The only piece of good news was that although the tunnels here were smaller, they were just as interconnected. They only needed conveyor belts installed later.
As excavation continued and the space became large enough, they could install high explosives to blast out those high-value deposits instead of relying solely on the pickaxes in their hands.
"Boss, you're here." Covered in grime, Arendi had received word from the others and hurried over from deep within the mine tunnel, bent nearly double.
"How's the situation?" Sandman asked Arendi, who had arrived ahead of him.
"It doesn't look very good. I checked two tunnels that already had conveyor belts installed. The ore they dug out was all ordinary iron ore. There's still no sign of Adamantium." Amid the din, Arendi shouted at him.
"It's fine. We just need to spend more time checking the other tunnels. Since they found signs of Adamantium over there, it's only a matter of time before we find it here too." Sandman shouted back.
The noise underground was simply too overwhelming: pickaxes striking rock, the shrill, glass-scraping screech of metal from conveyor belts running without enough lubricant, and ore crashing into mine carts all merged into an ocean of noise. Without shouting, no one could hear anything.
"Organize more people and send them to explore the remaining tunnels separately." Sandman immediately gathered another group and expanded the search area.
"Emperor, your son is in my hands. I'm counting on your blessing this time!!" Sandman prayed inwardly.
He had no idea whether it would work, but praying first couldn't hurt.
Then he decisively used Digital Numerology and crawled into unexplored Tunnel 13. Meanwhile, Korax and Arendi, carrying their own equipment, were seemingly guided by some unseen force into Tunnels 26 and 39 respectively.
In this universe, colors and certain numbers carried extremely strong implications.
For example, gold and the number 13 pointed to the Emperor, lord of the Imperium of Man, who had only just launched the Great Crusade.
Six and purple represented Slaanesh, the youngest god in the Warp and the Lord of Pleasure.
Seven and green represented Grandfather Nurgle, the oldest god of life in the Warp.
Eight and red represented Blood God Khorne, the Lord of Skulls and the mightiest power in the Warp.
Nine and blue represented Tzeentch, the Lord of Change and the most cunning schemer in the Warp.
The current Emperor scoffed at such things, but that was fine. He would accept them in the future.
In the Warhammer Universe, stubborn denial was useless. What was, was.
"That can't be right. Is the Emperor not pulling his weight?" Sandman crawled forward and pressed the detector in his hand against a relatively flat section of wall that he had chiseled out.
Although it could still take readings through an uneven wall, Sandman had chiseled out a flat surface to minimize errors caused by the scan.
"Impossible. The density of the entire tunnel is strangely consistent from the surface all the way inside? Break it open!!!" Sandman crawled out and found a slightly roomier spot where he could hunch over and start chiseling.
A series of clangs rang out, and dust instantly filled the already cramped space.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Even through his dust mask, Sandman choked and coughed incessantly.
This was why miners on Lycaeus had such short lives. Pneumoconiosis and all manner of occupational diseases, combined with terrible living conditions and a lack of medical care, meant that reaching thirty already counted as a long life here.
"Ptooey, ptooey..." Sandman finally chiseled through the outer layer, opening a gap over a meter deep before stopping to rest.
The already small space was now piled high with broken ore, and the air had grown even murkier.
"What the hell is this black layer?" Sandman took out his handheld detector and scanned the wall again. The density readings behind it were all identical, while the material in front had already been dug away.
He then picked up a few fragments from the ground, pinched them between his fingers, and crushed them hard.
"Soft texture, high density, and it seems to have strong insulating properties." Sandman assessed the unknown metal's characteristics and made a preliminary judgment.
Clearly, the wavelengths emitted by the detector could not pass through this pitch-black mineral layer. That was why, aside from the rubble in front, the entire device showed the same density reading for everything behind it.
The specifics would require specialized testing.
Sandman grabbed several chunks of this unknown mineral, the first of its kind he had encountered, and put them into the bag at his waist. He had already seen its value.
Then he picked up his pickaxe again and resumed digging...
After digging for about an hour, the pickaxe finally met a stubborn resistance.
"Hm, is this it?" Sandman's face lit up as he felt that familiar resistance.
He knew that resistance all too well. Every time he had mined Adamantite Source Ore over the past few months, it had felt exactly like this.
Sandman threw aside his pickaxe and switched to a chisel, beginning to peel away the black mineral layer covering the surface.
As the chisel and his callused hands gently pulled back this mysterious veil, a dazzling golden gleam suddenly burst forth from the darkness.
Under the beam of his headlamp, that golden light looked incomparably noble and brilliant.
"Hahaha, all that digging for most of the day wasn't for nothing." After digging at high intensity for so long, Sandman laughed and slumped unceremoniously against a pile of ore. He pulled off his dust mask and let it hang against his chest as his heaving lungs gulped down the foul air.
Next, they only needed to have people dig along this vein. Besides the Adamantite Ore, this miraculous black mineral also had to be carefully stored away. It would surely serve an unexpected purpose someday.
After resting for more than ten minutes, Sandman put his dust mask back on and began digging again. He needed to make a preliminary estimate of the Adamantite Vein's reserves.
The clanging of pickaxes, chisels, and stone hammers working together echoed continuously through the narrow mine tunnel.
Strands of golden filaments climbed upward, winding like spirit snakes around chunks of golden Adamantite Ore embedded at varying depths in the wall.
"We're rich, we're rich! Even if you multiply it tenfold, I won't have to worry anymore!" Sandman grinned at the Adamantite Vein.
Now he could finally go all out in preparing to overthrow those slavers.
"Still, this little bit of Adamantite Ore is nothing. It's nowhere near as impressive as Koz's homeworld. Speaking of which, Koz's homeworld really is absurdly rich!" Sandman thought of Koz's homeland.
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