163: Chapter 163 Dark Battle in the Cold Night

12:30 AM, Li Xin went out.

He didn't drive; he walked, climbing over a low wall behind the cabin, crossing a vegetable patch, and getting onto the dirt road leading to the mining area.

The night fog was thicker than during the day, with visibility less than twenty meters.

He turned on his headlamp, but the beam could only illuminate a small patch in the fog, and the road under his feet wasn't very clear.

He didn't walk fast, making sure each step was firm before taking the next.

The fog hit his face, cool and damp, and the surface of his clothes soon became moist.

After walking for nearly an hour, he arrived near Point 2.

It was a gentle slope covered with low shrubs and wild grass, with a few large rocks scattered among them.

There was a depression at the top of the slope, surrounded by rocks on three sides, making it invisible from the outside.

Li Xin climbed up, crouched down, and looked around.

The fog obscured everything; he couldn't see any distant lights, nor could he hear any sounds.

Only the wind, blowing across the top of the slope, made a wooing sound.

He took a sleeping bag out of his spatial storage, spread it on the ground, and sat inside, with only his head exposed.

He then took a thermos out of the spatial storage, unscrewed the lid, and took a sip of hot tea.

The tea had been brewed before he left and was still hot.

"AI System, start Extraction."

[Extraction started. Target: North ore vein of the Berezovsky mining area. Extractable amount: 600 tons. Extraction rate: 50 tons/hour. Estimated time: 12 hours. Countdown: 11:59:59.]

A pale blue light, visible only to him, surged out from the system and extended underground.

The progress bar began to jump, very slowly.

He stared at the panel and placed the thermos by his feet.

The fog churned at the top of the slope, thickening and thinning by turns.

The distant forest was left only as a blurred outline in the dark night.

2:00 AM, the progress reached eight percent. System load was stable at forty-two.

The sound of engines came from the distance. Not one, but two.

Headlights swayed in the fog, driving over from the direction of the mining area, moving slowly along the dirt road.

The beams of searchlights swept across the forest, the open ground below the slope, and the rocks at the top of the slope.

Li Xin huddled in the depression, motionless.

The beam of light swept over his head, paused for a moment, and swept back. He held his breath.

The beam moved away.

The headlights continued forward, getting further and further away. The engine sound gradually faded.

[Mining area security patrol vehicles, two. Have driven away. No personnel activity in the current area.]

Progress at fourteen percent.

3:00 AM, the fog thinned a bit.

He could see the distant ridgeline, pitch black, like a wall.

The clouds in the sky had scattered a bit, revealing a few stars, not many, sparse and scattered.

Footsteps came from the distance. A few people were walking over.

The footsteps were chaotic, crunching on the gravel.

Li Xin poked his head out of the depression and looked down the slope.

Several figures walked over from the edge of the woods, stopping and going, holding flashlights, their beams sweeping across the ground.

They weren't security; they weren't wearing uniforms, but casual clothes.

[Mobile sentries of the gold-stealing gang on the north side. Three people. Moving westward. Distance about three hundred meters.]

The footsteps grew closer. The flashlight beams swept back and forth below the slope.

One of the people stopped and shone the light up the slope. The beam swept over his head.

Li Xin shrank back.

The man stood at the bottom of the slope for a while and said something to his companion, the voice not loud, unclear.

Then the footsteps continued forward, getting further and further away.

Progress at twenty-one percent.

4:00 AM, the quietest time. No birds chirping, no insects buzzing, and the wind had stopped.

The fog settled in the low areas, like a white blanket spread between the woods and the hillside.

Li Xin leaned against the rock, staring at the panel. Progress at twenty-eight percent. More than eight hours left.

He took out the thermos and drank another sip of tea. The tea had cooled, and the astringent taste was heavier.

He fished a piece of chocolate out of the spatial storage, broke off a small piece, and popped it into his mouth. Sweet, cloying, but it could refresh him.

Suddenly, a muffled sound came from the distance.

It wasn't thunder; it was the sound of dynamite blasting, coming from the direction of the mining area, muffled, and the ground even shook a little.

[Late-night blasting operations in the mining area. Distance about four kilometers. Does not affect Extraction.]

After the blasting, several large floodlights lit up in the direction of the mining area, illuminating half the sky.

It lasted for about ten minutes, then the lights went out, and it returned to pitch black.

Progress at thirty-five percent.

5:00 AM, the horizon began to turn white. Not sunrise, but the kind of white where the fog is penetrated by light, gray and hazy, making it impossible to distinguish the boundary between the sky and the ground.

Li Xin stretched his stiff neck. He had been sitting too long, and his lower back was sore.

He stood up gently, walked two steps in the depression, crouched down, and continued to stare at the panel.

Progress at forty-two percent.

Bird chirps came from the woods below the slope, at first a few, then more and more, chattering.

There were headlights in the distance, driving out from the direction of the mining area.

Not patrol vehicles, but trucks, several of them, lined up in a row, heading towards the city.

They must be ore transport trucks from the mining area, leaving before dawn.

The convoy drove along the dirt road below the slope, rumbling, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The dust couldn't disperse in the fog, creating a hazy yellow cloud.

Progress at forty-nine percent.

7:00 AM, the sky was completely bright.

The fog had mostly dissipated; he could see the distant woods and ridges.

Sunlight shone from the east, and the wild grass on the slope was hung with dewdrops, sparkling.

Li Xin took water out of the spatial storage and drank a few gulps. He also took out bread, tore off a small piece, and chewed slowly.

He couldn't eat too much, for fear of getting sleepy. He couldn't not eat either; being hungry was even more uncomfortable.

Progress at fifty-six percent.

On the dirt road below the slope, a few people were walking. Wearing work clothes, carrying tools, they must be miners.

They didn't look up at the slope, talking as they walked, their voices low.

Li Xin huddled in the depression, only half an eye exposed.

Those people walked away.

Progress at sixty-three percent.

9:00 AM, the sun had risen. The dew on the slope had dried, and the wild grass was a bit wilted from the sun.

The temperature had risen, neither cold nor hot, just right.

Li Xin took off his jacket and put it under him. Sitting for too long was uncomfortable.

He took a reclining chair out of the spatial storage and sat on it. Much more comfortable.

Progress at seventy percent.

A burst of shouting and cursing came from the distance. It was the woods on the east side of the mining area, not close, but the sound was loud and clear.

"...You motherfucker, you crossed the line."

"This ore vein isn't your family's; whoever digs it gets it."

"I haven't settled the score with you for yesterday's business, and you're here again today?"

"Settling the score? Do you have the ability?"

The shouting grew more intense, mixed with the sound of metal colliding. They were fighting over the mine again.

Li Xin glanced in that direction but saw nothing; the woods blocked it.

"AI System, what's the situation over there?"

[Two gold-stealing gangs on the east side are in a standoff; they haven't started fighting yet, but the atmosphere is very tense.]

"Will they fight over here?"

[Not sure. If the conflict escalates, it might spread. Point 2 is currently safe.]

Progress at seventy-seven percent.

10:30 AM, the shouting on the east side stopped. They started fighting.

The sound of clubs, screams, and curses mixed together, even more chaotic than yesterday.

Li Xin listened to those sounds, feeling nothing inside. He stared at the panel as the progress jumped: eighty-two, eighty-three, eighty-four percent.

Suddenly, a gunshot.

Much harsher than the sound of clubs, echoing in the woods, humming.

Then there was dead silence.

After about ten seconds, the shouting started again, but it was further away than before. It had moved north.

[A shot was fired; someone is injured. The conflict is spreading north.]

"How far from here?"

[The closest point is about 1.5 kilometers from here.]

Li Xin's fingers tightened a bit, but he didn't move.

Progress at eighty-eight percent.

12:00 PM, the sun was overhead; there were no trees on the slope, and the sun shone directly down.

Li Xin put his jacket on his head to shade himself. He took water out of the spatial storage and gulped down a few mouthfuls. The water was warm, not quenching, but it could moisten his throat.

Progress at ninety-three percent.

Less than an hour left.

On the dirt road below the slope, a pickup truck drove past. There were four people in the truck, all wearing camouflage uniforms, carrying guns—mining area security.

The pickup wasn't driving fast; the person in the passenger seat was holding binoculars, looking from side to side. When they reached the bottom of the slope, the binoculars scanned the slope.

Li Xin huddled in the depression, blocked by rocks, and couldn't be seen from the outside.

The pickup drove past.

Progress at ninety-six percent.

12:40 PM, progress at ninety-eight percent. System load was stable at forty-five, everything normal.

Li Xin stared at the progress bar, counting second by second. Ninety-nine point two, ninety-nine point five, ninety-nine point seven percent.

A pig's grunt came from the distance, not a normal pig's grunt, but a wild boar's, the sound thick and muffled, echoing in the woods.

[East woods, there are wild boars. Distance about eight hundred meters. Moving westward.]

"Will they come over?"

[Not sure. Wild boar movement paths are irregular; they might bypass the west side of Point 2.]

The wild boar's grunts grew closer; he could hear the sound of branches being snapped, crack, crack.

Li Xin poked his head out of the depression and looked to the east. At the edge of the woods, a black wild boar emerged. It was huge, at least two hundred pounds, covered in black hair, with tusks exposed.

It stood at the edge of the woods and sniffed the air. Then it turned its head and looked up at the slope.

Li Xin shrank back.

The wild boar grunted once, then again. The footsteps circled a few times at the bottom of the slope. Then it headed west. The sound of branches snapping grew further and further away.

[The wild boar has left, direction west-northwest, distance about four hundred meters.]

Progress at ninety-nine point nine percent.

Li Xin stared at the panel.

[Ding... Extraction complete. North ore vein of the Berezovsky mining area, 600 tons. Purity 99.99%.]

[Cumulative gold: 2589.0057 tons.]

[System entering cooldown mode. Countdown: 11:59:59. No Extraction can be performed during this period.]

Li Xin didn't move. He sat on the folding chair, looking at those numbers. 600 tons, obtained.

He put the folding chair into the spatial storage, packed up the sleeping bag, and put away the thermos. He checked the ground once, leaving nothing behind. Then he climbed out of the depression, crouched at the top of the slope, and looked around.

No people, no cars, no movement.

He walked down the small path on the north side of the slope and entered the woods. The fog had dissipated completely, and sunlight leaked through the gaps in the canopy, casting patches of shattered gold on the ground. The woods were very quiet, with only the occasional bird chirp.

He didn't walk fast; his feet made no sound on the pine needles. He bypassed the eastern woods, avoided the patrol route, and circled out from the west side of the mining area.

After walking for nearly two hours, he finally reached the dirt road. He took his car out of the spatial storage, started the engine, and drove towards the city.

When he returned to the cabin, it was already afternoon.

The Old Lady landlord was drying quilts in the yard; seeing him return, she smiled.

"Hungry? There's soup in the kitchen."

"Thank you."

Li Xin walked into the house, washed his face, and sat in the kitchen. A pot of soup was stewing on the stove, potatoes and carrots, with a few pieces of bone. He ladled a bowl and sat by the window, drinking it slowly. The soup was a bit salty, but hot, and drinking it warmed him all over.

After finishing the soup, he went back to his room and lay down.

The sunlight outside the window was beautiful, shining on the quilt, warm and cozy.

He closed his eyes.

600 tons. Added to the previous amount, 2589 tons.

Tomorrow, it's time to leave.