96: Chapter 96 Reconnaissance of Mu Longtao

At 4:00 AM, Li Xin snapped his eyes open, and with a swift motion, performed a kip-up and sat up.

He hadn't slept much that night; it wasn't that he didn't want to, but his mind was preoccupied. He felt both excited and hesitant. With the reconnaissance of the Muruntau Gold Mine imminent, his nerves and excitement made it impossible to sleep.

He quickly washed up, got dressed, and packed his backpack. Then, he casually took some delicacies from his spatial storage and hurriedly ate a simple breakfast.

He walked quickly down the stairs, his footsteps echoing. It was still dark outside; only the occasional streetlamp illuminated the street, cold and desolate.

"Click." He closed the car door. With a few "vroom" sounds, the car slowly rolled out of the parking lot.

The streets of Navoi were empty. Dim, yellow streetlights illuminated a few stray dogs nearby. They were rummaging through trash cans, perhaps looking for delicious bones, or perhaps hunting some clueless rats.

Li Xin bobbed his head to the music in the car as he slowly drove out of the city. He soon got onto the highway, where everything was pitch black, with only the headlights illuminating the path ahead.

In the distance, the sky was gradually brightening. Dawn was just ahead, and he imagined the glittering gold beckoning to him.

He glanced casually at the navigation; he was only thirty kilometers away from Muruntau.

Li Xin slowed down. He wondered how to find a concealed location. After all, the system was unstable now, unlike before when he could extract things easily. He needed to be well-prepared for any potential accidents.

Li Xin kept observing both sides of the window. On both sides of the highway was a desert with grayish-yellow land and occasional shrubs. If he stood there, he could be seen from ten kilometers away, which would unnecessarily increase the risk.

"I can't stop on the roadside; I need to keep looking," he thought to himself.

The car continued to sway forward. After driving for a while, a "Y"-shaped fork appeared ahead. One road continued straight, and the other led to some hills.

He deliberated for a moment and finally chose the road leading to the hills.

The road up the hills was potholed, and the car swayed as it drove along. The shrubs on both sides were sparse.

He didn't know how long he had been driving when a mountain hollow came into view. It was blocked on three sides by rocks and had an open area in front. You couldn't see inside from the outside, but you could see outside from the inside.

Li Xin stopped the car and got out to take a look.

The hollow wasn't large, about twenty square meters, surrounded by rocks over two meters high that could block both the wind and the view. In front was the Gobi Desert, where he could see the distant highway and the direction of the mining area.

He took out his GPS.

It was twelve kilometers from the core of the mining area.

"This is the place."

He found a random spot to sit down.

"AI System, test Scan."

A pale blue light emerged.

He could "see" the underground structure—rock layers, faults, ore veins, layer by layer, clearly.

A dozen seconds later.

[Scan complete. Range normal. Ore vein distribution: depth fifty to five hundred meters, trend northeast-southwest, length approximately eight kilometers.]

Li Xin's lips curled up.

"Good, AI System, Extraction."

[Extracting... 10%... 20%... 30%...]

Suddenly...

[Beep... Beep... Beep...] A sharp buzzing sound rang out, each one more urgent than the last. It was the AI System's alarm.

[AI System: Zhuzi, stop quickly, the system is going to crash...!] At this moment, the Little Yellow Man—the AI System—was jumping up and down violently.

Li Xin was startled. Before he could think, he shouted loudly, "Stop... stop... stop!"

He couldn't care about muttering in his mind anymore and shouted it out loud.

A few seconds later, the AI System stopped the Extraction and returned to the "Repairing" state.

Li Xin finally let out a long sigh of relief. He felt a chill down his back; in those few seconds, cold sweat had soaked his clothes.

He then asked, "AI System, AI System, what just happened? Why did the alarm go off?"

[AI System: It was because the distance was too far and the amount to be extracted was too large, causing the system to overload and malfunction.]

"What should I do? Can it still be used?" Li Xin's heart was in his throat, and he waited nervously for the reply.

[AI System: Extract in small batches from now on. It should be fine.]

"Can I still extract today?"

[AI System: In your dreams! Wait a few days. It's still recovering... It almost crashed just now, you scared the hell out of me!] The Little Yellow Man jumped up and down excitedly.

"Alright then!" Li Xin breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a bit disappointed.

[AI System: What's that look for? If the system had crashed just now, you would have been wiped out too... hehe~]

"I... I... damn it..." Li Xin suddenly couldn't speak clearly. He had just relaxed, but now he was on edge again.

"This damn thing, it's like I could be attending my own funeral at any moment. No... it should be the kind where there's no reason even for a funeral..." Li Xin was almost crying, muttering to himself repeatedly.

"Damn it, before I only knew that getting this system meant making a fortune. Earning hundreds of billions or trillions easily seemed like no problem. I didn't expect this damn system to be on the verge of crashing."

"If it crashes, let it crash. At least I already have hundreds of billions. Now I know that if this damn system crashes, it will take me down with it."

"Damn! This is such a trap... The things I mined before, wasn't that gold all for nothing?" Li Xin was feeling devastated, pacing back and forth on the spot.

He repeatedly tried to calm himself down, thinking of a bunch of random reasons, and finally, his mood stabilized a little.

"No, I have to go back and enjoy life properly." Li Xin's eyes were firm.

[AI System: Idiot... keep working hard! Hahaha...]

"I... I... sigh!" Li Xin stammered for a long time without saying anything, and finally sighed.

"As the saying goes, 'Misfortune might be an occasion for fortune, and fortune might be an occasion for misfortune.' Keep working hard! One must look forward!" Li Xin pulled himself together.

He couldn't extract anything today. He would just consider today a reconnaissance trip.

He dusted off his hands and returned to the car. He continued driving forward. After driving two hundred meters, he reached a higher spot. He got out of the car, climbed onto a large rock, and looked north.

The full view of Muruntau appeared before his eyes.

The massive mining pit looked like a scar across the grayish-yellow desert. The rock walls were grayish-white, layered downward like terraced fields. There was stagnant water at the bottom of the pit, shimmering with a green light. The surroundings were densely packed with buildings—ore processing plants, office areas, dormitories. Chimneys emitted white smoke, and trucks crawled along the winding mountain roads.

Suddenly, the sound of an engine came from afar.

Li Xin sat down abruptly, trying his best to hide behind the large rock. Fortunately, the place where he had parked his car wasn't easily discovered.

"Buddha bless me, I hope I won't be noticed." He prayed in his heart, though he didn't seem very devout.

A military truck drove over from the direction of the mining area, heading north along the highway. The truck was green, and there were over a dozen soldiers in the back, wearing camouflage uniforms and carrying guns.

The truck passed in front of the mountain hollow, about a kilometer away.

Li Xin held his breath, sitting motionless behind the rock.

The truck didn't stop and just drove past.

He stood up and watched the truck disappear at the end of the road. "Patrol Team," he noted in his notebook, "around five in the morning, there are military vehicles."

He continued to observe. At six, the second vehicle. A white pickup truck with three people in uniforms wearing sunglasses.

At seven, the third. At eight, the fourth. "One shift per hour."

He decided to change his position. He continued driving south for about three kilometers to another hill. It was about fifty meters high with a few large rocks on top. He climbed up and continued looking north.

The view was even wider. He could see the full view of the mining area, as well as the surrounding roads and patrol routes.

Just as he was about to go down the hill, he heard footsteps behind him. Li Xin turned his head abruptly.

A man in gray clothes was standing a dozen meters away, holding a wooden stick, staring at him.

Li Xin's heart rate accelerated, but his face remained expressionless.

"Who are you?" the man asked in Uzbek, his tone very aggressive.

Li Xin could understand, but to avoid appearing abrupt, he replied in English, "I am a tourist here on vacation."

The man frowned and walked a few steps closer. "A tourist? What are you doing here?"

"I'm just on a road trip, happened to come here, and wanted to take some photos." Li Xin raised his camera and shook it. "It looks quite nice here."

"Where are you from?" The man's guarded heart relaxed slightly.

"I am from China." Li Xin smiled, looking harmless.

The man stared at him for a few seconds, then pointed to the distant mining area. "You can't go over there. It's controlled by the military."

"Okay, thank you. I won't go over there; I'll just stay here."

The man stared at him for a few more seconds and nodded. "Leave quickly. Don't stay here for too long."

"Okay. Thank you." Li Xin turned and walked down.

His legs were a bit weak, but his steps were steady. With a few "vroom" sounds, the car started. Looking in the rearview mirror, the man was still standing on the hill, staring at his car.

After driving for five minutes, confirming he couldn't see the man in the rearview mirror, he breathed a sigh of relief.

His palms were sweating, he didn't know if it was from nervousness or the heat. Although Chen Hu and the others had also come to this city, if so many people acted together, it would easily attract attention, so he always acted alone. They only provided protection from a distance.

"It's still too risky; I have to be more careful. Otherwise, if there really is danger, rescue won't be in time."

He returned to the mountain hollow at nine in the morning. He stopped the car and drank some water while sitting in the driver's seat. He opened his notebook:

· Patrol: one shift per hour, from 5:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

· Best time for action: after 8:00 PM.

· Best position: this mountain hollow, twelve kilometers away.

· Risks: locals entering the mountains, possibly herdsmen or hunters.

He closed the notebook and leaned back against the seat. "I'll take action in a few days when the system recovers a bit."

He opened the panel. "AI System, how much longer until I can perform Extraction?"

He waited for a dozen seconds. [Two more days of cooldown time. Be careful, don't do too much at once; do it in batches.]

"Okay. Will it crash halfway?"

[I don't know. I will try my best to stabilize it.]

"Then at 8:00 PM in two days, we'll take action on time."

[Good. You be careful too; there are people around that mountain hollow, don't get discovered.]

"I know." He closed the panel, started the engine, and drove out of the mountain hollow.

On the way back to the hotel, he encountered the man in gray clothes again. He was standing on the side of the road, still holding the wooden stick, watching Li Xin's car drive past him.

Li Xin didn't look at him, keeping his eyes on the road ahead and maintaining a steady speed. He saw in the rearview mirror that the man kept staring at the rear of the car until he turned the corner and couldn't be seen anymore.

He returned to the hotel at 2:00 PM. He took a shower and lay down on the bed.

He sent a message to Chen Hu: "Everything went smoothly." Chen Hu replied instantly: "Received. Boss, stay safe."

He sent to Li Jiayi: "How is the additional investment in the stocks going?" "15 billion has been completed this week. Continuing next week." "Good."

He put down his phone and stared at the ceiling. In his mind, he was simulating the operation in two days—set off after dark, drive to the mountain hollow, start the system, perform Extraction in batches, and withdraw before dawn.

"Can't rush. Take it slow." He turned over and pulled the quilt over his head.

Outside the window, the sound of prayers from the mosque drifted in, long and desolate. He closed his eyes. Two days later, at 8:00 PM. Action on time.