About half an hour later, the intelligence system on the Furious Tiger Mining Cart issued another alert.
"Radiation reaction of 'Mithril Ore' detected on the fragment at the left coordinates xxxxx, with a preliminary estimate of over 'ten tons'."
Song Chi's first instinct was to ignore it, but he then realized what he heard.
"Mithril? As much as ten tons?"
If he remembered correctly, mithril was a resource even more valuable than electrum. The average price of electrum was around one point of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin per ton, whereas the price of mithril was as high as five points of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin per ton.
If it really was over ten tons of mithril, it was definitely worth mining. Don't think that fifty points of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin is little.
The reason why Song Chi could have one thousand points of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin as start-up capital was that he had two parents who were also Torch Ship Captains. A typical Torch Warship returning from an exploration of the Alien Star Domain would usually gain about one hundred points of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin.
The fifty points he could get from this find would already be half of that amount.
Without much hesitation, he maneuvered the Cang Qiong towards the left, carefully moving towards the coordinates where the small fragment suspected of containing mithril was located.
Song Chi was in no rush. As he moved forward, he constantly checked the radar.
After reaching level 4 in the Guidance Technique, the enhancements he gained were not limited to his physique—his spiritual strength was significantly bolstered as well. Simple multitasking was just basic for him. It was said that at higher levels of the Guidance Technique, managing ten things at once, or even more, was not out of the question.
Although the standard patrol radar lacked the ability to detect life signals, it could still pick up on high-rank stellar sea creatures moving at full speed or the approach of special warships from alien civilizations within the Starry Sea.
However, the chances of encountering a high-rank stellar sea creature or an advanced alien civilization during the first welfare deployment phase were very, very slim. With no other incidents occurring, the Cang Qiong soon arrived at the target fragment.
This was a small fragment, tens of meters long and far larger in volume than the Cang Qiong itself. Song Chi didn't rush to deploy the mining cart. Instead, he had the Cang Qiong circle around the area to rule out any dangers. Only after ensuring safety did he stop the shuttle on the surface of the target fragment.
After that, it was out of his hands. The intelligence system on board the Furious Tiger Type I Floating Land Mining Cart automatically took control, leaving the Cang Qiong's bay to the position of strongest radiation and commenced mining operations on its own.
Inside the Cang Qiong, Song Chi quietly waited. He appeared expressionless on the surface, but deep down, he was extremely satisfied. The Furious Tiger mining cart may have been expensive, but its efficiency in operation was quite impressive.
If other newly awakened Torch Ship Captains had to mine manually, extracting these ten tons of mithril would take at least five hours. However, with the efficiency of the Furious Tiger mining cart, it would take at most forty minutes to finish the job.
As Song Chi predicted, thirty-five minutes later, the Furious Tiger Type I Floating Land Mining Cart returned to the Cang Qiong's bay, carrying ten tons of mithril, not even a full forty minutes later.
Song Chi quickly visited the Ruins Market, dumped the ten tons of mithril in the vacant area, and continued his exploration.
The Cang Qiong was still slowly navigating through the Fragment Belt. Since the ten tons of mithril, no other find had prompted him to take action a second time. Either the value was too low or the quantity too small.
However, the recent detection of over eight tons of electrum raw ore by the prospector did pique his interest. Although refining the raw ore would result in some loss, he could still sell it for about five or six points of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin—it wasn't much, but even a mosquito's leg is meat. It was better than aimlessly meandering around.
Amidst his dilemma, the intelligent system of the mining cart once again chimed in with a reminder.
"A moderate 'Copperite' radiation zone has been detected, with a conservative estimate of the copperite reserves exceeding five hundred tons. The fragment coordinates are xxxxx."
Song Chi's eyebrows rose, and he quickly pulled himself out of his quandary. At the same time, detailed information about copperite surfaced in his mind.
Copperite is a low-rank metal resource, typically priced around one tassel of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin for five tons, not very valuable.
However, despite that, the quantity is considerable. Conservatively over five hundred tons, if fully mined, could fetch over 100 tassels of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin.
If other low-rank Torch Warships came across it, they would likely not bother with it, not to mention whether they carry a Furious Tiger Mining Cart at all times. Even if they could mine it all, figuring out how to transport it back would also be a problem.
But Song Chi was different, with Zhu Tian Ruins Market and a Furious Tiger Type 1 Floating Land Mining Cart at his disposal, he was determined to acquire these hundreds of tons of copperite.
No sooner said than done, just like the first time, he circled the target fragment to ensure there was no danger before deploying the mining cart below to start the mining operations autonomously.
The extraction of several hundred tons of copperite would not be difficult, but obviously, it could not be completed quickly. Not wanting to waste this time, Song Chi removed the Mining Cart Specialized Prospecting Instrument to use during the mining cart's operation.
He planned to take advantage of this interval while the mining cart was working to prospect the surrounding area in advance. That way, as soon as the Furious Tiger Mining Cart finished mining this batch of copperite, they could immediately move on to the next task.
Even though removing the Prospector would somewhat affect the mining speed of the Furious Tiger Mining Cart, after weighing the options, operating them separately for a while was the more cost-effective strategy.
Before leaving, not entirely at ease, Song Chi left three Fire Peony Soldier Figurines to guard the fragment to prevent the considerable commotion from the work of the Furious Tiger Mining Cart from attracting the attention of unknown creatures.
Several hours later, hundreds of kilometers away from the fragment where the Furious Tiger Mining Cart was located, the Cang Qiong slightly jolted as the Prospector sent out another prompt.
Without the active reminders from the vehicular intelligence, Song Chi had to leave the pilot seat to check manually.
"Mercury crystals, ten kilograms. This stuff is even more valuable than mithril, but alas, the quantity is too small, not worth mining."
Just then, the patrol radar on the console behind him suddenly started emitting a series of alarms. Song Chi, with quick reflexes, rushed back to the pilot console, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the radar and projection screens.
He quickly identified the source of the radar alarms. On the radar display, out in the Fragment Belt thousands of kilometers away, hundreds of previously stationary fragments had almost simultaneously undergone a significant shift.
This was clearly not normal; otherwise, the patrol radar would not have set off an alarm.
Song Chi's eyes narrowed slightly, his expression solemn; such commotion could not have been caused by Zero Rank energy fluctuations.
Thinking this, he instinctively shrank his neck, unwilling to get involved in the hustle.
ps: Didn't make it into this week's recommendations, so will have to wait until next week, hence just one release today.