He opened the map once more.
There was too much information on it. Han Huohuo searched carefully for a good while and found that the map did have black stone mines — but across the entire Hundred-Thousand Mountains, such mines were rare.
The map showed that even the nearest black stone mine was three peaks away from his position!
Did mining really require an expedition?
Han Huohuo's expression flickered between dark and light, and a hard edge rose in his heart. Damn it, things have already come to this — I'm mining that black stone no matter what. If some clueless Lord dares block yours truly's path, I'll wipe him out!
Because the black stone mine was far off, hauling the mined ore back would be a hassle too.
He couldn't waste mechanical workers on transport — that would make gathering far too inefficient.
The solution was actually simple: build a warehouse beside the mine, and the black stone could be stockpiled there.
But a warehouse built outside wasn't safe; with no defenses, it was very easy to rob.
Things gathered with such hard effort couldn't be allowed to be stolen by others!
So once the warehouse was nearly full, he'd still need to build a convoy to transport the goods back to the Main Base — and best not to use mechanical workers, since it was too far and the road wasn't safe.
That raised another problem: this mine needed guarding! And he'd have to build an armed escort convoy.
A mine at his doorstep could rely on the Main Base, but a distant mine left unguarded would be trouble — never mind other Lords, even a wolf pack would be a headache.
The only question now was: exactly how long did mining 50 black stone take?
Without actually mining, Han Huohuo had no data on it.
If he brought 30 fully charged workers over, could they mine enough — 50 black stone — before their power ran out, and then build a Charging Station on the spot?
If he couldn't build that Charging Station, these workers would run out of power halfway through mining, and over such a distance they wouldn't even be able to make it back to camp!
He hesitated for a few minutes!
Han Huohuo decided to lead the team over and see for himself; these things couldn't be settled by imagination alone.
The longer the night, the more dreams — he decided to go over that very night.
In the deep darkness, the road might even be safer.
Before setting out, he roused Liu Long again and had him work overtime to smelt some more ingots, bringing the total above a hundred.
Then he left three mechanical wolves to guard home.
With a few workers also at home, even an attack could be held off for a while.
Taking all his remaining mechanical workers and two mechanical wolves, he set off under cover of darkness for the black stone mine.
That night was overcast again, not a shred of light in the sky, pitch dark. The giant mechanical wolves' eyes were red, unaffected by the night, and they led the way at the front.
Han Huohuo, with 30 workers, followed behind the two giant wolves, stumbling through the dark with uneven steps.
The mountain wind howled, carrying a chill. It was already late autumn; the leaves were withered and yellow, dead foliage whirling through the air, and the valleys gave off a mournful moan.
By now all the Lords were probably resting, and marching at night besides, even when he passed a camp and saw distant points of lamplight, Han Huohuo felt the urge to go raid it.
In the end he held back.
A failure to endure small things ruins great plans. Once his mechanical civilization developed, crushing them would be like slaughtering chickens and dogs — why take the risk now?
He skirted every peak and camp along the way.
After walking for two hours without any mishap, he finally found the black stone mine.
The night was ink-black. Guarding the black stone mine were several strange beasts, like winged monkeys, able to glide but not truly fly.
【Tier-1 Flying Monkey】: guardian, tamable.
【Combat Power】: Strength 3, Defense 2, Endurance 4, Intelligence 1.
【Special Skill】: glide, flit about
【Drops】: meat 20–30.
【Chance Drops】: monkey hide, monkey fang, blueprint.
These Flying Monkeys' stats weren't even as high as a Forest Wolf's, but they had one very annoying trait — flitting about, extremely agile, so they were hard to hit!
Han Huohuo paid that no mind. He led the team in a swarm, mechanical wolves and workers striking together, and the instant one Flying Monkey was killed, the rest all fled in terror.
He immediately built a warehouse on the flat ground before the black stone mine.
【Warehouse】: stores supplies, storage cap 5,000 units.
【Build】: 100 wood, 50 stone.
......
"Build!"
"All workers, go mine black stone!"
Once the warehouse was built, at Han Huohuo's command all 30 mechanical workers swarmed out together to mine black stone.
Mechanical workers could only mine continuously for six hours, and since the march had also used a small amount of power — marching consumed little, unlike gathering — they could now work continuously for a bit over five hours.
Han Huohuo didn't return to his own camp. He stayed with the three giant wolves, timing it on a watch.
The black stone all lay in underground pits, which was far more troublesome than mining iron ore. The ore the mechanical workers dug from the pits looked for all the world like coal, except natural coal wasn't this squared-off and uniform in size.
An hour passed, and the 30 workers had mined 12 black stone in total.
Han Huohuo did the math: mining efficiency for black stone was about one-fifth that of iron ore!
Seeing this figure.
Han Huohuo finally let out a breath. As long as these workers worked five hours straight, they could produce 60 black stone — enough to make one Charging Station!
Worried something might go wrong.
Han Huohuo kept the workers company as they mined. As midnight came, the night grew ever colder, chilling Han Huohuo until he stamped his feet.
From the distant ranges and forests came the roars of all kinds of beasts, rising and falling, even terrifying.
If not for the calf-sized giant mechanical wolves guarding him, Han Huohuo would have fled long ago. This was too damned frightening.
Who knew being a Lord could be this exhausting!
In the small hours.
Just as all the mechanical workers were about to run out of power, he finally gathered 50 black stone.
Han Huohuo was so moved he nearly shed tears!
【Build a Charging Station? Requires 100 iron, 50 black stone — requirements met.】
"Build."
Han Huohuo had never been so excited. He set down the first Charging Station!
Cold and hungry.
These workers would work until dawn and should mine another 50 black stone — meaning that back at camp, he could build one more Charging Station too.
The only thing now lacking had become iron ore again.
But tomorrow was the third day, and everyone was starting to build their armies, and forging an army meant huge amounts of iron ingots to make weapons.
Even the price of scrap iron would rise with the tide.
Never mind that for now!
Black stone still had to come first!
Seeing how deep the night was, Han Huohuo reckoned other Lords wouldn't be out roaming at this hour, and black stone wasn't something they needed anyway.
He prepared to leave and head back to his Black Wind Stronghold.
He left two giant mechanical wolves and twenty workers here, dedicated to mining.
Taking the other giant wolf and the extra ten workers, he set off for his camp under the black night.
Han Huohuo's stamina naturally couldn't compare with the machines'. Worn out, halfway there he simply climbed onto the giant mechanical wolf's back.
The giant wolf's run was anything but smooth, jolting up and down, nearly pulverizing his rump. Just as Han Huohuo was about to reach his limit, he finally caught sight of his camp, and tears of emotion welled up at once.
He assigned the ten mechanical workers who'd come back with him to mine iron ore.
He jumped down from the giant wolf's back and limped toward the Main Base.
When he got back to the Main Base, for the first time he felt how warm and cozy it was!
He lifted the door curtain and entered. Liu Qiang hadn't left yet, the fire was still burning, and a wave of warmth rushed to meet him.
Sure enough, a man who handled civic affairs was attentive. Knowing Han Huohuo hadn't returned, he'd kept watch here the whole time, not daring to go back and rest.
Liu Qiang hurried to bring Han Huohuo hot water.
Han Huohuo was chilled through, cold and exhausted. He warmed himself by the fire for a while, drank a few mouthfuls of hot water to drive out the cold, and his eyelids began to droop. He truly couldn't hold out any longer.
Off to sleep!
"Lord, rest early. I'll take my leave first." Liu Qiang left the Main Base and quietly closed the door.
Even though the bed had no quilt, just a layer of straw, right now it felt like heaven to him.
He sank into a deep sleep.
The sun was bright the next day before he woke.
He checked his resources — already over seventy black stone. The black stone mine was safe and hadn't been attacked, which let him relax at last.
Liu Hu's smithy had started working, but the mechanical workers' iron ore was too scarce, so Liu Hu would work a while, then have to rest a while.
He now had only 86 iron ingots.
Liu Qiang watched from the side, expecting the Lord to recruit another 8 workers, but Han Huohuo didn't.
Han Huohuo spent 80 iron ingots and 40 black stone to recruit 4 Floaters outright.
"Chief, we haven't run into any enemies right now. Why not recruit more workers for production, instead of recruiting four combat units?" Liu Qiang was puzzled.
"You scholars don't understand. In these vast mountains, danger lurks at every step. One careless moment and your head's gone. If you can't guarantee your own safety, all your gathering efficiency is dogshit, not worth mentioning."
Han Huohuo sneered.
Who could guarantee the surrounding Lords held no second Wang Haoze!
All wealth had to be protected by force — that was the one and only law in this world where the strong devoured the weak!