden!”
“Good. Then, dismissed. Return to your rooms. Pan Fenglian, Sima Wan, come to my room first.”
...
The operations manual was divided into three major parts.
The first part introduced the Morning Glory mining area, focusing on the three-dimensional exploration map.
This map was not much different from the one created over two centuries ago for the Starfire mining area—accuracy of ore content was the same, decimal precision identical, and the scanning resolution for 3D distribution matched. Even the industrial mapping standards and annotations, which were era-specific, remained unchanged.
From this 3D exploration map, Ren Zhong gleaned several insights:
First, after two and a half centuries, the technological level of geological exploration and mining on Origin Star had barely improved.
Second, the Morning Glory mining area was twice the size and ore reserve of the Starfire mining area—an unusually large deposit defying geological evolution norms. Its resource types also differed; while Starfire was mainly molybdenum-iron ore, Morning Glory contained a vast array of metals, mixing rare earths, non-ferrous, and ferrous metals.
Third, a logical conclusion from the first two points: two and a half centuries ago, Morning Glory mining area did not exist. It was certain. Some unknown technology must have catalyzed the formation of this deposit, which contradicted existing scientific understanding and violated the conservation of matter.
Fourth, the distribution of ore veins was peculiar, exhibiting an inverse radial pattern.
The underground mining area resembled a hemisphere, like a large bowl embedded in the earth.
Ray-like conical ore veins extended inward from all directions.
The tips of all metallic aggregate cones pointed to a single spot.
That spot on the surface was exactly where the pyramid’s mobile mining center station was located.
It was as if someone had placed a giant super magnet on the surface that attracted metal atoms from all directions, slowly pulling them in to form the bowl-shaped inverse radial pattern of magnetic fluid.
Of course, this center station had only recently been flown in and landed there after Amethyst Mining decided to open the site.
The pyramid center station did not create the mining area—it was something else.
After studying the exploration map, Ren Zhong quickly skimmed through the second part of the manual.
It contained the usage manual and product description of the Spiral Rock Tunnel Borer, specifications for kangaroo leather pouches, and guidelines for collecting ore source stones.
Since the latter two were already within Ren Zhong’s knowledge base, he focused on the Spiral Rock Tunnel Borer.
Within half an hour, using his eidetic memory and rapid logical analysis, he mastered the device thoroughly.
Truly a product of an advanced civilization, the Spiral Rock Tunnel Borer boasted drill bits claimed to never wear out.
The machine could tear through rock and metallic ore effortlessly, like slicing tofu, at an underground tunneling speed of 50 kilometers per hour. A single charge allowed continuous tunneling for 3000 kilometers.
Additionally, it featured a communication system called Ghost Particle Communication for real-time underground contact, with latency and data throughput matching the wristwatch’s performance, extremely stable with almost no connection loss.
The durable casing provided excellent protection, capable of completely withstanding fierce attacks from level-four Wasteland Beasts.
Of course, it had a flaw: no offensive weapons were installed, only sturdy armor.
Slaying the Wasteland Beasts was up to the professionals themselves.
...
In short, the Spiral Rock Tunnel Borer was highly advanced and technologically rich, but frankly, Ren Zhong felt a bit disappointed.
The manual exemplified the nature of a reference book—no explanation of principles, just a foolproof operation guide.
He learned it very easily, as if studying linear equations in elementary school.
After finishing, he checked the time—still before 5:30 p.m., less than an hour had passed.
According to Lin Wang’s instructions, the others were still resting.
He could take the exam now and likely score full marks.
He could, but there was no need.
Still, Ren Zhong did not waste time. He focused on the brief description of the Ghost Particle Communicator in the manual, pondering and mulling it over repeatedly.
At a little past 7 p.m., Ren Zhong got up and went to the living room.
On the dining table were six food boxes, each labeled with a name.
Undoubtedly, Lin Wang’s box was the largest.
Ren Zhong took his box, returned to his room, and finished eating in no time.
He then lay down, activated the wristwatch functions, and opened the third part of the manual, which detailed management regulations for the new mining operations.
He concentrated on the regulations concerning ore source stone management.
In summary:
Because ore source stones were highly valuable, miners could only receive Wasteland Beast pouches upon entering the tunnel borer to start their daily work. Every pouch had to be submitted immediately after finishing mining and exiting the machine.
Moreover, after work daily, regardless of whether the pouch contained ore source stones, everyone had to pass through a high-sensitivity full-body scanner to check for unauthorized pouches smuggled in to steal ore source stones.
Under such high sensitivity scanning, even the boldest thieves carrying hidden pouches would be exposed.
The pouch could shield over 99.999% of radiation leakage from the ore source stones, with only minimal leakage undetectable by ordinary means—but not by the high-sensitivity scanner.
As for carrying stones directly in pants pockets? That was sheer folly and a death wish. Beyond the harm from prolonged radiation exposure, the radiation intensity would trigger alarms like a blazing bonfire in a dark forest, detectable from hundreds of meters away—even without walking through the scanner.
Furthermore, without pouch protection, ore source stones would evaporate like dry ice within ten minutes of removal from their origin.
With such stringent security, no one dared to smuggle ore source stones.
In fact, on Origin Star, there had been no smuggling incidents for nearly a decade.
Even if someone intended to steal and dared to do so, it was mostly futile.
Finding ore source stones during new mining was a rare lottery-like event, with odds as slim as five in a million.
The true production of ore source stones occurred years after clearing all Wasteland Beasts, when the center station’s special technologies suppressed most beast births, entering a normal mining phase.
After reading this, Ren Zhong glanced at his level-three exoskeleton suit hanging on the rack, his gaze lingering on the chest armor as he fell into thought.
His Wasteland Beast pouch was concealed inside the energy-shielded lining of the chest armor.
Having studied the exploration map of Morning Glory, he was confident in applying the theoretical framework he had verified in abandoned mines to calculate the magnetic force line network model of the Morning Glory mining area.
Others relied on luck to find ore source stones; he held the strategy.
He would have ample time to precisely probe each magnetic node and follow the map to greatly increase his chances of finding ore source stones.
But how to smuggle them out required careful planning.
...
At 3:30 a.m., Ren Zhong and the others began their exams almost simultaneously, working slowly and intermittently.
He devoted much of his attention to devising a plan.
At 5:30 a.m., Ren Zhong submitted his exam.
The score appeared instantly.
858 points.
Excellent. Everything was under control.
Five seconds later, a call from Lin Wang came through the slumber space.
He answered.
“Ren Zhong, you’re truly smart. Well done. My score is 888—a lucky number. You’re only 30 points behind, very good. The others haven’t finished yet. Hopefully, they perform well. If we get assigned to the lower mining area, the team’s daily income will exceed 150,000. Of course, the lower area mainly has level-four Wasteland Beasts. Hunting them will be difficult for you. But you don’t need to leave the tunnel borer to fight. Just confirm the beasts’ locations and report to us. This time, you’re not a combatant but intelligence personnel. I will consider your rewards separately.”
“Understood, Captain.”
“Good.”
Lin Wang ended the call.
Ren Zhong smiled slightly.
888? Heh, I wish you fortune.
Poor mortal.
You know nothing of the power of a nine-rank scholar.
At 6 a.m., all scores were in.
Bei Lihui: 812.
Sima Wan: 831.
Pan Fenglian: 855.
Song Qianlian: 701.
The overall average was 824.17—excellent, just barely edging out third place, ranking second among eight professional teams, with no one below 700 in the team.
Lin Wang achieved his goal, sharing the lowest layer of the mining area with the first-ranked team, each responsible for half.
Ren Zhong breathed a longer sigh of relief.
He had deliberately held back, performing precise score control.
That worthless Song Qianlian barely passed with 701, just one point above the captain’s 700 threshold, causing the team’s average to be not as high.
If not for that, Song Qianlian’s muscle-bound exoskeleton warrior would have seriously dragged the team down.
Luck was still on Ren Zhong’s side.
He wondered how Lin Wang’s previous team’s average compared.
Given Xing Ming’s intelligence, probably only comparable to Bei Lihui, likely placing third and thus missing out on the lowest layer.
Yes, I carried Lin Wang.
My joining warped spacetime, drastically altering history’s course.
Ren Zhong suddenly snapped awake.
The horrific Mantis Slayer team massacre was still vivid in his mind.
They had to be careful in the upcoming mining. The fact that Lin Wang’s last team overturned their vehicle on the return trip and had no casualties during mining didn’t mean they had some kind of invincible time-line power. They couldn’t act recklessly.
...
The butterfly fluttering wings across the time rift stirred once more.
This time, it would whip up a gale and ignite a prairie fire.
[Recommendation channel: Tonight I’ll push harder, aiming to complete chapter three. Thanks to all loyal supporters!]
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