At 6:40 in the morning, the hectic preparations drew to a close.
Ren Zhong and five others took an eight-meter diameter cylindrical hover elevator all the way down, descending nearly 300 meters underground.
The doors of the cylindrical elevator opened, revealing a spacious and bright enormous cylindrical hall.
On the circular wall of the hall, sprayed in black characters on a white background were numbers from 1 to 48, totaling 48 numbers.
Directly below each number was a maintenance bay for the total of 48 Screw Rock Excavators.
In the bays were parked machines with a cone-shaped spiral drill head like an ice cream cone at the front, and a cylindrical body resembling a tanker, nearly half the diameter of the drill head, at the rear.
This thing looked like a diving rocket firecracker overall.
It was pitch black all over, with no visible weld seams on the surface.
The top spiral drill head reflected a fluorescent purple lustre like amethyst quartz under the orange-yellow light.
Ren Zhong couldn’t visually discern whether the drill head was made of metal or diamond-like crystal.
At that moment, his breathing became slightly rapid.
Having struggled in solitude on Source Star, Ren Zhong thought he had been toughened up by the harsh reality of Starfire Town into a heart of stone, yet he didn’t expect to be so deeply stirred by a machine.
This machine was the pinnacle product of interstellar trade—the Screw Rock Excavator.
Although he had already seen its video data in the manual, standing beside its side, facing the real object, his heartbeat involuntarily quickened.
After untold ages and separated by unknown light years, unmarred yet perhaps forever untouchable memories surged back with a fierce momentum.
Suddenly, he recalled his younger self at the age of ten sneaking a break to watch an ancient anime.
To the children of the 2040s, this was an antiquated relic with a simple storyline.
Yet it left an incredibly deep impression on the young Ren Zhong’s heart.
The youth’s heart once leaped with the drill that could penetrate anything.
"Tengen Toppa, Red Lotus Screw Rock!"
Who on earth named the Screw Rock Excavator?
What kind of beings are the advanced civilization above Source Star?
With many doubts, Ren Zhong, fully armored, grabbed the crumpled black leather pouch on the rising platform beside him, stepped inside from the door at the rear of the cylinder, passed through the narrow passage, entered the cockpit, and then sat in the pilot’s seat.
The design language of this pilot seat conformed to human ergonomics, offering exceptional comfort with a great sense of enclosure, like lying in an inflatable sofa.
Sensing binding straps extended themselves from the backrest and sides of the seat cushion, firmly securing Ren Zhong without feeling oppressive.
Two control sticks arose with a sizzle from the left and right sides.
The giant screen in front of Ren Zhong simultaneously lit up.
At this moment, the central area of the giant screen displayed a three-dimensional structural projection that perfectly matched the exploration map.
The flashing green dots representing Lin Wang’s team’s six Screw Rock Excavators appeared on the edge of the topmost cylinder in the stereoscopic projection.
Additionally, 42 yellow dots representing other mining workers were located respectively inside the cylinder and at various positions underground outside.
Who would have thought that the despicable capitalist spokesperson Yu Junren had forcibly extended the working hours to 14 hours, surpassing even Huang Shiren, and yet some people would start early.
Ren Zhong silently ridiculed, even the lower-class laborers were this competitive amongst themselves, wouldn’t the capitalists be thrilled?
Not lengthening the work hours to fifteen and a half hours could lead to praise for Yu Junren’s decency.
Lin Wang’s voice came through the communication system.
"Today is the first live drill, focused on familiarizing with the operation. I have sent each of your excavation routes. Unless encountering a Ruined Beast, no one should deviate from the route today. Better safe than sorry. The value of this Screw Rock Excavator is greater than our lives; if damaged, we’re dead."
Bei Lihui: "Understood!"
The wall of the hall automatically opened, revealing the gray and black rock wall behind.
The Anti-gravity Engine started, and the Screw Rock Excavator hovered slightly off the ground, advancing forward.
The top drill head gradually accelerated, increasing in speed.
Ren Zhong carefully pushed the control stick on his right forward and stepped on the accelerator with his right foot.
The Screw Rock Excavator slowly moved forward.
The drill head pierced into the rock wall, stirring up soil debris flying around, rock fragments scattering everywhere.
The cabin shook slightly, then returned to stability.