CHAPTER 137: CHAPTER 132 SURPRISE! DIGGING AND DIGGING IN THE LITTLE MINE

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The crisp, rhythmic sound of metal striking stone echoed through the dark, deep mine tunnel. A young man in a dark blue miner’s uniform and a gray mask was gathering his strength. He suddenly swung the heavy alloy pickaxe.

Chen Pingchuan carefully studied the fissures and veins on the rock face, his arm muscles tensed.

The next second, the alloy pickaxe descended like a falling meteor. With a whistling sound, it struck the stone wall heavily, sending echoes ricocheting through the mine.

CRASH!

As the largest stone supporting the rock face shattered, smaller rocks and debris rustled and slid down. For a moment, dust filled the air. Among the tumbling stones, a rock emitting a white glow also fell.

[Ding! Energy Raw Stone (small) detected. Can be used for simulated energy recharge. Recharge?]

A familiar system notification sounded in his ear, bringing a smile to Chen Pingchuan’s face. His lips moved slightly.

"Recharge!"

[Ding! 100 simulation points have been credited. Current balance: 1,044 points.]

"In this dark, dark mine, I dig, dig, dig. Finding little crystals makes my heart sing."

Chen Pingchuan was in high spirits, even humming a little tune as he recalled the scene from that afternoon.

At two o’clock, once all six of them had arrived, a mine employee brought them a list of tasks to choose from. There were several options, which were more like jobs than missions.

First, the high-yield White Crystal Mine in Spring City urgently needed an accountant to organize its books, responsible for registering the Energy Crystals being transported to the City of No Night.

Second, the mine was short on overseers. An overseer’s main job, apart from ensuring the miners worked hard, was to conduct body searches and tally the number of Energy Crystals they obtained.

Third, a manager for logistics was needed (female applicants only), as well as a resource statistician and allocator for the mine.

Fourth, temporary miners. They could choose to act as temporary miners and work underground. Any raw Energy Crystal ore they excavated could be exchanged for corresponding points.

...

The six of them quickly made their choices based on their own circumstances.

Liu Haofeng decisively chose the first option. Compared to the other tasks, this position wasn’t likely to offend anyone and seemed particularly important. For someone like him, who was always wary of this place, it was a stroke of luck he couldn’t pass up.

Feng Jiaqi and Ye Luo chose the third task. As young women, they neither wanted to supervise the filthy miners nor perform labor-intensive work. As for mining underground, that was out of the question. After careful consideration, only the third task met their requirements.

Li Qiang and Zhang Lei weren’t particular. They glanced at each other and chose the relatively easy overseer task.

Among the six, only Chen Pingchuan was different. His choice greatly perplexed the others.

Feng Jiaqi immediately grabbed Chen Pingchuan’s arm, ignoring the stares of others, her face filled with worry as she pleaded, "Chuanchuan, let’s not choose this task, okay? You don’t understand, working underground is dirty and dangerous. Plus, I heard from Sister Nightingale that mining accidents happen every year, burying people down there, and they can’t be rescued."

However, no matter how Feng Jiaqi tried to persuade him, Chen Pingchuan remained unmoved. He had chosen this seemingly high-risk task for the sole purpose of getting his hands on Energy Crystals. How could he back down now?

This led to a bit of unpleasantness between them.

Chen Pingchuan collected his thoughts and shook his head slightly. He could feel her intense concern. At the same time, he felt a deepening loneliness. Who could truly understand him? Everyone has things they are compelled to do.

He continued to swing the alloy pickaxe in his hand, hammering relentlessly against the stone wall.

THUD...

[Ding! Energy Raw Stone (small) detected. Can be used for simulated energy recharge. Recharge?]

"Recharge!"

[Ding! 100 simulation points have been credited. Current balance: 1,144 points.]

...

Soon, the fallen rubble from the wall had piled up high, forcing Chen Pingchuan to stop. He skillfully placed the discarded stones into a waste basket, then lifted it with both hands and hoisted it onto his back. He then strode swiftly toward the mine’s exit.

As he walked, he brought up his attribute panel. Watching his Strength, Agility, Spirit, and Physique constantly rise made Chen Pingchuan’s mood soar.

He originally thought it would take at least a week for his body to recover, but now it would only take three days. No, if he worked at full capacity, it would only take two days.

"Four hundred points in half an hour means eight hundred an hour. Ten hours of work a day is eight thousand points. Eighty thousand points in ten days, eight hundred thousand in a hundred days."

"Damn, I’m going to become a god."

"Awesome!"

Chen Pingchuan was hyping himself up, but deep down he knew this calculation was baseless. The resources within the mine were limited. He was lucky now, having happened upon a resource-rich area. But if his luck ran out and he had to move to another tunnel, he might work an entire day for nothing.

Sigh, so what exactly is the technological level of this world?

It was no wonder Chen Pingchuan had this question.

In terms of advanced technology, this world had Sky Fortresses, Mechanical Battle Armor, alloy prosthetics, and even destructive interstellar spaceships. Yet on such a technologically advanced planet, the method for mining Energy Crystals was still the most primitive manual labor.

If it was because the stability of the Energy Crystals made mechanical mining impossible without causing an explosion, that would be understandable. But there’s no equipment to transport the rubble, nor are there any electrical facilities provided. The lighting relies entirely on fluorescent stones. In this deep, dark mine tunnel, what miner would willingly come down here to work? Not to mention they lacked my strength and physique. Each piece they mined would require a huge amount of energy. Only someone like me, who could see his rewards in real-time, could persist. As for the others...

As the point of light in the distance grew larger, Chen Pingchuan stopped his train of thought. A familiar voice drifted from not far away, accompanied by the whispers of other miners.

"Next, Number 32! Today’s total: two white crystal raw ores, one green crystal raw ore. Grand total of 22 points."

"Hey, Number 32 is really lucky today! He actually managed to dig up a green crystal raw ore."

"You’re not kidding. I don’t know how that kid got so lucky. I bet his points are enough for him to go have some fun at the Water House again."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

The surrounding miners all wore envious expressions. Only the overseer, Zhang Lei, was completely baffled.

The Water House? What kind of place is that?

Just as he was wondering about this, Chen Pingchuan’s figure slowly appeared at the mine entrance.