13: Blackrock Mine

Once again, he opened the map.

There was too much information on the map. Han Huohuo searched carefully for a long time and found that there were indeed Black Stone Mines on the map, but such Black Stone Mines were not common throughout the Ten Thousand Mountains.

The map showed that even the nearest Black Stone Mine was still three mountains away from here!

Could mining require a long expedition?

Han Huohuo's expression flickered between uncertainty and resolve. He thought fiercely, 'Damn it, things have reached this point. I'm going to mine this black stone for sure. If any Lord is blind enough to block my path, I'll destroy him!'

Because the Black Stone Mine was far away, transporting the mined ore back was also a troublesome matter.

Wasting mechanical workers on transportation would make the mining efficiency too low.

The solution to this problem was actually quite simple: build a warehouse next to the mine. This way, the black stone ore could be stockpiled.

However, a warehouse built outside was not safe. Without defense, it would be very easy to be robbed.

The things painstakingly collected couldn't be snatched away by others!

So, when the warehouse was almost full, it would still be necessary to build a convoy to transport the materials back to the Main Camp. It would be best not to use mechanical workers; the distance was too great, and the road was not safe.

This brought up another problem: this mine needed to be guarded! And a convoy for armed escort also needed to be built.

Mines near the home base could rely on the Main Camp, but distant mines, if left unguarded, would be troublesome not only for other Lords but even for wolf packs.

The only question now was, how long would it take to collect 50 black stone?

Before actually mining, Han Huohuo did not have this data.

If he took 30 fully charged workers there, could he collect enough 50 black stone before their power ran out, and then build a charging station on the spot?

If he couldn't build this charging station, these workers would run out of power halfway through mining. With such a long distance, they wouldn't even be able to return to the camp!

He hesitated for a few minutes!

Han Huohuo decided to lead the team himself to see. These things couldn't just be imagined.

The longer the night, the more likely things were to go wrong. He decided to go that very night.

The night was deep, perhaps the road would be safer then.

Before setting out, he called Liu Long up again, arranged for him to work overtime, and smelt some more iron ingots to bring the number of iron ingots to over one hundred.

Then he left three Mechanical Wolf to guard the home.

Plus a few workers were also at home, even if they encountered an attack, they could resist for a while.

Taking all the remaining mechanical workers and two Mechanical Wolf, they set off towards the Black Stone Mine under the cover of night.

It was an overcast night again, with no light in the sky, very dark. The Mechanical Giant Wolf's eyes were red and unaffected by the darkness, leading the way at the front.

Han Huohuo, with 30 workers, followed behind the two giant wolves, stumbling through the night.

The mountain wind howled, a little cold. It was already late autumn, the leaves were yellow and dry, withered leaves danced in the air, and the valley made a whimpering sound.

Probably all the Lords were resting, and it was nighttime marching. Even when passing by a camp, seeing scattered lights in the distance, Han Huohuo had the thought of whether to launch a sneak attack.

In the end, he held back.

Impatience would ruin a great plan. As long as his mechanical civilization developed, crushing them would be as easy as killing chickens and dogs. Why take risks now?

They bypassed all the mountains and camps on the way.

After walking for two hours, nothing unexpected happened, and they finally found the Black Stone Mine.

The night was like ink. Guarding the Black Stone Mine were some strange beasts, like monkeys with wings that could glide but couldn't truly fly.

[Level 1 Flying Monkey]: Guard, tamable.

[Combat Power]: Strength 3, Defense 2, Stamina 4, Intelligence 1.

[Special Skill]: Glide, Flying Around

[Drop]: Meat 20-30.

[Chance Drop]: Monkey Hide, Monkey Teeth, Blueprint.

These Flying Monkeys didn't even have higher stats than forest wolves, but they had a very annoying trait: Flying Around, which made them extremely agile and very difficult to hit!

Han Huohuo ignored these. He led the team in a rush. The Mechanical Giant Wolf and the workers attacked together. After instantly killing one Flying Monkey, the remaining monkeys were all scared and fled.

Immediately, a warehouse was built on the flat ground in front of the Black Stone Mine.

[Warehouse]: Stores materials, storage limit 5000 units.

[Construction]: 100 Wood, 50 Stone.

......

"Build!"

"All workers, go collect black stone!"

Once the warehouse was built, Han Huohuo gave the order, and all 30 mechanical workers rushed out, quickly going to collect black stone.

mechanical workers could only work continuously mining for 6 hours. Since a small amount of power was also consumed during the march earlier, marching and mining were different. Very little power was consumed during simple marching, so they could still work continuously for over 5 hours now.

Han Huohuo did not return to his camp. He stayed with the three giant wolves, timing the work with a stopwatch.

The black stone ore was all in the underground mine pits. This was much more troublesome than collecting iron ore. The ore dug out by the mechanical workers from the mine pits looked like coal, but natural coal wasn't so square and uniformly sized.

An hour passed, and the 30 workers had collected a total of 12 black stone ore.

Han Huohuo calculated that the efficiency of collecting black stone ore was about one-fifth that of collecting iron ore!

Seeing this data.

Han Huohuo finally breathed a sigh of relief. These workers, if they worked continuously for five hours, could produce 60 black stone ore, which was enough to make a charging station!

He worried about unexpected events.

Han Huohuo stayed with these workers while they mined. As midnight approached, the night grew colder, making Han Huohuo stomp his feet to keep warm.

From the distant mountains and forests, the roars of various wild beasts could be heard, one after another, even more terrifying.

If it weren't for the Mechanical Giant Wolf guarding him like calves, Han Huohuo would have run away long ago. This was too scary!

Who knew being a Lord would be so difficult!

Dawn.

Just as all the mechanical workers were about to run out of power, they finally gathered 50 black stone.

Han Huohuo was so excited that tears were about to fall!

[Do you want to build a Charging Station? Requires Iron 100, Black Stone 50. Construction requirements met.]

"Build"

Han Huohuo had never been so excited. He built the first charging station!

He was cold and hungry.

These workers could work until dawn and should be able to collect another 50 black stone, which meant he could build another charging station back at the camp.

The only thing lacking again was iron ore.

But tomorrow was the third day, and everyone would start building their armies. Building an army required a large amount of iron ingots to manufacture weapons.

Even the price of scrap iron would rise.

Never mind that for now!

Collecting black stone must still be the priority!

Seeing that the night was very deep, Han Huohuo figured that other Lords wouldn't be wandering around at this time, and black stone ore wasn't something they needed anyway.

He prepared to leave here and return to his Black Wind Fortress.

He left two Mechanical Giant Wolf and twenty workers specifically to mine here.

Taking the other giant wolf and the extra ten workers, he headed back to his camp under the cover of darkness.

Han Huohuo's physical strength naturally couldn't compare to the mechanicals. He was exhausted. Halfway there, he simply rode on the back of the Mechanical Giant Wolf.

The giant wolf's run was not smooth, bouncing up and down, almost bruising his backside. Just as Han Huohuo was about to endure no more, he finally saw his camp and was instantly filled with tears of emotion.

He arranged for the ten mechanical workers who returned with him to collect iron ore.

He jumped down from the giant wolf's back and limped towards the Main Camp.

When he returned to the Main Camp, he felt for the first time that his Main Camp was actually so warm!

He lifted the door curtain and entered the Main Camp. Li Qiang hadn't left yet, the fire was still burning, and a wave of warmth hit him.

Indeed, those who handled municipal affairs were careful. Knowing that Han Huohuo hadn't returned, Li Qiang had been on duty here the whole time, not daring to go back to rest.

Liu Qiang quickly brought hot water to Han Huohuo.

Han Huohuo was cold all over, frozen and tired. He roasted by the fire for a while, drank a few sips of hot water to get rid of the cold, and his eyelids started to droop. He really couldn't hold on any longer.

Go back to sleep!

"Lord, please rest early. I'll take my leave first," Li Qiang left the Main Camp, quietly closing the door.

Even though there were no quilts on the bed, just straw laid out, he felt like he was in paradise now.

He fell into a deep sleep.

He didn't wake up until the sun was bright the next day.

He checked the resources. There were already over seventy black stone. The Black Stone Mine was very safe and had not been attacked. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Liu Hu's blacksmith shop had started working, but there was too little iron ore for the mechanical workers. Liu Hu had to rest after working for a while.

Now there were only 86 iron ingots.

Liu Qiang was watching from the side. He thought the Lord would recruit 8 more workers, but Han Huohuo did not.

Han Huohuo consumed 80 iron ingots and 40 black stone, directly recruiting 4 Floating Turret.

"King, we haven't encountered any enemies right now. Why did you recruit four combat units instead of recruiting more workers for production?" Liu Qiang was puzzled.

"You scholars don't understand. In these vast mountains, danger lurks at every step. If you're not careful, your head is gone. If you can't guarantee your own safety, all collection efficiency is useless, not worth mentioning."

Han Huohuo sneered.

Who could guarantee that among the surrounding Lords, there wasn't a second Wang Haoze!

All wealth must be protected by force. This is the only rule in this world where the strong prey on the weak!