Chapter 1 The Strange Metal

The Hurricane Apostle took the object thrown by Li Tianran. It was a piece of pitch-black metal, icy to the touch, with a rough, layered texture on the surface that felt like sandpaper. What surprised the Hurricane Apostle the most was how heavy the metal was!

A piece the size of a fist was so heavy that even the Hurricane Apostle, a second-stage evolved being, felt its arm drooping!

Although it wasn't in combat mode, the Hurricane Apostle's physical strength was still incredibly powerful, capable of easily tossing a hundred-ton tank like a tennis ball with one hand.

Yet, the metal in its hand felt heavy, indicating its astonishing density.

"This piece of metal weighs one hundred and thirty-two tons, and its volume is less than three cubic centimeters. Its density is higher than any known metal in the world," Li Tianran said softly. "No, to be precise, this isn't a piece of metal, but a metallic ore. It was mined from a mountain on Kuangxi Island."

The Hurricane Apostle was stunned. Its brain rapidly processed the information in Li Tianran's words.

Mined?

Ore?

Didn't all the mineral resources on Blue Star disappear months ago?

Could new minerals have been born?

Seeming to sense the Hurricane Apostle's confusion, Li Tianran took a deep breath and said, "You're right. New resources seem to be reappearing on Blue Star!"

…

Three hours earlier.

When the mental tide cleared the mental plague that had spread throughout the human world and drove the three Miracle Buildings deep into the sea, the entire human world was plunged into joyous celebration.

Kuangxi Island was naturally immersed in this joy as well.

The people throughout the island received news from Li Tianran. Many cheered. It wasn't just the combat personnel; even the workers responsible for infrastructure construction and the construction teams were infected by the victorious atmosphere and became even more excited.

Wang Baixiang, wearing a protective suit, stood at the foot of a hill on the eastern outskirts of Kuangxi Island. In front of him, a massive signal tower was being slowly transported to the top of the hill by a crane.

He was the person in charge of communication infrastructure maintenance on Kuangxi Island, possessing extensive work experience. He had been a federal expatriate to Ouken Continent. Later, in a disaster, his entire camp was slaughtered by monsters, leaving only him alive. He was fortunate enough to encounter a pioneering team searching for survivors, and thus joined Kuangxi Island.

The time he had spent on Kuangxi Island was the most stable period he had experienced since the world's transformation. Here, he didn't have to worry about monster invasions, food, or accommodation. Although the daily workload was relatively large, he had already completed one evolution, so this bit of fatigue was nothing to him.

"Brother Wang, breaking news! The mental plague in the human world has been completely eradicated, and even the three apostles have been scared away!" A man also wearing a protective suit ran excitedly to Wang Baixiang. His excited voice was transmitted through the mask: "We've achieved another great victory!"

Wang Baixiang smiled. He was equally excited about this victory for the human world. With each war against the ancient civilization, he became more optimistic about the future of human civilization. It seemed the scales of victory were gradually tipping in favor of human civilization.

"If one day in the future, the ancient civilization is truly defeated by us, and there are no more wars on Blue Star... that would be great." Wang Baixiang looked at the distant horizon, his tone tinged with melancholy: "I wonder if I'll have a chance to return to my hometown and take a look in my lifetime."

Although life on Kuangxi Island was wonderful, everyone harbored endless longing for their hometown.

Wang Baixiang was silent for a moment, shaking himself free from his homesickness. Looking at the team member in front of him, he smiled and patted the other's shoulder, saying, "It's still too early to talk about that! For us, it's better to hope for some small goals that can be achieved quickly, such as finishing the work in front of us. We can get three days of rotating leave..."

The man also nodded with a big laugh, "Yeah, I haven't had a vacation in a month. I really want to have a couple of drinks and get a good night's sleep!"

"If everything goes smoothly, we can finish before this evening." Wang Baixiang looked at the integrated signal tower being slowly transported to the top of the mountain by the crane and asked in a deep voice, "Has the ground foundation been confirmed as stable?"

"I checked it myself, no problem." The man patted his chest confidently.

"Confirm it one last time. This is our last shift before the rotating leave. Make sure there are no problems. I don't want my vacation to be ruined..." Wang Baixiang said in a low voice.

The man didn't argue. He picked up the communicator and contacted the ground team, "Foundation Team, this is Li Fang! The signal tower is in transit, about to reach the designated location! One last confirmation that the foundation is safe, and whether there are any cracks or collapses around it..."

"Repeat, the signal tower..."

Soon, a response came from the communicator.

"Received, received! Final confirmation in progress!"

Wang Baixiang and Li Fang stood there quietly, watching the signal tower slowly rise, waiting for the final reply from the foundation team.

Time passed by, and just as Wang Baixiang was getting impatient, a reply finally came from the communicator, but the responder's voice was trembling and filled with deep unease, as if he had seen something incredible.

"Engineer Li, b-bad news! We just discovered multiple cracks around the original foundation, and there's been a small area of collapse in some places!"

Hearing this, Wang Baixiang and Li Fang's minds buzzed simultaneously. The signal tower had already been transported up, but if there were problems with the foundation now, it meant that this location was basically ruined. All their previous efforts would have been in vain!

"Cracks and collapses in the foundation? What the hell was the survey team doing before? Those sons of bitches clearly told me that the mountain was very stable and there were no hollow karst caves or underground rivers inside. How could there suddenly be a problem?" Li Fang was so angry that his eyes turned red. This situation was undoubtedly a blow to the head.

He had just confidently patted his chest to Wang Baixiang, guaranteeing that there would be no problems, but the slap in the face came so quickly!

"Tell the leader of the survey team to get down here and see me!" Li Fang cursed loudly. He felt a fire burning in his chest. What made him angry wasn't that his vacation was ruined, but that his subordinates weren't working diligently!

In the current situation of the world, being able to work on Kuangxi Island was something that countless people envied, but he didn't expect that under these circumstances, there would still be problems with someone's work. This was simply courting death!