Chapter 54: A Ton of Copper Ore

Liu Hen raised an eyebrow, feeling that he might have truly underestimated the value of the thermal clothing.

However, he did not go back on his word; after all, his cost was just one magic crystal plus some easily gathered inexpensive materials.

He had already made a hundredfold profit. Others might make a fortune, but he would never suffer a loss.

“How many do you need? That’s no problem. But could you free up more copper ore for me?” he asked.

“Uh...” Tong Kun hesitated immediately.

If they failed to fulfill Lord Copper Dragon’s orders, their lives could very well be at risk.

Although he wanted the thermal clothing badly, he had not lost his reason.

“Maybe...” He looked at Liu Hen. “Lord Liu Hen, how about this? We free up one ton of copper ore for you this time, and next time you come, we’ll bring more copper ore?”

With more thermal clothing, their team could walk outside normally, no longer fearing freezing to death. Next time, they could bring more copper ore.

After all, the Copper Dragon camp didn’t have much besides copper ore. Apart from wasting manpower and resources on mining, it was essentially free.

Mining tasks were squeezed out of the lowly wastelanders, who could be sent to work desperately for the cheapest rations, removing the need for them to labor themselves.

“That works. Please wait a moment.” Liu Hen nodded and turned back inside to continue crafting thermal clothing.

Yes, thermal clothing.

He didn’t make other parts because the shoes required small pieces of iron ore, which he had no time to gather now.

Since others only wanted thermal clothing, he decided not to reveal other parts of the module to avoid wasting time negotiating prices again.

Right now, getting more copper ore was the priority.

If he could obtain another hundred small copper ore pieces, the thermal suit could be upgraded to bronze level, further boosting his combat power.

Even though his status as a supernatural being currently intimidated those people, it was not enough.

In this dark world, strength was everything.

Only with sufficient power could he truly establish a foothold.

Additionally—

After learning that Chang Xin could grant pardons to soldiers, Liu Hen thought it might be necessary in the future to offer a complete thermal suit to attract talent.

The complete suit could be offered, but how to sell it was entirely up to him.

For example, he could first sell only the clothing externally or sell different parts to different groups, letting people figure out how to assemble the rest themselves.

Let others collect the pieces.

This not only added a certain fun element but also rapidly increased the product’s popularity.

Twenty minutes later, another nineteen thermal clothing pieces were made.

Liu Hen took the nineteen garments to the door and handed them to Tong Kun. “Including the previous one, that makes twenty. For the extra ten, you can pay with magic crystals.”

He happened to need magic crystals to upgrade the thermal suit; upgrading from black iron level to bronze level required one thousand magic crystals.

Relying on hunting monsters himself, he had no idea how long it would take to gather a thousand.

“Thank you for your understanding, Lord,” Tong Kun said, somewhat excited as he accepted the thermal clothing. He had expected only ten pieces, so the extra ten were a pleasant surprise.

With these twenty thermal suits, their squad might be able to walk on the surface normally, no longer fearing freezing to death.

He carefully inspected the nineteen suits to ensure there were no issues before sending people to fetch the magic crystals and transport the copper ore.

Shortly after, two people wearing exoskeleton suits carried a heavy wooden crate over. Inside was a full one-thousand-kilogram load of copper ore.

Upon entering the warm range of the bonfire’s protection, the two showed expressions of surprise.

Such a warm environment was rare even in their camp; although the underground was somewhat warmer, it was nowhere near as comfortable as this spot.

“Lord Liu Hen, this kind of crate filled with copper ore weighs approximately one thousand kilograms,” Tong Kun said. “Since we don’t have scales, it’s hard to be precise, but you can see for yourself...”

“I understand.” Liu Hen nodded.

The two carrying the crate approached and opened the lid, dumping the unevenly sized copper ore onto the ground.

Seeing that the largest chunk was only about the size of a fist, Liu Hen furrowed his brow slightly.

Observing Liu Hen’s expression, Tong Kun quickly explained, “We need to take back the crates holding the copper ore, please excuse us, Lord.”

Liu Hen wasn’t concerned about that; he worried these small fragments of copper ore might be difficult to collect.

But it wasn’t the time to make that clear, and since he had not tried yet, he couldn’t say for sure.

He nodded slightly without saying more.

Materials purchased externally naturally couldn’t be as perfect as those gathered with his All-Things Pickaxe; there were always issues, a risk that had to be borne.

Seeing Liu Hen didn’t blame them, Tong Kun relaxed and took a box from one of the men.

He opened it, revealing a faint yet somewhat dazzling blue light—inside were one thousand magic crystals.

Nearby, including Chang Xin, those who saw the box of magic crystals looked enviously at it.

Because one thousand magic crystals at the Red Snail camp could be exchanged for one thousand jin of tree cakes, enough to feed one person well for years.

“Lord Liu Hen, there are one thousand magic crystals inside. You may count them,” Tong Kun said, handing the box over.

Liu Hen took the box, discreetly depositing it into the All-Things Pickaxe’s account, watching the data increase by a thousand.

He silently put the box, sealed for protection, into his spatial backpack and nodded. “Captain Tong Kun’s reputation is trustworthy in my eyes.”

Tong Kun wanted the box back but saw Liu Hen put it away without hesitation, so he didn’t ask.

He smiled and said, “Then I wish us a pleasant trade. If you have no other instructions, Lord Liu Hen, we will continue on our way.”

“Traveling late into the night?” Liu Hen was surprised.

“It’s Lord Copper Dragon’s order; we have no choice,” Tong Kun said helplessly. If not for that, he wouldn’t want to travel in such darkness.

Liu Hen’s mind moved, and he suddenly said, “Captain Tong Kun, since you’re heading to the Red Snail camp, could you bring back more flint? Rest assured, I will purchase it at your price.”

“You need flint?” Tong Kun thought for a moment and nodded. “Alright. If you’re still here when we return, we’ll continue trading. We need more of that bark thermal clothing of yours.”

“Then it’s settled,” Liu Hen smiled.

“To do business with Lord Liu Hen is my honor. Farewell.”

Tong Kun didn’t linger and left immediately, driving the vehicle they called the Spider Car as they continued on their journey.

Once the Copper Dragon camp members left, Liu Hen said to Chang Xin, “Please follow them and keep an eye out. Don’t let anything sneaky happen.”

“Understood. I won’t let them have a chance to tamper with anything nearby.”

Chang Xin immediately led Zong Ni and Chen Ye in secret pursuit.

Liu Hen wasn’t idle either. He had the Wu siblings patrol the vicinity, then took out his All-Things Pickaxe to gather the fine copper ore on the surface.

One swing later, many small ore pieces crumbled into powder, and simultaneously—

[Waste Rock +1]

[Copper Ore +1]

He felt a surge of joy.

‘Good, it’s collectible.’

The All-Things Pickaxe’s gathering principle seemed to be extracting materials first, then recombining them.

Thinking carefully now, the large wood pieces he’d gathered didn’t seem to have growth rings.

It appeared that the materials gathered by the All-Things Pickaxe were all recomposed.

‘Makes sense. Those twisted, stunted trees wouldn’t normally yield such regular large logs.’

He didn’t dwell on it, continuing to swing the pickaxe, gathering relentlessly.

In just a few minutes, the pile of ore before him was completely gathered, yielding a hundred or so pieces of copper ore and dozens of waste rocks.

The ground was left with only a pile of stone powder.

‘Good, externally sourced materials can be gathered too. Now that the materials are complete, I can finally upgrade the thermal suit.’

He immediately willed it, choosing to upgrade the thermal suit he was wearing.

Soon, a hundred pieces of the newly gathered copper ore vanished, along with one thousand magic crystals, and the upgrade began.

The countdown was two hours.

‘In two hours, my combat power will soar again,’ he anticipated.

‘Also, the suit’s effect should upgrade again.’

‘Although previously it was said the suit’s potential was limited and could only reach bronze level, that’s nearly enough for now.’

To get higher-level suits later, he’d have to find more tree cores.

A complete thermal suit required tree cores, as they were essential materials for making the helmet and determined the suit’s special effects.

Fortunately, this place was already on the edge of the rocky mountain area; beyond lay muddy hills with more trees, increasing the chance of gathering tree cores.