Coal Mine Thieves! Pry Open the Linchpin of Old World Technology (Two-in-One)

"Traces of human activity?"

Upon hearing Chen Shen's words, unlike the others who were excited, Su Mo suddenly frowned.

Before moving base, he had thoroughly surveyed the area around the depression using the map provided by the game.

At that time, there were a total of seven Large Camp in the vicinity of the depression, the closest of which was more than 300 kilometers away.

Could it be that someone occupied this territory during the journey to the depression?

Is it really such a coincidence? "Chief, the activity traces I was referring to aren't what you think. No, why don't we go take a look?"

Su Mo nodded. "Okay!"

The 500% speed bonus for traveling to territory has been lost.

Although the buff from the Rapid March was still active because no damage was taken, it was reduced by half, and the group's speed was significantly slower.

130 kilometers.

After traveling at high speed for nearly two hours, the group finally reached the edge of the territory.

"Hello, Director! Hello, Village Chief!"

Standing on a high point at the edge of the territory, the scout team continued to observe cautiously.

However, as the crowd arrived, the leading man visibly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stood up to salute.

Chen Shen strode forward. "Liu Peiqiang, how is the situation?"

"Village chief, this is a big problem! When Xiao Sun went back to report the news, it was too far away, so we only saw shadowy figures moving around."

"As a result, about half an hour ago, a group of more than 30 people went out from that direction. This time we saw it clearly, they were not human!"

"Ah, no, they're not from Earth!"

After the relocation, the depression, having been cut off from many small resources, Shape Change.

Although currently limited by the shelter level, everyone can only explore a range of 150 kilometers.

But beyond that, there is a full 80 kilometers of territory that belongs to the area after the Su Mo relocation.

The land is barren and devoid of any vegetation.

"Are they out of their minds to think that some alien race would build their territory here?"

With doubts in mind, I walked up to the high ground, but had not yet taken the telescope.

With his exceptional eyesight alone, Su Mo spotted the unfamiliar territory about twenty kilometers away at a glance.

But just looking at it, Su Mo's blood pressure spiked.

As far as the eye could see, there was a large village similar to the kobold Saltpeter Camp they had seen before.

The difference is that the kobold camp only has a single layer of wood for walls, with watchtowers on all sides, making its defenses very weak.

This campsite uses Big Stone that look durable and are surrounded by two layers of them!

Like a barbican, the two levels are at different heights.

If an enemy attacks the outer perimeter, they can easily be shot down by the enemy at higher levels inside using long-range means.

From a purely defensive standpoint, no Modernized Weapon would attempt to attack this place.

Without ten times the military strength, it's simply wishful thinking.

"What are they mining? It looks familiar!"

While Su Mo was watching, Chen Shen secretly took a quick look around.

Then, with a hint of doubt, he handed the telescope to Su Mo.

The answer came in the next second.

"Coal Mine!"

"They seized the Coal Mine resources we transferred here, and in just a few days, they've become a bunch of beasts!"

Staring intently at the image through the telescope, I watched the figures, as small as ants, moving back and forth within the barbican.

Su Mo's left fist rested at his side.

It's hard!

In the center of the barbican, there is an opening about ten meters in size.

At this opening.

With the aid of both a telescope and his eyesight, Su Mo could vaguely see a continuous stream of figures moving in and out.

The monsters' exact appearance was unclear.

But Su Mo was very familiar with the black object contained in the large frame behind them, which was almost as tall as a person.

It was Coal Ore excavated from underground! Unlike open-pit Coal Mine, Su Mo was genuinely excited when Chen Shen reported that there were underground Coal Mine around the depression.

Coal, ranked from weakest to strongest degree of coalification, is: peat, lignite, bituminous coal, and anthracite.

Peat contains too many impurities and, strictly speaking, cannot be considered coal.

Lignite, due to its low degree of coalification, low carbon content, high ash content, low calorific value, and high volatile matter content, can only be used for power generation.

Then there's bituminous coal, which is the most common and best-used type of coal.

Once mined and broken into small pieces, the heat can be directly converted and burned.

And the batch of coal transferred from the territory just happened to be bituminous coal! "My God, it really is our Coal Mine! How is this possible? Our mine is underground, and the extraction is so difficult. They..."

"This is incredible!"

Having found his answer, Chen Shen took another pair of binoculars and observed carefully. He was stunned and stood there dumbfounded.

During the period when illegal Coal Mine were rampant in China in the last century, many people gained a deeper understanding of Coal Mine through propaganda.

Generally speaking, Coal Mine are divided into two types: open-pit and underground.

Open-pit coal seams are relatively rare because they require continuous and stable coal seams, so we will not discuss them for now.

The underground Coal Mine are very solid because coal is like rock in the earth's crust, and it is generally impossible to work with just one person.

Therefore, before the coal miners start working, there needs to be professional personnel to loosen the tightly packed coal seams in the underground working area using a method similar to blasting.

Then the coal miners can pass through the entrance and go down to manually carry the ore out of the tunnel.

These tunnels have no lights, and the workers can only rely on the headlamps they wear for illumination as they work day and night.

Even after reaching deep into the work area, there is still a possibility of landslides.

To prevent people from dying, it absolutely requires advanced technology and high standards.

Even the Hope Village today doesn't have the capacity to mine Coal Mine on a large scale.

"Don't underestimate these alien races; they may not be as technologically advanced as us in other areas."

"But in the exploitation of these natural resources, there may be some amazing aspects that we ourselves cannot achieve."

The two sides are more than 20 kilometers apart.

Even with Su Mo's eyesight, standing on this high slope, it would be difficult to see the specific situation inside.

The others were even more clueless.

After a moment's hesitation, Su Mo crouched down and asked, "Liu Peiqiang, do you dare to go over there?"

Liu Peiqiang was still lying on the ground, was stunned when he heard this.

Then, with a determined look, he nodded emphatically! "Chief, you can't just send me over; you can send me over and capture a bastard who stole our coal alive, I'm confident I can do it!"

"When they came out earlier, I could vaguely see the figures of these offspring; they weren't very tall and looked quite thin."

"If they don't have special abilities, I'm confident that even if our strength is weakened, we'll still be able to win!"

Now it was Su Mo's turn to be surprised. "Not very tall? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, even though they were riding a very strange animal, it wasn't as tall as us standing up. It felt just like..."

Shen Ke: "You mean dwarfs?!"

Liu Peiqiang nodded in surprise. "Yes, they are dwarfs. Their faces are basically no different from ours, except for their thick beards. They are very short, only about my calves. Calling them dwarfs is not wrong at all!"

Whoosh! Upon hearing that they were indeed dwarfs, the thirty-odd people standing on the high ground immediately lost their fear and were all eager to fight.

Even Su Mo showed a hint of surprise on his face.

It's like searching high and low without finding it, only to have it come to you effortlessly.

Before arriving on the new continent, Su Mo had set one of his important goals by using the dwarves' standard short swords: to find the dwarves.

Moreover, this aspect was even more important than the discovery of the Yan Country ruins!

Unlike the cautiousness of Su Deben, Lü Kuan and others, they have a systematic protection for the alternative Technology Tree derived from the Old World Technology.

Su Mo had a very strong interest in it.

If this amazing technology with an energy conversion efficiency of over 500% could be mastered, it would drastically accelerate the development of the territory.

Think about it, one liter of diesel fuel can only be converted into 10 kilowatt-hours of electricity.

With this upgrade, one liter can now generate 50 kilowatt-hours! Based on the current output of the well, it can generate a full 4,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day!

While it's still a long way from meeting scientific research needs, supporting the electrification of the entire Hope Village is no problem at all! And vehicles like the Earth Tiger and King Kong will be able to truly achieve "five minutes of refueling, ten thousand miles of travel!"

Even with enhanced armor and increased load capacity, there's absolutely no need to worry about energy output.

"Alright, Liu Peiqiang, you and your group of thirteen will go out together."

"Chen Shen, Li Hu, Qi Qin, Wu Feiguang, the four of you go with them. Once you catch any dwarves in this city, make sure they are captured."

"We don't need to worry about any subsequent impact; just catching one survivor will completely make up for the losses at the Coal Mine."

After speaking, Su Mo paused, then reached into the air and seventeen rifles flew out.

Then, another thousand bullets slowly floated out from inside.

Without raw materials, even a mid-level machine tool was completely helpless on the way to the New Continent.

By now, the entire village has only about three thousand rounds of rifle ammunition left.

Until a real bullet-making machine tool is manufactured, these stockpiles are the last strategic force.

"Chief, I will not fail you!"

"I will not fail in my mission!"

Chen Shen was aware of the bullet inventory. Seeing the hint of heartache flash across Su Mo's face, he immediately stood up and said solemnly.

The kindness on the faces of the others vanished quickly after they picked up the rifles on the ground, gradually turning into the "madness" unique to the apocalypse! Before taking up arms, they were just ordinary scouts, only responsible for intelligence work.

But once they take up arms, they face life and death, and a cruelty never before seen in peacetime.

"You've returned safely! I'll be waiting for you here!"

"Don't worry, Director!"

He patted each of the soldiers on the shoulder, looking at the excited expressions on their faces.

Su Mo stepped aside, making way for the person going downhill.

The group of seventeen people didn't waste any time; after lining up, they quickly dispersed.

"Chief, how about I go back and bring more men with me? That way, if a major conflict breaks out, we'll at least have backup."

"Alright, go back and tell Moore to come along too. He might be very useful!"

Throughout the Hope Village.

Except for Su Mo himself, who was restricted from freely entering and leaving this area due to the sanctuary.

The others were all single and had never put down their Shelter Core, so there was no issue of them exploding.

Having agreed with Shen Ke, he watched as Shen Ke led the two away in a hurry.

Su Mo lay down and held the binoculars in front of his eyes to examine the object closely.

Now that it was confirmed that the group of aliens opposite them were dwarves, Su Mo's line of reasoning became clear instantly.

And now, he did indeed see many details he had previously overlooked.

"These outer Defense Facilities don't look like real boulders; they even sway slightly in the wind, yet they can support these watchtowers. It seems to be some kind of highly polymerized reactant?"

"What are those red circles on the wall? Could they be another use for cameras? To monitor the outside world?"

"Proportionally speaking, the figures inside mining are not the same size as those outside. Could it be that the miners inside are not dwarves?"

As Su Mo looked more closely, more and more guesses emerged.

Meanwhile, the assault teams breaking through to the front were also incredibly fast, with a speed boost of 500%.

Even with extreme caution, they successfully broke through the territory's defenses and entered the territory's outskirts two minutes later.

Boom! Like a heavy hammer hitting their heads, everyone felt a dizzying sensation as soon as they stepped out of the territory.

It's like someone who has just recovered from a serious illness and gotten out of bed.

Immediately, three people's legs gave way and they fell to their knees.

"Take cover, rest first, and we'll talk again once we've recovered!"

As the temporary leader of the assault team, everyone immediately lay down and took deep breaths at Li Hu's gesture.

After a while.

After catching his breath, Qi Qin slowly crawled to Li Hu's side:

"Tiger Bro, after leaving the territory, I feel like I'm wearing a layer of sandbags all over my body, like I'm carrying a heavy load, it's extremely uncomfortable!"

Li Hu nodded. "Indeed, it seems this is the punishment for us leaving our territory!"

From the body to the mind.

It was as if an invisible layer of heavy sandbags was binding everyone.

The physical pressure was manageable; it felt like having a 2.5kg load strapped to my thighs.

Even Li Hu, mentally, frowned and looked uncomfortable.

"Can you still walk? If you can't, stay here and meet me. If you can, keep going with me!"

"Able"

"Rush!"

"."

Sixteen men, not one of them retreated.

Seeing everyone's eagerness, Li Hu nodded, and the group rushed out again.

Another 500 meters, and the familiar pressure returns.

This time, the physical burden increased to 3kg, but the mental pressure remained the same, which was a relief.

"It seems the pressure change occurs over a distance of about one kilometer."

"Everyone, keep a silent count in your minds. When you reach the edge of 500 meters, proceed with caution!"

There are now general rules.

The rest of the journey became much easier.

Twenty-five kilometers from the outside of the territory to the middle of the barbican.

Only after Li Hu retreated from the last five kilometers, looking grim, did everyone slowly come to a stop.

"The body's stress increases every half kilometer. Now, 20 kilometers behind, the stress is 15 kilograms."

"Every 20 kilometers, the mental pressure increases, and the next level of intensity is about three times that of the previous one!"

Wow! Upon hearing the number three times, the assault team was immediately shaken.

Surprisingly, no one backed down; instead, they cautiously entered, feeling the pressure.

A moment later, the seventeen-person team was divided into groups.

Eleven people were able to withstand the pressure and enter, while the remaining six experienced dizziness and nausea upon entering and could only provide support from outside.

"Qi Qin, you stay behind and bring men to meet us. I'll leave you 300 rounds of ammunition!"

"Good!"

Making a quick decision, and seeing that the gates of the barbican were already showing signs of opening, the assault team parted ways.

This time, Li Hu's ten-man team advanced to a point one kilometer before finding a low-lying spot to lie down.

Unlike Su Mo's vague observations.

Upon seeing the bunker made of unknown materials at such close range, everyone, including Li Hu, was suddenly taken aback.

This wall, which isn't made of high-polymer material, is being blown around by the wind.

This is clearly a living creature, constantly wriggling its body.

This red circle is not a camera either.

Instead, it was a giant eyeball with a diameter of over two meters, which was enough to send chills down your spine.

However, before everyone could discuss this horrific scene...

With a loud crash.

The main gate of the barbican is open!