"Really! This is truly a crystal mine! I never thought Earth still had crystal deposits!" Bai Wen's breathing became rapid.
"Commander, shall we commence extraction?" the SCV inquired.
"Extract!" Bai Wen snapped his fingers.
This enhanced SCV, though compact in size, operated with remarkable efficiency. Its alloy drill bits and pressure clamps swiftly fractured the crystals, depositing them into the pre-prepared sacks Bai Wen had readied. Soon, an entire cloth bag was filled.
Huifei stared dumbfounded at the mining SCV. "What—what is this thing?"
Bai Wen explained, "This is a mining robot, specialized in extracting crystal ore."
"Oh," Huifei responded, though she still couldn't quite believe her eyes.
With the abundant crystal deposits here, extraction would take considerable time. Bai Wen sat down and turned his attention to Huifei. "Tell me about yourself. Where are you from? When did you discover this crystal mine?" he asked.
Huifei replied, "I lived in BY City. When the virus outbreak occurred, I fled here and stayed for over a year. The day you came to Pi County to fight the Zombies, we decided to leave and seek refuge in BY City."
"How did you acquire your abilities?" Bai Wen was intensely curious about this. How exactly had she gained such powers?
"If only I knew!" Huifei shrugged.
Suddenly, a possibility struck Bai Wen—Huifei's ability awakening wasn't accidental but inevitable!
BY City was one of the meteorite fragment impact sites. She had come from BY City, and energy crystals had grown around her. This couldn't be mere coincidence!
Realizing this, Bai Wen sprang to his feet and began searching through the crystal mine. Eventually, near the largest cluster of crystals, he found a small black fragment.
The fragment was no larger than a fingernail. Donning gloves, he carefully picked it up and examined it closely.
"SCV, scan this fragment!" he urgently summoned the robot.
The SCV floated over immediately, projecting a scanning beam onto the fragment in Bai Wen's hand.
"Unidentified fragment. Composition unknown, but it emits a peculiar energy flow similar to energy crystals. It's likely this fragment's presence that enabled the growth of energy crystals here."
Bai Wen's eyes gleamed with excitement. "So if we plant this fragment again, it could produce more crystals?!"
"That appears correct," confirmed the SCV.
"Excellent!" Bai Wen snapped his fingers again, retrieving a glass vial to store the fragment.
"What is it? Did you find something valuable?" Huifei asked as she saw him return.
"Fantastic discovery. You've earned a reward for this," Bai Wen said, patting her shoulder.
But soon, another question occurred to him.
The sudden emergence of so many Ability Users in Zuo Mountain Safe Zone of S City—did that mean meteorite fragments were present there too?
Two days later, the SCV completed extracting all crystals, yielding a total of 3,000 crystal units!
This number satisfied Bai Wen greatly. With these 3,000 Crystals, the Star Hegemony base could develop rapidly. Even if the people from Zuo Mountain Safe Zone came again, he wouldn't be afraid anymore.
Huifei had been playing the role of a competent subordinate these past two days, spending most of her time keeping watch outside. Bai Wen greatly appreciated her work ethic. If she could continue proving herself, she would definitely be entrusted with greater responsibilities in the future.
That night, they returned to the mining base. Bai Wen let Huifei go rest and instructed her to take good care of the four companions.
The young man Li Dan, Lao Wang, Lao Zhou, and Lao Zhou's wife Di Yan—though beaten black and blue—were not seriously injured.
When Huifei arrived at their quarters, the four immediately gathered around her. Li Dan anxiously asked, "Huifei, how did it go? Did they agree to let us stay?"
Huifei found it somewhat amusing. "You really want to stay?"
"Of course!" Li Dan exclaimed in a hushed voice. "Didn't you see those Powered Armors and weapons? Why would we leave when we can latch onto such a powerful ally?"
"Li Dan's right. We must stay!" Lao Wang affirmed.
"But whether they'll let us stay is another matter. We can't just assume things," Lao Zhou worried.
Huifei smiled. "Don't worry. Today, I went back to Pi County with him. I could tell he's not a bad person—at least much better than anyone else we've encountered. From now on, we'll follow him, but we can't just freeload. We have to take the initiative and contribute!"
"You don't have to worry about that. We've lived half our lives already. We know the principle of 'no work, no food!'" Lao Wang said.
"Alright, let's rest for now. There'll definitely be important work tomorrow, and we'll need to pitch in!"
Everyone agreed, but once they lay down, they found they couldn't sleep at all, their minds too restless. Only Huifei, who had just recovered from serious injuries and had been mentally exhausted, fell asleep almost immediately, her breathing steady.
Bai Wen first went to the prefab house to check on everyone. Wang Ya was fine, with no major issues. Ai Ke Ke must have been exhausted—she had slept soundly and still hadn't woken up. Yun Fei Wu had also suffered a heavy blow, her spirits low, and it was unclear when she would recover.
After instructing Tai Long and the other two to take good care of them, Bai Wen returned to the base's main control room.
"Welcome back, Commander," the robotic adjutant's voice immediately greeted him.
"Good! Let's see how much Vespene Gas we've collected!" Bai Wen quickly pulled up the Gas count—only 6 units!
This was way too slow!
Though he now had over 3,000 Crystals, without Vespene Gas, he couldn't produce advanced units!
"Adjutant! Construct 5 more Supply Depots, 2 Gas Refineries, 5 SCVs, and 10 Marine Corpsmen!"
Since Gas was insufficient, he would first bolster the population and resources. The people from Zuo Mountain Safe Zone could return at any time.
5 Supply Depots, 2 Gas Refineries, 5 SCVs, and 10 Marine Corpsmen—a total cost of 1,125 Crystals.
Bai Wen grimaced. It seemed the Crystals still weren't enough! In the blink of an eye, half of them were gone.
Then there was the matter of the Beautiful Zombie corpse they had brought back. Researching it required a Barracks Laboratory, but with insufficient Gas, he could only wait.
Early the next morning, Bai Wen dispatched 10 Marine Corpsmen and an SCV to Pi County, the nearest town to the mining base. He intended to make full use of it—after all, it was home to over a million Zombies, a crucial source for harvesting Crystals!
With two more Gas Refineries added, the Vespene Gas extraction rate improved significantly, going from 1 unit every 8 hours to 1 unit every 3 hours. This was already the maximum production speed for this natural gas deposit.
"Ah! If only we could find a High-energy Gas Mine on Earth," Bai Wen mused, unsatisfied.
Suddenly, he remembered the meteorite fragment and hurriedly pulled it out from his pocket.
"SCV, if this fragment's energy can generate Crystals, could it also purify the Vespene Gas?"
"Unpredictable. Commander must conduct experiments personally," the SCV replied.
Bai Wen immediately rushed to the Gas Refinery, placed the meteorite fragment inside a ventilated iron sphere, and lowered it into the natural gas mine shaft using a chain.
To his disappointment, the Vespene Gas purity showed no change.
"Seems it won't work. Guess we'll just have to produce more Marine Corpsmen," he muttered dejectedly before returning to the base.
Soon, 10 new Marine Corpsmen were produced, bringing his total to 22. The SCV also constructed several Bunkers for defense.
Construction on the new dormitory, which had begun the previous day, had to be halted due to insufficient materials. Even after dismantling two trucks and five jeeps left behind by the Zuo Mountain Safe Zone, they were still far from having enough.
(End of Chapter)