Free Web NovelMountain winds, sharp as blades, cut through the continuous mineral ridges on the northern edge of Snowpeak County.
Though the thick snow had not yet melted, the mountains already revealed layers of mottled rock, like a dormant steel beast.
Lord Louis stood atop a mountain hollow, cloaked in a thick cape, overlooking a bustling scene below.
The sounds of axes and chisels echoed through the mountain walls, rhythmic and powerful.
Craftsmen swung picks and hammers in front of the mine shafts, while rows of semi-underground wooden houses were neatly embedded into the earth, with cooking smoke curling up from ventilation shafts.
Several snow-horned cattle slowly ambled out from the stables, pulling sleds loaded with stone towards the dispatch area.
A small aqueduct channeled clear, bright water from a crevice in the mountain rock, bypassing a purification device and flowing into drinking water tanks.
The entire mining camp already resembled a nascent territory.
This was his new territory, which he named Star Forging Territory.
Unlike Wheat Wave Territory, where Lord Louis started from scratch, this vital area on the northern edge of Snowpeak County, with a thirty-mile long ridge mineral line, had abandoned ore veins since ancient times.
Now, under his leadership, it was being reawakened.
Flint Marrow Oil, Vein Jasper, magic marrow mine, Scorched Cinder Iron—every ore vein seemed like a fortune chosen by fate, intertwining beneath his feet, waiting to be awakened.
He instantly saw that these ores would form the skeleton and blood of Red Tide's future industrial arsenal.
Lord Louis, clad in a grey and white windbreaker, stood on the snowfield, breathing softly.
This was not the end, but the beginning of fire.
His eyes seemed to already envision a future city forged in fire; this was a crucial cornerstone for his dominion over the North.
“My Lord,” a middle-aged knight in thick fur armor rode up quickly, bowing slightly, “Kyle, Overseer of Star Forging Territory, reports to you.”
“You’ve worked hard,” Lord Louis patted his armguard, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings, “This place is developing even faster than I expected.”
Kyle showed a proud smile at the words, his slightly rough voice hoarse: “Multiple basic constructions have been completed.
The dormitory area is built and can accommodate nearly ten thousand residents.
Three main mine shafts have completed initial support, all truss structures are reinforced, and rail reservations are in place.
There’s also a dispatch center for daily work arrangements and inventory registration.”
He paused, then pointed to four watchtowers further up the mountain road: “Of course, defensive outposts are also built.
Although they are temporary wooden structures, they are sufficient.”
Lord Louis surveyed the camp, his gaze sweeping from the neatly arranged dormitory area, the temporary command post, to the initially reinforced mine shaft entrances at the foot of the mountain.
His lips slowly curved into a subtle smile: “Kyle, well done.
I made the right choice.”
His voice was not loud, but it carried immense weight.
Kyle immediately straightened his back, his eyes filled with unconcealed pride and gratitude.
Then, with a solemn expression, he knelt on one knee: “The first ore layer can be mined at any time, My Lord only needs to give the order.”
Lord Louis, however, shook his head slightly, withdrawing his gaze from the snow ridge.
He looked at the undulating mineral slope beneath his feet, his tone steady: “No rush, we’ll take it one step at a time.
The ore here cannot be mined haphazardly.”
Kyle was startled, then immediately put away the eager expression on his face, quietly waiting for his Lord’s explanation.
“This place,” Lord Louis slowly walked towards an exposed rock layer, pressing his palm against the cold ore, “On the surface, it seems lively, with formed mine shafts, orderly craftsmen, and ample manpower.
But in reality, under every stone lies bones.”
His voice was not loud, but it carried a steady, blunt weight, like a knife pressed under snow.
“Long before we arrived, too many nobles tried to develop the ore veins here.
They brought miners, technicians, mages, knights, and even a whole train car of gold coins and delusions, but what was the result?” He lightly flicked the ice shards from his fingertips, “The people were gone, and the mines remained unexploited.”
Kyle’s brows furrowed slightly, revealing a hint of worry.
“The main reason is that the terrain is too complex, the ore veins are scattered like fishbones, and the rock layers are severely fractured.
One wrong move, and the entire line could collapse.”
Lord Louis looked at the crevices on the mountainside, the excavated abandoned mine shafts resembling deep, shadowy rifts: “And with all the filled mine shafts, which ones are real, and which are dead ends? No one knows.”
Kyle’s expression sank: “This subordinate knows it’s difficult here, but hearing you speak like this, it sounds more like a cursed land.”
“It is a curse,” Lord Louis looked at him, his tone surprisingly gentle, “But a curse itself is also an opportunity, an opportunity to dominate ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ an area.
The question is whether you can bear the cost.”
Kyle frowned tightly at the words; he had thought this mission would be difficult, but he hadn't expected it to be so difficult in Lord Louis's words.
And Lord Louis turned around, smiling: “But just because they couldn’t do it doesn’t mean we can’t.
Don’t worry, how could I not have prepared before coming?
I have long prepared for this; I will forge this Star Forging Territory into Red Tide’s sharpest blade!”
Kyle suddenly looked up at the words, a fervent light flashing in his eyes.
“Give the order,” Lord Louis surveyed the nascent camp, “Let the accompanying Knight Order and artisan team rest for a day, resupply, repair, and inspect all mine shaft frames.”
His tone was decisive: “Tomorrow, mining officially begins.”
The next day came quickly.
Before dawn, the mountain ridge was already tinged with a pale blue glow from the snow, and the wind still carried the night’s chill, but sounds were already stirring in front of the mine shafts.
Lord Louis stood at a high point below the command platform, looking at the Seventh Mining Ring below him.
He did not rush to mobilize all laborers, but instead set the mining point on a section of the rock face on the west side of the mining ring that had not yet collapsed and had relatively flat terrain.
This location was originally a branch of the old mine shaft, and due to its relatively stable rock layer and small temperature fluctuations, it was judged by Mining Master Valentine to be a “low-risk area.”
“Here,” he nodded to Kyle beside him, “Let’s dig a new mine shaft first, starting from scratch.”
Kyle accepted the order, then blew the pilot horn.
Those who entered the mountain were all old miners and skilled technicians brought from Red Tide Territory, experienced, taciturn, and steady in their movements.
And the goal Lord Louis proposed was clear and very simple:
To verify the distribution depth of the ore layer, confirming whether the essence of magic and Qi Vein Stone were buried 20 feet down as predicted by the diagrams;
To test the stability of the rock layer and analyze the reverberation after blasting to avoid large-scale collapses;
And to monitor geothermal reactions, observing the flow direction of hot rock belts and their interaction with the permafrost boundary zone, to prevent high-temperature steam from destroying the main shaft in the future.
However, before mining officially began, the sound of hammers and picks striking was not immediately heard at the mine shaft entrance.
Instead, a group of old craftsmen busied themselves around a pile of strange tools.
Heavy boxes were opened, parts were taken out, wiped clean, and assembled; some squatted on the ground tightening bolts, while others carefully tapped copper nails along the rock wall.
In front of the entire mine shaft, it seemed less like preparation for mining and more like a temporary ritual installation.
Kyle glanced at it and said, “Is this—a new blasting device?”
“No, it’s more important,” Lord Louis stood beside them, looking at the crowd, his expression calm, “I ordered them to install a ‘Geomagnetic Sonar Device’.”
“Sonar device?” Kyle frowned slightly.
“To put it simply,” Lord Louis turned and said softly, “it’s a device that maps ore by hitting the ground and listening to the sound.”
This set of equipment was an idea Lord Louis proposed several months ago, and it was the result of gradual research, improvement, and experimentation by the experienced Mining Master Valentine and a group of craftsmen from Red Tide Territory.
Its structure was crude, even a bit primitive, but it was indeed effective.
The entire device was divided into three parts:
The most conspicuous was a large machine called the “Shock Head,” which looked like a giant steam hammer.
It used pulleys and steam to drive a heavy hammer, repeatedly striking the rock wall or ground, each blow emitting a deep sound, like thunder, making one's feet tingle.
These shockwaves would travel underground and bounce back when they encountered cavities, ore veins, or other structures. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
The second part was the “Echo Receiving Nails.” Knights hammered a dozen metal nails into the rock wall, each connected by a thin copper wire to the main equipment.
These nails acted like ears, “listening” for the returning shockwaves and transmitting the sound back to the host.
These echoes would eventually be displayed on something called a “Sound Membrane Analysis Disk.”
It was a taut animal skin drum, with copper plates embedded around its edge.
When the echoes returned, the drum surface would gently vibrate; higher vibrations indicated potential underground cavities, ore layers, or other anomalies.
Several old craftsmen watched the drum membrane very intently, some even taking notes beside it.
Master Valentine patted the drum surface and explained with a smile:
“Simply put, it’s hitting the ground and listening.
Where the sound is off, there might be good stuff hidden.”
He pointed to a slightly bulging spot: “Like this ‘thump-thump’ sound, that’s solid rock.
This hollow sound here is likely an abandoned mine shaft.
And this spot, with several continuous thumps—tsk, who knows, maybe it’s an interlayer, maybe it’s a dense ore deposit.”
He shook his head with emotion, smiling: “I’ve been mining for thirty years, and I never thought I could explore for ore by listening.
This is all thanks to Lord Louis’s idea.”
He paused, his gaze turning to the young lord who was conversing softly with Kyle nearby, his eyes full of admiration, his voice involuntarily lowering a few shades:
“To be honest, those of us in this line of work rely on old experience, and Lord Louis is not like us, with calloused hands, but he sees us clearly, thinks further than us, which is why he could come up with such a great invention—.”
On the other side, Kyle stood by, watching the taut animal skin drum surface vibrate slightly with the shockwaves, and actually had a strange illusion.
This old mine mountain, which had been silent for centuries, seemed to truly “come alive.”
They were communicating with the mountain in another language.
Not with fire, steel picks, or sweat, but with sound waves and echoes.
This instrument, crude in appearance, with hardly a trace of magic, transformed the entire pilot excavation from “blind digging” into “ore exploration with maps and evidence.”
It was like lighting a torch, making the path ahead no longer entirely unknown and a gamble.
And this was something only Lord Louis, from Earth, could conceive—not magic, but the crystallization of technology.
He looked at the circle of craftsmen bustling around the equipment, then at Lord Louis, who was flipping through blueprints nearby, and a sense of reassurance welled up in his heart.
After this, they would truly begin to wield hammers and mine.
