"哐哐~"
In the mine tunnel, under the bright light of the miner's lamp, two people were digging hard.
One is a middle-aged man and the other is a young man. Both of them are wearing coarse clothes and linen, but they have energetic faces.
"Hey, Erzhuzi, you are so young, why would you want to come here to mine? Many people who come here are ready to lose their lives here and get pensions." The middle-aged man wiped his sweat. asked suddenly.
The Erzhu people are tall, but their bodies do not look strong. They have a sense of weakness that they cannot have enough to eat all year round.
When Er Zhuzhu heard this, he kept moving his hands and swung the mining hoe hard towards the hard rock.
"I have four brothers in my family. I have eaten a lot since I was a child. I don't have much land at home, so I don't have enough to eat all year round. When I was recruited by Rainstorm City five years ago, my family asked me to come over. Before I left, my father didn't say it clearly, but he meant But it means that even if the recruitment in Heavy Rain City ends in the future, I will be allowed to find a way out on my own. During the insect wave, although there are often dangers, at least I can have enough to eat. After the insect wave is over, I will rely on the money given by the city lord's palace. I settled down in Rainstorm City, but I didn’t have any other abilities. I just had strength. But doing hard work in Rainstorm City for a day was not enough to eat. When I heard that Miaoshan was recruiting miners, they had food and wages included. coming."
Er Zhuzhu's voice was loud and full of energy, "Sure enough, here, although it is very tiring, you can eat every meal and eat meat. The wages are also very high. If you can dig more mines every day, it will not take two years. I can buy a house in Rainstorm City or return to my hometown and buy ten acres of fertile land."
"As for whether it is dangerous or not, whether we can survive or not is a question. How can we care so much?"
The middle-aged man was stunned when he heard this, picked up the mining hoe and swung it hard, "Yes, if there is a way out, I will not choose the miner's path. However, Erzhu, you are still young, why don't you join Miaoshan to find a way out? Listen! It is said that people in Miao Mountain who meet certain requirements can apply for the rikishi technique, and if they become rikishi, they will be successful."
Erzhu paused for a moment, but then quickly continued to wave the mining hoe, "Forget it, join Miaoshan. I don't know when I will enter the rain forest and feed the insects. I heard that even the strongmen died in Miaoshan during this time." Quite a few, let alone ordinary people, I’d better just rely on my own strength to make a living.”
"Ding!"
Er Zhuzhu found a touch of gray from the crack in the rock, and a hint of joy flashed on his face. He had dug out another ore. It seemed that he was lucky today.
A cave has been converted into a reception room, with bright scenery and complete furniture. The floor is also covered with thick wooden boards.
At this time, Liu Hong was standing in front of Zhang Changkong.
"Has the black steel finally been refined? What's the success rate?"
Zhang Changkong asked. He knew that black steel was difficult to smelt, but he didn't expect that it would be half a year before his men found a way to turn gray iron ore into black steel.
"The success rate is not very good. Those skilled blacksmiths are usually from wealthy families. Although the blacksmith we found also masters the technology of synthesizing black steel, it takes a lot of time and the success rate is not very good."
Zhang Changkong didn't pay much attention when he heard this. To be honest, it might be more cost-effective to simply sell gray iron ore, but it is difficult to exchange low-end materials such as gray iron ore for vitality stones, so he deliberately kept some of them. The ore is used to refine synthetic black steel.
If possible, Zhang Changkong would rather not sell the gray iron mine. However, not to mention that he originally owed a lot of debt to the city lord's mansion. He would not have the funds to develop the place he named the gray iron mine cave. He had no choice but to They can only sell most of the gray iron ore to raise funds, and continue to purchase insecticide materials from Rainstorm City.
If Zhang Changkong didn't have some materials such as the Insect Smoke and the Insect Smoke, even if Zhang Changkong had thousands of warriors and several times the number of Zerg, he wouldn't be able to make any waves in the Sanhe Rainforest.
Not to mention anything else, there was only a swarm of tens of thousands of insects standing in front of Zhang Changkong. Without the insect smoke to make the insects kill each other, even if he could kill them, how long would it take?
"Well, arrange for someone to bring some black steel to the Xiangshan Sect for sale to see how many vitality stones can be obtained in exchange. By the way, the three junior warriors who came from the Xiangshan Sect with you are familiar with the Xiangshan Sect, so leave it to them. Bar."
Zhang Changkong couldn't recall the names of the three people for a while, and he didn't bother to ask.
"Okay, I will send a message to Manager Wan to make arrangements." Liu Hong nodded. He was considering whether Hao Lei or Yuan Shan would take the people back. As for Han Qiuping, forget it. He didn't think this was a dangerous journey, although Master Immortal's reputation is very good in this area of Rainstorm City, but when it comes to Xiangshan Sect, others may not know who Zhang Changkong is.
"By the way, how are the material reserves going?"
Zhang Changkong asked, during this period, he had been staying here for half a year because he had to wait for his steel ants to initially acquire combat effectiveness. Since Zhang Changkong decided to attack places with zerg or large swarms of worms, he did not care about the worms. We are on our way, so time is not very tight.
Now, more than 1,200 steel ants under his command have grown to the thickness of an arm. Although they are still some distance from their mature thigh-thick bodies, both their shells and mouthparts have taken shape, and they have considerable body mass. combat effectiveness.
"Returning to Master Immortal, whether it is food or insecticide materials, after three months of transportation, three of the seven warehouses in the gray iron mine have been filled, which is enough to last for a long time," Liu Hong said, " This gray iron mine has been built into our first strategic stronghold in Miaoshan, and materials from the rear will be continuously sent here."
"Okay, let's go to war in three days!"
Zhang Changkong didn't say much. During this period, the spies on Miao Mountain were not idle. After making a lot of sacrifices, they explored many places where insects were infested, areas where there were large insect swarms, or where there were unknown dangers. zone.
Zhang Changkong will not let go of any of these places until most of his men's strength is exhausted. He has made up his mind that before he finds the vitality node, no matter how much time it takes or how much price he pays, well, it does not endanger his personal safety. , his path of exploring the Sanhe Rainforest will not end. Even if all the steel ants die, he can stop and wait for another batch of insects to grow up. In short, unless Miaoshan is so bankrupt that he falls out with the City Lord's Mansion, or his insects are dead and gone again. He would not stop unless he was replenished.
With Zhang Changkong's words, the war machine in the gray iron mine was activated, the logistics personnel began to move materials from the warehouse, the combatants polished weapons, and everyone was preparing for the upcoming expansion war.
Zhang Changkong took three golden scarabs to a cave where an underground lake is located. Around this underground lake, he had more than a hundred steel ants scattered around. He could see some steel ants or resting on the ground. , but some are standing by the lake, catching fish with their legs or mouthparts from time to time.
When the steel ants grew to two or three months old, Zhang Changkong began to separate them into caves where several underground lakes were located because they ate too much, allowing them to fend for themselves. He only gave orders not to allow them to leave a certain area of the cave.
Facts have proved that these steel ants are indeed the natives of the gray iron mine cave. Even if Zhang Changkong doesn't take care of them, they can survive well.
A steel ant crawled to Zhang Changkong's feet and touched Zhang Changkong's calf with its tentacles.
Zhang Changkong showed a smile. His methods of controlling insects were becoming more and more sophisticated. He had a feeling that he was just one step away from controlling insects. His method of controlling insects would be able to enter a new stage. At that time, he would not be far away and could even mentally control the insects. With just a thought, you can use your consciousness to make the bug execute some more complex commands.
Zhang Changkong can now vaguely feel the close emotion emanating from the steel ants under his feet.
Zhang Changkong left this cave and went to check out several other caves where steel ants were kept.
He made a decision in his heart. He did not plan to bring all the steel ants with him on this expedition, but only planned to bring about 600 of them.
It's not that he doesn't want to bring more, but the expedition cannot be completed in one or two days. If he brings too many steel ants, Zhang Changkong will have to worry a lot about their food. It would be okay if they can fly, there is still a lot of food in the rain forest. Yes, but steel ants are simple bugs that feed on the ground and are very tolerant of some flying food, so Zhang Changkong can only bring half of the steel ants into the battle.
Although the fish resources in the underground lake where the Iron Ants are located are the most abundant in the gray iron mine cave, due to factors such as the predatory environment, the growth of Iron Ants can still be divided into excellent and mediocre.
Zhang Changkong's inspection this time was to select a group of relatively large steel ants to take out.
Zhang Changkong feels that this gray iron mine is really a treasure trove for raising bugs. He will raise more bugs here in the future, striving to ensure that his bugs embark on a path of sustainable development.
Of course, he is only interested in rare bugs now. Raising ordinary bugs is a waste of food for him.
The day of departure is coming soon.
More than two thousand people gathered at the southern exit of the Gray Iron Mine. Only about a thousand people were sent out for the expedition, and the rest were just logistics personnel who handed over materials. They would stay in the Gray Iron Mine.
Now, the large team of people is ready, only waiting for one key figure, and that is the Zerg Immortal Master that everyone respects - Zhang Changkong.
