July 1st, cloudy.
Another mining day.
Wang Dong didn't take Ding Ling's reminder lightly.
Si Ma De Lang's audacity made Wang Dong even more vigilant.
However, after careful consideration, Wang Dong still chose to go to the mining area.
Si Ma De Lang was indeed reckless, but without any leads, he wouldn't dare attack the entire mining area like he did in the previous life.
That wasn't recklessness, that was insanity.
Si Ma De Lang was arrogant and domineering, but he wasn't stupid.
This time, Wang Dong chose a Type 2 Explorer near-space mining ship.
The Type 2 Explorer was slender in size, a small player among near-space mining ships.
It had a low carrying capacity, but on the other hand, it was agile and stable in flight.
Compared to behemoths like the Type 2 Mine Master, the Type 2 Explorer had a stronger adaptability within the asteroid belt mining area.
Piloting the Type 2 Explorer out of the atmosphere of the mining planet, Wang Dong was greeted by a small space fortress.
The space fortress, with full power, unfolded its multifaceted combat stance. Dozens of defense turrets of various sizes all over it, along with the thick armor and shields, all demonstrated the power of this defense system.
For energy conservation purposes, although the mining planet was equipped with a small space fortress, it was mostly in an energy-saving state.
It was obvious that the arrival of several Fire Seed warships had put the mining planet on high alert.
This type of space fortress was a planetary defense system. Relying on the planet, it could unleash incredibly powerful combat capabilities.
Fire Seed warships below LV10 couldn't inflict fatal damage to it.
It could even withstand Fire Seed warships below LV15.
The patrol fleet of the mining starfield also raised its alert level accordingly.
The Type 2 Explorer needed to undergo an identity verification before being allowed to pass.
Wang Dong was slightly surprised.
It had to be said that the mining planet's reaction was quick. Under these circumstances, as long as Jin's Fire Seed warships hadn't obtained definite intelligence, they wouldn't choose to directly confront the mining planet.
The flight to the mining area was uneventful.
When docking at the forward base, Wang Dong noticed that a small percentage of the interstellar miners had gone missing.
It's human nature to seek advantage and avoid danger. Some miners chose to wait it out before things were clearer.
Old Shi was among them, which brought Wang Dong some peace of mind.
After greeting "Little Lina," who was 6 feet tall and weighed 180 pounds, Wang Dong used the quiet period to enter the asteroid belt mining area.
This time, Wang Dong didn't go directly into the depths of the asteroid belt mining area.
Instead, he chose to pilot the Type 2 Explorer along the outer perimeter of the mining area, heading towards the middle section of the asteroid belt.
First, this would avoid going deep into the asteroid belt mining area. If anything happened, he could quickly escape.
Second, although it was part of the mining area's outer perimeter, the middle section of the asteroid belt was rarely visited.
Miners without the ability could only mine near the entry point, while those with the ability often mined deep inside the mining area.
The middle section of the outer perimeter of the mining area had become a blind spot.
Wang Dong skillfully navigated the Type 2 Explorer through the mining area, gracefully selecting his prey.
According to the original trajectory, a few months later, at the middle section of the asteroid belt mining area, an old miner discovered a concentrated area of medium-grade energy crystals.
This old miner struck it rich overnight, immigrated from the mining starfield, and lived out his golden years on a more prosperous planet.
At that time, Wang Dong happened to be on Blackrock Star, the capital of the Blackrock Baron's territory, and he heard this news.
Unlike the general onlookers.
Coming from a mining background, coupled with the auxiliary system's need for energy crystals, made Wang Dong pay special attention to this news. He even went through the trouble of contacting the old miner to see if he could buy some energy crystals from him.
Of course, the acquisition was unsuccessful. On his way out of the mining planet, the old miner had already been milked dry.
But he still learned a lot of specific information.
Including the location of the discovery.
After rebirth, Wang Dong didn't immediately come to find this mineral deposit because the conditions didn't allow it.
A few units of low-grade energy crystals could be carried in his pocket and hidden away at home.
But if there were too many, it would be hard to keep it a secret.
Only after he got his hands on a warship and had somewhere to store them could he exploit this mineral deposit.
Furthermore, the entire asteroid belt mining area was in a state of relative motion. Even if Wang Dong knew about the mineral deposit, it would still take some time to search for it.
"Based on the asteroid belt's movement patterns, the mineral deposit at relative coordinates (X32, Y12, Z26) currently has three potential locations.
One of them is located in the depths of the mining area, leave that for last."
Wang Dong calculated in his mind, and based on the calculation results, chose a closer location first.