Jiang Xuan's words made Zhongli pause, but he quickly understood.
He nodded in slight approval. "Indeed, for them, it might not necessarily be a good thing."
Vein Miner, at first glance, seemed to boost one person's mining efficiency to that of dozens.
If a thousand people were equipped with Vein Miner, it would be like a locust plague, leaving nothing untouched. The acquisition of various resources would undoubtedly far exceed imagination.
However...
Vein Miner was an efficiency mod, but that didn't mean it lacked lethality.
As Jiang Xuan said before, what if someone suddenly had ill intentions and started digging under another person's feet?
One must remember that in the MC world, if you weren't naturally a flying creature, you couldn't fly.
Even Zhongli couldn't fly.
If there were no fall protection enchantments.
A fall from a great height would surely kill Zhongli.
The laws of this world were indeed very suitable for resource acquisition and exploration in many ways.
But for the strong, it was undoubtedly a kind of suppression.
The laws of the MC world infinitely narrowed the gap between strong and weak.
This was something to pay extra attention to.
Of course, Zhongli had faith in his people; he loved them deeply, and they, in turn, loved him deeply.
But precisely because of this, even when gathering resources in the MC world, Zhongli's foremost requirement would always be the safety of his people.
With Vein Miner enabled and a large number of people, it would be difficult to supervise everyone.
Zhongli did not want his people to fall not on the battlefield against monsters, but in a resource gathering mission involving only their own.
Even the loss of one person, in his heart, was something that should not happen.
Zhongli was one hundred percent in favor of Jiang Xuan's idea not to open it up on a large scale.
But to say that only a few of them had this permission would be too wasteful.
After a moment of thought, Zhongli spoke up: "Is it possible to specially train a professional, highly efficient, and experienced mining team?"
"They would be united like siblings, understand the characteristics of this world, and also possess a certain level of combat ability to deal with monsters in the mines."
Hearing Zhongli's suggestion, Jiang Xuan almost instinctively thought of Mondstadt's two main mining bosses.
Diluc and Kaeya!
Back when he played the game, as he got more characters in the later stages, resources became scarcer.
Helpless, he could only rely on the righteous Master Diluc and his sworn brother to keep him company.
He wondered how it was for others.
But in Jiang Xuan's world, Diluc and Kaeya had been top-tier mining bosses for a long time.
He secretly pinched himself, chasing these jumbled thoughts from his mind.
Jiang Xuan nodded, agreeing with Zhongli's point.
"Ningguang must have already thought of this, and she'll be in charge of it. You, a six-thousand-year-old comrade on the verge of retirement, should just honestly work for me and mine."
Jiang Xuan patted Zhongli's shoulder without any formality, chuckling, "If you do a good job, I might just agree to grant you a plot of land to build a unique Geo Archon retirement home."
Hearing Jiang Xuan's words, Xiao instinctively looked at Zhongli.
He was surprised to find a hint of a smile on the corner of the normally stern-faced Geo Archon's lips.
Xiao couldn't help but feel a little happier.
"If you don't mind, let it be next to your home. When I'm free, I can come over for tea," Zhongli replied faintly. Jiang Xuan smiled knowingly and said no more.
He turned his head to continue watching Keqing and the others, who were exclaiming excitedly.
Even Ningguang had shed her noble demeanor, swinging a stone pickaxe, genuinely joyful and innocent as she chipped away at the coal.
If the merchants of Liyue Harbor saw this...
They would probably think this was some kind of business consultation for earning more Mora, and most likely, they would grab their own pickaxes and go back to digging the ground.
Jiang Xuan deeply understood their feelings.
He remembered when he first encountered the MC game. At that time, he didn't even know what mods were.
He would always just start a new save, mine, build, kill the dragon, then do some stupid stuff, delete the save, and start over.
That period was incredibly boring, making him almost want to quit the game.
Later, Jiang Xuan learned about the existence of mods.
From then on, he was hooked.
Twilight Forest, Industrial Craft, modern furniture, Lucky Blocks, Orespawn, Pixelmon, Battōjutsu Sword...
All sorts of mods truly ushered in Jiang Xuan's MC journey.
And Vein Miner was Jiang Xuan's very first mod, and also a must-have, standard mod that he would enable regardless of what other mods he loaded.
It was only after encountering Vein Miner that Jiang Xuan understood.
Mining could actually be this f***ing way!
And Ningguang, Keqing, and the others' current feelings must be hundreds of times more intense than Jiang Xuan's back then.
After all, they had spent a whole day yesterday digging blocks themselves and understood that this was an absurd and unreasonable world.
No matter what they dug, as long as they swung their tool a few more times, they could successfully obtain processed materials.
Just like the coal Keqing brought back.
No secondary processing, no multiple refinements, just a slight dismantling.
It sold directly!
And it sold quite well!
Ningguang originally thought this was the most absurd feature of obtaining resources in this world.
But today, Jiang Xuan activated Vein Miner...
He was no longer satisfied with one ore every few seconds.
One person, one pickaxe, a few seconds, dozens of pieces of coal.
A miracle was created!
Ningguang could only describe it that way.
Jiang Xuan had said he'd clear this wall in five minutes, which seemed an exaggeration.
Under Ningguang, Keqing, and the others' less-than-proficient digging, it was clean in less than a minute.
If it were Jiang Xuan, Ningguang felt he could do it in one minute alone.
The power of Vein Miner made Ningguang feel that resources were almost becoming worthless.
She understood why Jiang Xuan repeatedly said that resources were the least valuable thing in this world.
With Vein Miner active, find a mine, drill into it for a day and a night, and emerge a resource magnate as rich as a nation.
Ningguang now finally and completely shifted her exploration focus to creation and research.
In fact, Ningguang even began to imagine with considerable swagger.
In the future, when playing chess against the wealthy, she could crush the Snezhnaya financial system in minutes by dumping resources at the lowest price.
Of course, doing so would almost certainly lead to a direct confrontation with Archons and Fatui Harbingers.
Ningguang wouldn't be that mindless.
Given the current situation, resources would never be lacking again. Involuntarily, Ningguang also began to envision obtaining military power...
As for Liyue miners occupying the mines, all equipped with Vein Miner.
Ningguang had considered it, but only for a moment, before dismissing the idea.
As Jiang Xuan and Zhongli said, it was too dangerous.
While her public image suggested she was extremely fond of earning Mora, Liyue had always been what was most important in her heart.
Naturally, she wouldn't sacrifice the lives of Liyue miners to pursue temporary efficiency.
At worst...
She would train a specialized team, then enable Vein Miner for them to mine!
Lost in thought, Ningguang didn't notice that the pickaxe in her hand was almost broken.
Finally, after continuing to dig up this connected string of coal, her pickaxe shattered.
Ningguang snapped back to reality and instinctively glanced behind her, realizing she was the deepest.
Because the coal veins on her side were embedded deep within the wall.
Ganyu and Keqing had also finished their mining and were now standing not far from her.
Ningguang even saw Keqing's Electro Vision flickering with faint lightning, and Ganyu was holding her bow and arrows.
Clearly, if anything went wrong on her side, both of them could rescue her in time...
A warmth spread through Ningguang's heart as she looked again at where she had been digging.
There was no coal above or below her, and both sides had been cleared.
Only three blocks of coal remained in front of her.
But Ningguang decided not to dig them.
The distinct sound of monsters roaring from within was clear, and she didn't intend to continue.
Moreover...
Vein Miner and the personal experience of mining had made Ningguang somewhat extravagant now.
Just three pieces of coal? She wasn't interested!
Returning the way they came, the three women chatted and laughed, checking along the way to ensure no extra coal had been left behind.
Soon after, they returned to Jiang Xuan's side.
Seeing the three women's happy expressions, Jiang Xuan also chuckled.
"Looks like you all had a great haul!"
"Of course!"
Keqing eagerly replied, then her large eyes fluttered, clearly indicating for Jiang Xuan to ask her about her gains.
Jiang Xuan laughed, then set up a few wooden steps as seats, inviting everyone to sit down.
"Alright, you've been digging for so long, your hunger levels must have dropped. You must always maintain your condition in a mine.
"Let's eat something and rest, and also tally up the coal we've harvested."
No one was particularly concerned about their image.
Even Cloud Retainer sat casually on the steps. Though her face remained unchanged, the flickering light of curiosity in her eyes betrayed her excitement.
Jiang Xuan handed an apple to everyone, then took out the coal he had harvested from his first Vein Miner usage.
"On my side, a total of forty-eight pieces of coal."
No sooner had he spoken than Keqing eagerly interjected, "I have seventy-four pieces of coal here."
Jiang Xuan nodded slightly, then looked at Ganyu.
"I have a little less, sixty-three pieces of coal."
Ganyu felt a bit disappointed, but then remembered that these sixty-three pieces of coal took only about a minute to collect.
Immediately, Ganyu's mood brightened again.
Everyone looked at Ningguang, who smiled, her competitive spirit, which had long since disappeared from her as a young girl, seemingly rekindled in the dimly lit mine.
Tilting her head slightly, Ningguang said with a touch of pride, "It seems I dug the most, ninety-seven pieces of coal. It's a pity the last three pieces were connected to a monster cave, or it would have been a hundred."
Hearing this, Xiao, who had been silent, said in a deep voice, "I'll go dig them."
With that, he picked up his pickaxe and weapon and headed straight for Ningguang's previous location.
"No need, Xiao."
Jiang Xuan quickly stopped Xiao, shaking his head with a chuckle.
"Three pieces of coal aren't worth it. If you really want to dig them, we can deal with them casually when we come out."
Actually, Jiang Xuan primarily didn't want to randomly delve into monster caves in the underground mine.
If they dug out zombies or skeletons, that would be fine.
But what if it was an Enderman, and they accidentally made eye contact...
First, it was certain that Ganyu's bow attacks would be useless.
Ningguang's catalyst attacks would most likely also be ineffective.
Plus, Endermen could teleport and throw blocks at people.
He figured, unless Jiang Xuan went all out with his Battōjutsu Sword, or Zhongli revealed his identity as the Geo Archon.
Otherwise, everyone unfamiliar with Endermen's quirks would probably be easily beaten by them.
Hearing Jiang Xuan's dissuasion, Xiao obediently returned to Zhongli's side.
He seemed to think he was too conspicuous and deliberately moved a little further from Zhongli, closer to Jiang Xuan.
This performance was truly clumsy, but fortunately, Ganyu and the others were currently busy tallying their gains.
"The total coal resources obtained..." Keqing mumbled, quickly reviewing the numbers in her mind, then looked back at the pockmarked wall with a hint of disbelief.
"Two hundred and eighty-two pieces of coal!"
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