Prison No. 7, Mine No. 3.
Yuan Mei opened the system panel and issued the first command to the Multi-functional Engineering Drone.
"Centered at Mine No. 3, freely collect iron ore and copper ore. Prioritize self-energy supply. Automatically return once resource storage reaches its limit."
"Command received, executing..."
Accompanied by a faint mechanical whirring sound, the engineering drone's optical lens at its head flashed blue, its wings behind it trembled slightly, and it turned to disappear into the deeper darkness, beginning its pre-set collection work.
With a fully automated "miner," Yuan Mei could finally free up his hands to deal with more important matters.
Since the entire power system of Prison No. 7 was paralyzed, Yuan Mei could only start descending from the stairs next to the elevator shaft.
Greta's terminal contained a lot of information about Prison No. 7. On the terminal screen, a detailed map of the Prison was clear at a glance. His finger slid across it, finally stopping on the cross-section of Mine No. 3.
According to the map, the abandoned mine exploration center was located on the thirteenth underground level—a large platform built in an underground cave.
This exploration center seemed to have been an ambitious project of Prison No. 7, aimed at finding higher-value rare mineral veins through deep-earth exploration technology.
Unfortunately, the project was half-finished due to budget overruns and technical bottlenecks, eventually becoming a stalled project.
This was undoubtedly a failed investment, but for Yuan Mei at this moment, it was a unique sanctuary.
Running all the way, not much time had passed.
Before fully reaching the thirteenth level, Yuan Mei felt he had entered an unusually vast, giant cave, several football fields in size, clearly excavated by humans. And right in the center of this cave, a massive steel platform was embedded in the mountain.
This was the mine exploration center.
Its main framework was already completed, with tall load-bearing pillars, multi-layered intersecting platforms, and metal corridors connecting various parts, forming a massive architectural complex with a strong industrial aesthetic.
Three sides of the platform were seamlessly connected to the hard rock wall, leaving only one exit facing the cave.
Easy to defend, difficult to attack, naturally formed.
Yuan Mei stepped onto the platform, and the metal plates under his feet echoed hollowly. On the platform, various abandoned equipment and building materials were piled everywhere, covered in thick dust.
He looked around, already planning the renovation of this area in his mind.
He understood that one of the best initial methods for developing an empire was to build high walls, accumulate vast provisions, and slowly claim kingship.
But with riots inside the Prison and Sand Field Mineral Bugs lurking outside, he didn't have much time.
Fortunately, there was this ready-made mine exploration center, which was practically tailor-made for establishing a secret base.
He clicked on the details of the exploration center on the panel:
"Mine Exploration Center LV.0": (Abandoned)
"Functions": Provides basic geological scanning, mineral composition analysis.
"Materials required for repair: iron ore × 40, copper ore × 15, old circuit boards × 20."
The materials required for repair were an astronomical figure for Yuan Mei at the moment. If he relied solely on himself, he wouldn't know how long it would take to collect them.
But now, he didn't need to worry about that problem.
Yuan Mei glanced at the time; more than an hour had passed since he issued the command to the drone.
He looked at the engineering drone, which had completed its mining command and returned to standby, and opened the panel:
"System, extract minerals."
"Executing..."
"Items obtained: iron ore × 50, copper ore × 50."
This efficiency was even higher than a mining team. With sufficient materials, the renovation plan could begin immediately.
He stood in the center of the platform and issued the command to the drone beside him to start working:
"First, repair the power lines of the Main Control Room; then, use the discarded Alloy plates to seal off the platform's only entrance, leaving only a gate for entry and exit."
"Command received, starting 'Construction' and 'Maintenance' tasks."
The optical lens at the engineering drone's head lit up, and the mechanical claws at the ends of its six limbs quickly switched forms, deftly weaving between complex pipelines, disassembling the old and damaged circuit boards one by one.
Then, using the minerals provided by Yuan Mei, it grabbed the heavy Alloy plates scattered on the ground, cutting and welding them with fluid movements.
"This bug is so useful," Yuan Mei sighed. An ancient mining drone, with a slight modification, had become a multi-functional robot, making him admire the wisdom of the ancients.
Time passed minute by minute.
"Sizzle—"
Accompanied by a faint electrical current sound, a row of long-dusty indicator lights in the Main Control Room finally flickered with a faint glow.
Immediately after, these lights extinguished one by one.
At the same time, the renovation of the entrance was nearing completion. A huge Alloy gate was steadily welded to the entrance, completely isolating the entire platform from the outside world.
The renovation of the entire platform was completed, but it had not yet been connected to external power.
Yuan Mei let out a long breath, leaning against the cold control panel. A long-lost sense of tranquility arose. No matter how chaotic the outside world was, at least here, he had a foundation where he could breathe and develop.
"System, bind building."
"Successfully bound the Mining Exploration Center as your initial territory. You can modify its name."
"Let's call it Origin Base," Yuan Mei said without much thought.
After all, as the first building of his "empire," it could be considered the origin of all things.
"Origin Base is ready. You can now begin to develop your empire."
"Note, you can try to bind more areas and buildings by increasing your territory's energy output to expand your territory's scope."
As the mechanical prompt sound faded, Yuan Mei exhaled deeply, preparing to plan his next move, when his gaze inadvertently caught a pried-open secret compartment in the corner of the control panel.
"This is..."
Yuan Mei narrowed his eyes and curiously took out the contents of the secret compartment.
He blew away the dust from the yellowed papers, and several blueprints covered with complex mechanical structures appeared before him. The lines on the blueprints were somewhat messy, with many modifications and discarded annotations next to them, clearly just a draft.
But the moment he saw the title of the blueprint, Yuan Mei's breathing suddenly hitched.
"Single-Soldier Powered Mining Suit - Design Draft (Discarded)"
Although he wasn't responsible for researching this type of technology in his previous life, he had some impression of this single-soldier exoskeleton mining suit.
Historically, this type of mining suit was expensive, had extremely high maintenance costs, and its mining efficiency was difficult to describe, leading to its rapid replacement by more advanced armor later on.
But that was in later eras!
In this era, where even basic exoskeletons were not yet widespread, this thing was simply a dimensionality reduction strike!
He excitedly opened the system panel to scan it.
"Detected item with scientific research value: Design Blueprint · Discarded Draft."
"Analyzing... Analysis complete."
"Congratulations, you have successfully unlocked a new technology tree: Single-Soldier Combat Technology."