Miner Xiao Zhou

Zhou Yi really wanted to ask the Intelligent Brain how much it knew about him, this Intelligent Brain from a higher plane, but it was clearly not a good time.

Because they arrived early, the miners hadn't started work yet. Those who arrived early were gathered in twos and threes, all wearing small vests.

There was a large box nearby, filled with these small vests.

"You have to wear uniforms to mine?"

[These are produced by the Alliance, specifically for people doing dangerous work. If the mine collapses, pressing a button on the vest will automatically trigger an alarm, emit light and sound, and allow for positioning.]

As a qualified omniscient being, Xiao Fu was educating Zhou Yi with what it considered very basic knowledge.

Zhou Yi rummaged through the box, found a slightly cleaner vest, and put it on. Then he stood aside, waiting to go down into the mine with the others.

Most of these people were natives of the D72 Star Block, all with Chinese faces. They seemed to know each other, chatting idly in small groups.

Zhou Yi listened in briefly. Mostly, it was complaints about sore necks and backs, and some gossip about everyday life.

Of course, there was also some grumbling about Gal, the curly-haired big guy.

After listening for a while, Zhou Yi lost interest. He found a corner to sit down, closed his eyes as if to rest, but in reality, he began to circulate the Star Gathering Art.

Although it was inconvenient to take out the Crystal Marrow for assistance in this place, it was still better than wasting time.

Fortunately, soon there were more and more small vests around him, and it was time to go down into the mine.

The mining area had only one entrance.

Gal and the older miners walked ahead, leading everyone down.

Two of Gal's men were left on guard outside the mining area, facilitating communication at any time.

Zhou Yi stood quietly in the middle of the group.

There were over a hundred miners, including more than thirty women. Zhou Yi didn't look out of place standing in the middle.

The Crystal Stone mine was very different from the coal mines Zhou Yi knew. The entrance had a long staircase, with a landing every ten meters. After descending the entire staircase, they were about fifty meters underground.

Stepping onto the ground, Zhou Yi looked around at the surroundings.

Contrary to his expectation of narrowness, the area where the crowd was gathered was as spacious as a small playground.

Many glowing Energy Beads were hung overhead.

But the place was too large; even with the illumination from the Energy Beads, it still appeared somewhat dim.

In the center of the small playground was a table and chairs. Gal walked over and sat down.

"I'll explain the rules to the newcomers again. In a moment, each person will go and push a small cart. The cart will contain a shovel for mining Mining Crystals and a hat with an Energy Bead. Then, find any mine tunnel and start digging. When it's time to get off work, each person must submit at least ten Mining Crystals. If you dig more, it will be settled at the price of one Nutrient Solution per piece. If you find any high-quality ones, bring them to me, and I'll calculate them separately."

As a low-level star block, Nutrient Solution was a necessity and the most convenient way to settle wages for the miners.

Zhou Yi followed everyone to the side to push a small cart, then began to choose his mine tunnel.

There were nearly a hundred mine tunnels around, fewer than the number of people going down.

However, the miners weren't all acting alone. Many acquaintances entered the same tunnel in pairs or groups. Some did it for higher mining efficiency as a team, while others did it to have a companion to chat with during their day's work.

Zhou Yi put on the glowing hat, casually picked a mine tunnel entrance that looked relatively spacious, and pushed his cart inside.

Miner Xiao Zhou was officially on duty.

Each mine tunnel was dug by predecessors. The one Zhou Yi chose was very long and deep, about seventy to eighty meters. He walked all the way to the end before stopping his cart.

The Energy Beads overhead had limited illumination, but fortunately, through his cultivation, Zhou Yi's night vision was now very good, and he could see clearly.

The surroundings were all gray-brown stone and soil. Zhou Yi touched the wall; the soil was very hard and difficult to dig.

The entire passage was a dull gray, with no sign of Mining Crystals.

"Ten Mining Crystals a day, the requirement is so low, it must not be easy to dig. Either the soil is too hard, or there aren't many Mining Crystals."

Zhou Yi didn't rush to start but thought about it first.

[Correct answer! The accompanying soil in the crystal mine is Crystal Soil, which is worthless. Its only characteristic is its hardness. Moreover, even in the crystal mine, it's not easy to find Crystal Stones. Miner Xiao Zhou, exploited by capital, work hard!]

Xiao Fu was very touched. Its 'leek' host could actually think like this; it seemed he wasn't entirely stupid.

Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it. Zhou Yi took out a small shovel about a meter long from the cart and swung it towards the wall.

Zhou Yi put considerable force into it, but it only made the shovel sink about a fist's depth into the wall, where it became firmly embedded.

With another heave, Zhou Yi dug out a shovel full of soil.

Zhou Yi stopped silently, took out his last two Nutrient Solutions, and drank them down.

He now knew very clearly that today was destined to be an extraordinary day.

After digging with such effort for more than ten minutes, Zhou Yi finally saw a white, semi-transparent stone peeking out from the wall.

He had finally found a Mining Crystal!

With the target found, Zhou Yi redoubled his efforts, digging and digging with all his might, finally prying the large object out of the wall.

It was truly a large object. The Mining Crystal had a diameter of about Zhou Yi's forearm, an irregularly shaped cube.

It was semi-transparent white all over, with many cotton-like impurities inside. Even Zhou Yi, a complete novice, knew the purity was not high.

[The energy in stones like these is not high, so they can't be used as energy stones. They can only serve as building materials for wealthy people.]

Xiao Fu was a little disgusted by the stones dug out. In its home dimension, this stuff was everywhere and no one wanted it.

Zhou Yi placed the Mining Crystal on the small cart and continued digging without taking a break.

After so long of reinforcement, Zhou Yi's stamina allowed his strength to reach twice that of an ordinary strong adult male.

Although this mining work wasn't easy, it was still acceptable.

This Mining Crystal wasn't easy to dig out. If she didn't rest, she could dig out a few more. She had just finished her last two Nutrient Solutions.

She was truly out of supplies...

She was about to go hungry...

As soon as she thought of this, Miner Xiao Zhou swung her shovel even harder.

The shovel wasn't very easy to use, and the Mining Crystals weren't easy to find. However, after working all morning, Zhou Yi had found the secret to mining and was gradually getting the hang of it, able to dig out one piece roughly every half hour.

Fortunately, Zhou Yi was the only one in this mine tunnel. Otherwise, if others knew that a young girl could mine so quickly on her first try, they would likely die of anger.

After all, the highest record for veteran miners who had worked in this mine for many years was only twenty pieces a day. For most people, twelve to thirteen pieces a day was already the limit. If they were a bit unlucky, sometimes it was hard to even gather the minimum of ten pieces.