Chapter 331: Mechanical Miners

“Let’s go. We’ll come back in three days!” Wu Ze was an honest man, but Ye Feng and Long Xuan exchanged a knowing glance.
“Do you have a way to get those things out without triggering the barriers he set?” Ye Feng asked Long Xuan.
“I wanted to ask you the same question,” Long Xuan replied with a smile after hearing Ye Feng’s question. She hadn’t expected them to be thinking of the same thing.
“If we trigger the barriers, it will alert the person behind this, and in three days, we won’t be able to see who’s really behind it,” Wu Ze said, clearly worried. He believed the top priority was to catch the mastermind. The Second Elder was clearly not the planner of this whole affair; even if they captured him, the mastermind might still target the Hei Wu clan. “We must catch the mastermind; otherwise, it will lead to endless problems.”
“I know!” Ye Feng nodded. “But you have to understand that if we leave the Gu King’s corpses here and something goes wrong while we’re not around, it will be troublesome. Only in our hands can these corpses be safe.”
“Are you sure you can get them without triggering the barriers? If not, it’s better to leave them here. Of course, if you have a good method, that’s another story,” Wu Ze still seemed uneasy.
Ye Feng smiled. “I do have a method, but it’s not easy to execute.”
“What is it?” Long Xuan asked, excited.
“As you can see, the barriers he set are only around the entrance of the hole he dug.” Ye Feng flew the two of them close to the barriers. “In other words, if we dig a hole from the side, we can get those things out without triggering his barriers.”
“Really? It’s that simple…” Long Xuan and Wu Ze suddenly understood.
“The problem is, although we saw him dig, we can’t accurately determine how deep he dug or how far the three boxes are from the barrier at the entrance. A slight carelessness could trigger the barriers.”
“Indeed, it sounds simple, but it’s actually quite tricky to execute,” Long Xuan said, nodding with a frown.

“Since that’s the case, let’s go back first. We must avoid doing anything that might alert them.” Wu Ze frowned, worried that Ye Feng and Long Xuan might act on impulse and cause trouble.
“Don’t rush. Let me check if my storage ring has any tools for digging. Wait a moment.” Ye Feng thought of asking the Virtual Realm for help.
He sent his mental energy into the Virtual Realm. “I need to retrieve a few items from inside the mountain. I need a tool to dig in from the side, one that won’t touch other objects around it while I retrieve them.”
“A Mechanical Miner, Grade 1 item, an intelligent robot developed on the planet Taikrolegi for mining.”
“Its main functions include exploration, penetration, projection, drilling, digging, and carrying heavy loads…”
“It seems it can be used here!” Ye Feng was pleased.
“Purchase price: 200,000/100,000/500,000 points per Grade 1 domain value, corresponding to small, medium, and large sizes respectively.”
“Huh? Why is the small size more expensive than the medium one? Could there be a mistake in the price?” Ye Feng found it curious. He had never seen the Virtual Realm make a mistake before. He thought to himself, “Is this Virtual Realm also like a computer system, sometimes experiencing bugs?”
But the text that appeared next disappointed him a bit.
“The small-sized Mechanical Miners are usually used for special tasks. They are more precisely crafted than medium and large sizes, and use higher-grade chips that can better understand and execute commands.”
“The large-sized Mechanical Miners are expensive because they use a different alloy from those of smaller sizes, one that is more resistant to corrosion, high temperatures, and high pressures. These machines are designed for heavy loads, with a maximum load capacity of up to 10,000 tons in Earth units. Their lifespan is also longer under exposure to weather conditions.”
“I see.” Ye Feng nodded and muttered carefully, “I thought the Virtual Realm had made a mistake…”
“Please select the purchase specification!”
“How big is that small one?” Ye Feng asked.
“It’s 20 cm in length and width, 25 cm in height, with mechanical arms that can extend up to 2 meters… Please see the proportional projection!”
Ye Feng looked at the 3D projection in front of him and nodded. “I’ll go with that!”
“A small-sized Mechanical Miner has been selected. A payment of 200,000 points per Grade 1 domain value is required.”
“Purchase successful. 200,000 points per Grade 1 domain value have been deducted…”

When Ye Feng finished reading the instructions using his mental power and appeared before Wu Ze and Long Xuan holding the metal box-like mechanical miner, both of them wore puzzled expressions.
“This is…”
“This is called a mechanical miner. It’s a high-tech product I bought before. I kept it in my storage ring and almost forgot about it,” Ye Feng lied without the slightest blush.
“A mechanical miner? Can this metal box mine?” Long Xuan immediately became interested. The dragon race has always been fascinated by all kinds of novel gadgets. Moreover, the metal box in Ye Feng’s hands shone brightly under the moonlight, like a silver treasure chest, which further piqued the interest of the treasure-loving dragon race.
Seeing Long Xuan’s eyes practically sparkling, Ye Feng chuckled to himself, “Hehe, I bought it for 200,000 first-tier domain points. I wonder what I can get in exchange for it from the dragon race…”
But he didn’t dare say that out loud. “Of course. This is a high-tech product with the intelligence of an ordinary five-year-old human. It can excellently complete various tasks of digging for special ores. However, for convenience of carrying, I only bought a small model. I only have one like this with me…”
“So small—how much can it dig?” Long Xuan pursed her lips. Clearly, she was mentioning its shortcomings on purpose to lower the price later.
“This machine is designed to dig for special ores, not ordinary ones. Things like mithril or cold iron, which are dense and small in size… Among the three models, this one is the most intelligent. As long as you input the characteristics of the ore, it can automatically search according to those conditions. The input method isn’t just through images; it can also be through sound. It can easily figure out what you want. Moreover, it has a penetrating function that can detect ores up to a depth of 1,000 kilometers underground.”
“I think it’s perfect for the dragon race, because you don’t need ordinary ores either. Only special ores can attract you,” Ye Feng added.
Long Xuan bit her lip tightly. Clearly, all the functions Ye Feng had mentioned were what she wanted. With this thing, obtaining rare ores would be much easier in the future.
“Also, this thing doesn’t need to be fed. It runs entirely on solar energy. Just sunlight is enough to provide it with the energy to operate. You don’t have to worry about it not working no matter where you go.”
“What if there’s no sun?”

“It stores enough energy for a month on its own, meaning it can operate continuously in places without sunlight for a month,” Ye Feng explained. “Moreover, it doesn’t just rely on sunlight—any relatively strong light source can recharge it, though the efficiency is slightly lower. Even ordinary lighting can do it…”
“Since you speak so well, let’s give it a try!” Long Xuan crossed her arms with an indifferent expression, but a fleeting glint of anticipation didn’t escape Ye Feng’s notice.
“Wait,” Wu Ze said, still uneasy. “Brother Dao Feng, are you sure…”
“Don’t worry. I’ve studied the operation method thoroughly. It’s a professional mining tool. Once a command is given, there won’t be even a millimeter of deviation,” Ye Feng said confidently. “Elder, don’t worry. If we really encounter a restriction, I, Dao Feng, will die trying to find and kill the person behind this.”
Seeing Ye Feng speak so firmly, Wu Ze was anxious but couldn’t say much more. He could only nod helplessly and let Ye Feng go.
“Little thing,” Ye Feng attached the mechanical miner to the cliff face before releasing it, causing it to stick tightly to the rock.
“We need three small boxes hidden inside this mountain. Dig a hole over here, retrieve the boxes, then return through the same hole you dug,” Ye Feng gave instructions. “Apart from those three boxes, don’t touch anything else in the cave.”
The metal box nodded, emitting a small spherical object resembling an eyeball from its base, which projected a 3D image into the air. Then it transformed into a metal cone that rotated as it entered the mountain.
Long Xuan and Wu Ze were stunned, while Ye Feng kept watching the 3D image in the air.
The image showed a perspective view of the entire mountain, with the locations of the three boxes containing the Gu King’s corpse clearly marked.
Ye Feng and the others also saw the mechanical miner moving forward rapidly. As it approached the three boxes, it slowed down. After creating an entrance, it extended a metal arm with three metal clips, grabbed the boxes, and slowly retracted them, putting them back inside its body before returning the same way it came.
Watching this entire sequence, Wu Ze was terrified, while Long Xuan’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

After Ye Feng caught the mechanical miner and handed all three boxes containing the corpses of the Gu Kings to Wu Ze, he put the robot that resembled a metal box back into the storage cabinet in the Void Realm.
“How did you take it back?” Long Xuan asked, somewhat dissatisfied.
“The task is complete; let it rest,” Ye Feng said, knowing that Long Xuan had fallen for his trick.
Wu Ze opened the three boxes one by one; the corpses of the Gu Kings were intact. “Brother Blade, I’ll keep these three boxes for now. I’ll give them to you when it’s time to treat the Great Elder.”
“Just leave them with you. Otherwise, you won’t be able to rest easy,” Ye Feng said with a smile. “But there’s still one task left—we need to cover up this entrance…”
“I’ll do it!” Wu Ze quickly set up a defense restriction, a detection restriction, and a disguise restriction around the entrance.
Only then did the three of them leave calmly.