Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

68: Chapter 68 Coal and Iron Mines 68: Chapter 68 Coal and Iron Mines Over two hundred people began working together, and the once ravaged valley immediately transformed.

The scattered remains and limbs on the ground were all collected to the deep eastern side of the valley, where they were burned with branches and broken wood.

Although everyone watched the towering flames with pain etched on their faces, this was the only way to prevent disease.

Although that giant wooden puppet was already dead, its body remained intact.

Shang Ping gathered usable wood with his people and soon built a square wooden house over thirty meters wide.

The stove was quickly set up inside the house, and Shang Ping led people to move over a hundred pieces of pitch-black coal stone from a small cave on the southern side of the valley, tossing them into the stove.

As the flames ignited, the wooden house immediately warmed up considerably.

Xia Hong withdrew his gaze from the small cave on the southern side and picked up a fist-sized piece of coal stone from the ground.

After weighing it a bit, a peculiar expression flashed across his face.

“Coal stone, surprisingly heavy!”

Though it was only the size of a fist, under Xia Hong’s perception, it weighed around forty pounds.

Recalling Wang Ming’s large knife, which was only a meter and a half but weighed six hundred pounds, Xia Hong quickly accepted it.

Obviously, coal and iron in this world couldn’t be judged by concepts from his past life.

“It can be converted into two units of coal resource, twenty pounds per unit.”

Xia Hong quickly understood the conversion ratio of coal resources through the system.

This conversion rule was probably also based on the rarity of the resources.

Wood had been tested before; roughly a thousand pounds for one unit; coal was twenty pounds for one unit; iron was ten pounds for one unit.

As Xia Hong pondered, Yuan Cheng suddenly came over.

“Leader, the heat produced by burning coal is several times higher than wood, and its radiation range is wider.

I just asked people from Rogel Camp; they said each of the previous five large wooden houses only needed one hundred and fifty pounds of coal stone, coupled with some wood, to maintain a day’s heating.”

Xia Hong nodded.

Earlier, when Shang Ping led people to transport coal from the cave, he had inquired, so he was aware of these facts.

At this time, Yue Feng also came over, looking at the coal stone with excitement in his eyes.

“Not just for heating, but if there is iron ore, it’s useful for blacksmithing, crafting tools, and forging weapons.

I just heard them say that Li Hu previously mentioned that coal stone can also be used to soften land, allowing for crop transplantation after softening.”

Xia Hong immediately became interested and was about to inquire further.

“Little brother, I hadn’t finished speaking.

According to Li Hu, softening the land requires a large amount of coal.

Before, with five Earth-digging Realm experts, we only managed to mine a thousand pounds of coal per day.

Now only three are left, which makes it even harder.”

Unbeknownst to Xia Hong, Luo Ming, who had finished his tasks, came over as well.

Yue Feng and Yuan Cheng scratched their heads, clearly embarrassed for being caught passing on the information they just got from Luo Ming to Xia Hong.

Luo Ming waved nonchalantly, indicating it was no big deal, and then looked at Xia Hong, saying, “Leader Xia, are you worried about not finding coal and iron mines?”

Xia Hong didn’t conceal his thoughts and nodded, saying, “After breaking through to the Earth-digging Realm, I’ve searched the hills around Redwood Ridge and my own camp without finding a trace.

I hope Leader Luo won’t hesitate to share your guidance; I’ll be incredibly grateful!”

After speaking, seeing Luo Ming in a daze and not responding for a long time, Xia Hong thought for a moment and stood up to bow to Luo Ming.

This act snapped Luo Ming out of his thoughts, and he quickly stood up, helping Xia Hong before he could bow.

With a wry smile, Luo Ming said, “Leader Xia, don’t misunderstand.

Rogel Camp owes you such a great favor.

How could I not repay you?

It’s also no big secret.

I was just reminded of something else, hence my absent-mindedness.”

After explaining, Luo Ming didn’t further clarify what that something else was.

Instead, he gestured for Xia Hong and the others to sit down, then turned to call over Hong Gang, Huang Zhao, Chen Ying, and Lu He, the four camp leaders.

The four, originally seated separately with their families, greeted Luo Ming first after walking over, then nodded to Xia Hong, glanced around, and sat across from Luo Ming and Xia Hong.

In the makeshift wooden house, without any proper arrangement, everyone sat on the ground.

Interestingly, as Hong Gang and the other three sat opposite, the others also leaned over, leaving Luo Ming and Xia Hong by themselves.

Xia Hong didn’t mind, and the others displayed no particular expression.

Only Luo Ming watched this scene with a thoughtful look.

“Everyone, Leader Xia asked me about finding coal and iron mines, and I thought you might all be curious, so I gathered you here to tell you.

In the future, when you break through to the Earth-digging Realm, you’ll save time not knowing where to look for coal or iron mines.”

The four leaders, Hong Gang and several Logging Realm individuals of their generation, just laughed and shook their heads, apparently not considering themselves capable of breaking through to the Earth-digging Realm.

Yet those younger Logging Realm individuals behind them showed a look of eager anticipation, seemingly more confident than their elders.

And the most peculiar was the group behind Xia Hong, including Yue Feng.

With Lin Kai busy taking care of Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, Qiu Peng, and Lu Yang displayed excitement, even leaning forward, clearly intending to listen carefully to what Luo Ming was about to say.

Taking in the reactions of all three groups, Luo Ming then slowly began to speak:

“Let’s start with coal mines.

You guys must be familiar with the Golden Frost Tree, right?”

Upon hearing this, Xia Hong’s expression turned peculiar, a hunch surfacing in his mind.

“Generally speaking, places where Golden Frost Trees grow have coal mines underneath.

Moreover, the thicker the Golden Frost Tree, the richer the coal deposit below!”

It turned out to be true.

Xia Hong silently shook his head.

He had been searching Redwood Ridge for so long without finding anything.

He found it puzzling, considering that both animals and plants in this world were generally stronger and more abundant compared to his previous life, higher mineral resources were expected as well.

Turns out, he just hadn’t been searching the right place.

The coal mine was concealed under the Golden Frost Trees.

“Leader Luo, what about iron mines?”

Xia Hong continued inquiring about iron mines.

“Iron mines are simple as well.

Find a plant called Black Tribulus.

This plant typically grows in crevices on rock faces and mountain bodies and is an associated plant of iron ore.

Finding it means finding an iron mine.”

Saying this, Luo Ming, perhaps fearing that people might not understand, turned to gesture at Shang Ping.

Shang Ping immediately ran outside and shortly returned with a plant.

Luo Ming took the plant and displayed it to everyone.

It was a unique plant of completely jet-black appearance, featuring a single stem yet adorned with at least twenty or thirty feather-like leaves, evenly distributed on either side.

“To be honest, Black Tribulus is not easy to find.

The iron mine currently tapped by Rogel Camp was passed down from several generations ago.

To this day, no new iron mines have been discovered…

”

After pausing here, Luo Ming shook his head and continued,

“But no need to find new ones either.

Based on the strength of our camps here in Redwood Ridge, basically discovering one vein is enough to last many generations.”

Upon hearing this, the others chuckled softly.

True enough, the iron mine at Rogel Camp had been excavated for several generations, yet iron tools were still not widely used throughout the camp, indicating the high difficulty of extracting iron ore.

While others were chuckling softly, Xia Hong furrowed his brow, a sense of heaviness in his heart.

Finding iron mines was already hard, and based on Luo Ming’s words, once found, the extraction process was even more challenging.

For someone like him who needed immense resources, this was not good news at all.

“Leader, Chuan has woken up!”

In deep thought, Xia Hong was interrupted by Lin Kai’s voice and hurriedly got up to go over there.

Both Yuan Cheng and Yue Feng, along with the other two, quickly followed behind him.