When they landed on Planet Byron, Ding Meng already felt that the Akasina garbage mountain was huge, but after hearing Whitey's explanation along the way, Ding Meng finally understood the terrifying scale of the garbage mountain.
The Frogmen Kingdom had occupied the Pan God Galaxy for two centuries. At first, the Frogmen Kingdom was the first to discover the vast amount of resources in the Fertile Chalk Galaxy. Everyone knew that the first batch of people to find treasures made a fortune. The Frogmen Kingdom's vanguard first excavated the real good stuff, such as precious reverse source crystals and silver core stones, as well as a huge amount of rare metals.
But at that time, the fifth-generation "reconstruction" technology of the Frogmen was not mature yet. The related research and experiments relied heavily on various kinds of metal materials, so it caused a lot of extravagance and waste. The discarded materials were scattered in the Byron Galaxy according to the principle of the nearest planet, so the major planets in Byron were completely turned into garbage dumps. It was not just tons of materials that were dumped here, but cargo ships that were dumped here one by one. After decades of accumulation, spectacular garbage mountains were formed.
Take the Akasina garbage mountain on Planet No.20 as an example. This mountain range actually stretched for 1,500 kilometers. What Ding Meng saw on the spaceship was only the tip of the iceberg. The scale of this mountain range was many times larger than the Black Gold Base. There were a total of 160,000 Steel Mane civilians and imperial prisoners of war exiled in this mountain range, and the majority of them were Steel Mane people.
The reason was that the Steel Mane Empire was not willing to invest normal manpower and resources in this place. Although there were still treasures to be found in the garbage mountain, after all, the garbage that the Frogmen Kingdom dumped in the beginning must have contained expensive things, so this place gradually became a contracted concentration camp.
This garbage mountain was different from the underground mining area of the Black Gold Base. The laborers in the Black Gold Base dug randomly. After all, it was a Kun Peng starship, and with the starship's hull as support, the entire mining area would not collapse no matter how hard they worked. However, the garbage mountain could not be dug like that. The center of the base had a clear plan, and that was to divide the area into units and use the "inverted triangle" method to penetrate downwards. To put it bluntly, the top of the mountain was dug wide, and the lower it was dug, the narrower it became. This way, there would be no collapse.
After entering the garbage mountain, it felt like entering the interior of a very old starship. There were man-made passages and halls everywhere, and the routes were extremely complicated. Along the way, Ding Meng also noticed that many Steel Mane people and human soldiers were walking together. Most of the Steel Mane people were relatively thin and short, similar to humans. They carried things like hammers and saws together and talked and laughed. It was in this unique place that humans and Steel Mane people could live in peace.
Of course, peaceful coexistence was only relative. As a veteran who had been in many mining areas, Ding Meng was well aware of the hidden rules of mining areas. With such a huge garbage mountain, how could it not have formed a tyrannical underground force over the years?
Xiao Bai was obviously very familiar with the route of the garbage mountain. She led Ding Meng through many twists and turns, walking and using lifts. They entered from the middle of the mountain and walked for at least 200 kilometers before they came to a cave. The cave was like a cabin hall divided into two. The entrance was all dirt, and there was a steel bridge in the middle. On the other side of the bridge, there was a pile of metal and soil. Obviously, a new mining area had been found, and metals were being unearthed.
Ding Meng said in a low voice, "This is the new area you mentioned?"
Xiao Bai nodded. "Yes, Brother Du Hong is in charge of this area. Only his people are allowed to enter."
Ding Meng asked curiously, "Du Hong?
That sounds like the name of our human world. "
Xiao Bai said, "Yes, he is a human, but he is very powerful. Brother Ding Meng, if you meet him, you must be polite."
Ding Meng sighed. He could already imagine that Du Hong was similar to Machine Gun in the Black Gold Base. He must be the local boss of this area. However, if a human could become the leader of the Steel Mane Tribe's underground force, he must be quite capable.
There were not many people on the bridge, but there were two tall Steel Mane Men guarding it. When Xiao Bai got on the bridge, the two men did not pay much attention to her. After all, Xiao Bai often came here. However, Ding Meng was stopped by one of them.
"Hey, are you new here?" One of the Steel Mane Men had lost his left arm at the shoulder, but his face was ferocious.
Xiao Bai quickly went up and explained with a smile, "Brother Derci, he is new. He is my neighbor. Officer Han sent him here."
Hearing that he was sent by Officer Han, the one-armed man looked at Ding Meng carefully. He seemed to think that Ding Meng was too thin and weak. "Alright, you can pass, but the rules are the same …"
As he spoke, he extended two fingers to Xiao Bai. Xiao Bai immediately nodded. "No problem, no problem!"
The one-armed man then waved his hand and said, "Let's go in!"
After crossing the bridge, they arrived at the main passage. The main passage was large enough to accommodate trucks, but there were many side passages, and they were very complicated. Xiao Bai led Ding Meng through a series of twists and turns before finally entering a small cave.
The cave was like the underground drainage pipes of towns. It was very narrow, and people could only crawl in it.
"Did you dig this out?" Ding Meng also crawled forward.
Xiao Bai turned around and smiled. "Those who can enter the T30 area are all very strong, so I dug a small path for myself."
Ding Meng suddenly realized how smart Xiao Bai was. Xiao Bai was too short, and only people of his size could crawl in such a small path. The other Steel Mane Men were too big to fit in, so there was no need to worry about other people snatching it from them.
However, the walls of the tunnel were filled with all kinds of metal spikes and blunt objects. With Xiao Bai's weak body, it was inevitable that he would be scratched if he tried to crawl through. That was why Xiao Bai was covered in wounds every time he returned to the surface.
However, Xiao Bai did not look like he was in pain. He gritted his teeth and crawled forward. Ding Meng sighed behind him. He used to think that the days in Black Gold Base were dark and hard enough, but the environment here was at least ten times worse than Black Gold Base. In order to survive, one had to go through a lot of pain, not to mention Xiao Bai was a four-year-old Steel Mane Man.
After crawling for more than ten kilometers, the two finally crawled into a cave the size of a room. The cave was bumpy, and it was obvious that it was man-made. The walls were made of metal, and the ground was made of rusty steel.
"Xiao Bai, did you dig this out?" Ding Meng asked.
Xiao Bai sat on the ground and took out a small bottle of healing agent from the metal box that he carried with him. He carefully wiped the wounds on his body. "Yes, this is my little room. Brother Ding Meng, we can take our time digging."
He took out a small crystal saw from the box, aimed at the wall, and cut it. As the saw spun, all kinds of metal powder flew everywhere.
Ding Meng looked at him with interest. "Your equipment is not bad. It's a rechargeable one."
Xiao Bai smiled awkwardly. "Brother Ding Meng, I'm not strong enough. I can't smash it with my bare hands like adults, so I can only use this."
Ding Meng said, "You redeemed this saw from the center of the base, right?
I guess it's not cheap to maintain. "
Xiao Bai focused on cutting the wall. "I can't help it. I have to spend money to recharge it."
Ding Meng said, "By the way, the guy with the broken arm on the bridge said that the rules don't change. What rules are they?"
Xiao Bai sighed helplessly. "We can come in for free, but we can't leave for free."
Ding Meng asked curiously, "Do we have to pay to return?"
Xiao Bai frowned. "When we go back to the bridge, we have to leave half of the materials for them."
Damn, this protection fee is too much. Ding Meng was a little surprised. "Does everyone have to do this?"
Xiao Bai said, "Not really. Everyone has to pay a different percentage. Only you and I have to pay half. The others have to pay a lot less."
Ding Meng was puzzled. "Why?"
Xiao Bai stopped digging and sighed. "Normal people can't come in here. We have to thank Brother Du Hong for taking us in. It's hard to find good materials outside."
Ding Meng also let out a long sigh. Xiao Bai's life was already hard enough. Other than being exploited by the base, he also had to be exploited by the underground forces. How similar was this to Xiao Si's life?
However, Xiao Bai was still quite optimistic. He lowered his head and focused on his work.
Ding Meng looked at him for a long time. He couldn't help but say, "Let me do it!
You go and rest! "
Xiao Bai turned his head and said, "Brother Ding Meng, do you know how to use this machine?
If you don't, I can teach you how to use it. "
Ding Meng shook his head helplessly. "No need. Put away your machine and follow me."
Ding Meng was no longer the coolie he used to be. He directly used the Catoptric Deflection and turned it into a long sword in the air. Then, driven by his telekinesis, it spun wildly. It was like an upgraded version of a saw, but more like a sharp probe. It directly drilled into the wall on the other side.
"Woo woo — —"
All sorts of metal scraps and powders sprayed out from the walls. Little White was dumbfounded. Ding Meng's sword had drilled out a completely circular tunnel. It could advance more than ten meters in a minute. Moreover, the walls were smooth and flat. It was not something that could be dug by hand.
Of course, he didn't know that the Catoptric Deflection sword was made of Krypton platinum. There was no metal that it couldn't penetrate. Moreover, Xiao Ai had already determined the digging route through the telekinesis vision. So, in less than an hour, a long tunnel was dug out.
At the other end of the tunnel, the sword had also carved out a small square room. Ding Meng picked up a piece of black metal the size of a photoelectric gun. He thought about it and felt uneasy. He simply cut the metal in half and handed it to Xiao Bai. "Take it back now."
Xiao Bai's eyes widened. "So fast?
Is it useful?
Can I exchange it for something? "
Ding Meng nodded affirmatively. "It's useful. Take one of these two pieces to pay the toll. Take the other one to the center of the base. It can be exchanged for everything you need for a month. Also, use it to maintain your tool."
Xiao Bai was stunned. It would take him months of hard work to do something, but Ding Meng had done it in less than five minutes. He was still a little hesitant. "Brother Ding Meng, what about you?"
Ding Meng was still cautious. "Remember, after you exchange the supplies at the base, don't come down. Just stay in the barracks. Come down after ten days. I promise you you'll find something."
Although Xiao Bai didn't know what Ding Meng meant by this, the two pieces of metal in his hand were real. After thinking about it, he turned around and left happily.