3: Chapter 3 Horrifying Abandoned Mine

In an instant, he felt the gravel under his hands being sucked away by something, decreasing by about half a cubic meter.

At the same time, a space appeared in his mind, surrounded by chaos. According to the System prompt, this space had a capacity of "10000 cubic meters," and he could see a small pile of gold ore inside it.

It was clearly the gold ore he had just collected.

"System, can I refine the gold now?" Li Xin asked silently.

The System replied: "Yes, please confirm whether to refine the gold: Yes / No."

Li Xin thought: "Yes."

He heard the System reply: "Confirmed, refining..."

In just a few seconds, a message came into Li Xin's mind: "Ding, Extraction complete, obtained 1.2 kg of gold," and then a computer-like screen popped up in his mind.

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[Gold Search and Refining System]

[Host: Li Xin]

[Level: 1]

[Current Detection Range: 50 meters]

(Note: Every 10kg of gold refined adds 5 meters to the detection range)

[Accumulated Refined Gold: 1.2 kg]

[Gold Required for Next Upgrade: 10kg]

(Hint: 8.8 kg more gold needed to upgrade)

[Armed Squad: Not Summoned]

[...]

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1.2 kg. 8.8 kg remaining until the upgrade. He needed more gold.

He stood up, brushed the dust off his hands, and continued walking deeper into the mine tunnel.

Behind the pile of gravel was a relatively well-preserved section of the tunnel, about two meters high and one and a half meters wide, with some abandoned tools and rusted rails scattered on the ground.

The System indicated that there was more gold ahead.

He walked about twenty meters and reached the end of the tunnel.

This must have been the working face from the mining days, as there were still traces of drill holes on the rock wall.

The System indicated that there was a gold vein behind this rock wall.

But it wasn't very thick, only about ten centimeters, and the grade was not high.

"System, can I perform an Extraction through the rock wall?"

"Not currently. The host must have direct contact with the object containing gold."

Then he had no choice but to dig.

He swung his engineering shovel and began to chisel the rock wall.

The rock wall was much harder to dig than the gravel, and every strike made his hands numb.

He dug for about an hour, and his arms were so sore he couldn't lift them, having only chiseled in less than half a meter.

But he discovered one thing—his stamina was much better than before.

In his past life, he would have been exhausted after two hours of this kind of work.

But now, after digging for an hour, only his arms were sore, while his heartbeat and breathing remained steady.

This was the body modified by the System.

He dug for another half hour and finally chiseled through the rock wall.

A damp draft surged out from the crack, carrying a smell of sulfur.

He widened the crack and squeezed through sideways.

Inside was a natural cave, not very large, only about a dozen square meters.

On the cave wall was a thin golden vein, winding downwards.

A gold vein.

"System, what is the gold content of this vein?"

["Scanning and analyzing..."]

["Ding... Scan and analysis complete. Estimated gold content of this vein: approximately 8kg."]

"8kg? Hahaha..." Li Xin couldn't help but feel ecstatic. He almost laughed out loud several times, but thinking of Uncle Wang outside, he managed to hold it back with great effort.

Calculating the 1.2 kg from before, he now had 9.2 kg of gold.

Only 0.8 kg away from 10kg.

He reached out and pressed his hand against the vein. He thought silently: "Collect."

The entire gold vein vanished instantly.

"Refine."

["Refining... Refining complete, obtained gold: 8kg."]

[Accumulated Refined Gold: 9.2 kg]

[Gold Required for System Upgrade: 10kg]

Li Xin stood in the cave, looking at the numbers on the system panel, the corners of his mouth slowly curling up.

9.2 kg of gold. Worth over two million.

Two million; in his past life, he had never seen so much money.

Now, he had obtained it easily in less than a morning.

Truly, different people have different fates.

Li Xin was in no hurry to leave.

The Scan results just now also showed that there was still gold deeper inside.

Although this mine had been abandoned, there was still gold ore in the depths, but it was buried too deep for him to dig right now.

He would have to wait until the System upgraded before coming back.

After pondering for a moment, he turned around, ready to walk out.

Just at that moment, he heard a muffled sound from the depths of the tunnel.

From afar to near, the sound grew closer, louder, and more urgent.

Rumble—

It sounded like something had collapsed.

Immediately after, a blast of air rushed out from the depths of the tunnel, carrying dust and debris, pelting towards him.

Li Xin instinctively crouched down and covered his head with his arms.

After the dust settled, he raised his head and shone his flashlight forward.

Deep in the tunnel, the originally pitch-black opening was now blocked by a pile of newly collapsed rubble.

If he hadn't been on this side, if he had walked a few more steps forward earlier, it was hard to imagine—

A layer of cold sweat broke out on Li Xin's back.

He didn't linger any longer, bent down, crawled out of the cave, and walked quickly out along the tunnel.

When he reached the cave entrance, the sunlight made him squint.

Down the mountain, Uncle Wang was leaning against the van, dozing off.

He checked his phone; more than two hours had passed.

He walked quickly down the mountain, pulled open the passenger door, and sat inside.

"Uncle Wang, I'm back. Thank you for waiting for me so long. Let's go back."

Uncle Wang opened his eyes and yawned: "Did you find it?"

"I found a few pieces." He patted his backpack. "Sorry for the trouble, Uncle Wang. How much do I owe you?"

"Just give me two hundred."

Li Xin rummaged through his pocket and finally took out two hundred yuan and handed it over.

This was almost all his savings.

The van swayed as it drove down the mountain road.

Li Xin leaned back against the seat, eyes closed, seemingly resting, but actually calculating in his mind.

9.2 kilograms of gold, 0.8 kilograms remaining until the upgrade.

He needed more gold.

But more importantly, he needed to turn the gold he had into money.

Cashing it out domestically was too dangerous.

He had no proof of origin; a poor student suddenly bringing out kilograms of gold to sell would be targeted in minutes.

He needed a safe place, a place that didn't ask about the origin of the gold.

Dubai.

One of the world's largest gold trading centers, which doesn't check sources, doesn't ask about origins, and has no capital gains tax.

The pity was that he didn't have the money for a plane ticket right now.

Li Xin opened his eyes, glanced at the 9.2 kilograms of gold in the System space, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

Plane ticket money? He had plenty of ways to get it.

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