Page 438
"I recognize the sincerity of the Ordinary Alliance. This is indeed a very valuable gift."
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 442 Southeast Mining Area
The rare metal industry plays a vital role in Mingdu.
The training of soul guides and the production of powerful soul guides all require a large amount of rare metals. As long as one can participate in this huge industrial chain, even if he only gets a small share, it will be enough to bring huge profits.
No force can resist such temptation, but in Mingdu, only the most powerful forces are qualified to get involved.
Part of the metal industry is firmly in the hands of the royal family, and the other part is fought over by the three major underground forces. In the previous underground soul mentor competition, the three major underground forces fought fiercely with Mingdu's underground rare metal industry as the stakes, and finally the Ordinary Alliance won the championship.
The two Ice and Snow Emperors were indifferent to the uselessness of rare metals, but as a soul mentor, Huo Yuhao certainly understood the importance of rare metals. The Ordinary Alliance was willing to give up part of its rare metal industry and cooperate with the Northern Alliance. This sincerity was not small.
But Huo Yuhao didn’t think that the Ordinary Alliance would give up such a huge benefit for no reason. The other party must have some kind of demands.
He looked at Shao Jie with a smile on his face, and said meaningfully: "This gift from the Ordinary Alliance is indeed valuable, but it seems a little too valuable. I'm afraid the Northern Alliance can't afford it."
The tone sounded very humble and ordinary, but to Shao Jie it was full of warning. A few drops of cold sweat fell on his forehead, and he said with forced calmness: "We in the Ordinary Alliance naturally understand that such a large industry as rare metals is not something that we alone can take over."
"To be honest, if it was in the past, the Ordinary Alliance would choose to cooperate with the royal family, but now, the Ordinary Alliance has a better partner."
Huo Yuhao followed up on his words and said, “The better partner is the Northern Alliance, right?”
"That's right." Shao Jie bowed and saluted. "If we cooperate with the royal family, it will inevitably go through the hands of the crown prince, and that will naturally make us an enemy of the Northern Alliance."
"We believe that Prince Xu Sheng will become a wise ruler with greater foresight and talent than Crown Prince Xu Tianran, so we present this great gift with the sincerity of the Ordinary Alliance."
Huo Yuhao raised his lips slightly: "It seems that the people behind the Ordinary Alliance have a very good vision. This will be the most correct choice you will make."
Seeing that Huo Yuhao was very satisfied, Shao Jie was delighted and said, “The first gift that the Ordinary Alliance sends to the Northern Alliance is the ownership of the Southeast Mining Area.”
Huo Yuhao frowned slightly when he heard the words "Southeast Mining Area". He had heard a little about this mining area.
This mining area is located in the suburbs southeast of Mingdu. It is a huge mining area with a long history. It has been developed for at least several hundred years. It once had rich metal deposits and was also a famous place in Mingdu.
But this mining area is not of much value.
First of all, although this mining area is large and rich in metal deposits, they are basically common metals such as copper, silver and iron, and their development value is far less than that of rare metal mines.
Moreover, after hundreds of years of development, the metal resources in the southeastern mining area have been mostly exploited, and it has gradually declined over the past few decades.
Generally speaking, the Southeast Mining Area is not considered a good mining area now, so much so that the royal family and other forces look down on it.
The Ordinary Alliance gave the ownership of the Southeast Mining Area to the Northern Alliance as a gift, which seemed to be a perfunctory act.
Noticing Huo Yuhao's slightly frowned brows, Shao Jie quickly explained before his expression turned ugly: "You don't know that although everyone in Mingdu knows that the Southeast Mining Area is a mess, it will soon be scrambled for by all major forces."
“Why?” Huo Yuhao showed a little interest.
Shao Jie explained: "This year, the largest silver mine in the Southeast Mining District, the Baiyu Silver Mine, has been gradually mined out. If this silver mine is exhausted, the value of the Southeast Mining District will be even lower."
"However……"
He changed the subject and smiled excitedly, "Who would have thought that mithril would be found in the lower levels of the White Jade Silver Mine, and the content is not low."
"That is to say, underneath the White Jade Silver Mine, there is a previously undiscovered mithril mine."
His expression was extremely excited. Silver and Mithril were only one letter apart, but their values were completely different. The value of this Mithril mine alone was beyond the reach of other metals in the Southeast Mining Area.
Hearing about the possible existence of a mithril mine, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but be stunned for a moment: "Such a precious treasure mine, how come it hasn't been discovered before?"
Shao Jie explained: "The Baiyu Silver Mine was developed more than a hundred years ago. At that time, people thought it was just an ordinary silver mine. It was only until this year when the Baiyu Silver Mine gradually bottomed out that people discovered the secret silver hidden underneath."
"This news came out not long ago. The mining area was immediately blocked, but there is no such thing as a wall that is impenetrable. News of the mithril mine has slowly spread to the southeast of Mingdu, but it has not yet reached the city center. In addition to mithril, there may also be black gold and black steel."
There was a constant gleam in his eyes, and he seemed a little excited. There were even more precious rare metals buried under the depleted ore layer, and this benefit was enough to move any force.
But now, the Ordinary Alliance is going to give this treasure away as a gift.
Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment and said calmly, "I understand. We will send someone there as soon as possible."
Shao Jie saluted and said, "If you need the Ordinary Alliance, please let me know. Alliance Leader Shangguan has given the order, and I will do my best to help the Northern Alliance."
"Don't bother you, I have my own arrangements."
Huo Yuhao declined his help.
Shao Jie did not force it, and said consciously: "In this case, we will not bother you anymore. The largest mine owner in the Southeast Mining District is named Ding Yi, a level 5 soul guide. As long as we find him, we can take over the entire Southeast Mining District."
As he spoke, he stood up and prepared to leave.
"Well, then my Northern Alliance will not keep you as a guest."
Huo Yuhao waved his hand slightly and bid farewell to the members of the Ordinary Alliance.
After Shao Jie left the Qingse Hotel, he took a deep breath. Although he had given away a big gift, once this investment was successful, it would bring a hundredfold or a thousandfold return to the Ordinary Alliance.
In the Green Hotel, Huo Yuhao showed a happy expression and muttered to himself.
"It's actually a mithril mine. What a big deal..."
Huo Qiu'er couldn't help but exclaim in amazement: "It's really a big deal. If you were bought off by the Ordinary Alliance because of this, I can understand."
Huo Yuhao suddenly had an idea and asked casually, "Since you are also a soul guide, let me test you. What soul guides are usually made of rare metals like mithril?"
Huo Qiuer shook her head and said, "I don't know."
Huo Yuhao said with a puzzled look on his face: "How come you don't even know such basic soul guide knowledge? There are four ways to use mithril. I will teach you. Remember it."
"Tsk, who asked you to teach me? It's easy to talk without any pain." Huo Qiuer snorted coldly, "The first time I saw the metal Mithril was at the underground soul mentor competition before."
"Before that, let alone using it to make soul guides, I have never even seen it in the Heavenly Soul Empire."
Huo Yuhao was even more confused. “That shouldn’t be the case. You should know that in Mingde Hall, everyone has a certain quota of mithril every month. At least one hundred grams can be allocated.”
Huo Qiuer glared at him fiercely: "You also know it is Mingde Hall, where is the mithril mine in the Tianhun Empire?"
"The Sun-Moon Empire has strict controls on the export of rare metals. Many rare metals can only be obtained through smuggling."
Huo Yuhao finally came back to his senses, the confusion on his face disappeared, and then he showed a melancholy expression.
Soul guide technology is the general trend of the times. Doesn't Douluo Three Kingdoms know this? They certainly want to vigorously develop soul guide technology to enhance national strength, but in addition to the resistance from traditional soul master thinking, the objective condition of lack of metal resources is also an insurmountable constraint.
Without sufficient metal resources for those young soul masters to learn trial and error, how can the Douluo Three Kingdoms, which is already hundreds of years behind the Sun-Moon Empire, catch up with it?
Huo Qiuer shrugged and glanced at Bingdi next to her.
Ice Emperor frowned and answered: "There are four uses for Mithril... good adaptability to elements, isolation of aura, strengthening of core magic array, and one is..."
She lowered her head as if thinking, but could not remember the fourth use of mithril.
Huo Qiu'er was stunned, and looked at Bingdi in surprise: "You know that too?"
The Ice Emperor said calmly: "I have also dabbled in soul guides before."
Huo Qiuer was stunned for a moment, not understanding why Ice Emperor, a soul beast, would be interested in soul guides.
At this moment, Huo Yuhao slowly stood up.
"In that case, let's go to the southeast mining area and check the progress of the construction of the Sun and Moon Temple in the southern suburbs."
……
He called Chen An and briefly told him what to pay attention to, and told him to arrange for Ji Juechen to stay in the hotel if he came. Then, Huo Yuhao stepped on his flying board and quickly headed southeast of Mingdu.
Tian Meng and the Ice and Snow Emperor returned to the Sea of Spirits, while Huo Qiuer flew side by side with him, with another flying board made for her by Huo Yuhao under her feet.
The flying board is completely different from the common wing-type flying soul guide, and its use places more emphasis on the mastery of balance. However, after only using it for the second time, Huo Qiuer was able to control it skillfully, and she looked so cool flying in the air.
As Huo Qiu'er flew, she asked Huo Yuhao, who was flying beside her, "I don't know much about metals. How much is this mithril mine worth? It's unexpected that you value it so much."
After Huo Yuhao pondered, he made a small circle with his right hand and said, “Let’s put it this way. The monthly quota of mithril for a low-level researcher at Mingde Hall is only 100 grams. It’s just a small amount, but it’s enough for him to strengthen a high-quality level 5 soul guide.”
"The higher the level of soul guide, the more mithril is needed. A mithril mine, even the lowest-scale one, is totally worth several level nine soul guides rushing to rob it without caring about their image."
"Not to mention that according to known information, there may be associated minerals such as black gold and black steel underneath this mithril mine."
He paused for a moment and said thoughtfully, "Moreover, this mithril mine is located below the southeast mining area, so it has a unique geographical advantage."
Huo Qiuer quickly understood what he meant: "You mean... because this mining area is close to Mingdu?"
Huo Yuhao nodded, confirming her guess: "Yes. Most of the mining areas in the Sun Moon Empire are near the Jingyang Mountains, Mingdou Mountains and other mineral veins. The southeast mining area is right under Mingdu. I think if this news gets out, the royal family will definitely not sit idly by."
"No force will ever have too much of a valuable strategic material like Mithril."
The two flew very fast. While talking, they stepped on the flying board and left the center of Mingdu City, slowly entering the southeastern suburbs. On the horizon in front of them, a vast plain gradually appeared, and then there were undulating low mountains and hills not far away.
The horizon was far beyond the range of spiritual detection, but Huo Yuhao could still see the buildings in the distance with his excellent eyesight.
The suburbs of Mingdu, which should have been sparsely populated, have now seen the emergence of a fairly large town. According to preliminary estimates, there are at least a thousand people living here.
The villages and towns slowly came into Huo Yuhao's spiritual detection. Under the vast coverage of his perception, in addition to the residents living here, an unusually strong aura also appeared.
metal.
Thick strata and high-density metals have a strong inhibitory effect on Huo Yuhao's mental detection. It takes more mental power to penetrate them. Normally, Huo Yuhao would not waste his mental power here.
The places where metals are particularly abundant are under those low mountains. Inside several nearby low mountains, in the intricate underground passages, one can detect that many people are walking around and digging something.
Obviously, this is a metal mine, but they are not precious rare metals, but very common copper and silver mines. The workers who shuttled through the underground passages used simple tools to mine the ore, collected it, and waited to be transported out for further refining.
After detecting this, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but frown slightly.
These mines are of relatively inferior quality. Not only is the metal content in the ore low, but there is not much ore left. The entire mountain has been almost hollowed out, so he can easily detect them. They are no longer worth developing.
However, these are just a few nearby mines. In the distance, beyond the range of his spiritual detection, there are several other residential areas and more low mountains that stretch as far as the eye can see, and he has no way of knowing the specific information about them.
Here is the southeast mining area of Mingdu.
Huo Yuhao and Huo Qiuer controlled the flying board and quietly landed in the woods outside the residential area without attracting anyone's attention.
After receiving the information shared by Huo Yuhao, Huo Qiuer couldn't help but feel a little surprised: "It seems that there are not many soul masters, and the highest cultivation level is only the third ring."
"Ah."
Huo Yuhao responded indifferently. The Southeast Mining Area was a relatively famous place in Mingdu, but it was his first time here, and he was no less surprised than Huo Qiuer.
Most of these workers involved in mining have soul powers of less than level ten, and the tools in their hands are not more efficient soul-guided hoes and pickaxes, but just ordinary steel, making mining operations laborious and arduous.
As for the people living in this residential area, most of them are civilians without soul power.
However, what surprised Huo Yuhao more was not these, but the way those residents communicated with each other.
Huo Yuhao had already approached the residential area, where several families were chatting about their daily lives, and the content was mostly gossip about someone's private life.