Reborn in 2014: A One-Man Tycoon

"The scale of Stardust Titanium Crystal far exceeds expectations?"

Meng Chuan clenched his fist tightly, feeling both surprised and delighted.

Surprisingly, the larger the crystal source, the more exponentially the difficulty of mining it increases, and the greater the cost will be.

The good news is that as long as this crystal source can be extracted intact, Earth's energy crisis and the problem of upgrading mechs can be solved.

Meng Chuan could even assemble a real interstellar fleet and no longer have to fear Locke's counterattack.

Only then will Earth's civilization truly enter the era of interstellar colonization.

Only when Earth's civilization can take the step of interstellar colonization can its development be considered truly in line with interstellar progress.

The virtual image of the little card sprite flickered in front of the console, and data streams moved quickly across it:

“Commander, we should have thought of this earlier. The fact that the Star Armor Behemoth is so huge and can lie dormant in the valley for so long must be because the radiation energy of the Stardust Titanium Crystal provides it with energy. The energy density of this crystal source is probably more than ten times our initial estimate.”

Meng Chuan nodded. If it were just ordinary stardust titanium crystal, it might not be able to attract the arrival of the Star Armor Behemoth.

However, Meng Chuan quickly suppressed his surprise and turned his gaze back to the depths of the valley.

Ten times the energy density means ten times the radiation intensity.

This also means that the survival time of the android warriors may be shorter than 72 hours.

What's even more challenging is that the excavation can only be done by hand.

Even alloy robots are corroded by radiation; no tool can withstand such an environment.

"The android warriors are currently our trump cards!"

Meng Chuan murmured softly, feeling somewhat reluctant.

If it weren't for the android warriors, Earth might have already been utterly defeated in the previous war.

However, Meng Chuan is somewhat unable to cultivate artificial humans again.

After all, it was created by fusing the genes of living humans with those of various animals.

This goes against the natural order!

Moreover, many of the genes of these android warriors do not come entirely from Earth.

There are also the genes of many other planetary civilizations that were wiped out.

These are genes that Meng Chuan does not possess now.

Therefore, even if Meng Chuan wanted to cultivate new artificial human warriors, they certainly wouldn't be of the current quality.

After much hesitation, Meng Chuan took a deep breath and finally gave the order into the communicator:

"Kawhi, deploy 1,000 android warriors, implant them with excavation programs, and have them prioritize finding areas with the highest concentration of radiation. Remember, rotate them every 24 hours, and absolutely no timeouts."

In order to obtain Stardust Titanium Crystal, some sacrifices are necessary.

Meng Chuan would never allow Green Gang disciples to dig.

We can only rely on artificial humans.

"Roger! The android warriors have assembled and are ready to depart immediately!"

Half an hour later, a thousand android warriors dressed in simple protective suits entered the valley in formation.

Their steps were synchronized, but their eyes were vacant.

The little monsters have already implanted the program for mining stardust titanium crystals into their minds.

They will act exactly as instructed by the program.

Meng Chuan stared intently at the screen aboard the warship.

Although he couldn't receive real-time footage from inside the valley, Meng Chuan still habitually kept watch.

Inside the valley, the android warriors, following their programmed instructions, quickly located the area with the strongest radiation.

And they began digging by hand.

For the first 12 hours, their bodies were relatively normal.

But by the 18th hour, the android warrior's heart rate began to increase.

Tiny sores appeared on their skin – the radiation was beginning to erode their bodies.

Finally, when the 24 hours were up, all the android warriors appeared as if by prior arrangement.

They put down their digging work and dragged their tired bodies out of the valley.

Their once upright figures became hunched over, and their skin lost its luster.

Like dehydrated, withered wood, many people's fingers were bloody and mangled from digging with their bare hands for a long time.

"Read their memory data immediately!"

Meng Chuan gave the order.

Because the radiation disrupted the signal, Meng Chuan was unable to learn anything about the valley using any equipment.

However, the memories of these surviving androids are Meng Chuan's only means of understanding the situation inside the valley.

The little card sprite quickly connected to the core chip of the android warrior.

The view inside the valley finally appeared on the screen:

It was a huge volcanic crater, which is why Meng Chuan felt the heat when he first entered the valley.

However, the crater is covered by a thick layer of ice.

That's caused by the radiation from the stardust titanium crystal.

A strange balance is formed between the ice layer and the high temperature of the volcano.

This is what allowed the android warriors to barely survive inside.

The radiation around the stardust titanium crystal is the strongest, and the soil under the ice layer is as hard as iron, making it extremely inefficient to dig by hand.

"Based on the memory data, at the current rate of excavation, it would take at least ten years to completely extract the Stardust Titanium Crystal."

After analyzing the memories of the android warrior, Little Card Elf's voice carried a hint of solemnity.

"ten years?"

Meng Chuan slammed his hand on the control panel, his eyes filled with anxiety:

"Locke will never give us ten years! He might return with an even more powerful fleet within three months!"

Ten years is too long; there are too many variables.

Let alone ten years, even a year, the Earth might not be able to survive.

Even if it can last for ten years, Meng Chuan won't have enough android warriors to fill this "hole" within those ten years.

Do we really have to enslave humanity to mine, just like Zero did?

Meng Chuan would never allow such a thing to happen.

Just as Meng Chuan was caught in a dilemma, Little Card Elf suddenly spoke up:

"Commander, perhaps we can make use of the remains of the Star Armor Behemoth."

"A Star Armored Beast?"

Meng Chuan was taken aback, then realized what was happening:

"You mean, use its body to make digging tools?"

"Yes."

Little Card Elf pulled up the scan report of the Star Armor Behemoth:

"The Star Armored Beast can survive near Stardust Titanium Crystal for a long time. Its scales and bones have a natural resistance to radiation and can even absorb some of the radiation energy."

"If its scales are used to make digging shovels or other tools, they can not only resist radiation, but also improve digging efficiency."

Meng Chuan's eyes lit up; how come he hadn't thought of that before?

Previously, he only thought about using the scales of the Star Armor Beast to enhance the mech, but he forgot its most crucial characteristic—radiation resistance! This is simply the key to breaking the deadlock!

"Immediately notify the base to suspend research on the remains of the Star Armored Beast and prioritize the extraction of its scales and bones!"

Meng Chuan speaks extremely fast:

"Also, have Bi Wang organize people to manufacture the tools according to the blueprints, and make sure to produce the first batch of tools in the shortest possible time!"

"Received! Command sent to base!"

Looking at the data on the remains of the Star Armored Beast on the screen, Meng Chuan's tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

Although the mining of stardust titanium crystals remains difficult, at least there is hope.

If radiation-resistant excavation tools can be created, excavation efficiency can be increased several times, and the number of android warriors that need to be sacrificed will be greatly reduced.

"Kawhi, send these thousand android warriors back to recuperate first. Try to keep them alive, even if their lifespan is short, don't let them die immediately."

Meng Chuan said to Little Card Elf:

"Also, stop digging and wait until the tools are made before starting to dig again."

"Yes, Commander!"