Chapter 5

Ore Extraction Well:

Collect auxiliary units, construction cost 50,000 base funds, surface area 5 square meters, construction time 24 hours.

Description: A unit rich in many elements that cannot be understood by Earth technology. Despite its small surface appearance, it has great depth underground. One such ore extraction well, operated by complex machinery underground, can extract minerals within a 5-kilometer radius and transport them to the surface without causing significant geological damage.

Although the construction cost is high, the cost-effectiveness is even higher, and the camouflage is excellent. Building multiple units is harmless.

Special Note: Once the minerals within the extraction range are depleted, the ore extraction well will automatically destroy its central device. After destruction, the ore extraction well will completely stop working. Commanders are advised to recycle it in time. After recycling, the commander will receive one-fifth of the construction cost as compensation.

Note: The ore extraction well gifted with the ore refinery, once recycled, will not provide base fund compensation. Additionally, the gifted ore extraction well is by default built within a 5-kilometer radius of the ore refinery, and the construction time overlaps with the ore refinery, so no additional time is required.

Suggestion: Choose the number of units to build based on the distribution of minerals in the surrounding area. If the mineral density is very high, more can be built. If the mineral distribution is sparse, fewer should be built to avoid failing to recoup the costs.

The introduction sounded very powerful, but the 50,000 base funds made Li Lan's head throb. Currently, the entire base only had a little over 2,000 funds. A power plant and an ore refinery together required 2,600 funds, and 50,000 was unimaginable for Li Lan at the moment.

He had initially thought that the construction costs of building units wouldn't be a problem, but it turned out the real issue was the high cost. Thinking about the long list of numbers for weapon units made Li Lan feel his head getting bigger.

Fortunately, it wasn't necessary to build this right away. At least, not until the building units were fully formed.

Glancing at the other icons on the last page of the building units, Li Lan quickly lost interest and flipped back to the first page. Rubbing his hands together, he lightly tapped the power plant. Immediately, the control panel displayed a 3D rendering of the base's surroundings.

"Please choose the construction location," the assistant's voice prompted.

Looking at the map in front of him, Li Lan randomly selected a spot and confirmed the construction. The moment he confirmed, the icon for the magnetic energy reactor turned gray with a countdown.

Looking up at the top of the display, the base funds of 2,965 remained unchanged. Li Lan asked curiously, "Assistant, is there a system error? Why didn't the base funds change?"

"Once any construction unit is confirmed, the required base funds are not deducted all at once but are averaged over the construction period. The commander just confirmed the construction of the magnetic energy reactor, which requires 600 base funds and takes 6 hours to build. The 600 base funds will be deducted gradually over the 6-hour construction period."

As the assistant finished answering, the 2,965 funds on the display became 2,964. In less than 40 seconds, the funds decreased by another point.

Li Lan, who had been secretly pleased, saw the slowly decreasing number and shrugged helplessly, muttering to himself, "Thinking too much."

Just as he was about to check if other units had changed, Li Lan suddenly thought of an important question and asked the assistant, "Assistant, how many units can be chosen for construction at once?"

"For the same category of building units, only one unit can be constructed at a time. Two units of the same category, whether identical or not, cannot be constructed simultaneously."

"So, only one building unit can be chosen for construction at a time, but I can continue to build units from other categories?"

"Yes."

"Will this restriction change in the future?"

"Insufficient data, unable to answer."

Li Lan had received good answers to his previous questions and thought the assistant's capabilities had improved after activating the base, but it turned out to be the same as before, with no significant difference.

"Assistant, are there many minerals in Somalia?" This question directly related to Li Lan's future development. After seeing the relationship between the ore refinery and base funds, he listed it as a top priority.

"Based on the base's scans and investigations, the Somali region contains rich mineral resources, mainly distributed in the northern areas, including coal, iron, copper, silver, gold, tin, manganese, nickel, molybdenum, chromium, magnesium, zinc, aluminum, uranium, gypsum, beryl, and rock salt.

The gypsum reserves are approximately 30 million tons, making it one of the largest gypsum mines on Earth, but it is already being mined by other organizations.

Somalia also has rich oil reserves, with significant deposits along the northern coast. The continental shelf extending into the Gulf of Aden also has rich oil reserves. However, the second-largest oil field in the northeastern region is already being mined by an organization from the commander's home country. According to multiple sources, the United States has long coveted the oil here but ultimately abandoned it due to security concerns.

The copper, silver, and gold are deeply buried in Somalia's highest peak, Surud Mountain. The surrounding area of Surud Mountain also contains other abundant minerals. Using Earth technology to mine these would not be very profitable, but if the commander builds more ore extraction wells on Surud Mountain, it would greatly promote the base's development and bring a period of rapid growth.

There are also significant natural gas reserves in the northeastern and southeastern coastal regions, with the base's scans estimating reserves exceeding 200 million cubic meters.

According to multiple sources, apart from gypsum, beryl, and some oil, most of Somalia's resources remain undeveloped.

Other minerals are mainly distributed in... (Much of this information comes from the internet, with some additions by me, please bear with me!)"

"What about around our base?" The assistant's detailed response brought Li Lan some good news, making Somalia seem like a virgin land waiting for development.

"There are several deep mineral deposits around the base. The nearest is an iron mine 3 kilometers away, which is quite deep but can meet the commander's initial development needs."

The assistant's response did not disappoint Li Lan. No matter how well the assistant had described it before, this answer was the best. At least Li Lan wouldn't have to worry about the initial development.

Li Lan had also learned a lot about Somalia through the control panel. The base control panel was not only for controlling the base but also a supercomputer. In recent days, Li Lan had spent his time browsing the internet.

For his own safety, Li Lan did not personally experience Somali culture but relied on online information and the assistant's translations of Somali websites to understand the country, though his knowledge was limited. However, he had a general understanding of the major aspects.

Looking at the gradually decreasing funds on the display, Li Lan switched the control panel to internet mode, opened the familiar IE browser, and typed: www.

The webpage loaded quickly, and the content of the entire site appeared on the large display almost instantly.

However, if Li Lan were to rate this website, it would probably be a negative score. Although the assistant had translated the site into Chinese, Li Lan had little interest in the mostly blank pages.

If it weren't for the fact that this was the website of Somalia's largely ineffective government, he wouldn't have even bothered to open it.

Apart from introducing government officials, their backgrounds, and their contributions, complete with a few photos, there was hardly any useful information.

In Li Lan's eyes, this national central website, which was supposed to release important news and uphold the constitution, was even worse than some third-rate websites in China.

Despite his many complaints about the website, Li Lan still checked it daily, reading the awkwardly translated text to see if he could find any useful information.

After ten minutes, Li Lan closed the website with a headache, as usual. The site was full of empty words.

"Really, in a country still struggling to understand what knowledge is, they spend so much time praising themselves and their achievements. Can't they be more practical and focus on some useful accomplishments?" Li Lan shook his head and sighed. Reflecting on it, the officials in his home country were saints compared to those in Somalia.

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