Three days later, at night.
The mountain where Shambhala Town’s No. 13 Mine is located was brightly lit.
"Clatter, clatter..."
Various sounds echoed throughout the mountain as numerous miners were extracting ores. They loaded the ores into heavy wooden boxes and then lifted them onto carts, continuously transporting them to the processing factory at the foot of the mountain.
Inside the factory, workers unloaded the wooden boxes from the carts and quickly processed the ores inside in a specific order. After processing, they would be transported away for sale.
In the distance, a group of construction workers was fervently building, quickly erecting a new factory. Once completed, this factory would be used to configure a dark grey medicine powder. Its specific use was still unknown.
Compared to the once desolate nights at No. 13 Mine, this scene was a world apart.
A pair of invisible consciousness eyes were watching all of this from the hundred-meter-high night sky.
"It seems everything is going according to plan, with no issues so far. I hope it stays this way."
In his consciousness state, Richard had this thought and then controlled the consciousness to descend, like a cannonball, plunging into the soil.
Upon entering the soil, Richard overcame the slightly sticky resistance, moving through the underground as if swimming in water, searching for his target.
Soon, in his consciousness state, he "saw" a large shadow appear in the soil. As he approached, he could vaguely sense an energy reaction, which was exactly the uranium mine he was looking for.
He had come personally to No. 13 Mine today, and the reason for projecting his consciousness was to ascertain the reserves and underground trajectory of the uranium mine. This would provide more useful information for his ongoing nuclear weapon research and manufacturing plan.
Thinking this, Richard, like a fish avoiding predators in the deep sea, controlled his consciousness to move further downward, "diving" beneath the uranium mine and moving from its starting point to a distant location.
During the movement, he continuously estimated the cross-section of the uranium mine and its relative position to the surface.
After spending about five minutes, Richard’s consciousness emerged from the surface at the uranium mine’s endpoint.
He found he had traveled several kilometers away from No. 13 Mine. With a glance around and referencing information from his memory, he determined that he was near No. 9 Mine, close to Shambhala Town.
At this moment, in his mind, Richard had roughly estimated the reserves of the Shambhala Uranium Mine.
According to his detection, the uranium reserves within the range of No. 13 Mine were not large, due to the narrow and slender ore bed, possibly only dozens of thousands of tons.
Once he left the range of No. 13 Mine, the ore bed widened and thickened, but then it narrowed and thinned again near No. 9 Mine, eventually disappearing entirely.
Overall, the total reserves of the complete uranium mine were on the order of one hundred thousand tons, possibly ranging from 300,000 to 500,000 tons.
If the uranium content in the ore is at the standard level, and given technical compliance, extracting and refining all these uranium ores might yield about 300 kilograms of weapon-grade enriched uranium, enough to create a nuclear weapon with a yield of around six megatons, equivalent to six million tons of TNT explosive.
Of course, this is only a theoretical value. In reality, due to various influences, the final result might not even reach one-tenth of this theoretical value.
But even if it doesn’t reach one-tenth, just one percent, only enough to produce a nuclear weapon with a yield of sixty kilotons, it would still be sufficient.
After all, a sixty-kiloton nuclear weapon is equivalent to sixty kilotons of TNT explosives detonating simultaneously. The first atomic bomb used in combat on Earth, "Little Boy," was only sixteen kilotons, equivalent to sixteen kilotons of TNT detonating simultaneously, only about a quarter of this value.
The sixteen-kiloton "Little Boy" instantly vaporized over 70,000 people, including Guangzhou City Mayor Suwu Xianji, through high temperatures, and subsequently killed over 100,000 people through burns, radiation, and other means, totaling 200,000 lives lost, and destroyed most of a city’s buildings.
So if a sixty-kiloton nuclear weapon were indeed produced and used in ground combat in this world, the effect would be even more astounding.
Of course, to truly produce a sixty-kiloton nuclear weapon, the first step is to extract and utilize the entire ore bed’s uranium ores.
Just this first step is not a small project.
With this thought in mind, Richard’s consciousness floated back to a camp at the foot of the mountain of No. 13 Mine, entered a room in the corner of the camp, and merged with the body lying on the bed.
Richard, lying quietly on the bed, exhaled deeply, blinked his eyes, and sat up before jumping off the bed.
The place he was currently in was a newly established camp at No. 13 Mine, not yet officially in use, quite primitive. This time he made time to come here, notifying only one miner before beginning his detection outside his body.
Considering the time now, the person he informed should be arriving soon, barring any surprises.
Sure enough, after a while, there was a knock on the door.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
Richard stepped to the door, opened it, and walked out, seeing the current manager of No. 13 Mine, Hua’er, standing outside.
Hua’er looked at Richard and asked, slightly puzzled, "Master Wizard, why did you suddenly come here?"
"I came to check on the state of the mine," Richard replied.
"I see," Hua’er responded, "then let me give you an overview of the current situation of the mine."
"Alright." Richard nodded and started walking outside the camp, taking a stroll.
Hua’er followed Richard, reporting as they walked.
He wasn’t quite sure if Richard’s real purpose in coming here was to understand the situation or to conduct a sudden inspection due to unease. Nonetheless, he felt no guilt and accurately conveyed the uncensored information.
"Overall progress on No. 13 Mine’s master plan is proceeding smoothly, with most operations running as planned. Thanks to the alchemy tools provided by you, Master Wizard, the mining speed here is dozens of times faster than other mines.
This results in tens of thousands of pounds of ore being mined, processed, and transported out daily. This is despite a significant portion of manpower being allocated to construction, otherwise, the number of ores extracted would be even greater.
This brings enormous profits to the mine. Leveraging the massive shipment volumes, we have already secured partial pricing control in this nearby area. Continuing forward, we could control a significant portion of pricing rights in the nearby region, compelling other mines to adhere to our "suggestions."
Over time, we might even expand into other regions, like the Delan Region or the Tuoke City Region. These two places, one being a commercial center, the other a transportation hub—once secured, mineral resource circulation across nearly half of the Southern Free Federation will fall under our influence.