The Mine

Luo Feng was shocked as he looked at the pyramids. Though their surfaces were corroded, their overall structure remained intact. There were nine pyramids in total, seemingly arranged without any particular pattern. Yet, these nine pyramids felt as if they were a single entity, invisibly forming an immense, ethereal pyramid. "Pyramids, and beneath the pyramids are..." Luo Feng was greatly startled. "A city? A city?" Beneath the towering nine pyramids lay a city, of which only a rough outline remained. One could faintly discern some of its roads and the foundations of its buildings. Clearly, this place had been in ruins for countless years. Whoosh! Luo Feng flew directly towards it, then quickly descended, landing on the sandy surface of Mars. "No one has been here for a very, very long time." Luo Feng looked at the section of ruined wall before him, growing more shocked and puzzled. "Babata, what's going on?" "Why are you so surprised?" Babata said. "It's quite normal." "Normal?" "Of course it's normal. This star sector, before being ruled by Master, belonged to the territory of the Silverblue Empire," Babata explained. "And Earth is one of only two life planets within a thousand light-year radius!" "There's another one?" Luo Feng asked curiously. "The other life planet is nearly a hundred light-years away from you. Even at light speed, it would take almost a century to travel," Babata said. "Unless you achieve light speed and perform cosmic transit directly, you can't arrive quickly." Luo Feng nodded slightly. "Earth, as a life planet and a primary civilization planet of the Silverblue Empire, naturally had many human inhabitants," Babata continued. "Its original purpose was as a pastoral planet, mainly for raising more formidable monsters, then taming them and selling them for profit. The population was probably in the millions, serving the pastoral industry." Luo Feng knew this. Life planets are categorized into those with high human population density, tourist planets, pastoral planets, forestry planets, agricultural planets, industrial planets, and so on. For instance, some cosmic powers directly establish large factories on certain planets. "Earth's pastoral industry involved many valuable monsters, which were quite important assets to the Silverblue Empire. Therefore, a dedicated star fleet was stationed here," Babata explained. "Of course, they would also use 'interstellar transport ships' to carry large amounts of mining equipment and miners to mineral planets around life planets for mining operations." Babata said, "Back then, many miners were mining on Mars. And they built a mining base here." "Later, the star fleet was annihilated by Master with a single move." "Without interstellar transport ships, those miners on the 'fireball' had no supplies. Even if they could synthesize life sustenance, it wouldn't last long. So, they all perished," Babata stated. Luo Feng was stunned. So that's how it was, this was a miner's base? "These pyramids are energy towers," Babata said. "This type of energy tower is a rudimentary method of energy production, mimicking the Machine Race, and is highly cost-effective. In terms of utilizing 'pyramids,' the human race cannot compare to the Machine Race." "The Machine Race is very strong technologically," Babata couldn't help but add. "The human race can't compare to them either. For example, humans can only achieve 'immortality' through evolution, but the Machine Race, being intelligent lifeforms, can still possess immortal combat power even without souls." Luo Feng was secretly astonished. Intelligent lifeforms, though they possess human-like emotions and so on, are still fundamentally intelligence, not souls. Babata is an example of this! Yet, the soulless Machine Race could produce immortal powerhouses. They were indeed very strong in 'technology'. ... Whoosh~~ whoosh~~~ A fierce wind howled past, kicking up large amounts of sand. Luo Feng stood on the ground. "Babata, scan for mineral deposits," Luo Feng said. "Initiating mineral scan." The Heilong spaceship, hovering in mid-air, immediately activated its 'mineral scanning' ability. In just a moment! "Luo Feng, Mars has extremely rich deposits of Profound Iron," Babata said. "Profound Iron?" "Yes, translated into Huaxia language, it can be called Profound Iron," Babata replied. "Profound Iron is an A8-grade metal, with excellent hardness, and is very popular in the cosmos." "No B-grade metal?" Luo Feng frowned. Now that he was a Star-level Golden Horned Beast, devouring B-grade pure metals would be more efficient. "None!" Babata exclaimed with delight. "However, the quantity of Profound Iron ore is enormous! So there must be a considerable amount of 'Profound Iron Essence' within." Luo Feng's heart stirred. Profound Iron is A8-grade, so Profound Iron Essence would be B8-grade, and the incredibly rare 'Profound Iron Mother' would be C8-grade! For example, the Yunmo Star ship's hull was almost entirely composed of 'Crimson-Mixed Copper Mother'. Crimson-Mixed Copper itself is a D9-grade metal, Crimson-Mixed Copper Essence is E9-grade, and Crimson-Mixed Copper Mother is F9-grade! In a large Profound Iron mine, having one ten-thousandth of Profound Iron Essence would be good. Having one ten-thousandth of the Profound Iron Essence's quantity as Profound Iron Mother would be excellent. The exaggerated proportions were evident! Crimson-Mixed Copper is inherently precious. The price of the Yunmo Star ship, constructed entirely from 'Crimson-Mixed Copper Mother', was unimaginable! Even a fragment of Crimson-Mixed Copper Mother would make a Domain Lord covet it to the point of madness. Unfortunately, the Yunmo Star ship needed repairs, and a suitable place couldn't be found even within the vast Black Dragon Mountain Empire. "Luo Feng, these nine energy towers have a detection-blocking effect. The area they cover cannot be scanned." "However, beneath the energy towers, underground, there's a steel city. I can barely detect a very small part of it," Babata said. "A steel city?" Luo Feng jumped in surprise. A steel city underground? "However, within the several hundred meters I scanned, there's no life. Go, enter through the surface cave twelve kilometers to the left, and you'll find the underground steel city." ... On the surface of Mars, there was a massive cave, hundreds of meters in diameter, as if it had naturally collapsed. Whoosh! Luo Feng plunged directly into the cave, continuously descending deeper underground. "A steel city?" Luo Feng released his spiritual force. As a Planet-level Tier 6 spiritual force user, he could spread his spiritual force over a range exceeding 6000 meters. "Hmm?" Luo Feng landed on the ground. Before him was dirt and dust, but beneath the earth covering the massive cave, he could vaguely see black metal. With his spiritual force, Luo Feng had already discovered that behind it was a colossal city gate. "Number 1, push it open." Luo Feng thought, but he himself immediately floated up, keeping a safe distance. A black metal robot appeared out of thin air. In terms of strength, Luo Feng was no match for this black metal robot. "Rumble~~" The metal robot's powerful hand slammed against the massive iron gate. As it exerted force, the gate slowly rumbled open, and large amounts of dirt cascaded down, filling the air with sand and dust. "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" Blinding white lights suddenly shot out, almost covering the entire area of the iron gate. Seven or eight dazzling lasers all struck the metal robot, blasting it against the nearby cave wall, causing a large amount of dust to collapse. Luo Feng, however, had already retreated to a safe distance above. "Damn, this steel city is still operational?" Luo Feng was greatly surprised. "My spiritual force scan showed no one inside, and it was already covered in dust." "The nine energy towers are functioning normally, keeping the steel city operational. The people are all dead, but the city's functions haven't disappeared," Babata said. "Luo Feng, go in. This kind of hastily constructed steel city won't have strong defenses. Moreover, Moyun Teng is now Planet-level Tier 9, almost breaking through to Star-level." When Luo Feng fought the Golden Horned Beast back then, Moyun Teng was Planet-level Tier 7. During the year and more that Luo Feng spent gestating his body, Moyun Teng was at the bottom of the sea, and Babata frequently fed it 'Muya Jing'. In less than a year, it grew to Planet-level Tier 9, merely stuck at the threshold, not yet having broken through to Star-level. This speed, for this specially cultivated Moyun Teng, was not particularly fast. "Steel city." Luo Feng and the metal robot, one after another, darted into the underground steel city, enduring a laser blast to rush inside. A pitch-black city. Only after Luo Feng explored with his spiritual force did he discover that the entire city had a very high building density. "Luo Feng, almost the entire city is built from Profound Iron," Babata said. "Quick, follow my instructions. First, cut off the energy supply to prevent attacks from important areas within this underground steel city." "Understood." Luo Feng also understood the importance of cutting off the energy. "Left." "Turn, right, correct." Babata guided him, quickly leading Luo Feng to an area dense with thick metal pipes. "Use the Crimson-Mixed Copper Mother fragment to cut them, cut them all," Babata instructed. Luo Feng, clad in his blood-red Moyun Combat Armor, looked at the pipes a hundred meters ahead and his mind stirred. Whoosh! A streak of blood-red afterimage swept directly past the distant pipes. With Luo Feng's Planet-level Tier 6 spiritual force and Star-level Tier 3 soul consciousness strength, a full 32 strands of spiritual force, tough as steel wires, were attached to the 'Crimson-Mixed Copper Mother fragment'. Clang! Clang! Clang! Slightly harsh sounds rang out consecutively. Numerous electrical sparks erupted, and a "Rumble~~" caused the nearby metal to clang. "There are still eight energy towers," Babata said. "Babata, guide me," Luo Feng said, flying swiftly. This was merely a mining base. Moreover, it was a crude steel city hastily built by numerous miners who, after the star fleet was destroyed and supplies cut off, were forced to move underground due to environmental factors, using a large amount of machinery. The city's materials primarily consisted of the most abundant 'Profound Iron'. Even after all these years, supported by the energy towers, the city remained intact. One couldn't help but praise it. In just a few minutes, Luo Feng had cut off all energy supplies to the steel city. "Haha, all done. Luo Feng, if my guess is correct, those miners must have carefully stored the 'Profound Iron Essence' they later excavated. Let's start a thorough search. Whatever good stuff we see, we'll take it all," Babata said excitedly. Luo Feng immediately flew through the underground steel city, beginning his grand search!