Douluo's ice devil Yuhao

As the sun sets, the sun hangs above the horizon and slowly sinks. The dazzling golden light covers the entire southeastern mining area from far to near. Many mines are dyed with a layer of dim yellow under the setting sun.

The huge residential area was shrouded in the setting sun, and the air was filled with a not strong but very strange smell.The entire southeastern mining area presents a desolate and sad atmosphere.

The community in front of me is completely different from the ordinary rural areas. It has no cozy and pastoral atmosphere at all.

The streets are generally very narrow, and the buildings with the main bungalow style are mostly not spacious and located very close to each other.

Huo Yuhao and Huo Qiu'er walked side by side on one of the few wide roads. Tian Meng also emerged from the sea of ​​​​spirits and looked around curiously.

Huo Qiuer frowned, sniffed the air briefly, and whispered, "What a strange smell."

"This is a metallic smell mixed with pyrotechnics. It is completely different from the strong metallic smell in the laboratory." Huo Yuhao answered for her.

Of course, soul engineers are very familiar with the smell of metal, but Huo Yuhao is more accustomed to the metallic smell in the air here.

Huo Qiuer asked: "Have you been here before?"

"No, the southeast mining area is also famous in the history of Mingdu, but this is my first time here."

Huo Yuhao shook his head and told the information he learned.

"The construction of Mingdu did not happen overnight, and as it continued to expand and develop outwards, it required the use of massive resources, especially metals."

"About 100 years ago, the Ming Dynasty expanded to the southeast and explored this large mining area. Although no rare metals were found, they were just ordinary silver, copper, and iron ores, but it still made the people at that time ecstatic. large-scale development."

Hearing this, Tianmeng asked curiously: "Yuhao, didn't you say that the metal business is all about huge profits, so why is this place so dilapidated?"

She happened to walk in front of a cracked wall, and just as she was about to step forward and kick her, a large amount of dirt fell from the gray-green wall before she even lifted her legs.Tianmeng shrank his neck, but put his foot down.

Huo Yuhao glanced at her speechlessly and continued: "Large-scale development continued until about 50 years ago. The output of metal resources from major mines in the entire southeastern mining area fell off a cliff in just a few years."

"When resources are on the verge of depletion, metals will naturally become more and more difficult to mine. Once the cost of mining is greater than the revenue from the metal, those mine owners will consider closing the mining area."

"This is not a precious rare metal mine in the first place. The major forces stopped the development of the southeastern mining area about 30 years ago, leaving it to the small forces to fight for it."

I heard from the person from the Ordinary League that the largest mine owner in the southeastern mining area now only has a fifth-level soul engineer, which shows how much this place has declined.

Currently, no one with Soul King and Soul Emperor cultivation levels has been found within the range of mental detection. The strongest one is only at the third level. Isn't the mine owner here?

Maybe in the mines further away.

Huo Yuhao found no trace of the mine owner, but he didn't take this issue to heart for the time being.

He continued: "Those small forces developing mines will naturally not use giant soul guides to directly dig mountains like the big forces. They will all hire miners."

"But how much ore can a low-level worker dig every day? How much silver and copper can be extracted from these ores? I don't know if it's enough to pay these miners."

While Huo Yuhao was muttering, he was also estimating the benefits of a mine here, and he was filled with emotion.

It is normal for the big forces to look down on this place. The metal resources in various mines in the southeastern mining area are now very scarce.Whether it's using cannonballs to blow up mountains for mining or opening giant excavating soul guides, you'll lose money if you start work every day. It's better to cut your losses and leave in time.

At this time, four or five dark-faced middle-aged men walked past the other side of the street in the distance.

They are not tall, but they are very strong.The dark face is a bit darker than that of the Sun and Moon Royal Family, but it is not a natural skin color, but stained black by stains.

The man in the middle cursed angrily as he walked.

"It's finally time to get off work. I've been digging for a long time since early in the morning to earn just one gold soul coin. That guy surnamed Sun is about to take half of it away when he opens his mouth. It's really too much!"

Hearing his complaint, his companion immediately advised him: "Brother, keep your voice down. He is a second-level soul master. If he hears it, he will punch you in the head."

Another person also advised: "Yes, brother, just bear with it. Even if you get half of the money, it will be much higher than the income from other jobs. Think about what we, a group of people who are not even soul masters, will do in Mingdu for a day." You can earn so much.”

"Isn't this treatment much better than when we were in Xingluo?"

Several people persuaded him together, and the black-faced man in the middle temporarily suppressed his anger.

One person advised: "Don't be sulky, brother, we are all the same. Let's go and drink two bottles at night."

The man snorted coldly: "This wine shop is also opened by Sun and his gang. The food and drinks are much more expensive than other places in Mingdu. A bottle of the most throat-choking shochu costs five copper soul coins. It's really Don’t treat us as human beings.”

No matter how much he complained in his heart, the man could only shake his head helplessly and sighed: "Let's go and drink. I will drink two bottles less and save more for my mother-in-law."

A person next to him smiled and said, "Brother, I didn't expect you to be a henpecked person."

"Go, go, I'm not like you. One person can eat enough and the whole family won't be hungry."

"Hey, when I save enough money, I will move to the center of Mingdu and see if I can find a Sun and Moon woman."

"I didn't expect you to be so good at it, haha, okay, you have ambition."

The atmosphere suddenly became lively. Amid a burst of laughter and curses, several middle-aged men walked away together and disappeared at the end of the street.

Naturally, Huo Yuhao took note of their appearance and conversations.

The soul power of these middle-aged people is very weak, and they are only slightly stronger than ordinary people. They should all be less than one level.And their occupation should be miners in the surrounding mines.

Huo Yuhao savored their words carefully and was able to analyze a lot of useful information from their brief conversation.

Huo Qiu'er asked: "Looking at their accents, they should all be from Xingluo, right? But one of them has a very strong nasal accent, more like a Tianhun accent."

"It's hard to change your accent in a lifetime. It's probably not wrong." Huo Yuhao nodded.

After receiving Huo Yuhao's affirmative reply, Huo Qiuer lowered his head in deep thought, and then murmured to himself for a long time.

"I never noticed before. Although the accents are slightly different, the four countries of your species actually use the same language."

This sentence suddenly illuminated something for Huo Yuhao. He was slightly startled, frowned and fell into deep thought.

It sounds careless, but it seems to imply some very important information.

At this time, Bingdi quietly appeared on the street, glanced at the depressing scene around him, and asked softly: "Isn't Xingluo Yuhao's hometown? Why do those people appear here? It doesn't look like it. Those who are being coerced can leave at any time.”

Huo Yuhao ended his short thinking and replied: "Of course it is for a better life. People will spontaneously vote with their feet as to which place is more suitable for living."

"That person just said that one day's income from mining in the mine here is one gold soul coin."

Tian Meng stuck out his tongue and said with a look of disgust on his face: "Is one gold soul coin a lot? Yuhao, don't you have five or six figures of gold soul coins every time you make a move... Oops, it hurts..." Huo Yuhao rapped his knuckles. Faced with his blow on her head, Tianmeng did not use the anise in her arms to block it.

"Don't have a wrong understanding of the currency system just because you have been following me. For ordinary people, the income of one gold soul coin a day is simply unimaginable."

"That's not much..." Tianmeng said with an aggrieved look, "Isn't it Yuhao's income from selling twenty pieces of grilled fish?"

Huo Yuhao was just about to continue beating her, but he retracted his fingers helplessly: "I can't blame you for your lack of knowledge. I can only blame the world between soul masters and civilians for being too separated. It's difficult to know the lives of ordinary people without understanding and investigating. what does it look like."

"Do you know how much a month's military pay is for an adult man who has just joined the army reserve force in Xingluo?"

Tianmeng pouted: "...How do I know?"

"The lower-class soldiers have four to five silver soul coins, and the upper-class soldiers have six to seven silver soul coins." Huo Qiu'er answered for her, "The Heavenly Soul Empire is also at a similar level."

Huo Yuhao nodded: "This little military pay, plus food and accommodation, is enough to attract countless people rushing to join the army. But..."

His tone changed and suddenly became serious.

"The income of those miners can actually reach one gold soul coin per day. Even if half of it is taken away, they still have an income of five silver soul coins, which is more than what a junior soldier earned in a month when he first entered Star Luo."

"This is just one day's income."

He emphasized the difference in time again.

Tianmeng gradually understood and asked again: "So they come here just to make money?"

"Probably yes."

Huo Yuhao sighed with emotion.

Perhaps only a mine next to a big capital like Mingdu can provide a middle-aged man who is not a soul master with an income of one gold soul coin a day.

A rough estimate shows that even if a man works hard for a day, he will only dig out one cubic meter of copper ore. After refining, less than one-tenth of the copper ore will be left, which is enough for him to earn one gold soul a day. With the income of coins, the mine owners can still make some money.

If it were replaced by more valuable silver ore, the mine owner would definitely make more money.

Although the mineral content of the mines in the mental detection is very low, Huo Yuhao believes that the local mine owners will not do loss-making business, and the income must be considered relatively reasonable.

The Ice Emperor frowned and said: "I don't quite understand. Don't you humans attach great importance to the concept of the country? Then why do the people of the Sun and Moon Empire easily accept them and tolerate them living here?"

Huo Yuhao shook his head: "They are all ordinary civilians. Even if there are thousands of them, they will not pose any threat in Mingdu. On the contrary, accepting immigrants from enemy countries can create an image of a country that is tolerant and free."

"However, it is still difficult to integrate into the Sun and Moon Empire. The differences in customs and habits are too great, so these immigrants did not choose to live in Mingdu, but gathered here to form an immigrant community."

He sighed: "Teacher Xuan is also an immigrant from Tianhun, but someone as talented and talented as him will definitely go to other big forces in Mingdu and will not stay here with other immigrants. The people living here are civilians. That’s all.”

At this point, Huo Yuhao suddenly laughed.

"Perhaps the dilapidation of the southeastern mining area and the birth of immigrant communities are no coincidence. With the decline of the entire mining area, mine owners chose a cheaper type of workers, namely immigrants, in order to reduce labor costs."

"As the number of immigrant miners continues to increase, immigrant communities have gradually formed here."

Huo Yuhao expressed his speculation and smiled softly.Behind all seemingly coincidental things, there may be some kind of pattern waiting for others to carefully dig out.

Ice Emperor then asked: "How did they get here? Judging from the strength of these people, it doesn't look like they can climb over the Mingdou Mountains."

When this topic was mentioned, Huo Yuhao suddenly became interested.

"Hey, Ice Emperor, don't tell me. Human beings will always burst out with wisdom that you can't imagine at some point. For this reason, humans have invented a kind of knowledge called Runxue."

"Anyway, there are no guardrails on the Mingdou Mountains. The difficulty of routing is actually not as high as imagined. If you are careful to avoid the spirit beasts, you can cross the Mingdou Mountains without any risk on the third and fourth rings."

"But as long as you find the right path, even a six-year-old child can pass safely."

Listening to Huo Yuhao's tone becoming a little passionate, Huo Qiu'er suddenly said: "Are you talking about buying off the people in the caravan and giving them a ride?"

Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes slightly: "Yes, you guessed it."

Huo Qiuer looked at him and asked in a deep voice: "You almost embarked on this path."

"This is my backup plan."

Huo Yuhao's eyes darkened and he said calmly: "Dai Hao should be lucky that he made remedial measures in time and did not cultivate an enemy beyond common sense."

"Sun and Moon will probably welcome immigrants like me very much, because I'm not here to make money, but for political asylum."

Tianmeng asked weakly: "Well... Yuhao, what is political asylum?"

Huo Yuhao did not explain, but gave her an extremely simple example: "It's very simple, Tianmeng, why did you leave the Far North?"

"Ah... I remember it was because Bingbing wanted to eat me, so I escaped into the sea..."

"This is political asylum."

"..."

Tian Meng gently opened her mouth. At this moment, she felt that she had matured a lot.

She turned around slowly and looked at the Ice Emperor longingly.

The Ice Emperor hesitated, turned his head, and hummed: "It was my fault at the beginning. I apologize to you, okay?"

"I knew you were the best Bingbing."

The Ice Emperor sighed helplessly. Even if they were natural enemies in the past, they were now companions on the same path.

At this time, Huo Yuhao suddenly fiddled with his storage belt, trying to take out something.

Huo Qiuer asked in confusion: "What are you doing?"

"When meeting fellow villagers, I need to get to know the people more or less, and inquire about their lives and the conditions in the mining areas. I heard that prices here are quite expensive, so I can give them some benefits."

Huo Yuhao laughed evilly, and what he took out from his belt was a long oven.

"Advanced talent."