Hopps and the others didn't know that Sui Xiong had been inspired by their mineral processing work, conducted some outdated research, and finally got the good result that "the Northwest Republic will build a large magic pool." They still work hard to select the ores every day, sort out the mithril ores from the silver ores, and then send them to two master appraisers for further screening to select the innate mithril ores.
This job was boring, but it was good for honing skills. After the batch of silver ore was finally sorted, Hopps felt that his understanding of the ore had improved a bit. If it were in the game, his "mineral processing" skill would definitely have improved his proficiency a lot, making him a big step forward steadily on the road from expert to master.
If he can keep practicing like this, maybe after a year and a half, he will be able to distinguish between innate mithril and acquired mithril.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but laugh.
"You look very happy, is it because the boring mineral processing work is finally over?" Ruby, who was sitting next to him, asked, "To be honest, the work is really unbearable. I would rather fight against a group of giants alone." Even the devil doesn’t want that kind of work.”
Hopps looked at his face with slightly dark circles and couldn't help but smile and said: "You haven't picked much mine, right? Why do you look so tired?"
"I used to think that fighting was a time when I was very tired, but now I know that doing internal affairs is also very tiring." Ruby said helplessly, "I have to coordinate people and deal with various things every day... I'm really not good at these things. He is a warrior, not a scholar or a noble!"
"But I think you've done a pretty good job, and everything is in order. If that's not good at it, then what does it mean to be good at it?" Hopps asked.
Ruby was speechless and could only remain silent.
"He just doesn't like this kind of work." Sid, who was sitting next to them, said, "But there's nothing we can do if we don't like it. We can't stop working just because we don't like working. That's how life is."
"If possible, I hope to be a librarian. My daily job is to read books, organize books, and handle borrowing and returning books. I can be quiet and free from the world. How peaceful and peaceful it is!" De sighed softly and said, "But, no. I have responsibilities that I must bear, and work that I must do. I am not young anymore, and I no longer have the power to be willful."
He looked at Ruby, who looked haggard, with slightly light green eyes: "You are older than me, and the pressure in life must be greater than mine, so you must understand this truth better. Living happily is also a day. , it’s just a day when you’re not happy, why not adjust your mood and try to like this job?”
Ruby was stunned for a moment, smiled, sighed, and shook her head.
"You're right, but I can't do it. I really can't like this tedious job of constantly dealing with all kinds of people, numbers, and account books!"
He turned to look at Dudu, who was laughing and eating and drinking with a group of people next to him, with a look of envy in his eyes.
"Sometimes, I really envy this single-minded guy. He is always so happy and never seems to have a care in the world."
"That's probably because he really likes this job." Hopps said, "Just like me. You may think mineral processing is a very boring and boring thing, but I can do it in this job." Find fun. Study each piece of ore carefully, and judge its texture from each edge, section, and reflection. It is like opening a wonderful book, browsing a book based on rocks... Just calm down and Come and do it, it’s actually quite fun.”
Seeing his smiling face, Ruby couldn't help but sigh again and drank in a low voice.
Tonight is a celebration banquet to celebrate the completion of the primary batch of mithril ore, so it is not the right time to talk about boring and unhappy things.
The next morning, Hopps got up very early. He got his equipment early, then said goodbye to his friends, and set out to explore for mineral veins with several other exploration team members.
In the past period, the exploration team has explored about a quarter of the entire mining area. In the entire mining area, more than half of the places that are more convenient for movement have been passed by them, and the rest are a bit dangerous. Without skilled experts to lead the team, ordinary exploration workers really don't dare to go.
Death-seeking behaviors such as "extreme sports" are not popular in this world. Both nobles and commoners pay great attention to personal safety-that's why Void City's adventure-themed amusement park "Dungeons and Dragons" is so popular because it can satisfy those who want to die. Rich people's need for adventure without any real risk.
It's the middle of winter now, real ice and snow. In this kind of weather and environment, it is really dangerous to climb those steep rock walls or follow the cracks in the rocks to the bottom of the cliff. Not to mention that most of the exploration team are just civilians with a little bit of wilderness survival ability. Even senior adventurers are generally unwilling to do this kind of thing.
Therefore, if it were not for Hopps as the core, the exploration workers would never dare to take risks.
Wearing special snow boots and wrapping themselves like bears in thick waterproof winter clothes, the group of four people trudged along the road that had been opened during this period. It was not until noon that they arrived at the place where they were scheduled to conduct further exploration. The place.
It was a cliff. Although it didn't go straight up and down, it was enough to make people stop. What's even more terrifying is that there is ice and snow in many places on the cliff - or to put it more clearly, the less steep places on the cliff that can be used for footing are all covered with ice and snow.
"Captain Hopps, look up there." A prospector pointed to a certain section on the cliff. Although the sun was not very bright today, you could still clearly see some obvious silvery white.
There is no doubt that it is a mine.
"Let me go up and have a look." Hopps observed carefully for a while and determined that he could not judge the condition of the mineral vein just by observing it from a distance, so he decided to take a risk and climb up the cliff to conduct on-site investigation next to the mineral vein.
This is a very dangerous thing and requires a lot of preparation. With the help of three companions, he spent several hours driving a dozen waterproof spikes into the cliff.
When he actually climbs, these spikes will serve as places for him to put his feet and tie safety ropes, and they will also be his life insurance.
The day's work ended here. The next day they came again and continued to drive long nails into the cliff, and then nailed a dozen more.
But the third day was a little unsatisfactory. Because of the snow, the work was greatly affected. Only four long nails were driven in total.
According to this trend, it is estimated that it will take another five or six days of busy work to open up a relatively safe passage, enough for Hopps to climb all the way to the mine vein and conduct on-the-spot investigation.
Hopps was not in a hurry, and neither were the exploration team members. Field exploration is a time-consuming thing. It can even be said that in most cases, they actually wish to spend more time.
Time is safety. The more time you spend and the more prepared you are, the safer you will be.
For these people, safety is the most important thing.