Post-Apocalyptic Survival Modpack

Chapter 26, Section 26: Technical Talents

Ground.

Looking at the neat and orderly mine tunnels, Wang Ji nodded.

"Now I won't get lost."

Some minerals have indeed been discovered underground.

At first, Wang Ji was very excited about digging, digging around randomly. In the end, he dug himself until he was dizzy and couldn't find his way back. He could only dig vertically back to the surface.

This time he's thought it through.

This is, after all, home, where we'll live in the future. Plus, the mineral deposits are huge and can be mined for a very long time, so we still need to make long-term plans.

You can't just wander around aimlessly every time you come down.

This time, Wang Ji didn't mine much. He mainly came down to organize the mining route, digging a few neat pits and upper and lower passages.

As he sorted through the area, Wang Ji discovered that the closer the area was to the northern mountains, the greater the mineral reserves.

Although the small, isolated hill where I built my own home had some minerals, it was still not as much as the vast, continuous mountain range.

"It seems we'll still have to develop this area in the future."

Wang Ji made plans and also expressed his feelings:

"It would be great if we could get help from professionals."

One's knowledge is ultimately limited and cannot be comprehensive.

However, even though we are still a bit far from the mountains, we have already mined several boxes of raw ore in the past few days.

The variety is quite rich, mainly iron, with some copper and occasional other miscellaneous minerals.

This guy is truly from a wealthy family, and there are even more mines near his house.

But there's no rush. We can store it in the mountains for now; we don't need that much for the time being.

The problem now is...

"What the hell is this?"

Wang Ji stared blankly at the faintly glowing stone before him.

【?mine】

Wang Ji didn't recognize the ore, but that didn't stop him from putting it into the furnace to burn.

The furnace began to glow, indicating that the mineral could indeed be fired and transformed into something purer.

After a short wait, Wang Ji opened the furnace and took out a pale purple crystal.

The name remains unknown.

"Let's go up and ask Ryder."

After a moment's thought, Wang Ji put away the crystal, collected some ore samples, suspended the development of the mine, and returned the way he came.

After a while.

"Oh?"

In the break room, Ryder put down his hoe and stared intently at the crystal in Wang Ji's hand.

"This is... a magic crystal?"

"So that's what it's called."

Wang Ji opened his backpack, and as his knowledge grew, the crystal in his hand automatically changed its name to "Magic Crystal".

Where did you get this?

"I dug up some unfamiliar minerals underground, burned them, and this is how it turned out."

Wang Ji took out another piece of ore and asked curiously, "Is this thing very rare?"

"This is a Demon-Containing Mine."

Ryder recognized it and said, "It's not common, but it's not rare either. You can find this kind of ore in many places where the magical elements are even slightly abundant."

"Do you remember the Four Miracle Towers in the capital? Some of the structures in the towers utilized processed products of this ore."

"remember."

Wang Ji nodded, recalling the events.

Indeed, some parts of the four towers were purplish, as if they were possessed by a demon.

He then asked, "What's the use of this?"

"It has many uses."

Ryder stared at the ore and recalled, "Magic Ore, an important material for alchemy, and also the starting point."

"Many years ago, magic-infused ore was the main source of magic power for people. However, with the development of alchemy and magic theory, people have more convenient and efficient ways to obtain magic power and no longer rely on magic-infused ore."

"Now it only serves as an alchemical material."

"With this, if you want to learn alchemy in the future, you won't lack basic materials."

"By the way, this stuff is also one of the raw materials for magic steel."

[Mysterious Element Progress: 6%]

"I see."

Wang Ji nodded and then asked, "Can you make magic steel?"

Ryder gave an awkward laugh.

Okay, now there's no need to ask anymore, the answer is already there.

"Well, what I know is mainly operational, rather delicate work. After all, I'm an alchemy major. Look, there's nothing here, and I don't know how to make those alchemical machines, so this is indeed a bit..."

"But it's a good thing all along, isn't it?"

Ryder said, "It's a strategic resource after all, so it's bound to be helpful."

"Ok."

Wang Ji put away the ore and once again felt the importance of knowledge.

His thoughts drifted to the capital city, and then to the Four Towers of Miracles.

It would be great if we could go inside and take a look; there must be a lot of new things inside.

"The core technologies are all in Beijing..."

Wang Ji sighed and left to continue with his work. The room fell silent as the door closed.

Ryder stood up, looked at the hoe he had just put down, then at the already quite large farmland, and sighed.

I felt inexplicably uneasy.

"It didn't help at all."

A sense of powerlessness welled up inside me, like a student coming to ask a question, only to find that the teacher himself hadn't figured it out, and after talking for a long time, could only offer a general idea, so he had to hastily end the conversation.

"what happened?"

Just then, Ian returned from outside, rubbing his hands together.

Ryder sighed and said, "It's nothing, just a little... sigh."

"sick?"

"My constitution isn't that fragile."

Ryder suddenly said, "Have you ever thought about it, Ian, if we hadn't disturbed Wang Ji's life, wouldn't his situation be much better than it is now?"

Perhaps he will continue to farm in the village, living a peaceful life, until one day he is discovered by someone…

However, is it really a good thing if imperial parasites like the Baggett family discover it first?

Will they really treat this child well?

It's unlikely. Given their style, they probably wouldn't treat the child as a human being, but rather as a high-class slave.

But given their current situation, being discovered by the two of them didn't seem to be a good thing either; the group had been forced to retreat to the mountains in the north.

Now, besides freedom, there is nothing left, and the future is uncertain.

Ryder fell into deep thought.

Damn it, nothing is good, and no one is good. How can I make things better?
Is there really a way out?

All we can do is rely on the conscience of the empire's higher-ups.
Unaware of what Ryder was thinking, Ian was stumped by Ryder's question.

After a moment, he said, "I don't know, isn't it fine now?"

"You're overthinking it."

Ryder shook his head.

"No, that's not what I meant, I just..."

Ian was genuinely amused.

"Sometimes I really feel that you are just like those naive little nuns in the church, who like to be sentimental about some inexplicable things all day long."

Ryder's eyes widened.

"How dare you use my words against me?"

...

The lounge was a little noisy.

In the next room, Wang Ji began to ponder some new things.

Imperial smelting furnace.

In the past, due to site conditions and lack of materials, this multi-block structure could not be built.

Now that he had mined a lot of minerals and had enough space, Wang Ji was finally able to build this thing.

The finished product in front of me has slightly protruding edges, but otherwise it is no different from the ones I have seen before.

The only problem now is that he doesn't know how to operate it.

"This looks like a fuel vent, and over here... uh, what is this thing?"

Just as Wang Ji was about to try it out little by little, his hand suddenly stopped, and he turned to look at the lounge.

Wait a minute, why would I try something on my own? There are locals here.

A moment later, Ryder and Ian looked at the stove in front of them and exchanged bewildered glances.

Ryder opened his mouth wide.

"Where did you get this thing?"

"I learned it in a town near the capital. Don't ask me how I learned it, but can you tell me how to use this thing?"

"I do not know."

"I've never operated this thing before."

Ryder looked visibly embarrassed.

"Oh, this thing? I know it."

Ian stepped forward, walked to the furnace, and pointed to one of the openings, saying, "This is the fuel inlet, a little above is the magic dust inlet, this is where you put in raw materials for smelting, and that's the outlet..."

"That's it."

Wang Ji nodded, studying very diligently.

"and many more!"

Ryder looked at Ian, somewhat incredulously, and asked, "How do you know all this?"

Why can't I?

Ian glanced at him and replied, "More than twenty years ago, when the border was still in chaos, I was captured and enslaved in a mine for a few years. My main job was to tend the furnace and I also made some tools. We didn't know each other back then."

"How come I've never heard you mention this before all these years?"

"It's not something to be proud of, why should I tell you?"

"Ok."

Ryder sighed, as if he had thought of something, and then said, "But I remember, the magic steel was forged in this furnace, wasn't it? You..."

"I can."

Ian nodded calmly.

Wang Ji suddenly looked over.

"Elaborate."

(End of this chapter)