75: Chapter 75 Sumatra Martabe

The morning air in Sumatra was damp and muggy.

As Li Xin walked out of Medan Airport, a wave of heat rushed over him, making him feel as if he had stepped into a giant steamer. With his backpack on, he stood by the roadside waiting for a taxi, the collar of his shirt already soaked. The sunlight beat down on his skin, burning hot. Fortunately, the system's constant temperature control kept his body temperature at around twenty-six or twenty-seven degrees Celsius; otherwise, it would have been truly unbearable.

On his phone, the information sent by Chen Hu was still glowing on the screen.

"Boss, there are two choices here in Sumatra. One is a regular scenic area, the Salido Ancient Gold Mine, which was abandoned during the Dutch colonial period. It's completely open, and tourists can enter freely. The other is to view Martabe from afar. From the Bukit Kumbang (Wild Bee Mountain) viewing platform, you can capture a panoramic view of the mining area."

Li Xin scrolled down further.

"There's also the Batang Toru Valley, right outside the Martabe mining area, where locals pan for placer gold by hand. You can find a guide to take you there; it's not illegal."

He slipped his phone into his pocket and got into a taxi.

"To the budget hotel."

The driver was an Indonesian man in his forties with dark skin and a talkative nature. He babbled non-stop along the way, while Li Xin only gave occasional hums of agreement, spending most of his time looking at the scenery outside the window.

Medan was quieter than Jakarta. Low-rise buildings lined both sides of the streets, with the spires of a few mosques occasionally visible. Motorcycles weaved through the traffic, horns honking one after another. By the roadside, vendors pushed carts selling fruit—durians, mangosteens, and rambutans piled high like small hills.

Arriving at the hotel, he checked in, lay down on the bed, and opened the map.

Sumatra Island, an important gold-producing region in Indonesia and even globally.

The entire island sits on the subduction zone of the Eurasian Plate and the Indian Ocean Plate. Volcanic activity is intense, forming a gold belt centered around the Barisan Mountains. The northern part features high-sulfidation epithermal gold deposits, represented by Martabe, while the central and southern parts have low-sulfidation gold deposits and placer gold.

Martabe, Sumatra's largest gold mine, is a world-class deposit.

Li Xin searched online for public data on Martabe.

Resources: 6.4 million ounces of gold, about 199 tons. Reserves: 3.56 million ounces of gold, about 110 tons. Annual production: over 200,000 ounces of gold, about 6.2 tons.

He stared at these numbers, tapping his finger gently on the screen twice.

199 tons. Even if he could only extract 60%, that would still be nearly 120 tons. Adding the previous 96.7 tons, it would directly break 200 tons, allowing the system to upgrade to Level 13.

But he couldn't enter the mining area directly.

Martabe is a legitimate, large-scale gold mine with strict security. Tourists are completely prohibited from entering. There are blasting operations, heavy machinery, and cyanide processing; it is illegal for foreign tourists to enter.

He had to find a spot outside.

Li Xin opened the map and zoomed in on the Martabe mining area.

The entire mining concession covers an area of 1,303 square kilometers, with an equivalent diameter of about 40 kilometers. The core production area is about 30 square kilometers, with an equivalent diameter of about 6.2 kilometers. The main ore body is a north-south trending strip, about 8 kilometers long and 1 to 1.5 kilometers wide.

His system detection range was 18.99 kilometers.

Standing anywhere on the periphery of the mining area, he could Scan through the entire ore body.

There was no need to get close at all.

Li Xin spent a long time comparing several alternative locations.

The Bukit Kumbang (Wild Bee Mountain) viewing platform, located on the high ground beside the highway, offered a distant view of the Martabe mining area. It was completely legal, open to tourists at will, and only required parking to take photos. The safety level was extremely high.

The Batang Toru Valley, located on the public riverbanks on the outskirts of the mining area, was where locals manually panned for placer gold.

You could find a guide to take you there, which was not illegal, but you needed someone to lead the way.

The Salido Ancient Gold Mine in West Sumatra was a gold mine abandoned during the Dutch colonial period. It had now become a completely open historical attraction. Foreign tourists could wander around and take photos at will, as there was no security or cordons. However, the trouble was that it was a bit far from Martabe, requiring a half-day drive.

After some thought, Li Xin decided to go to Bukit Kumbang first.

It was not far, so getting there would be much faster. Most importantly, it was safe and would not attract attention.

Early the next morning, he rented an off-road vehicle and drove toward North Sumatra.

The roads were even harder to navigate than those in Java. After leaving Medan, he only drove on the highway for an hour, and the rest was all mountain roads. The roads were narrow, winding, and full of potholes. The trees on both sides grew denser, transitioning from farmland to shrubs, and from shrubs to rainforest.

Four hours later, a fork in the road appeared in the distance. The road signs bore the names "Batang Toru" and "Bukit Kumbang."

Li Xin directly chose the road leading to Bukit Kumbang.

This was an uphill stretch, and the slope grew steeper and steeper. With the car in first gear, the engine buzzed, and the road surface was so bumpy and strenuous that Li Xin even entertained the thought of turning back.

As he drove, an open area appeared before his eyes.

There was an empty space by the roadside where several motorcycles and a battered van were parked. Next to the space stood a wooden pavilion. An old man sat inside, with a small stall set up in front of him displaying some mineral water and snacks. Wearing a faded T-shirt and a pair of slippers, he held a cattail fan, waving it slowly with a leisurely and carefree air.

Li Xin parked the car and got out.

The old man glanced at him with a smile and asked in Indonesian, "Young man, are you here to see the mine?"

"Yes, Uncle," Li Xin smiled. "I heard that you can see the Martabe Gold Mine from here. I was curious, so I came to take a look."

"Haha, you've come to the right place. Just go up this way and you'll see it." The old man pointed to the path behind the pavilion. "It takes ten minutes at most to get there."

"Alright, thank you, Uncle. How much is the parking fee?" Li Xin replied with a smile.

"The parking fee is ten thousand," the old man nodded and said with a smile.

Li Xin pulled a ten-thousand-rupiah note from his pocket and handed it over. The old man took it, stuffed it into his pants pocket, and pointed to the path again. "Follow it, don't take any side paths."

Li Xin nodded, put on his backpack, and walked up the path. Low shrubs grew on both sides of the path, and a faint fragrance from the leaves wafted into his nose, mixed with the scent of wild flowers, making him unable to resist taking a few deep breaths.

After walking for a few minutes, he reached the ridge.

The view suddenly opened up. A hillside with a giant excavated gap came into view, where the yellow earth lay bare. Giant mining trucks crawled along the winding mountain road like beetles, white smoke rose from the chimneys of the processing plant, and barbed wire fences and guard posts stretched all the way.

That was Martabe.

Standing on the ridge, Li Xin pulled out his camera and took a few photos in a professional-looking manner.

He looked around. There was almost no one here. Only an occasional car passed on the highway in the distance. The old man in the pavilion was still waving his fan, not even raising his head.

The corners of Li Xin's mouth curled up. "Safety confirmed. Ready to start."

Finding a clean spot, he sat on the ground, leaned back, and rested his hands on the earth. The dry soil was slightly hot to the touch. With his palms pressed against the ground, he could feel the heat baked in by the sun. He muttered in his mind:

"System, Scan."

[Scanning... Scan complete.]

[Gold deposit discovered, distributed 80–450 meters underground, stretching about 8 kilometers from south to north, and 1–1.5 kilometers wide. Gold reserves: 199 tons.]

[Note: This is the Martabe Gold Mine area. Only 60% can be extracted, which is approximately 119.4 tons of gold.]

Looking at the numbers on the panel, Li Xin's joy grew even stronger.

119.4 tons.

Adding the previous 96.7 tons, it would directly break 200 tons.

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. His heart began to race, but his face remained expressionless.

He glanced around. Still no one.

He tilted his head back, gazing into the distance.

"System, Extraction."

[Extracting...]

In less than a second.

[Extraction complete. Gold obtained: 119.4 tons.]

[Cumulative refined gold: 216.1057 tons.]

He stood up and patted the dust off his hands.

119 tons of gold. Just like that, it was gone.

Li Xin couldn't help but laugh. As a result, he choked on his own saliva—a realistic depiction of joy turning into sorrow. He coughed violently for a long time, so hard that his windpipe ached, proving once again that one shouldn't get too cocky, or else it's easy to get cut down.

He stood there with tears in his eyes, looking at the mining area in the distance. Trucks were still driving on the platforms, workers were still laboring at the bottom of the pit, and everything was as usual.

No one knew that in just those few seconds, more than half of the gold in the belly of this mine had been swept away.

He pulled out his camera and continued taking photos of the mining area in the distance. With the shutter clicking away, how was he any different from an ordinary tourist?

Except that his upturned grin was wide enough to carry water. He muttered in his mind:

"System, upgrade."

[System upgrading... Please wait.]

The upgrade took a bit longer than before. The system kept loading, and its detection range was expanding.

Five seconds. Ten seconds. Fifteen seconds.

[Upgrade complete!]

[Gold Search and Refining System 2.0]

[Host: Li Xin]

[Level: 13]

[Detection Range: 18,990 meters → 22,990 meters]

(Note: This upgrade consumes 200 tons of gold. Every 100 tons increases the range by 2,000 meters, for a total increase of 4,000 meters)

[Current cumulative refined gold: 16.1057 tons]

[Gold required for the next upgrade: 500 tons]

The detection range had expanded to nearly 23 kilometers.

"System, why is the increase in scanning range getting smaller and smaller with each upgrade now?" Seeing that the scanning range added by the consumed gold was rather small, Li Xin was somewhat puzzled.

[Hahaha... Because this system has existed for too long, many of its core architectures have developed issues. Now, as the scanning range increases, the system load intensifies, and my CPU is about to burn out. You should count your blessings! It will be even less in the future, and the use of my abilities will fluctuate depending on the situation—sometimes working, sometimes not. You'd better be prepared for me to crash at any moment!]

[Work hard to mine those gold deposits, baby! Hahaha.]

Li Xin's heart suddenly tightened, and a sudden sense of urgency washed over him. Only today did he realize that he could lose his system at any moment. "What should I do... What should I do..."

He paced back and forth, filled with worry. When one has something, they don't know how to cherish it, but once they suddenly realize they might lose it... human nature is truly like this.

When possessing it, one is completely oblivious, taking everything for granted, careless and indifferent. It is not until a certain moment when one suddenly realizes that those things once within easy reach...

...might be gone forever, that the heart suddenly feels empty, as if a piece has been torn away, and panic tightens even one's breathing. This pain of hindsight is a hundred times more agonizing than never having had it in the first place.

Li Xin's mood was somewhat low. After a long silence, he sighed, "Sigh! While I still can, I should find more treasures and mine more gold!"

With downcast eyes, he walked down step by step.

Soon he arrived at the pavilion. The old man was currently dozing off, his cattail fan fallen to the ground. Li Xin did not disturb him, got into his car, and left.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated.

Chen Hu sent a message: "Boss, I've looked into the Salido Ancient Gold Mine. It's in West Sumatra, abandoned during the Dutch colonial period, completely open, and tourists can enter freely. Do you want to go?"

Li Xin replied with a "Sure."

Stepping on the gas, the car pulled out of the parking lot and merged onto the road back to Medan.

He leaned back against the seat and rolled down the window, letting the wind blow against his face.

The Sumatran sunshine was pleasant, and the mountain road wound its way along.

He turned on the audio system and played an old song.

His fingers tapped the beat on the steering wheel.

Next stop, Salido.

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