Survey Complete

Having seen this exposed copper ore deposit, Victor naturally wouldn't leave empty-handed.

He led his men to break open the sandstone blocks with weapons and unearthed a batch of raw ore.

We plan to take this batch of ore back to Two Rivers Territory to carefully examine the ore reserves of this mine.

"It's a pity that Number One is currently dormant. Otherwise, it could directly use the Calculation Module to estimate the reserves of this copper mine."

Victor looked at the ore that had piled up into a small mountain and stroked his chin, lost in thought.

"Viscount, it's almost time. Shouldn't we head back to the outpost first? If we delay any longer, we'll have to run back in the dark, which is too dangerous."

Parisben saw his lord staring blankly. He dared not let his lord spend the night outside. There were many wolves in the vicinity, and with only a few dozen of them, it would be very dangerous if they encountered a large pack of wolves.

Moreover, this is a grassland, and with the snow and cloudy skies, the moon and stars are nowhere to be seen. It's difficult to find your way at night, and getting lost would be even more dangerous.

Therefore, considering all of this, Parisben had to promptly advise Victor.

Fortunately, Victor was very understanding. He understood Parisben's concerns, so he accepted Parisben's suggestion.

Soon the batch of raw ore was distributed to several packhorses for transport. Fortunately, they had brought some sacks with them, otherwise they would have had nothing to pack the ore.

Everyone was happy to hear that they were going back to the outpost, since no one would want to break stones in such cold weather if it weren't for the Viscount's request.

Victor's guards were especially relieved, as they no longer had to use weapons to mine, and many of their swords had become quite dull.

Victor and his men didn't return to the outpost until after 6 p. m., when it was completely dark.

Fortunately, the outpost had prepared a hot dinner for them, including freshly baked whole wheat bread, as well as roasted meat and soup made from the gazelles they had hunted earlier.

Victor and his men delivered most of the live gazelles they captured to the Blue Lake Bay Outpost as a form of supply.

Thousands of gazelles were skinned and frozen. The advantage of winter is that fresh meat can be preserved for a long time using the natural temperature.

Every day, the meals were prepared by Victor's kitchen and the outpost's logistics department. In addition to supplying Victor's troops, a considerable amount of mutton was also distributed to the soldiers at the outpost. For these soldiers at the outpost, these past two days have been a good New Year.

After finishing his meal, Victor went to the tent to examine the ore he had brought back that day, making a simple estimate based on the weight of each piece of ore.

He pried open a piece of ore, carefully broke the sandstone, and extracted the native copper from it.

The ore had already been weighed and was approximately 15 kilograms, while the extracted native copper weighed a whopping 7 kilograms.

"Based on the weight of the native copper extracted from the ore just now, we estimate that the 400 kilograms of raw ore we brought back this time will yield about 180 kilograms of native copper ore."

Victor was also stunned by the number he had calculated. He knew that ore made entirely of natural copper would have a considerable copper content, but he did not expect it to be this exaggerated.

It should be noted that this natural copper is already very pure and can be used directly as copper material without any additional smelting or processing.

Victor now understood why the Barbarians on the grasslands possessed the technology to smelt bronze. With so many high-grade copper mines that were almost like copper, developing bronze smelting technology was indeed not difficult.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. "My lord, I am Parisben. As you instructed, I have inquired with the Blazing Fire Tribe again."

The militia at the outpost included several former slaves of the Blazing Fire Tribe, and it was from them that Parisben learned about the mine.

So after returning to the outpost, Victor asked Parisben to question those Barbarians slaves from the Blazing Fire Tribe again.

Victor ushered Parisben into the room. "Did they say anything else about the copper mine?"

"No, Your Excellency. They come from humble backgrounds and are not familiar with some of the specific affairs within the tribe. They suggested that we inquire with the surviving high-ranking members of the original Blazing Fire Tribe."

Victor was somewhat troubled. In the process of wiping out the Blazing Fire Tribe, most of the former high-ranking members had either died in battle or been captured and then executed. Now it seemed that almost no one knew anything about the copper mine.

However, Victor was only troubled for a short while. The fact that so few people from the Blazing Fire Tribe knew about this mine also showed that the mine was not being fully utilized.

When fighting the Blazing Fire Tribe, the Blazing Fire Tribe's weapons were mainly iron weapons smuggled from the Three Counties of the Northern Frontier, unlike the Iron Bone Tribe, which had bronze mirrors, bronze swords, and bronze armor.

Thinking about it this way, Victor, who was initially a little worried, now felt much more at ease, realizing that very few people knew about the copper mine.

"In that case, the outpost can conduct targeted patrols of this mine for the next period of time to ensure the safety of the mineral resources."

"Parisben, although this copper mine is important to the territory, the outpost's current strength is limited, and it's unrealistic for the outpost to develop the mine on its own."

Parisben wasn't so fixated on that; the most urgent thing was to start targeted patrols of the mine as soon as possible.

"Your Excellency, please rest assured to leave these tasks to me. I will definitely complete them well."

"I feel much more at ease after hearing your words."

It will be difficult to develop the mines here in the next year or two, so your task is especially important: to ensure the safety of the copper mines.

After all, even if other Barbarian Tribes are unfamiliar with this mine, the likelihood of it being attacked by Barbarians is low.

Victor and Parisben discussed the situation at the outpost. The settlement at Supply Station Number Three will have a large population in the future, Victor will transfer a group of people from there to Blue Lake Bay Outpost at the appropriate time.

However, this is a long-term solution that cannot address the immediate problem. Victor reminded Parisben they must not let their guard down and must ensure the military presence of the Two Rivers Territory in the Blue Lake region, at least until the Two Rivers Territory officially advances north.

Over the next few days, Parisben took Victor to explore the area around the Blue Lake for a long time.

This place is indeed relatively fertile. Although it can't compare to the black soil of the Supply Station Number Three, it is still a very suitable place for farming.

As for whether strategic resources like copper ore still exist, Victor couldn't tell.

They went to the mine several more times and dug up a lot of stones. When Victor decided to leave, the total weight of the raw ore he took with him exceeded 1,400 kilograms.

All of these ores will be taken back to Two Rivers Territory. Once back there, Victor will deploy several exploration teams to conduct exploration here in preparation for future development.

Victor stayed at Blue Lake Bay Outpost for five days, and had already used up most of the supplies he brought. If he stayed any longer, Victor and his men would have to use up the outpost's reserves, Victor felt was unnecessary.

So early on the sixth day, Victor led his team south back. Overall, Victor thought the expedition was very successful, and it was a great start for future territory expansion.