Koz, the Primarch of the 8th Legion, had descended upon a dim world called Nostramo.
How should one describe that planet? It was like a dying mother planet that, in order to compensate the people living upon her and let them live well, had covered herself in a layer of ash while turning everything beneath it into Adamantium...
So when Exterminatus was ultimately carried out on that world, the weapon had to be shoved directly into the hole leading straight to the mantle—the one created when Koz's amniotic pod had crashed down—to destroy the planet.
Thus, even when Koz was tormented by all manner of prophecies and unable to govern the Legion, and more than eighty percent of the entire Legion consisted of scum and degenerates, the finances of the Night Lords of the 8th Legion had still not collapsed.
The Adamantite Ore reserves of a single planet were enough for the Night Lords to squander for a very long time.
Compared to Tranosmo, the Adamantite Ore reserves on Lycaeus were not even a fraction as large.
"That'll do. Let's head out first. If we keep everyone waiting too long, they'll start worrying." Sandman patted the bulging tool bag at his waist.
A crisp clinking of metal came from within the tool bag at his waist.
It sounded like individual Thrones. Just hearing it made life feel secure, leaving no fear of all the uncertainties ahead.
"There's roughly five meters of this black ore. Our main task from here on out is to mine it! We need trustworthy people to mine the Adamantium, and exchanging it will be a problem too." Sandman climbed out of the narrow mine tunnel as he thought.
Those damned greedy people would certainly keep raising the exchange rate.
Even if the Adamantite deposits were abundant, they would not covet them.
Could a cooked duck possibly fly away?
At most, it was ore that could be exchanged for using by-products from industrial production.
Likewise, the rulers of Lycaeus were not afraid that their overseers would embezzle it, since transportation was under their control.
"Finally out..." Sandman struggled out carrying all kinds of equipment and the ore at his waist.
By then, most of the companions who had spread out to inspect the other mine tunnels had returned as well. Judging from their expressions, however, they had basically found nothing.
"Boss, we didn't find anything on our side." Arendi spoke with some shame.
Before Sandman returned, he had already asked around among the companions who had come back. The results were poor: everyone, himself included, had failed to find Adamantite Ore.
Aside from the newly joined Korax and a few others who had yet to return, the outcome was basically settled. That made Arendi feel deeply ashamed.
"It's fine. Look what this is." Sandman pulled a tennis-ball-sized ore stone from his waist. The flecks of golden light on it were dazzling in the eyes of the miners.
"Boss, you found it!!!" Arendi excitedly took the Raw Adamantium Ore from Sandman's hand and examined it closely.
"It's Adamantium, Adamantite Ore. Judging by the composition ratio of this raw ore, the Adamantium content won't be low." After inspecting it carefully, Arendi confirmed it.
"Looks like the boss beat me to it after all." Korax appeared silently beside them like a ghost. In his snow-white hand was another piece of Raw Adamantium Ore, though it was only the size of an egg.
Unlike the bedraggled miners here, apart from some dust beneath his fingernails, he was not covered in grime like the rest of them.
The sudden voice startled everyone. Except for Arendi, most of those present were seeing this delicate-looking little boy for the first time.
"H-how did you do that?" Arendi stared at the Primarch, who had not brought any mining tools, and asked in astonishment.
He could not possibly have picked it up off the ground. Yet from his tone, it was obvious that the mine tunnel he had chosen had yielded something as well.
"You can just dig this ore out with your hands. Can't you?" Korax asked in confusion.
"This metal is extremely tough. Its toughness, hardness, and malleability are all excellent. But the purity isn't that high, so I can dig it out if I put in a little effort." Korax thoughtfully explained the metal's physical properties.
The miners looked at the Raw Adamantium Ore in Korax's hand, then at the mining picks in their own hands, and promptly fell silent.
No shit, everyone here knew Adamantium's physical properties. But he had casually pulled raw ore embedded in the wall straight out. Who the hell could accept that?!
"Good. Very good."
"Let me introduce everyone. This is Korax, a new companion who has just joined our camp. From now on, remember to help each other whenever there's a need." Sandman introduced him to the group with great satisfaction.
This was especially important for the many companions who had come over from the collapsed mine tunnel. Since they more or less knew the real cause of the collapse, it would inevitably stir up some reaction within the camp.
But now it was fine. Korax had found a mine tunnel containing an Adamantite vein on his own, so the problem would be easy to resolve.
Although it would be exceedingly easy for a Primarch to deal with camp rumors, it was still better to save some effort where possible.
"Korax, tell us how you discovered the Adamantite Ore." Sandman was also very curious about the Primarch's experience.
"Well..." The Primarch scratched his head a little awkwardly.
"It was simple. I just walked all the way down the mine tunnel I'd chosen, then felt the wall by tapping it. I punched the weakest part of the rock layer, and the Adamantite Ore came out. There wasn't much technical difficulty..." Korax said.
That was also why he felt a little embarrassed. Although it was his first time dealing with minerals, a great deal of mining knowledge had automatically surfaced in his mind.
Cheating. This is fucking cheating. That bastard Emperor is definitely playing favorites with his son! Sandman ranted inwardly.
"Didn't you encounter this kind of ore?" Sandman took a chunk of ore as black as ink from another pouch at his waist and asked.
"No. The mine tunnel I went into only had a thin layer of rock. One punch broke it open." Korax once again emphasized how he had found the Raw Adamantium Ore.
"All right. Arendi, arrange for people to mine the tunnels marked 13 and 26. Also, store the black ore from Tunnel 13 separately," Sandman said.
Now that they had found ore veins, their next priority was to transfer manpower and expand those two mine tunnels.
Without large-scale detection equipment, there was no way to know the size of the Adamantite deposits. They could only start mining first.
Before you continue