Red Ridge Mine

Around nine o'clock in the morning, Su Ming rode Mo Yuan and arrived at the Red Ridge Mine.

Because of the mining of shallow veins, parts of the mountain have been stripped away, revealing the fresh rock beneath. Last night's raindrops swept away the dust that had been lingering, making the air in the mining area fresh again.

Mo Yuan landed in the central crater, where the entrance to the deep-mining mine was located. Su Ming jumped off the dragon's back. At the pit entrance stood a small winch, with numerous thick, python-like cables winding down the pit walls and protruding into the dark mine shaft.

Several huge ventilation ducts emitting a low hum are continuously sending fresh air into the ground.

"The first section of the shaft is only about 150 meters deep," the dwarf Shiquan explained as he stepped forward. "After going down, there's a platform area where we start drilling the main shaft, and the main hoisting equipment is also located in the platform area."

"Are you digging along the path of the volcanic lava pipe?" Su Ming asked.

Shiquan nodded.

Lava tubes are tunnel-like cavities formed at the end of a volcanic eruption when the lava has solidified after it has flowed out. Shiquan utilize these natural passages, greatly reducing the difficulty of excavation.

The other dragon traveling with them had already unloaded the supply packs from its back.

The dwarves untied the bindings, revealing five metal components. Four of them were about one meter long and half a meter high, while the remaining one was three times their size. They were rectangular in shape and covered with intricate creases, clearly indicating that they were deployable devices.

Shiquan curiously grabbed one of them and lifted it up with force, exclaiming, "It's quite heavy!"

"The big one weighs 150 kilograms, and the rest of the smaller ones weigh 50 kilograms each," Su Ming said casually.

The dwarves carried the metal blocks one by one into the cage, and Su Ming stepped inside as well. The cage door slowly closed and began to descend.

"President Su," Shiquan inquired, "Are these the new tools we're using?"

"No, it's a robot dog I use myself," Su Ming replied.

He crouched down, found the start button on the side, and pressed it. A faint buzzing sound rang out, accompanied by a series of crisp mechanical sounds. The mechanical dogs awoke from their slumber, straightened their joints, and stood up from the ground.

The self-test process is complete, several lights on the robot dog light up, and the sensors begin to work one by one.

Su Ming unfolded the tablet and established a wireless connection with them.

"The task of exploring the lower mine shafts later will be handled by these robotic dogs," he explained to Shiquan. "They can scan the working tunnels and record your mining workflow. Once we've collected enough data, I can propose targeted improvement plans."

"I see!" Shiquan nodded.

Deep mines present complex environments fraught with unpredictable risks; on the other hand, collecting detailed field data is a time-consuming task.

Furthermore, the mining process will require further optimization. Therefore, Su Ming did not plan to go down himself, but instead sent out a mechanical assistant.

The mine's interior is rugged and full of obstacles, making a quadruped robot dog, capable of nimbly climbing and overcoming obstacles, the perfect choice.

The 150-meter depth was quickly reached, and the cage landed with a slight tremor. Su Ming completed the initial setup of the robotic dog, pushed open the cage door, stepped out, and commanded, "Follow!"

The five robotic dogs responded immediately, smoothly forming a single file to follow him, their metal legs clanging.

The sound of footsteps hitting the ground.

"President Su's alchemical creations are truly unique!" Shiquan exclaimed.

****

Su Ming left a signal relay device at the entrance to maintain his connection with the main communication network. The group passed through a straight tunnel and arrived at a larger space.

This is a natural shallow cavity inside the volcano, now transformed into a key platform for the mine. At its center stands a massive main hoisting winch and cable system, and a huge vertical shaft, far larger than the entrance, extends downwards into the unknown depths.

There are many other passages and inclined shafts around, leading to various places.

The platform is filled with lighting fixtures, and cables, like a dense black spider web, tangled haphazardly on the rock walls and supports, making it even more complicated than at the entrance.

Water droplets seeped from the surrounding rock surfaces, gathering into tiny streams that flowed down the rock walls and dripped into the puddles below. The water was then pumped into pipes and discharged to the outside.

Su Ming took out a pair of sensor gloves and put them on. He then gestured to the robot dogs, waving his hand forward and pressing his palm down. The robot dogs immediately ran to the designated spot, curled up their hind legs, and assumed a "sit" posture. The response was smooth and without any lag.

Su Ming nodded in satisfaction, then issued commands through the tablet. The four smaller robotic dogs immediately burrowed into different alleyways and inclined shafts in the surrounding area.

"I need to conduct some tests," Su Ming explained to Shiquan.

These robotic dogs will later descend to a depth of two kilometers to carry out a mission. Inside the mine, reliable communication cannot be established. Therefore, all actions and judgments of the robotic dogs can only be made by their onboard intelligent system.

Whether they can work reliably naturally needs to be tested in a real mine environment, and the parameters and settings need to be adjusted according to the actual situation.

"I'll give you a pair of gloves like these later," Su Ming said to Shiquan. "In case they encounter anything unusual down there, you can control them to escape like I do."

"Understood."

Artificial intelligence and artificial stupidity differ by only one word. Even if you pass the test, all sorts of unexpected situations can still occur.

The remaining dwarf miners had already dispersed and were busy at their respective posts.

Su Ming felt a wave of heat. Once inside the mine, the temperature rose significantly, and the air became humid and stuffy.

He glanced at them; the several sets of huge ventilation ducts stretched vertically downwards, constantly producing a "whooshing" sound as the powerful exhaust fans worked.

"What's the temperature like at the working face down there?" Su Ming asked.

"In the deepest part, the temperature can reach fifty degrees Celsius." Shiquan patted the nearest ventilation duct beside him. "And that's with these big guys desperately trying to force air in."

"Fifty degrees?!" Su Ming's voice was full of surprise. "You didn't mention this—how did the workers cool down?"

"A temperature drop?" Shiquan was taken aback, finding the question strange. "At this temperature, we dwarves can work comfortably inside!"

Su Ming was speechless for a moment. He thought there was some solution, but it turned out to be simply having to tough it out with his physical body!

"What about the humans in the prisoner-of-war camp?" Su Ming pressed.

Upon hearing this, Shiquan's face showed a slight dissatisfaction. "Those people are at least Low Rank combatants, yet they can only work for six hours straight before having to come up from the well to rest. And they use up so much water, they're constantly drinking!"

"I think being able to work for six hours straight is already pretty good endurance!" Su Ming sighed, pointing to the largest robotic dog crouching beside him. "These metal contraptions of mine can only operate at sixty degrees Celsius! If you find them overheating down there, just pour some water on them to cool them down."

"OK!"

****

The cage creaked again as the steel cables twisted, and a group of dwarf technicians carrying toolboxes emerged from inside.

"Our kingdom has dispatched over thirty skilled fighters this time," Shiquan said, looking at the team with a smug expression. "We no longer lack technical personnel!"

As for the mining teams, the Dwarf Kingdom would agree to send them as long as the money was paid, so Su Ming was naturally not stingy.

The first robot dog completed its assigned alleyway exploration task and returned to Su Ming's side.

Shiquan pulled a short, thick rock marker from his waist and wrote a line on the robot dog's metal back armor: Attention everyone, if you see it stop moving, splash some water on it!

Su Ming didn't stop him; it was indeed a good idea.

His wrist communicator suddenly vibrated. Su Ming answered; it was Jielusi.

"You left the base?" she demanded, her voice slightly breathless, clearly indicating she was moving quickly.

"Yes, I'm handling some matters here at the Red Ridge Mine," Su Ming replied.

"I'm coming right away!" Jielusi said without waiting for a reply, and then hung up the phone.

Su Ming's words of explanation were stuck in her throat.

The second and third robot dogs also completed their missions and returned from different exits, lining up behind Su Ming. However, the fourth robot dog, which was sent to the last inclined shaft, was nowhere to be seen.

Su Ming walked over there. This was left over from the previous mining of cinnabar. With this part completely mined out, the working face had long been abandoned.

The lighting in the alleyway had been removed. Su Ming peered out and saw a few faint lights flickering deep in the dark inclined shaft—it was the trapped mechanical dog.

At this moment, the tablet in his hand received the "abnormal operation" signal.

Su Ming activated his Darkvision and looked down the sloping well. He saw the "silly dog" climbing up a slope of nearly forty degrees, and every few steps it would uncontrollably slide back down the steep slope to the bottom.

Su Ming put away the tablet, and with a few nimble steps, slid down the slope to the bottom of the inclined shaft. He found that the entire ground was covered with a thin, sticky film of seepage, making it extremely slippery.

This is clearly beyond the limits of the robot dog's design, no wonder it couldn't climb up no matter how hard it tried.

Several robotic dogs faithfully followed Su Ming's movements, sliding down and bumping into each other like yo-yos at the bottom. They quickly got up and gathered back at Su Ming's feet, their electronic eyes scanning the darkness in a crisscrossing pattern.

"President Su, I'll get the miner's lamp right now!" Shiquan shouted from above.

"Are the tunnels in the deep mining areas also slippery like this?" Su Ming raised his voice and asked.

"No, Chairman Su!" A strange dwarf voice came from above the entrance, answering the question in place of Shiquan, "The geological structure is different in the deeper areas, more than a kilometer below; the tunnels are very dry."

Su Ming looked up and, by the light from the entrance, saw a silhouette of a dwarf wearing standard technician's work clothes and protective goggles.

Su Ming and concluded that if the deeper areas were a dry environment, then there would be no need to modify the robot dog's design.

"President Su, let me come down and help you!" the dwarf technician said, bending over and sliding down the slippery slope.

Su Ming raised his eyes again, and a complex array of fine runes suddenly appeared in his pupils.

Silent Vision!

Everything around was instantly dragged into a viscous swamp—the sound of the wind, the dripping of water, the hum of distant machines—all fell into a slow, almost stagnant flow.

In this stretched flow of time, Su Ming's gaze locked onto the dwarf figure sliding down, the other party showing no signs of illusionary manipulation.

However, every subtle movement of the opponent resulted in an extremely smooth trajectory! This involved a perfect transfer of the center of gravity and precise control over the contact points on the slippery slope—a level that is absolutely beyond the reach of a novice combatant!

For a moment, Su Ming hesitated.

The dwarves should be reliable allies, and theoretically had no motive to assassinate him. This technician was concealing his abilities; perhaps there are other hidden reasons?

But the next moment, Su Ming made a decision. He exited the accelerated thought state, lunged backward, and shouted, "Guardian Mode!"

The marker lights that had been steadily flashing on the robot dog suddenly went out, plunging the surroundings into darkness. Immediately afterward, a short, mechanically powerful "click" sounded, and the metal magazine covers on the backs of the four small robot dogs popped open, revealing automatically firing rifles that glowed with an eerie light, their dark muzzles rapidly raised.

Su Ming's hand swiftly swept across a concealed button on the sensory glove—safety disengaged! All the robot dogs' weapon systems instantly entered firing mode!

Then, Su Ming made a shooting gesture with his hand towards the technician.

A Intermediate Rank combatant, disguised as an ordinary technician, infiltrated the mining team and, coincidentally, tried to approach him in this narrow, enclosed mine tunnel.

Given the threatening nature of his actions, regardless of his motives, killing him was absolutely the right choice!

****

The moment Su Ming activated the robot dog's guard mode and retreated rapidly, the dwarf technician's face drained of color, and his previously smiling expression changed drastically.

Su Ming issued the command in Chinese, which the other party had no way of understanding. Therefore, the reason for the sudden change could only be Su Ming's defensive actions!

The next moment, the automatic rifles on the backs of the four robotic dogs aimed at the dwarf, and the muzzles simultaneously spat out tongues of fire! A dense rain of 5.8mm bullets crisscrossed the area.

The bullets struck the shield hastily erected by the dwarf, producing a dull, unsettling "thud."

The impact abruptly halted his downward momentum, pinning him to the slippery, sloping rock wall of the shaft. Immediately afterward, the shield shattered under the sustained fire, and a barrage of bullets pierced the dwarf's body, taking his life.

However, in Su Ming's "Silent Vision," following closely behind the fallen corpse, several faint, ghostly figures flew down the wet rock wall at an even faster speed, continuing to rush towards the bottom of the inclined shaft where he was!

A stealthy assassin!

Su Ming's heart skipped a beat, and his gaze quickly swept across the tablet in his hand. The robot dog's field of vision switched between thermal imaging mode and point cloud feedback from laser radar scans, but it was completely empty, unable to capture the assassin's outline at all!

Without the slightest hesitation, Su Ming immediately issued the command to the robot dog to provide overwhelming firepower, and at the same time turned and ran!