The greatest value of Baiyan Village lies not in its population or the cultivable land but in the mine located one kilometer away from the village.
To call it a mere mine might be inaccurate; a more appropriate term would be surface ore deposit, resembling a vast area of stone ore spread over approximately one kilometer, turning the soil into stone.
As Weng Ling described, it was originally a rocky mountain, but years of excavation had flattened it. Now, the mining continued from the surface, akin to excavating soil.
The composition of Baiyan Stone Mine is excellent, displaying pure white color, hardness without brittleness, making it a superior stone material for construction and sculpture. Many stone merchants from the surrounding areas are attracted to it.
However, due to the change in ownership, those stone merchants would have to wait for a while before returning. After all, the production of new stones would take some time, and they couldn't afford to wait indefinitely.
Night Sange approached a stone pit and couldn't help but feel that it resembled an archaeological excavation site.
A three-meter-high stone pit, with meticulously carved passageways on all sides. As for the stone materials, they were abundant throughout the pit.
Taking out a pre-prepared iron pickaxe, Night Sange gave it a try. With a clang, he felt a slight numbness in his hand, and he managed to knock off only a small piece of the stone wall, blushing in embarrassment.
"Here, you try!"
Sha Wencheng, with a hesitant expression, took the iron pickaxe. As a knight, being asked to mine was somewhat embarrassing.
"Hurry up, efficiently!"
"Alright!"
Sha Wencheng raised the iron pickaxe high and struck it forcefully, knocking down a palm-sized stone. However, what Night Sange needed was squared stones, not a pile of debris.
They exchanged glances and scratched their heads.
"Let's leave it to the professionals."
Sighing, Night Sange opened the construction menu.
Although he had purchased a significant amount of wheat from nearby territories to accumulate life energy for the competition, he still had 1683 gold coins left, sufficient for his current needs.
As for the wood, it had been proven that the construction workers could use the boards obtained from dismantled wooden structures. As for the bodies...
Night Sange had Steeltooth bring back several zombies from the Thunder Roar City burial chamber. With a stab to the head, a "fresh" corpse was obtained.
Regardless of proper preservation or the nature of the zombies themselves, as long as these bodies could be used, it was acceptable.
With construction materials ready, the undead construction workers made a rattling noise for a while, and a tent surrounded by animal hides appeared.
Night Sange: ...
Wasn't it supposed to be the Skullcrusher Miner Camp?
What's the meaning of this tent that is open on all sides and even covered with animal hides?
And there shouldn't be any animal hides in the materials, right? Fabricated out of thin air?
Suddenly, Night Sange noticed that the construction workers were bare, and he realized where the animal hides on the tent came from.
Disgusting!
No wonder this group of skeleton frames insisted on rummaging through the trash heap earlier, bringing back some scraps. He was wondering why skeletons would be shy; it turns out they automatically supplemented the missing materials for him.
[Skullcrusher Miner Camp]Some irritable undead enjoy the thrill of destruction. Since they never stop, why not send them into the mine to crush those ores?
This camp can accelerate the efficiency of undead mining, and permanent undead residents can receive miner specialization training.
Maximum work units: 10.
Throwing 10 non-promoted novice skeletons from the undead card into the miner camp, they immediately grabbed their iron pickaxes and rhythmically hammered away at the rock walls.
Judging from their rhythmic strikes, they seemed much more skilled than Night Sange and Sha Wencheng. A slight sway and arch of their waists resulted in a completed pickaxe strike.
Unfortunately, due to their limited strength, each hit only produced a small amount of debris. The efficiency was still slow; it was estimated that it would take a goblin five days to extract a single stone, even with their non-stop mining.
This was the result of their continuous excavation for 24 hours. It could be described as quite pitiful.
"Wait and hope that they perform well after obtaining miner specialization."
Shaking his head, Night Sange eagerly opened the construction interface again.
"Upgrade the Corruption Pool and Desolate Bone Cemetery?"
Seeing that the fourth level of construction was not lit up, Night Sange was momentarily puzzled.
It turns out that, in addition to the limits on soul energy and overall construction, there was another unlocking condition:
Complete construction upgrades.
"To upgrade the Corruption Pool to the Putrescent Pool requires 100 gold coins, 10 bodies, and 10 units of lumber. Meanwhile, upgrading the Desolate Bone Cemetery to the Desolate Bone Tomb requires 400 gold coins, 20 bodies, and 40 units of lumber."
Sighing, Night Sange informed Weng Ling and then returned to Lolan City with Sha Wencheng.
Lolan City and Baiyan Village were only 30 kilometers apart. With Steeltooth for transportation, he could make the round trip in just over two hours, so Night Sange wasn't worried about not being able to return to the corpse storage hut at night.
However, transportation was still a bit of a problem for him. Baiyan Village and Thunder Roar City were not far from Lolan City, but even this short distance wasn't suitable for frequent back-and-forth travel.
"If only there were a bunch of horses, at least I wouldn't have to rely solely on two legs, and Steeltooth wouldn't be used as a pack animal..."
Night Sange knew this was just wishful thinking. The main force of the Heavenly Might Empire was cavalry, and whether it was warhorses or ordinary horses, they had all been inflated to exorbitant prices by adventurers fantasizing about becoming knights.
Buying them for pulling carts?
Even if he could afford it, he wouldn't dare use them. He would be criticized to death.
Thinking of this, Night Sange sent Sha Wencheng back to Thunder Roar City to continue bringing back zombies for burial foundation work and went to find Bede buried in the "laboratory."
"Want livestock for transportation?" Bede frowned.
"Yeah, speed doesn't matter, but it needs to have lasting endurance and a high carrying capacity. Do you know of any suitable animals you can recommend?"
Bede rolled his eyes: "Of course, oxen and horses..."
"Uh, aside from those two?"
Night Sange felt a bit embarrassed.
Horses were too expensive, and cattle had issues with the Beastkin race. He didn't want to be reported by the surrounding territories for recklessly raising cattle, breaking the alliance covenant; he couldn't afford that label.
"Then it would be donkeys, perfectly meeting your requirements. I believe other territories also use donkeys for transportation."
"Where can I get donkeys?" Night Sange asked.
Bede pointed to his own nose: "Are you sure you want to ask a poor succubus who has been locked up for 20 years this question?"
Night Sange suddenly realized he had asked the wrong person.
"However, if you really want them, it's not
impossible."
Seeing Night Sange looking depressed, Bede suddenly grinned.
"Don't forget, I'm the greatest species researcher in history. Just a new species that can be used as draft animals, and I can create them in minutes..."
"Wait, I suddenly have a great idea!"
Bede said, his eyes lit up, and he ran back to the corpse storage hut, taking out two bottles.
In the bottles were vibrant red blood...