Steel torrents pioneering a different world

Chapter 42: Copper-Nickel Sulfide Rich Zone! (Please read on, recommend, and vote!)
"Then why do they attack us on their own initiative?"

"However, we cannot use common sense to deduce about creatures from other worlds. It is very likely that it possesses some kind of sensory ability that we do not know, and it has mistaken our active sonar for a 'noise source' that is invading its territory!"

You're saying that the otherworldly octopus has sonar organs?

"I guess so!"

He paused, a complex mix of excitement and longing flashing in his eyes: "With such a large size, it would definitely make a delicious soup! A high-value ingredient!"

Zhao Jiaqi, who was standing next to him, nodded: "They are top-notch research material."

Hearing this explanation, Wang Zhen breathed a sigh of relief.

He licked his lips and chuckled, "Researcher Zhao, your discovery is quite good. If we made this 20-meter-long creature into a teppanyaki grill, it would probably be enough to feed our entire camp for several meals."

“I will submit a capture request to my superiors with the highest priority.” Zhao Jiaqi backed up the thrilling data separately and continued, “Until then, all active deep-sea exploration is suspended. Deploy another sonar to see if passively received sonar interferes with the octopuses’ active attacks.”

Zhao Jiaqi immediately ordered all sonar equipment to be switched to passive receiving mode, and to stop actively emitting any detection signals.

The exploration work began to proceed with extreme caution.

This time, no octopuses attacked their equipment!
More than ten minutes later, everyone was certain that the passive method would not agitate the giant octopus.

He turned to Wang Zhen: "According to the plan, we will operate in the shallow water area and catch some fish samples."

"it is good!"

"By the way, Captain Wang Zhen," Zhao Jiaqi suddenly remembered, "have the carcasses of the reindeer that fell into the lake yesterday been found?"

Wang Zhen shook his head.

"We didn't find any bodies on the lake. Did they sink? Or were they eaten by those octopuses? Or are there ferocious carnivorous fish in the lake?"

A thought flashed through everyone's minds at the same time, and when they looked at the calm lake again, their eyes had completely changed.

Beneath this bountiful lake lurks a deadly danger!
Wang Zhen took out a packet of specially made concentrated fish bait from his equipment box, put it into a huge trap net, and then controlled a small drone to accurately drop the trap net and the fish bait into a shallow water area dozens of meters away.

"I wonder if fish from another world would eat our Earth's 'technology and ruthless methods'."

The bait enters the water and spreads rapidly.

A dozen minutes later, the underwater camera transmitted exciting images.

A dark mass of fish gathered in the trap net.

"Close the net!"

With Wang Zhen's command, the steel cable connected to the winch of the off-road vehicle began to slowly rotate, and the huge trap net was pulled out of the water.

Wow!
Amidst the splashing water, at least ten kilograms of various fish of different colors frolicked and jumped in the net, their scales shimmering alluringly in the sunlight.

"Hahaha! What a bumper harvest!"

The oppressive atmosphere was swept away, and smiles returned to the soldiers' faces.

"I'll take it home tonight and make a pot of milky white fish soup!"

"Make sauerkraut fish! It has to be sauerkraut fish!"

"I think braised would be good!"

"Stop thinking about food!" Zhao Jiaqi shouted, half-laughing and half-crying. "Hurry up and prepare the live water tank, don't let the research subjects die!"

"I'm sorry, Engineer Zhao, I just couldn't help myself!"

"Captain Wang, don't just think about eating fish. We also need to figure out what to do with those octopuses that destroyed our Deepsea Diver equipment."

"Stir-fried octopus is absolutely delicious." "Teppanyaki octopus is the best."

"You've obviously never eaten octopus before. Fresh octopus, eaten raw, the taste... is amazing!"

"Alright, alright, there are still other tasks to do. Hurry up and collect all the geological soil samples from around the lake. There's a Jehol River beneath the lake, and I estimate that the geology around the lake should be very valuable for excavation."

Some regions rich in geothermal resources also possess abundant mineral resources, such as gold and silver deposits.

In these types of areas, when high-temperature geothermal fluids rise along fault zones, they dissolve metallic elements such as gold and silver in the surrounding rocks. These elements precipitate in shallower areas due to decreased temperature and pressure, or by mixing with groundwater. The most typical examples in the Jiaodong Peninsula are the Sanshandao and Linglong gold mines.

In addition to this, there are abundant rare minerals such as copper, lead, zinc, mercury, antimony, lithium, rubidium, and cesium.

These types of minerals are produced in extremely high quantities because geothermal fluids react with various rocks over a long period of time.

If deposits rich in lithium, rubidium, cesium, or even copper are discovered here, then the University of Tokyo's excavation will be a huge success.

Let's start with a basic introduction to lithium resources, which are of most common knowledge.

As is well known, electric vehicles have developed rapidly in recent years, but the lithium battery resources within Southeast University are not abundant. The development of some energy sectors is severely constrained by foreign countries.

There's no way around it; global lithium resources are highly concentrated. The South American lithium triangle (Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia) accounts for 56% of global resources, Australia accounts for 8%, the United States accounts for 13%, and the East Asian country accounts for only 6%.

Because electric vehicles rely on imports from abroad, lack control over global lithium resources, and have no pricing power, their high cost makes it impossible to make cars affordable for everyone or achieve a similar effect to the rural appliance subsidy program.

If we could discover this kind of resource in another world, even if it weren't hundreds of millions of tons, a reserve of tens of millions of tons would be enough to give us control over the global lithium mineral resources.

For example, by secretly threatening Dongda University that lithium battery resources would increase in price significantly, Dongda University could simply refuse to purchase them for three years, and by manipulating the financial and stock markets, they could definitely bankrupt the other party.

Of course, such things are too immoral to be told to outsiders.

Two soldiers were left to sort out the aquatic specimens, while the other soldiers occupied open areas and kept watch over the surroundings.

Meanwhile, Zhao Jiaqi and his companions were grumbling as they used shovels, hoes, and electric crushers to crush valuable targets and mark their locations.

Near the 13-kilometer-long lake, mineral, soil, and plant resources are given special attention.

The soldiers meticulously collected a large amount of material, plucking feathers from every passing goose.

"Hey, these geologies look a lot like copper-nickel sulfide deposits."

"is it?"

"Yes, my hometown is in Yunnan, and the geology here is really similar."

What are the main products of your hometown?

"Various rare earth elements!"

Zhao Jiaqi rubbed his hands excitedly: "Great! Let's collect more samples so the research team can analyze them!"

"okay!"

The assistant chuckled as he packed pieces of gravel and soil into pre-labeled plastic bags.

ga-

The crows overhead circled and landed, then cawed, puzzled by the intruders' actions.

These doubts quickly vanished as the soldiers aimed their guns at it, and it flapped its wings and fled in a sorry state.

The scientific expedition team worked hard to cultivate the land and collect mineral resources from this alien world.

Several metal particles, ten times smaller than grains of rice, yet emitting a pale golden glow, caught their attention…

(End of this chapter)