Chapter 144: My Base!

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

Edited by Aelryinth

“Hahahaha, I understand now! So it’s like that!” Zhang Che couldn’t help bursting into laughter outside the cave.

The baseball-sized, multi-faceted crystal laying in his palm at this moment wasn’t black at all!

It had a rich purple-gold luster emanating from within, its appearance resembling a luxurious gemstone. According to his memories, wasn’t the description of purple-gold crystal ore exactly like this!?

In the cavern filled with fluorite, the reason why the purple-gold crystal mineral looked black was exactly because of the fluorite!

It was most likely due to to the pure green light emitted by the fluorite. Shining on the purple-gold crystal mineral, its natural color couldn’t show and it could only appear as black.

Zhang Che wasn’t well-versed in the study of optics, but this was the fact obvious to him. Naturally he could deduce the underlying reason by working backwards.

“I’ve truly struck it rich this time!”

Weighing the purple-gold crystal ore in his hand, it felt like it was about a catty and a half, which was around seven to eight hundred grams. According to the price of ten thousand dollars per gram, that was equivalent to about eight million dollars!

That was similar to the price of an ordinary three-star gold-quality beast card!

In that huge cavern filled with fluorite, heaven knows how much more purple-gold crystal was in there? Zhang Che’s breathing immediately sped up!

It was very obvious that this was a sum huge enough to move anyone. Then, there was a problem…

“Even if there was truly a shocking amount of purple-gold crystal mineral hidden in that cave, how do I bring it out? And even if I managed to do that, it would be another problem to take it out. Otherwise, there’d be endless trouble awaiting me if someone set their eyes on me.”

It seemed like having a fortune was also a problem…

Even so, such troubles were welcome! The bigger the trouble, the better!

Zhang Che stopped thinking about these matters for now. In any case, this huge fortune now belonged to him. That was all that mattered!

He started planning, wanting to turn this cavern into his base of operations in this mountain range. The tunnel that connected the cavern to the Dark-Scaled Lizard Commander’s nest had to be covered up. No one else must ever discover it!

Even the cave entrance outside had to be concealed naturally. Despite the low number of beastmasters travelling this area, not to mention those that actually came to this valley, the problem was that Zhang Che had discovered this place. Not only that, the two unlucky guys that were eaten by the Dark-Scaled Lizard Commander had also discovered this cave!

In the future, there were sure to be even more beastmasters passing by here.

How could Zhang Che possibly not worry if he didn’t conceal the cave entrance?

However, this was not the most pressing issue now. Zhang Che’s stomach was rumbling; he might not have the energy to cover up the cave entrance if he didn’t go find some food right now.

——

As a precaution, Zhang Che summoned the trash beast whose name he couldn’t bother to remember and had it guard the tunnel connecting the two caverns. If anyone were to discover the tunnel and tried to explore it, the beast would immediately warn Zhang Che through their spiritual link.

Now that he had the Cold Abyss Flood Dragon, Dark-Scaled Lizard Commander, and Purple Jade Condor, capable beasts that covered air, land, and water combat, Zhang Che truly didn’t have to be afraid of any beastmaster that might appear in this area.

The truly strong ones would have explored deeper into the mountain range to hunt the more powerful exotic beasts. Who would have the time or interest to kill the exotic beasts here, who were merely trash in their eyes?

Leaving the nameless beast behind (Nameless Beast: Actually I do have a freaking name, but my owner daddy despises me and can’t be bothered to remember it), Zhang Che jumped onto the Cold Abyss Flood Dragon’s back and they flew up towards the peak of the mountain that held the cave.

He could only gain a wider perspective if he were higher up. Not only did Zhang Che have to find a large exotic beast, he had to look for a water source, or he wouldn’t be able to proceed with his meat roasting plan.

Of course, the one that truly had to look for food was the Purple Jade Condor. Zhang Che was merely enjoying the sensation of stable flight.

A few minutes later, not only did the Purple Jade Condor find a group of large herbivores, it also found a clear stream nearby. After receiving news of this, the Cold Abyss Flood Dragon quickly flew towards their destination, directed by Zhang Che with a wave of his right hand.

Zhang Che felt so hungry that he was sure he’d eat an entire bull by himself…

——

After eating his fill, the sky started to darken. A day had passed just like that. Zhang Che’s plan for constructing his base could only be put off until tomorrow.

——

Returning to the cavern, Zhang Che grew excited again, and immediately turned into a diligent miner, splitting the workload with the Dark-Scaled Lizard Commander. They kept carving out huge rocks from the wall, searching for every piece of purple-gold crystal mineral they could find, no matter how big or small.

It was only when Zhang Che felt fatigue all over that he finally stopped. Looking around him, a side of the wall was now a huge, black empty area. Anywhere that had fluorite was carved out by him.

After about three hours of work, Zhang Che’s gains were huge.

Behind him was a small pile of close to a hundred purple-gold crystals, illuminated by the large pile of fluorite next to them. Zhang Che estimated that there was about seventy catties worth of purple-gold crystal mineral gathered here, or about thirty-five thousand grams.

“Tsk tsk, I only worked as a miner for about two to three hours, and earned a few hundred million dollars before I knew it. I’m probably the best miner in the world, aren’t I?” Zhang Che lamented in satisfaction, before ordering the frisky monkey to set up his tent. With the uncountable riches of the cavern by his side, Zhang Che gradually slipped into the land of dreams.

———–

When Zhang Che woke up the next morning, he didn’t continue digging for purple-gold crystal mineral. Instead, he directly exited the cave and started planning the design for this prosperous base.

The huge entrance definitely had to go. As long as you weren’t blind, any beastmaster who passed by would discover the cave immediately. It was very likely that they would then be driven by curiosity and explore it.

Zhang Che looked around the cliff, and discovered an area overgrown with vines a short distance away from the cave entrance, concealing the cliff behind it perfectly.

-The new entrance will be here!-

There was about thirty meters between the old and new entrances. It wasn’t something easy to dig out such a long tunnel. Even if Zhang Che had inhuman strength, the extremely sharp Mutated Puffersword, and the Dark-Scaled Lizard Commander to clear away the carved-out rocks, he had to spend several hours to dig out the tunnel.

The original entrance was sealed up by Zhang Che with a few huge rocks. Not only that, he also applied a layer of mud on the outside, and moved a few wild plants there, covering it completely.

Simply concealing the entrance might not necessarily assure its safety…

Zhang Che returned to the first cavern and looked around. He gaze fell onto the small pond for a brief moment, and an idea popped into his head.

What was safer than setting the entrance underwater?

{Ed. Note: Umm! There’s a little thing called airflow you’ll be cutting off…}

However, carving a tunnel underwater was much harder than doing so outside. Zhang Che had to make sure that the connecting tunnel was higher than the water’s surface, and only the entrance would dip in altitude, preventing the water from flowing into the tunnel.

Zhang Che was getting hungry after busying himself for half a day outside. Thus, he exited the cave and had the frisky monkey hunt a large herbivore to satisfy their stomachs, before starting work in the cavern again.

It was all thanks to the pile of fluorite Zhang Che had collected that he could work in the dark cavern. Not only did it provide sufficient illumination, it wouldn’t produce any smoke, nor exhaust any of the precious oxygen in the cavern.

It was both natural and non-polluting!