A way forward
The monotonous chiseling and prying actions continued repeatedly, and after a while, all that remained was tedious boredom and exhaustion.
Lu Heng's hand, gripping the Iron Axe, was already aching. His palm, pressed against the back of the axe, was slightly stiff from the rough metal texture. The wall of the Frost-Patterned Iron Ore in front of him was excessively hard, with a dense and firm texture, possessing a natural cold and hard feel. Most of the time, a blow with the back of the axe would only send up fine stone chips. Occasionally, they would get stuck in the gaps in the texture, and even with all his strength, he could only pry off a small piece of ore.
The progress is so slow it's frustrating.
He simply stopped moving, stood up straight with his arms hanging down, and used the pause to relax his legs. Even though he relied entirely on his back and arms for strength, the soreness and numbness from his old leg injuries from standing for so long still seeped out little by little, spreading slowly along the muscles and becoming more and more obvious.
The gaze fell upon the entire mine wall, where dense, silver-blue veins were embedded in the rock strata, hard and stubborn, and brute force would yield no benefit whatsoever. Without a special pickaxe or any labor-saving tools, relying solely on a battle axe to hack away would not only be physically exhausting, but would also yield very little ore in a day.
A sense of irritability slowly built up.
Lu Heng frowned, clearing his mind to recall the survival techniques he had seen before, trying to find an easier way to replace brute force. Various wilderness survival videos he had watched before flashed through his mind. When those bloggers were clearing land in the wild and dealing with hard rocks, they never blindly tried to pry them open.
Their most common traditional method is to burn rocks to crack them.
By piling firewood to bake the hard stone, the high temperature penetrates the stone, and then suddenly pouring cold water on it, the temperature difference between thermal expansion and contraction causes cracks to appear inside the rock, which then loosens and cracks naturally, allowing it to be dismantled without much effort.
The thought popped into his head, Lu Heng's eyes flickered slightly.
If ordinary stones can be cracked using this method, can the Frost-Patterned Iron Ore in front of us also be mined in the same way?
He didn't act immediately, remaining extremely cautious. The texture, density, and structure of the Frost-Patterned Iron Ore were completely different from ordinary mountain rocks; it was a unique mineral found only in the apocalypse. He couldn't be sure if this makeshift method would work on the ore, and he was even more worried that the drastic temperature difference would damage the ore's internal structure, rendering the Frost-patterned Iron Ore he had painstakingly mined useless waste rock.
But given the current situation, there are no other options.
Brute force mining is extremely inefficient, consuming both physical strength and time. We lack pickaxes and explosives, and have no better mining methods. Rather than continuing to work inefficiently, it's better to take a gamble. Even if we fail, it's just a waste of firewood and time, which is worse than staying in one place.
Having figured this out, Lu Heng no longer hesitated and turned to survey his surroundings.
This valley has a stable geomagnetic field and is constantly filled with Geothermal, creating a unique constant-temperature microclimate. The vegetation in the valley remains fresh year-round, and even fallen Withered Branch and detached vines do not get damp and rot like they would outside. They mostly remain dry and fluffy, making them extremely easy to ignite.
The ground was littered with evenly sized dry branches and withered shrubs, making them easy to collect.
Lu Heng walked around the mine wall, picking up dry, firm Withered Branch, and stacking them in front of him. Before long, he had gathered a small pile of enough firewood. He neatly stacked the firewood on a small, flat, exposed section of the Frost-Patterned Iron Ore wall, covering only a portion of the ore surface, allowing for targeted heating, saving firewood, and precisely controlling the experimental area.
He took out his lighter, lit it with a click, and the orange flame ignited steadily. He then gently brought it close to the pile of firewood to set it alight.
The dry firewood quickly ignited, flames spreading along the branches and steadily licking the cold mine walls. The small pieces of firewood crackled and burned, the warm smoke slowly dissipating and gently baking the hard rock. The flames enveloped the mine surface, gradually penetrating heat, and the once slightly cool rock walls gradually became warm to the touch.
Taking advantage of the lull in the firewood burning, Lu Heng turned and walked towards the spring not far away.
The flowing water was quiet and clear. He took the Portable Water Bottle from his waist, unscrewed the cap, and filled it with cool spring water.
Holding the heavy water jug, he felt a sense of helplessness. Currently, supplies were scarce; he only had this small jug, no large buckets or earthenware jars for storing water, so the amount he could hold at one time was extremely limited. If large-scale mining were to occur later, he would have to repeatedly go back and forth to fetch water, which would be incredibly troublesome.
Fortunately, the spring is very close to the mine, only a dozen steps away, so going back and forth doesn't take much effort or time, and it's manageable.
Carrying a full jug of cold water, Lu Heng quickly turned back and stood quietly by the fire, waiting.
The fire remained stable, the firewood continued to char and burn, and the temperature of the mine walls rose higher and higher under the continuous high temperature. The originally bright silver-blue mineral patterns darkened slightly under the smoke and fire, and heat continued to accumulate inside the rock layers.
Before long, the open flames of the firewood pile gradually weakened and dissipated, leaving only dark red embers burning quietly against the mine surface, with a faint scent of wood ash floating in the air.
Having confirmed that the mine wall had been thoroughly baked through by the high temperature, Lu Heng held his breath and raised the kettle.
With a slight tilt of his wrist, he poured a whole pot of cold water onto the scalding hot mine wall.
Sizzle--
A piercing sound of steaming water suddenly erupted, a collision of extreme heat and cold. The scalding hot ore surface contracted rapidly upon contact with the cold water, and the internal stress of the rock strata instantly cracked, producing a series of fine, crisp cracking sounds. Countless visible cracks instantly spread across the entire baked ore wall, varying in depth and spreading layer by layer.
Lu Heng's eyes lit up, and he immediately leaned closer to take a closer look.
The method really worked.
The Frost-Patterned Iron Ore was not damaged or deteriorated due to the temperature difference; the surface remained intact. However, the internal structure was completely loosened. The originally dense and hard ore was now covered with cracks and was no longer as solid as a rock.
The frustration that had been weighing on my heart instantly dissipated.
Having found a more efficient method, Lu Heng realized that subsequent mining would no longer require brute force. He immediately got to work, repeating the new mining process. Gathering firewood, building a fire to heat the ore, waiting for it to heat up, and splashing water to crack the rock—he became increasingly skilled at the entire process.
Each alternation of hot and cold temperatures causes large cracks to appear in the ore wall. He only needs to hold his battle axe and gently pry along the cracks to peel off pieces of the previously difficult-to-mine Frost-Patterned Iron Ore completely, at a speed several times faster than the previous method of hard chiseling and prying.
With significantly reduced physical exertion, mining efficiency has visibly improved. He controls his pace, mining for a while and then resting, taking into account his leg injury, avoiding rushing or pushing himself too hard, and steadily collecting high-quality ore.
Time passed slowly, the light and shadow in the valley shifted gradually, the sun began to set in the west, and before we knew it, it was afternoon.
After working for most of the day, Lu Heng stopped what he was doing and reached out to open the Storage Space on his Wristband.
In the field of vision, there were neatly piled up large quantities of Frost-Patterned Iron Ore with fine silver-blue veins. The pieces were regular in size, of Goblin, and in considerable quantity, far exceeding the harvest from half a day of brute force mining. This was enough to support the construction of a high-quality fence around the Shelter.
Looking at the warehouse full of ore, Lu Heng stood there, took a deep breath, and felt a surge of emotion.
People are ultimately forced to their limits.
If it weren't for the lack of tools and the dead end caused by brute force mining, if it weren't for utter desperation, he would never have remembered these seemingly useless wilderness tips he had read about in his early years. The scattered knowledge he gleaned in his daily life always seemed far removed from his own experience and useless, but when he was truly trapped in a predicament and had no other options, it was precisely these small accumulations that helped him break through the predicament and escape the predicament.
It's true what they say: you only realize how little you know when you need it.
I used to think that a lot of common sense and skills were unimportant, until I personally experienced survival in the apocalypse, hitting walls at every turn and being restricted at every turn, I realized that every bit of accumulation has its value. If you are oblivious to what you see and hear and your mind is empty, you will only be trapped here now, working inefficiently and wasting your energy.
A gentle breeze swept through the valley, carrying the warm earthy scent that soothed the body and dispelled the heat and fatigue of labor.
Lu Heng glanced down at the intact ore reserves, then stretched his legs. A slight soreness and numbness remained, but his overall condition was acceptable. The harvest had already met his target; there was no need to work harder.
He carefully put away his axe, brushed off the ashes and stone chips from his clothes, and his gaze was calm. This batch of Frost-Patterned Iron Ore was enough to make up for the Shelter's security shortcomings. Next, it was time to rest and prepare to return home.