The role of drones in this world was very crucial. Certain terrains, mines, and other surveys required the use of drones. Yet, the production of drones was also very expensive. Generally, only large mobile cities and a few powerful medium mobile cities could afford to use them.
However, the design blueprint for a drone was available for sale in the System, but it was rather expensive, requiring a total of 5,000 Evolution Points! It was five times more expensive than a small detector! Not to mention that ores were also required to produce it, and for that matter, lots of ores. Luo En could not help but sigh at the lack of resources. He had a treasure mountain but had no ability to exploit it.
Luo En picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Wang Cheng!"
Soon, Wang Cheng hurried over from a distance and said respectfully, "City Lord!"
Luo En nodded and said, "Keep all these gold ores safe! With these gold ores, the strength of Luo Yang Mobile City will be greatly improved!"
As he spoke, he handed the box containing the gold ores to Wang Cheng.
"I will definitely keep them safe!" Wang Cheng took the box containing the gold ores from Luo En and replied solemnly.
After seeing Wang Cheng's figure gradually depart into the distance, Luo En also walked down from the mobile city and came to the side of Zhang Bo and the men who were carrying out the mining work on the ground. He said, "Zhang Bo!"
"City Lord! You called for me?" Soon, Zhang Bo had come out from the mine, arrived at Luo En's side and responded respectfully.
Luo En looked at the men, who were carrying out the mining work in an orderly manner, and said, "How long will it take to finish mining the ores here?"
"City Lord! I estimate it will take at least another three days!" Zhang Bo thought for a moment before replying truthfully.
"Will it take that long?" Luo En asked, looking somewhat impatient.
They had been in this place for almost a month, and in this world, staying in the same place for a month was very dangerous.
When the nocturnal mutated creatures launched an attack and failed to capture their targets for whatever reasons, the number of mutated creatures in another line would multiply greatly until the targets had been captured.
The only way to get out of the situation was to get far away from the area. Otherwise, even the most powerful mobile city would be drained to death by the endless stream of mutated creatures.
"City Lord! We want to be fast too! However, our mining machines aren't very good, and we also don't have enough manpower! Previously, we had ample manpower and even if we were to add four more small detectors, there would be no problem."
"However, because of the earlier battle with the mutated creatures, many people in the mobile city had defied orders and fled. That's why we're short of manpower, City Lord! There are also still two small detectors which we are not able to use," Zhang Bo explained helplessly.
Of course, he knew the consequences of staying in one place for too long. He too wanted to finish mining this area as soon as possible, but there was no way.
After hearing Zhang Bo's words, Luo En said bitterly, "I see… Alright then, you guys continue with the mining and speed up!"
"Yes, City Lord!" Zhang Bo replied respectfully. Then, he went down quickly to command the workers to continue mining ores.
Then, Luo En fell into deep thought, thinking how to solve his present problem. Where could he find people in such a remote place?
Unknowingly, Luo En had walked to Hei Long's mining area.
Hei Long looked at Luo En, who was deep in thought and frowning, as he was about to continue walking forward. He pulled him back and asked puzzledly, "Brother Luo En, what's the matter, why are you looking worried?"
Only then did Luo En come back to his senses and realize that he had walked over to Hei Long's side. He was surprised for a moment before he replied, "Sigh, we don't have enough manpower to mine ores, so there are still two small detectors that we don't have workers to operate.
"It will take a lot of time to finish mining this area, but we have already stayed here for nearly a month. How would we dare to continue staying here! Brother Hei Long, do you have any solutions?"
Hei Long immediately said, "How about I lend you some manpower, so that you can finish mining the ores here?"
"But this is not a long-term solution!" Luo En replied bitterly.
After pondering for a while, Hei Long suddenly said in surprise, "I remember now! There seems to be a marketplace nearby. Many mobile cities would gather there. Usually, the mobile cities would also conduct transactions there, so there should be slaves sold there!"
Luo En's eyes lit up when he heard that. He said excitedly, "Really? That's great! Brother Hei Long has done me a huge favor again!"
"No, no. As allies, we should help each other! I'll also send a few more men later to help Brother Luo En mine ores!" Hei Long replied with a smile.
"Thank you, Brother Hei Long! In that case, I'll take my leave first!" Luo En said with a clasped fist.
"Alright!"
After seeing Luo En leave, Hei Long immediately said, "Yue Xi!"
"I am here! Does the City Lord have any orders?" Soon, a man came over from not far away and lowered his head as he replied respectfully.
Hei Long looked at the man and said, "Send a few men to Luo En City Lord to help him mine ores!"
"Yes!" With that, the man took his leave.
Soon, Luo En had returned to his side of the mining area. He looked at the people who were working and said. "Everyone, take a break! Let's eat first!"
"Time to eat!"
Everyone cheered on hearing Luo En's words.
Hence, a group of men followed Luo En into the mobile city. Just as they arrived at the square, chefs were walking over, pushing small carts.
Suddenly, a strong fragrant aroma wafted over. Everyone inhaled the fragrance in the surrounding air greedily.
This time, dinner was still a bowl of porridge, two white steamed buns, and a corn. Everyone sat down. As they saw the food in front of them, they kept swallowing their saliva.
After having been busy with work, their appetites were very good. Hence, they all ate with great satisfaction.
After they had finished eating, everyone returned to work. And, Luo En was on the side guiding them on the mining work.
"Brother Luo En!" At this moment, Hei Long, who was leading ten or so men behind him, had come over from a distance and said.
"Brother Hei Long! What are you doing?" Luo En looked at the ten or so men behind Hei Long and asked, puzzled.
Seeing Luo En's perplexed look, Hei Long laughed and replied, "They are the ones I am sending to help you mine the ores!"
"How can this be? You also need manpower for your mining!" Luo En quickly said.
"It's fine. Thanks to the small detector you gave me, I'm almost done mining!" Hei Long said with a smile.
Then, he turned to look at the ten or so men behind him and said sternly, "Quickly help Luo En City Lord to mine the ores!"
"Yes, City Lord!" The ten or so men said in unison. Then, they joined the mining team. With the addition of these ten plus men, the speed of the mining team instantly increased.
"Thank you, Brother Hei Long!" Luo En said, smiling.
Then, the two of them watched the mining work from the side and chatted about daily matters. They even laughed aloud from time to time.
Time passed quickly. Just as the sky was about to turn dark, the workers finally finished mining the ores.
When Hei Long saw that Luo En's side had finished mining, he said, "Brother Luo En, since you've finished mining, I'll take my leave first. It just so happens that we've also finished mining on our side. I'm going to deal with the ores which have been mined!"
"Alright! I won't see you off then!" Luo En clasped his fist and smiled.
Hei Long nodded and led the ten or so men into the Black Dragon Mobile City.
Luo En watched carts after carts of ores being transported to the mobile city and felt excited.
At this moment, Zhang Bo came to Luo En's side and said respectfully, "City Lord! The ores have all been mined! After a rough calculation, there should be seventy-two tonnes of copper ore, twenty-one tonnes of iron ore, and six tonnes of silver ore. Of course, there's also the half a tonne of gold ore that was mined previously! It is indeed a bountiful harvest!"
"So much! Looks like we can start to build a drone!" Upon hearing Zhang Bo's words, Luo En did some mental calculations and said in surprise.
This time, Luo En could obtain a total of 58,200 Evolution Points! Together with the previous 5,400 Evolution Points, this was a total of 63,600 Evolution Points! It could be said that this extraction had made Luo En rich.