"Those without mining skills keep watch; those who can mine start working immediately. Remember to record everything. This time it’s a group activity, and all mineral resources must be turned in. We’ll convert them into money based on points later."
Those skilled in mining swiftly pulled out their pickaxes and began to dig. Although the ore had to be handed over, it was, after all, a chance to improve their mining experience.
The inexperienced were grouped and dispersed around the area, especially near the entrances of several tunnels leading to unknown regions, where guards were stationed.
While the others mined, Hidden Dragon summoned several team leaders to him.
"You’ve all looked at the map of the mines, haven’t you?"
Xiao Jie responded. He had studied the map of the mines repeatedly over the past couple of days. The layout of the mine was extremely complex, with many areas yet unexplored. From the entrance to the Dumping Area there was only one path, but from the Dumping Area, there were four or five forked paths.
Most of these forked paths had not been deeply explored, except for one which, according to the map, led to a forked mining tunnel with several mining spots and some cave maggots—a somewhat known quantity.
The remaining paths were theirs to explore.
"Later, we’ll need to leave a team in the Dumping Area. They’ll mine and must ensure our retreat path is clear, constantly clearing any newly-spawned Mining Zombies."
Salted Fish—this team will be your responsibility."
"Don’t worry, Captain. I’ll ensure the retreat path is clear."
"That’s good. So far, we haven’t had any casualties, which is good. Let’s keep it that way. We’ll pick one path and explore a bit further, record the newly explored map, and if all goes well, today’s activity will be deemed successful."
Xiao Jie was slightly taken aback. Was that it? They hadn’t gone very far.
However, he understood that in a game of death , every step had to be carefully considered. Progressing gradually was the right approach. Mastering the maps of the areas they had explored before continuing was essential.
This kind of development and exploration of the mine was definitely a long-term endeavor; it wasn’t something that could be finished all at once. The risk would be too great.
Still, he couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. It seemed unlikely they would encounter the Corpse King today.
"Right, let’s rest up and recover our energy. Then we depart—and yes, record the monster’s respawn time."
No sooner had they finished the discussion than cheers came from the other miners.
"Haha, I found Red Copper Ore!"
Lucky you, Xiao Jie thought. Red Copper Ore was a special ore. While ordinary ores like iron and copper could only forge plain weapons, crafting a weapon of green quality or higher required rare ores.
Red Copper Ore was relatively common among rare ores but still worth several hundred cents a piece.
Soon someone else discovered Black Iron Ore, the most valuable among the ordinary ores.
Xiao Jie silently calculated that just the mining spots in this Dumping Area could produce at least ten or so taels of ore a day, which translated to several hundred thousand RMB. This wasn’t a one-shot deal like recapturing a village; as long as they maintained control, it could generate a steady output.
As they mined and waited for monsters to respawn, nearly half an hour passed before a Mining Zombie suddenly emerged from the darkness.
"There it is! There it is!"
"No, it’s 36 minutes," Xiao Jie corrected.
"My record shows 36 minutes too," Little White Dragon added.
Hidden Dragon pondered for a moment, "If the respawn time is 36 minutes, let’s play it safe and count it as 30 minutes. We’ll advance for fifteen minutes then turn back immediately, no matter what, ensuring we aren’t trapped by monsters respawning behind us."
Xiao Jie silently nodded; the strategy made sense.
It just wasn’t clear how far fifteen minutes would take them.
Hidden Dragon told Salted Fish: "This area is yours now. Groups 456 stay behind, everyone else—move out! Remember, only fifteen minutes."