About half an hour later, the automated intelligence system of the Furious Tiger Mining Cart issued another alert.
"Radiation reaction for 'Mithril Ore' detected on the fragment at left coordinate xxxxx, preliminary estimate of over 'ten tons'."
Song Chi instinctively wanted to dismiss it but quickly reconsidered.
"Mithril? And more than ten tons?"
If memory served him right, Mithril was a resource even more valuable than Electrum. The average price of Electrum hovered around one lu of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin per ton, while Mithril could fetch as high as five lu per ton.
If this indeed turned out to be more than ten tons of Mithril, it would definitely warrant extraction. Fifty lu of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin wasn't a small gain, no matter how modest it seemed.
Song Chi's initial capital of 1,000 lu of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin came from having two parents who were also Torch Warship Captains. For most newly awakened Torch Warships, the typical yield from an Alien Star Domain expedition was roughly 100 lu or so of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin. At this moment, fifty lu was already half that amount.
Without much hesitation, he steered the Cang Qiong to the left, cautiously maneuvering it toward the coordinates of the small fragment suspected to contain Mithril.
Song Chi wasn't in any rush; as he moved forward, he kept an eye on the radar map at all times.
*Training Guidance Technique to level 4 had granted him not only physical enhancement but also considerable reinforcement of his spiritual faculties. Basic multitasking was, by now, routine for him. It was rumored that when Guidance Technique reached a high enough level, one could even achieve tenfold mind utilization—or more.*
The standard Sky Patrol Radar lacked the ability to detect life waveforms, but if there were high-level Star Sea Species darting at full speed—or if advanced warships of Starry Sea Alien Races approached—the radar could still provide adequate detection.
*Nevertheless, during this initial welfare distribution phase, encountering high-level Star Sea Species or high-rank Alien Race civilizations was extremely unlikely. As anticipated, no unusual incidents occurred, and the Cang Qiong soon arrived at the target fragment.*
This fragment was dozens of meters long, its volume far exceeding that of the Cang Qiong. Song Chi did not immediately deploy the mining cart but instead piloted the Cang Qiong around the area for a thorough inspection to eliminate any risks. Only then did he land the warship atop the fragment.
From there, nothing more was required of him—the automated intelligence system onboard the Furious Tiger Type-1 Floating Land Mining Cart took over. It exited the Cang Qiong's hangar, navigated to the site of the strongest radiation, and began the extraction process independently.
Inside the Cang Qiong, Song Chi waited quietly, his face betraying no expression. Yet inside, *he was deeply satisfied. Though the Furious Tiger Mining Cart was undoubtedly expensive, its efficiency was beyond reproach.*
If other newly awakened Torch Warship Captains were tasked with manually mining the ten tons of Mithril, it would take them no less than five hours. But at the current efficiency of the Furious Tiger Mining Cart? Forty minutes at most.
True to Song Chi's prediction, thirty-five minutes later, the Furious Tiger Type-1 Floating Land Mining Cart returned to the Cang Qiong's hangar, laden with ten tons of Mithril—less than forty minutes had passed.
Wasting no time, Song Chi made a quick trip to the Ruins Market, offloaded all ten tons of Mithril into its vacant storage area, and then resumed his exploration.
Two hours later,
the Cang Qiong was still slowly navigating through the Fragment Belt. Since the ten tons of Mithril, nothing else significant enough to prompt action had been detected—either due to insufficient value or minimal quantities.
*Nevertheless, the prospecting instrument's recent detection of over eight tons of Electrum raw ore did catch his interest. Even though refining would shrink the amount somewhat, it could still fetch 5–6 lu of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin. Even a mosquito leg was still meat—it was certainly better than aimlessly wandering.*
As he mulled over his options, the automated intelligence system of the mining cart issued another alert.
"Moderate Purple Copper radiation zone discovered, conservative estimate of over 500 tons of Purple Copper located at fragment coordinates xxxxx."
Song Chi's brow furrowed, his indecision giving way to focus as detailed information about Purple Copper unfolded in his mind.
Purple Copper was a low-rank metal resource, its market price typically at one lu of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin for every five tons—not particularly valuable.
*Yet despite its low value, the sheer abundance of over 500 tons couldn't be ignored. Extracting all of this would easily net over 100 lu of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin.*
Other low-rank Torch Warships encountering this resource would likely pass it up—not just because they might lack a Furious Tiger Mining Cart, but also due to the logistical challenge of transporting the sheer volume back.
Song Chi, however, was different. With access to the Zhu Tian Ruins Market and his Furious Tiger Type-1 Floating Land Mining Cart, he was determined to claim all of it.
Without delay, just as he had done previously, he arrived at the target fragment, conducted a perimeter sweep to rule out any danger, and deployed the mining cart to begin its work autonomously.
Extracting several hundred tons of Purple Copper would be a straightforward task but certainly not one that could be completed quickly. To avoid wasting the downtime, Song Chi unmounted the mining cart's specialized prospecting instrument.
He intended to take advantage of the mining cart's active work period to prospect the surrounding area. In this way, the Furious Tiger Mining Cart could seamlessly transition to its next operation once the Purple Copper extraction was complete.
Although decoupling the prospecting instrument would cause a slight reduction in the mining cart's extraction speed, the overall efficiency of using both separately was higher.
Before leaving, Song Chi stationed three Fire Peony Soldier Figurines to guard the fragment, wary that the commotion from the mining cart might attract unknown species.
Several hours passed. At a distance of several hundred kilometers from the mining cart's fragment, the Cang Qiong's cruising speed slowed slightly. The prospecting instrument issued yet another alert.
Without the convenience of a vehicle intelligence system prompt, Song Chi had to leave the cockpit to manually check.
"Mercury Crystal detected, ten kilograms. This material is even more valuable than Mithril, but the quantity is too small to justify extraction."
At that exact moment, the Sky Patrol Radar console behind him abruptly sounded an alarm. Song Chi reacted instantly, rushing back to the cockpit in record time, his eyes darting between the radar display and the projection panel.
Soon, he pinpointed the source of the radar alert. On the radar map, thousands of kilometers away within the Fragment Belt, hundreds of fragments that had been stationary began simultaneously shifting noticeably.
It was clear this wasn't natural disturbance—otherwise, the Sky Patrol Radar wouldn't have triggered an alarm.
*Song Chi's eyes narrowed, his expression visibly tense. Whatever was causing such movement was clearly beyond the scope of Zero Rank energy fluctuations.*
*The realization prompted him to subconsciously shrink back, reluctant to involve himself in the unfolding chaos.*
ps: Didn't make it into this week's recommendations—looks like I'll have to wait until next week. Hence, only one chapter today.