Chapter 46 There Really Is a Gold Mine at Home

Chapter 45 Diligence Leads to Wealth <TOC> Chapter 47 Pirates

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Translator: SumTLMan

Jade Emerald City officially announced: “30% charged; large-scale reconstruction now sustainable.”

The life of the structure had entered a new phase.

Indoors, Zhou Yi didn’t feel much of a difference. The only sign was the continuous rumbling and tremors, much like living in an elevator building with strange, inexplicable drilling sounds and thuds.

However, from Red Falcon’s perspective, it could clearly see that Jade Emerald City was performing a surgical self-modification.

The square structure on the far left of the 30th floor was precisely cut and slowly extracted. Then, a reinforced steel arm captured it and steadily placed it in the nearby materials zone, where Zhou Yi had stored concrete blocks and other building supplies.

Next, the arm grabbed a newly constructed, gray-brown prefab structure from the ground, slotting it into the opening, with countless metallic fingers reinforcing and adjusting the connecting seams, aligning and joining the two parts. The entire process flashed a brilliant white light, as if it were being welded.

The final result was a seamless integration, as if it had always been one piece.

By capturing and replacing parts in this building-block fashion, Jade Emerald City was restoring its body.

For heavily damaged sections, the building crushed them into waste and discarded the debris in the materials zone. Using rebar as a skeletal framework, concrete and broken bricks grew over the steel like muscle, completing the repairs and covering the gaps.

Jade Emerald City explained: “Cut-and-replace consumes less material and energy, but only certain structures can be directly swapped.”

“Partial remodeling is more resource-intensive, but it achieves a higher level of cohesion.”

“Chairman, does your house need reconstruction too?”

Zhou Yi warily asked: “Is there a reconstruction fee?”

“Only 100 Light Seeds.”

“No, thanks.”

“A pity.”

Lately, Zhou Yi’s purse had been tight.

He wasn’t about to waste Light Seeds on something like that.

The current home was livable; there was no need to splurge on a new one at this stage.

What caught Zhou Yi’s attention was Jade Emerald City displaying a rare hint of personal sentiment. It felt regret over his refusal to renovate, a far cry from the cold, floor-manager type of expressions it had used before, showing a hint of liveliness.

Perhaps it was due to the energy restoration.

Zhou Yi brought up a matter of business: “Can you still sense the energy pool in Mushroom Forest?”

“Yes.”

Jade Emerald City couldn’t give a precise description.

Red Falcon, however, based on its traits and the surrounding environment, had found the answer.

The drone explained: “It’s encountered a ‘Dead Light Deposit Zone,’ a rare, priceless natural resource.”

“Dead Light permeates the geological layers of this world, reacting with underground minerals and water to form deposits. These deposits, joined by Dead Light, slowly evolve and accumulate over time, becoming deep, buried zones of sediment.”

“These zones can be viewed as micro Dead Light reservoirs. Unlike the Dead Sea, these stable zones are affixed to geological layers, avoiding disasters like sudden currents or light explosions.”

Zhou Yi pondered.

This Dead Light Deposit Zone could be likened to Dead Light oil or coal.

A solid or liquid Dead Light resource that could be mined.

He asked: “How would you collect and purify it?”

Jade Emerald City had directly absorbed Dead Light from the deposit zone before and found the impurities too high, causing low absorption efficiency. It even led to confusion and mental fog, making it a toxic form of energy.

Without purification, it induced adverse side effects, so common Light Absorbers couldn’t even attempt it.

Red Falcon advised: “The Dead Light Deposit Zone requires specialized excavation, collection, and refining equipment to convert it into energy packets for use by Mechanical or Organic lifeforms or Light Print devices.”

“Recursion City is service-oriented, not engaged in construction or mining. If needed, I can contact another Mechanical City, ‘Storage City,’ which specializes in energy technology, collection, and production services.”

“If you lease the deposit zone to them or commission them to make energy packets for sale, either way, it will generate immense wealth.”

Red Falcon’s stance was clear.

This wasn’t for small operations; it required professionals.

“There’s never been a lifeform capable of directly converting a deposit zone,” the drone remarked skeptically: “This needs verification.”

Riding on a Warrior Crab, Zhou Yi arrived at Mushroom Forest.

Nearby, the newly cultivated farmland showed initial success; the soil was tilled soft and level, with small trenches along the plot edges connected to the oasis river for irrigation.

On the rows of raised beds, young green seedlings were already planted.

Iron Horse had extended two sprayers from its body, watering the soil, while Copper Bull slowly moved along the field edges, inserting a rod, either carbon or iron, into the ground to check something.

Engrossed in their work, Zhou Yi refrained from interrupting.

Approaching Mushroom Forest, two Black Hand Mushrooms stood upright to greet him: “Good day, Chairman!”

“How are you all doing?” Zhou Yi asked.

“Mushroom Forest is doing great.”

Then the two mushroom people began speaking, taking turns.

“You’re amazing! We saw it, there was a monster causing trouble over by the Dead Sea, and you blasted it into oblivion with fire rain! Everyone climbed up on the Giant Mushroom to watch. It was an exhilarating fight!”

“Imagine someone daring to challenge you, it’s simply courting death.”

“Chairman, we watched, but we didn’t slack off; everyone is diligently growing mushrooms!”

“Exactly! We’ve planted so many mushrooms. The lord says it’s enough to feed two Grub Grain Towns.”

The Black Hand Mushrooms were as chatty and lively as ever, chirping away. Given their short stature and lifespan, they resembled a group of adolescent kids.

Zhou Yi listened patiently.

Soon, the Bone Man, Sun Zhonglai, with a red scarf tied around his neck, jogged over.

“Chairman.”

He stood as straight as a soldier at attention.

This seemed to be a form of etiquette in Mushroom Forest.

Zhou Yi asked Sun Zhonglai about the Deposit zone and Stone Pouch Mushrooms.

“What you’re saying, this is the first I’ve heard.”

The Bone Man thought for a moment: “But this land is indeed different from the surrounding areas; mushrooms in the central region grow much faster, while those on the outskirts grow slower. The Black Hand Mushrooms originate from the central area and rarely awaken at the periphery. It seems directly related to the Dead Light Deposits underground.”

“Stone Pouch Mushrooms are indeed nutritious… but they only provide a temporary boost of stamina and energy, causing short-term excitement rather than a direct energy boost. I can assure you of this.”

Not Stone Pouch Mushrooms?

Zhou Yi suddenly thought of mushrooms resembling soil…

Jade Emerald City was referring to Exploding Mushrooms!

“Exploding Mushrooms? They indeed have highly concentrated energy. Unlike Stone Pouch Mushrooms’ usual energy, this type compresses energy until it detonates.”

Sun Zhonglai hesitated: “However, it’s impossible to directly extract the energy from within. At most, they can be cut from the ground and used as Mushroom Forest’s defense line.”

Zhou Yi immediately began an experiment.

He had a few Exploding Mushrooms brought to the company’s building and had Jade Emerald City test them.

The flat, earthy mushrooms were effortlessly extracted by Jade Emerald City, producing one Light Seed, which was stored in Zhou Yi’s Light Absorber box.

The second experiment yielded another Light Seed.

Third, fourth…

Extensive tests confirmed a highly stable output from Exploding Mushrooms. Depending on size, each one could yield one to three Light Seeds upon extraction by Jade Emerald City.

Once extracted, the mushrooms dried and shriveled, resembling desiccated moss.

However, when the Bone Man retrieved them, he made a further discovery.

“They’ve turned into Carpet Fungus!”

Sun Zhonglai enthusiastically spread his long arms: “Chairman, I understand it all now!”

“The foundation of Mushroom Forest is Carpet Fungus, with two evolutionary paths.”

“The first path leads to becoming Stone Pouch Mushrooms, which either stay connected to the ground, absorbing Dead Light to become Exploding Mushrooms, or continue growing upwards, drawing in Dead Light from the air with a small chance of evolving into Death Angels.”

“The second path becomes Black Hand Mushrooms, gaining a broader range of movement, which further extends the entire community’s growth and radiation range.”

The Bone Man exclaimed: “I could never figure out why Black Hand Mushrooms could safely pick Exploding Mushrooms, whereas no other lifeform could, no matter how careful they were. Turns out, they’re all one family!”

Zhou Yi felt a moment of enlightenment.

Carpet Fungus was the heart of Mushroom Forest.

Having understood the lineage and growth needs of Exploding Mushrooms, the next step was mass cultivation.

“Growing Exploding Mushrooms isn’t difficult; in the central region, they grow quickly with water. From sprout to initial maturity takes only ten days, and it takes a month to reach the transplant stage. Growing to full size takes one to three months, four at most.”

The Bone Man pointed to the Mushroom Forest behind him: “However, only the central region can stimulate Exploding Mushroom growth. Each needs a certain amount of space; otherwise, they can’t grow. So we transplant mature ones to the outer areas as defenses.”

“The surface of the central region can support the growth of about 5,000 Exploding Mushrooms at a time.”

Zhou Yi was elated.

Even at the lowest estimate, Mushroom Forest could yield 5,000 Light Seeds monthly. As long as the Dead Light Deposit Zone didn’t deplete, they’d continue to profit!

Now, there really is a gold mine at home.

Chapter 45 Diligence Leads to Wealth <TOC> Chapter 47 Pirates

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