"Indeed! It really is it!"
Lin Yue held the small, crystal-like grayish-white fragment in his hand, excitement surging in his heart!
"I never thought it really was this!"
Lin Yue turned to look at the tall walls, and then at the vast ground, and the abyss-like presence beneath his feet.
He finally understood one thing.
That is why the Lizardmen would bring so many people here to guard and have so many beggars mining.
Yes, it’s all nitrate, the one that’s used as gunpowder ingredient!
Lin Yue looked up at the massive white stone rising several tens of meters above the ground, surely that entire block is nitrate too.
The enormous mine pit below also proved that these Lizardmen have been mining for quite a long time, perhaps since the beggars first appeared.
He recalled the time when he was first blasted by the Lizardmen with explosives in the main chamber of the first Underground Ruins; it seems like ages ago.
When mixed with charcoal and sulfur in proper proportions, it can make the most basic black gunpowder.
Originally, this would have been unthinkable for creatures from the Stone Age like the Lizardmen, who are extremely afraid of fire. Gunpowder is utterly their nemesis.
No doubt, this is the light of civilization brought to them by beggars, and these beggars must have existed not long after crossing over to this Otherworld.
Not after he assumed it was right after the Ancient Gate in the Underground Ruins opened.
The skeletons in those big jars are proof of this.
If that’s the case, it might explain a certain puzzle.
Since the first catastrophe, the decline in the total human population has slowed to an extreme degree, even excessively so.
Although part of it might be because the surviving humans have been getting stronger and learning how to better cope with disasters, it’s also possible that some discovered they could hide underground to avoid the cataclysms.
Moreover, the Lizardmen underground might provide them food and have abundant underground water resources for their consumption.
Lin Yue recalled, since the third mass merge into groups of ten thousand, there weren’t so many survivors complaining about water and food on the global channel. When there were, it was mainly people in large Refugee Villages, like Xing Lingfeng and Fei Yue.
Except for their group in the Desert, many people in other places didn’t worry about water at all.
Lin Yue once wondered if other groups were simply luckier, nestled near big rivers and lakes; but now it seems, part of the reason might be that a number of humans had entered underground, becoming beggars, and sold underground river water to the surface in exchange for supplies?
Seems like it’s not impossible, right?
As to why the Nitrate Ore appeared here, he didn’t want to think about it.
Anything is possible in the Otherworld; if there was a reason, it would be that this Ore Mountain, just like the Natural Sulfur Ore Mountain, was placed here by the "system" to make human survival harder, pushing civilization further.
But now, it had become a breeding ground for the destruction of humanity.
Just think, what would happen if a Lizardmen army rushed at a Refugee Village with explosives for everyone?
Just a small amount could cause a place like Liu Kai’s Refugee Village to collapse instantly!
Lin Yue looked at the looming roofs of the Shelters below, where beggars served the Lizardmen’s command.
Nearly a thousand beggars were here.
And perhaps more as time goes by.
"Though I’d love to flatten this place with Katyusha in a single wave, the downside is... extracting here later would be difficult."
Lin Yue pondered what to do next.
Katyusha would indeed be powerful enough to turn the gathered three thousand Lizardmen and beggars into ashes but would also ignite the nitrate!
Nitrate is something that burns fiercely under high temperatures...
One round from Katyusha and this nitrate mine would become a fiery mountain, literally.
Sure, Katyusha could instantaneously eliminate a large number of Lizardmen and beggars, but then he’d have to give up the nitrates as well.
The Lizardmen mine nitrate to create black gunpowder and various explosives; they’ve even stolen from Natural Sulfur Ore Mountain, for obvious reasons.
These Lizardmen want nitrates, and he has the exact same idea.
He already stockpiled enough Natural Sulfur Ore, and charcoal is easily available in the Survival Points Mall and world trade marketplace.
Yet, he’s been held up for a long time due to the lack of nitrate needed to produce black powder.
He even considered nitrocellulose for bullets due to the shortage, and if it weren’t for Xing Lingfeng having some, he might have been stuck here, unable to use many advanced thermal weapons.
"Seems like I’ll have to take another approach." Lin Yue’s gaze turned cold as he looked at the nearest Shelter.
Can’t go in large movements, so he’ll deal with them one by one.
As for the method, it doesn’t require much.
The mine pit is big, and there aren’t many Lizardmen patrols; they’re all patrolling up and down the mountain paths in the mine. He took out the Sighting Scope and counted slightly, seemed like there were 10 teams, each with about 20 members.
The nearest team wasn’t particularly close, and as long as no loud noise was made, they wouldn’t come over.
Lin Yue glanced at the wall, and to his relief, the deaths of the two Lizardmen hadn’t been noticed.
Scouting his surroundings, he moved towards the Shelter made of lumber.
He arrived at the door and first listened for sounds inside.
A series of piercing snores sounded from inside, with no light whatsoever leaking out.
He gently pushed the wooden door, discovering it wasn’t locked from the inside.
Goodness, are they just that confident in the Lizardmen’s guards? Do these reptiles mean the world to you?
The door creaked slightly, and Lin Yue paused, but the snoring inside didn’t cease.
He slipped inside, and through the Full-Color Night Vision Device, he saw the 40-square-meter room was divided into six compartments connected by a central passage.
After circling around, he realized there were only six people here.
Six beggars... at least 6 cubic meters of Storage Space.
He pulled out an MP5, then attached an infrared Sighting Scope and suppressor.
Though using a dagger would have been faster and safer, Lin Yue didn’t want to.
Beggars’ blood is too filthy!
He aimed at one of their foreheads, and gently pulled the trigger, the snoring lessened by one.
The second, the third, the fourth...
Lin Yue’s gaze was ice cold. Although there was indeed some noise, it didn’t matter. Dealing with one Human Traitor reduced a human threat by one.
Soon all six had stopped breathing in their sleep, and Lin Yue collected the total of 9 cubic meters of Storage Space they left behind.
"You didn’t lose; at least you weren’t taken down while awake."
He exited the Shelter, heading briskly towards the next one.