Chapter 69: The secret base (1/2)
Chapter 69: The secret base
Translated by me, edited by drpetro.
In not even two days, the three raging miners had already emptied out the entire surrounding hills.
Inside of the original cave there was now a downward sloped tunnel, which went further into the earth.
A secret base like this was designed by Ye Qing with world underground bunkers in mind.
Carve a hole on the side of a mountain, then dig straight down into the earth. Even some nuclear bunkers are like that: dig to the middle of a mountain, dig couple hundred meters down, then expand from there.
The factory was fortunately surrounded on all sides by barren hills. Under those lonely conditions, with the outrageous raging miners in hand, there was just no reason for Ye Qing to not build a secret lair.
The tunnel was very wide; easily able to fit 2 trucks side by side.
Ye Qing inched forward with the excavator-like M.P.C.V. for about 20 meters, before stopping to take a look.
A basketball court sized space was carved out by the raging miners.
Not only was the air warm and humid, it also lacked circulation.
The 3 raging miners, right now were all circling a pile of silverish, metallic earth with hints of yellow bronze in it.
Under the lighting of the M.P.C.V., their eyes were full of excitement, their dragon like skulls kept sniffing the pile, and even went to lick it from time to time.
This was clearly a kind of metal ore, it was just that Ye Qing didn’t know what kind of metal it was; if it was silver then that was definitely hitting the jackpot.
As the raging miners kept on getting intimate with the rocks, suddenly the Monster Factory cell phone started to beep and Ye Qing pulled it out for a look.
Notice:
The raging miners have found a highly pure vein of titanium, purity level 63%, highly worth mining.
The raging miners really don’t disappoint. No metals were able to escape their detection, and they were even able to determine its concentration with just a lick.
Titanium ore?
Anyone who was in the mechanical industry knew of titanium; one of the most popular metals in the whole world.
Lightweight, robust, highly temperature resistant, and anti corrosive. It could be said to be the most sought after metal by all nations in the world. Countless metal alloys required it, and it was also widely used in every industry.
Take a jet engine for example: if it used titanium alloy in its construction, then not only did it lessen the weight, it also massively increased its structural strength and temperature resistance.
A jet engine easily cost millions. If it lost weight, then not only did it save on fuel, but it also increased carrying capacity. It also got an increased lifespan and reduced maintenance costs.
Countless advantages, many to the point of having even driven people mad.
Yet no matter how great the titanium was, it was also a uncrossable obstacle for many major corporations.
Its high temperature resistance restricted it from being able to be mass produced. Its robustness and low wear also made it extremely had to process.
Thus the situation now: too few titanium alloy producers, and too many manufacturers looking for them in any way possible.
There were many titanium mines in the world. If you just went and grabbed a handful of dirt from anywhere, there was a point zero zero something chance of you finding some titanium in it.
The coast was well known for it’s many titanium mines. Those who spent much of their time next to the coast would be able to notice some black sand mixed in the normal sandy beaches. Those are fragments of titanium after it has been repeatedly rinsed and washed by the ocean for millennia.
It was just those titanium fragments had no real usage or value. Not only was it of low purity, it even had other metals mixed in it.
On the other hand, this 63% pure titanium had a lot of potential!
Right now, the raging miners found a titanium ore vein in a hill range on the coast. Moreover, the titanium was of extremely high purity.
The key point here was that Ye Qing also possessed a way to mass produce titanium alloy. As the level three Monster Factory came with a metal smelting center, and the blueprints to create nickel-titanium memory alloy.
Nickel-titanium memory alloy. Just the name alone already made it better than awesome.
Now with the raging miners like this, it was clear that this pocket of titanium ore wasn’t small at all. Having exposed only the tip of the iceberg, there was definitely more underneath.
The question now was the metal smelting center and it’s super large construction costs. Just the necessary 50 ton electric furnace and 10,000 ton pressure press alone cost over 20 million.
As for the rest of the parts, the monsters could definitely make them. It was just that the cost of the materials alone would exceed several tens of millions.
Only with at least 30 million purely in construction costs, could the tens of thousand of tons metal smelting center by built. The Monster Factory could also rapidly increase in standings, but where the heck would Ye Qing find that much money right now?
Without the needed funds, then he might as well as get the base setup. Clenching his teeth, Ye Qing hired another raging miner, and had the 4 of them expand the size of the secret lair around the ore vein first.
The secret lair was designed in a pyramid shape. This way, not only did it have strong structural integrity, but there was also lots of space at the bottom.
When he’s had the money, Ye Qing would definitely build the metal smelting center right in the middle of the secret lair.
When the time came, he could open up a new entrance, return the old one by the sea back to how it was, and block it. Not only would the base be well hidden, it would also be easy to transport materials to and from it.
Having given the raging miners new orders, Ye Qing returned back to the surface.
Although that place was completely worthless, but now that there was a high purity titanium ore vein here, it not only made Ye Qing extremely excited, it also made him want to make some big money and quick.
Online store had already been registered, and the call to Gong Wei had also been made, to tell him of the mechanical engineered chair gift .
The registration fee for the web store was already paid. It would probably take until tomorrow before TaoBao’s staff member could legalize it.
Right at that moment, his dad called and asked Ye Qing why he couldn’t reach him a couple of minutes back.
Just before he was in the secret lair, so naturally there was no cell phone coverage. Ye Qing quickly said that the signal where he was was pretty poor and asked what’s up?