Everyone knows mining is arduous, and finding an escape even till death is difficult, but they still canât bear to leave. After all, the mine provides shelter and a stable source of income, whereas leaving means venturing into the unknown.
Under the influence of the Wanderer, some families who already wanted to change their lives finally couldnât hold back, leading to a massive migration wave.
"When you left the mine, wasnât there any obstruction from White Stone Shelter City?"
"Of course not. Restricting a minerâs freedom would make them slaves, wouldnât it? When we left, White Stone Shelter City even gifted each family a monthâs worth of food."
Noticing that Cheng Ye seemed unaware of the mineâs uniqueness, Lin Xiaoshan hurriedly explained.
The types of ore at the Iron Ore Mine are very complex. Conventional ores can be extracted on a large scale with machines.
But when it comes to highly valuable minerals, like... magnetic crystals.
Not only can they be used as ultra-miniature computational cores, but because they are extremely sensitive to external magnetic field changes, they can serve as intelligent regulatory components in circuits. There are magnetic crystals in Defense Communication.
They can perceive real-time changes in surrounding signal strength and frequency, dynamically optimizing circuit performance to ensure the phone always maintains a stable, high-speed communication connection.
Aside from these, magnetic crystals can be used to create bio-magnetic energy batteries, thermoelectric converters, and even act as precise delivery carriers for targeted drugs.
However, correspondingly, the mining difficulty is immense. Untreated magnetic crystals react violently to the electromagnetic signals or energy fields generated by machines, potentially causing irreversible damage to the ore structure, or more severely, triggering self-explosion of the ore.
Manual extraction is the safest method.
Moreover, there are fragile ores that require manual tools to exert slow, vibration-free pressure for complete separation.
Some ores are only stable and extractable at specific times each day and merge into the host rock otherwise.
Deploying, starting, and locating machinery takes much longer than the available time, so they can only rely on manual standby.
"These high-value ores are the lifeblood of White Stone Shelter City, which is why they keep tens of thousands of miners around. But nurturing miners isnât as troublesome as industrial workers, so thereâs no restriction on freedom."
Lin Xiaoshan added, "However, when we entered the mine back then, Shelter City provided a lot of supplies. If we wanted to leave, weâd have to leave behind all the property and tools we earned over the years and pay a certain amount of special minerals as a redemption fee."
"Are you allowed to hide ores privately?"
"In principle, itâs not allowed, but since everyone canât leave the mine, hiding some isnât a problem."
Lin Xiaoshan explained with a smile.
He felt something strange; Cheng Ye was entirely devoid of the high and mighty demeanor he had imagined, his attitude even better than the mine foreman.
Is it just a disguise?
He couldnât determine it but saw Cheng Ye already standing, motioning them toward the poster wall: "Come on, just the right number of people. Let me tell you about Dapo Townâs construction plan!"
"Thank you, sir, much appreciated!"
Lin Xiaoshan and Shen Yan, who had been silent, quickly took the childâs hand and followed.
The boy timidly looked around, clearly experiencing a sense of solitude in an unfamiliar environment.
The girl was even more shy, keeping her head down the entire time, feeling uncomfortable under the gazes from the crowd.
"Donât be afraid. They are looking at you because they envy you."
Seeing this, Wang Kang comforted them.
The two children showed no reaction, but in Lin Xiaoshan and his wifeâs ears, it kindled more curiosity.
Upon reaching the poster wall, the 16 people who arrived earlier, led by Bao Dashan, had already read the poster and were brimming with questions.
Seeing Cheng Ye approach, everyone immediately perked up.
"Letâs form a circle, come listen to me talk about the construction plan for Dapo Town."
Cheng Ye gestured, and Er Long immediately brought over four militiamen to maintain order.
Once the formation was in place, and Wang Kang stood beside, Cheng Ye cleared his throat.
It should be considered his first complete explanation of Dapo Townâs plan to outsiders.
Though not a professional tour guide nor having trained for any spiel, having seen and known much, he was confident and not worried about awkward pauses.
"Letâs start with an introduction. Iâm Cheng Ye, an Intern Inspector from Happiness City."
Cheng Ye announced loudly, his gaze sweeping over everyone, observing how their expressions changed.
Among the twenty people there, only Lin Xiaoshanâs family showed no reaction; others had some level of expression change.
Clearly, they knew the hierarchy of Happiness City inspectors and the rank of "Intern."
But is it a problem?
Cheng Ye continued nonchalantly, "Speaking of being an intern, you might worry about my experience, but rest assured, my father Cheng Long is a Fifth-phase Inspector at Happiness City Inspection Station, the pinnacle of regular Inspectors, with only the Station Chief above him."
"And my grandfather, Cheng Wu, was the founding Station Chief of Happiness City Inspection Station, the creator of the inspection station model for all Wasteland Shelter Cities."
In terms of family background, it wasnât exaggeration to say none of the inspectors present could match him.
Whatâs misplaced competition? (leans back)
Cheng Long, the influence of this Fifth-phase Inspector wasnât obvious, but the mention of Cheng Wu, along with keywords like founding Station Chief and model creator...
Instantly, the complex emotions on everyoneâs faces disappeared, replaced by realization, surprise, excitement, delight, and flattery... all sorts of worldly emotions.
Especially a few couples who scooted back earlier now couldnât help but squeeze forward, eager to listen more closely.