Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 188: 178. Coal Mines, Steel and Fire!_2

The consort has stopped digging. Below it has excavated quite a sizable space, and Xu Xin finds that what lies beneath his feet is all black coal!

”So much! This is just too much!”

The cave is filled with coal fragments that the consort has shattered while digging. Xu Xin quickly gathers them up.

[Obtained coal*367]

Goodness, how long has it been digging to extract this much!

Xu Xin takes out his iron pickaxe and swings it down. ”Crack,” the ground breaks apart, scattering several pieces of coal.

This is steady; the coal output is plentiful. With this coal mine, he can produce steel fire!

One steel fire requires 25 pieces of coal and 1kg of mutant vine sap. He initially thought the material consumption was high and might not be mass-producible. But he didn’t expect the coal output to be ridiculously abundant!

Moreover, he doesn’t need to do anything himself. The consort only has to dig casually for half a minute to yield several hundred to a thousand pieces of coal!

As for mutant vine sap, he has plenty left. And although he gave away some bloodthorn vine last time, there’s still quite a bit remaining. Gathering all the sap together won’t be a problem for a few hundred kilograms.

”Consort, dig a little more!” Xu Xin commands the consort.

The consort continues to hack away with its sharp claws, mining the coal within the cave. Soon, the amount of coal in Xu Xin’s hands reaches 1000 pieces.

”That’s enough. Oh, and make the cave entrance wider, otherwise I’ll have to climb in and out each time.” Although a one-meter diameter entrance is enough for the consort to go up and down, it’s still too small for him, who walks upright. This is a mine he will visit often in the future, so it must be handled well.

After enlarging the entrance, Xu Xin emerges from the cave. His scale armor has turned coal-black.

Keke, who has been nestling at the cave entrance watching, sees the coal-black Xu Xin emerge and freezes for two seconds. Then she covers her mouth with her little claw, seeming to giggle.

”You little rascal!” Xu Xin grumpily picks Keke up and places her on his shoulder, ”You don’t even look at yourself, not a single spot on your fur isn’t black!”

”Yip!” Hearing Xu Xin’s words, Keke immediately shakes herself, scattering black dust. Her fur instantly returns to its shiny and beautiful state.

Xu Xin is really envious of Keke’s ability to stay clean without bathing.

Carrying over a thousand pieces of coal, Xu Xin quickly returns to the treehouse. Instead of rushing to produce steel fire, he first heads to the lake to wash. The consort rolls around in the mud by the lakeside, washing the ash off itself with the unique method of a pangolin.

Standing in the shallow waters by the lake, Xu Xin looks at the deep, calm lake center and considers whether to dive and take a look now.

His pressure resistance has improved, so he should be able to collect those green minerals from a depth of forty meters.

”Yip!” Suddenly, Keke cries out by the lake, sounding a bit anxious.

... Is there danger in the lake center?

Xu Xin’s pupils constrict, and he retreats from the lake, asking Keke standing by the lake, ”Is there danger in the lake?”

”Yip!” Keke nods affirmatively.

Upon receiving Keke’s definite response, he glances at the map and sees no red dots. It seems highly likely that it’s the giant anaconda in the lake center. Could it be returning after the second phase?

It shouldn’t be... Even if team cooperation is possible in the second phase, dealing with a gigantic anaconda capable of submerging in water seems a bit exaggerated. This creature cannot be handled without large-scale hot weapons!

In any case, the lake center is not suitable for diving now.

After one last look at the seemingly calm yet perilous lake center, Xu Xin turns and leaves.

Returning to the treehouse, Keke rushes off to communicate ”yip yip yip” with Silver King Mimi, while Xu Xin arrives at the alchemy room, clicks on the production list on the alchemy synthesis platform, and finds steel fire.

[Steel Fire: Add together with processed iron blocks into the furnace to smelt steel blocks of the same grade. Requires mutant vine sap*1kg, coal (green)*25]

He immediately starts refining.

Although it’s called steel fire, it’s not fire, but a black viscous liquid, somewhat similar to universal alchemy materials. He bottled it up with a reagent bottle, and a bottle of steel fire is completed. Next, he just has to pour it and the iron blocks together into the furnace to produce steel blocks!

Xu Xin arrives at the furnace, placing an iron block (blue) inside, then pouring in the steel fire, finally putting several pieces of coal at the bottom of the furnace. The coal’s description indicates it can enhance the furnace’s efficiency.

[Smelting in progress: Steel blocks. Remaining smelting time: 50 minutes.]

What? 50 minutes?!

This steel smelting time is too long! And this is with coal enhancing the furnace efficiency, normally it wouldn’t take an hour per block, would it...

No, smelting is not his forte; this task should be given to Li Wenxi. Her furnaces are numerous, and her smelting room is enhanced, the speed is unknown but surely many times quicker than his.

Xu Xin then made several batches of steel fire in the alchemy room and immediately initiated a trade with Li Wenxi.

Within two seconds, the trade was accepted, and simultaneously, Li Wenxi made a video call.

Xu Xin answers and finds her outside the treehouse, riding a bull, dressed in form-fitting leather armor, looking heroic and lively.

He suddenly remembers, Li Wenxi’s blue-grade iron armor was given to Wang Lei during the last event.

”Aniu, let’s head back, we’re not going there, return to the treehouse! Ah, Xu Xin, how did you find materials suitable for steel smelting?” Li Wenxi, urging the bull beneath her to turn back, sees Xu Xin accepting the video call, and immediately asks excitedly.

”Um... I gained an ability, alchemy.” Xu Xin decides not to hide it from her, and moreover, he doesn’t intend to hide it from the others in the [Explorers] group.

Alchemy significantly amplifies survivability capabilities, and now they’re all in the same boat, sharing common interests. It’s time to crowdfund materials and mutually benefit.

”Alchemy?!” Li Wenxi’s eyes widen a bit more, ”Sounds really powerful, you asked me for so many materials just for alchemy?”

”Exactly, this steel fire is made through alchemy. I tried it myself, and the steel block production is very time-consuming, so I want to ask for your help in production. We’ll split the steel blocks fifty-fifty, how about it?”

He provides the steel fire, Li Wenxi supplies the iron blocks and handles production, and they split fifty-fifty, it’s fair.

”Leave it to me!” Li Wenxi pats her ordinary chest confidently, ”My smelting room is definitely fast. I put all my points from the points mall into the smelting room’s decor, now smelting speed has increased more than double, you’ll be satisfied! Mass production is no dream!”

”I don’t need any fifty-fifty split, since you lack materials, I’ll just help you smelt. But for whatever you have, I want some too!” Li Wenxi knows that even if she produces steel blocks, she lacks the ability to make things out of steel blocks. Besides, only Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang can use metal to make weaponry and armor, she can only make survival tools at most.

Xu Xin has no issue with this, as he intends to make alchemy products open to trade externally: ”Sure, no problem, you hurry back and try smelting, I’ll carve a statue for you to help enhance the smelting speed.”

”That’s great! Make sure the statue matches my body proportions this time, hehe.”