Acai's Sky

★Side Quest 1: Stardust Ore Exploration

Day 1: Bone-Breaking Mystery and Amethyst Poison Miasma

A group of people (and animals) landed on the edge of the "Broken Bone Ridge" on a small shuttle boat called "Prospector" that had been specially modified by Tong Shishan and equipped with a short-range terrain scanner and mineral analyzer.

Only when you set foot on the ground (the Star Crater Land) can you truly feel the desolation and danger of this place. Like bones broken by tremendous force, the huge star debris is inserted diagonally into the gray-black "earth", forming countless deep, dark cracks and maze-like passages.

The air was filled with the smell of metal dust and radioactive dust, the gravity field was disordered, and faint space ripples swept through from time to time, making people dizzy.

Overhead is a thick cloud of stardust that lingers all year round. The light is extremely dim, and only the beams of light projected by the shuttle and probes cut out strange light and shadows on the rugged rocks.

"Ouch... It's so depressing here... It's even more uncomfortable than Greedy Wolf Devouring the Moon..."

The divine beast 朏朏·Tuantuan huddled in a small ecological shield specially prepared for it by Acai, its pure big eyes full of resistance.

It is naturally repulsive to this dead, chaotic and lifeless environment.

Acai gently touched its little head, letting it stay in the shield at ease.

"Roar."

Tengu Feiyue pricked up his ears alertly, and the silver moon mark on his forehead glowed faintly, scanning the surrounding environment. Any abnormal energy movement could not escape his perception.

The tomb guardian beast, Glutinous Rice Dumpling, lay quietly at the hatch of the shuttle, its soul fire burning steadily, absorbing the dead silence that permeated the environment.

"Target area locked. Three kilometers northwest, about five hundred meters underground, the energy signal is most concentrated."

Tong Shishan's voice came through the communicator, and at the same time, the scanned three-dimensional mineral vein model was projected onto everyone's tactical eyepieces.

The model shows that the mineral vein is like a sleeping dark golden dragon, entwined deep in the intricate star debris rock formations.

"Alright! Pioneers, make your grand entrance!"

Golden Raccoon Dog Golden Raccoon Dog jumped off the shuttle, put its little paws on its hips, stood on a relatively flat rock, and took a deep breath of the turbid air with metallic dust (although it didn't seem to care).

It closed its small eyes, and a thick ochre halo appeared on its shiny golden fur. It slowly raised its two front paws, palms facing down, and pressed them on the cold and hard ground of the star debris.

"Magic Powers·Turning Stone into Gold·Pulse Perception!"

hum!

An invisible force of earth and gold, carrying the rhythm of the earth's pulse, was like a stone thrown into a calm lake. It spread out in a circular wave shape deep into the ground with the golden raccoon dog as the center!

Wherever it passed, the hard and cold star debris rocks seemed to have life, and the internal texture, structure, density differences... were all clearly fed back to the golden raccoon's consciousness.

Its little ears trembled slightly, carefully distinguishing the "echo" coming from deep in the earth.

"This way!" After a moment, the golden raccoon suddenly opened its eyes and pointed its little claws at a deep and narrow crack that was blocked by a huge star debris. "The rock layer is relatively weak and closest to the main vein! But... there seems to be some 'noise' below, something is not right." It sniffed with its little nose again, a little confused.

"Xiao Jia, clear the way ahead! Xiao Yi, be alert on the flanks! Pay attention to the energy reaction!"

Nanny Gu was experienced and gave the order immediately.

The secret guard Xiaojia, holding a specially made giant shield made of star alloy engraved with force-discharging runes, was the first to step into the rift like a human bulldozer.

Xiao Yi followed closely behind, holding a high-precision energy sensor. Rong Mama coordinated from the center, her dragon-headed cane ready to respond to any emergency.

Acai walked in the middle with Golden Raccoon, Jin Yuanbao and other secret guards, while Feiyue and Nuomi Tuanzi followed behind.

The inside of the crack was even darker, the air was thinner, and there was a stale smell of rusty metal.

The jagged rocks are like the fangs of a monster, ready to fall at any moment. Detectors are of limited use in confined spaces.

"Squeak! This way! The energy is stronger here!"

Lucky Golden Rat Jin Yuanbao fully utilized its advantages. Its small body flexibly shuttled through the rugged rock crevices. Its ruby-like nose twitched wildly, like the most sophisticated radar, constantly correcting its direction and guiding the team towards an area with higher energy purity.

Guided by the golden raccoon's pulse perception and the gold ingot's sense of smell, the team advanced downwards for hundreds of meters with difficulty.

Finally, they found their target in a relatively open underground cave supported by a huge star debris dome!

The cave walls and dome were dotted with silver ore! These ore, distributed in flakes or veins, shimmered with a cool, restrained metallic luster under the searchlight, and mysterious silver lines like star tracks naturally flowed across their surfaces—it was star-patterned mithril!

Although scattered, the purity is extremely high!

"Found it! It's Star-patterned Mithril!" The golden raccoon dog jumped up excitedly.

"Squeak! Dig quickly!"

Jin Yuanbao also excitedly circled around the ore. Although he couldn't chew it, it was fun to watch.

"Be careful! High concentration of inert energy accumulation has been detected! And... unknown biological toxin reaction!" Tong Shishan's warning suddenly sounded in the communicator!

The words have not yet been spoken!

Pfft——!

From several inconspicuous cracks in the cave wall, covered in grayish-white moss, a large amount of thick mist emitting an eerie purple light suddenly gushed out! The mist spread extremely quickly, carrying a sweet and nauseating fishy smell, instantly filling the entire cave!

"It's the poisonous miasma secreted by the 'Bone-Eroding Amethyst Moss'! It can corrode energy shields and metals! Retreat quickly!"

The nanny shouted sternly, and used the crutch in her hand to create a wall of air, trying to block the poisonous fog.

Zizizi!

When the poisonous mist came into contact with the giant star alloy shield and the armor of the secret guards, it immediately emitted a violent corrosive sound!

Potholes instantly appeared on the surface of Xiaojia's giant shield!

What’s even more terrifying is that the poisonous fog seems to interfere with the flow of energy, and Tong Shishan’s detector signal instantly becomes intermittent!

"Ahem...it stinks! My eyes...it burns!"

The golden raccoon dog was the closest to the poisonous fog and was choking on it, tears streaming down its face and it covered its mouth and nose with its little paws.

Jin Yuanbao squeaked even louder and hid behind Acai.

"Form the 'Clear Light Exorcism Formation'!"

Aunt Rong reacted extremely quickly, and quickly stood back to back with Aunt Gu, dancing the dragon-headed cane in her hand like a wheel, drawing a mysterious trajectory.

A pure and peaceful energy shield with the power to exorcise evil and purify quickly expanded, temporarily isolating the poisonous fog from outside.

However, the poisonous fog was extremely corrosive, and the light shield made a "sizzling" sound and flickered.

"Golden Raccoon! Test your magical powers to see if you can 'enlighten' these poisonous mosses or rock formations and open a passage!"

Ah Cai made a prompt decision, and at the same time, a faint golden light shone around him. A thin layer of God of Wealth shield covered his entire body to resist the erosion of the poisonous fog.

"I'll try!" The golden raccoon dog endured the discomfort and once again activated his magical power at the crack in the rock where the poisonous mist was spewing most violently: "Turning stone into gold, turning stone into mud!"

A beam of ochre light shot into the crevice!

Under the influence of the magical power, the surface of the hard star debris rock quickly softened and turned into sand!

The blocked rock fissures were forcibly widened a little, and the pressure of the gushing poisonous mist seemed to be a little less, but the mosses emitting purple light only shrank slightly and were not completely "enlightened".

"No! This ghost moss is too resistant! My magical power level is not high enough to completely restrain it!" The golden raccoon dog was a little frustrated.

"Shishan! Analyze the composition of the poisonous fog! Find a way to neutralize it!"

"Analysis is underway... Main ingredients: Amethyst inert spores, highly corrosive organic acids... Neutralization plan... requires a strong oxidant or high-frequency energy oscillation... Wait! The detector shows that there is a weak airflow in the southwest corner of the cave ceiling! There may be a natural exhaust channel!" Tong Shishan's voice was filled with a glimmer of hope.

"Xiao Yi! Lock the direction of the airflow! Prepare the directed energy shock bomb!" Nanny Gu gave the order immediately.

"Yes!" The secret guard Xiao Yi quickly adjusted the instrument in his hand, and a special bomb the size of a fist with shock runes covered on its surface was activated.

"Golden Raccoon! Cooperate with Xiao Yi and use your magical powers to soften the rock formations in the target area!"

"Got it! Watch me!" The golden raccoon dog perked up and aimed at the southwest corner of the cave ceiling: "Turning stone into gold, loose rock layer!"

The ochre light beam enveloped the target area, and the hard rock quickly became brittle.

"Now! Launch!"

call out!

The concussion bomb accurately hit the softened rock layer!

Boom!

With a muffled thud, a basin-sized hole was blasted into the rock layer! A powerful airflow, carrying the scent of stardust from the outside world, suddenly poured in, forming a wind tornado that frantically sucked out the pervasive purple poisonous fog!

"It's connected! Hurry! Collect the ore! Evacuate!" Acai ordered.

Everyone sprang into action. Using specially crafted tools, the secret guards, like the most sophisticated miners, quickly and efficiently peeled and collected the scattered star-patterned mithril ore from the cave walls.

The golden raccoon dog also used its little claws to pick out the pieces with the highest purity.

Jin Yuanbao was like a little supervisor, running around in the pile of ore, sniffing with his nose and pointing out the points with the most concentrated energy.

With the help of airflow, the concentration of poisonous fog dropped rapidly.

Although the amount of mithril harvested on the first day was small and there were accidents, the preliminary exploration was finally completed without any danger and a method to deal with the poisonous miasma was found.

More importantly, we have identified some of the dangerous characteristics of this mining area.