Kevin Lin had seen Edmund and Haydn brimming with confidence and had thought that everything was foolproof, so he had specially adjusted the camera to focus on the stone wall. He was just waiting for Fang Zhao to dig out a big piece of power ore. He was still excited about witnessing this moment in history, and his mind was filled with anticipation for the headlines to appear.
When Kevin Lin had served in the military, his family had arranged for him and he had never mined before, so he had felt a sense of novelty. Who would have thought that such an awkward situation would occur?
It wasn't just the expectant Kevin Lin, even the online viewers who were locked in to channel S5 were stunned by the situation unfolding before them. Many people were waiting to see how Fang Zhao would dig out his first piece of power ore. Although anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the location had been pre-arranged by planet Baiji, after watching so many entertainment programs, they did not pay much attention to such arrangements. After all, weren't these types of programs pre-arranged? What was so strange about it?
Some people did not even blink, but when the pickaxe struck, a sinister bug appeared on the screen. It was a close-up, and the timid people jumped in fright.
"You can't scare people like that!"
"I shouldn't have been so engrossed just now! What bug was that? It looked ferocious. "
"It should be edible, right? I heard the colonel say that it was roasted? "
"So Fang Zhao dug out a bug with his first pickaxe?"
"Hahahaha, it really is so!"
Although many people had been shocked by the close-up, they found it funny when they regained their senses. They could laugh for days on end.
The people in Baiji's mine did not know the reactions of the people watching the live broadcast, but they could guess.
Haydn coughed lightly and explained to Fang Zhao, "Generally speaking, in areas with an abundance of energy ores, these types of bugs are very rare. The more bugs there are, the less ores there are, so we don't have to continue digging here. Behind this stone wall is definitely not a rich ore mine, so when we dig up bugs, we will change our route."
As he spoke, Haydn still did not give up and smashed the rock Fang Zhao had dug out. There were not many power ore deposits, and it was broken. It was indeed worthless.
"Let's find another spot to dig. This area should have been cleared out long ago." Haydn picked up a marker and made a mark on the wall, telling the other miners that there were bugs here and that there was a wormhole behind them, so they didn't have to waste their energy digging for now.
As they continued walking, Hayden brought Fang Zhao to another area. "Let's try here." There were more high-grade ores here.
The area Haydn was pointing at had a large piece of ore that had been excavated the day before. Looking at the quality of the rock, there were probably still large pieces of ore that had not been excavated. Haydn had specifically instructed the team not to touch these areas and had left them for the star of Project Starlight to show off.
It will definitely work this time, Edmund thought. Although he was not in charge of mining, he had watched people mine for so many years, so he had some experience in this area. The stone quality of this area was indeed like a place rich in ores.
He should have dug here first. Edmund sighed inwardly. If he had not been worried that the audience would think it was too fake, he would have long since arranged for Fang Zhao to dig out a big ore.
"Dig," said Edmund.
Fang Zhao stared at the area Haydn was pointing at. Actually, he felt that there was probably nothing behind this area that Haydn and Edmund wanted to see.
However, seeing Haydn and Edmund's extremely confident expressions, Fang Zhao did not say anything else. He gripped the pickaxe and struck the rock wall. With his previous experience, this time, Fang Zhao controlled his strength very well. The rock that he struck was of a suitable size.
The camera was still pointed at the rock wall. This time, the online audience also craned their necks to look at the screen.
All they saw was a piece of rock being pried off the wall. Two or three peanut-sized power ores could be seen embedded inside.
The size of a peanut was just a little better than the previous time. At least it wasn't a bug.
Edmund: "…"
Kevin Lin, who had been filled with anticipation: "…"
Haydn's face behind his helmet was flushed red. He did not dare look at Edmund's face. All he wanted was to find a place to hide.
This area had never excavated any bugs, and there were no wormholes nearby. Furthermore, the rock quality looked like a rich mining area. Why had they only dug out this little?! Haydn was very conflicted.
Edmund's facial muscles were twitching, as if he was enduring something. Originally, he had wanted to proceed step by step and arrange for Fang Zhao to excavate the big ore. That would have been more natural and reasonable, but now, it had happened twice! Forget about the big ore, he had not even dug out anything that caught his eye!
"Why don't we … go … go to the innermost part." Haydn was still young after all. He had suffered consecutive setbacks and was under a lot of psychological pressure. At this moment, he could not keep his cool and even started stammering. He did not dare look at Edmund's face, but he could feel the low pressure around Edmund through his work clothes. He was so scared that his heart trembled. His mind kept replaying the words Edmund had told the soldiers to "drag out and roast the bug."
Continuing to walk in, at the very front of the tunnel, Haydn pointed to a place that he and the other old miners were certain would definitely have power ores. Not just them, even people with a little bit of experience could clearly see the rock quality of the rock wall through the live broadcast. Those with sharp eyes could even see a corner of the power ore.
When the online ore investors saw this scene, the corners of their mouths twitched. To be able to excavate power ores with his eyes closed like this, it seemed like the bunch on planet Baiji really had no other choice. If they did not excavate like this, they would not be able to report back.
Indeed, after the pickaxe this time, power ores were excavated. However, the size of the power ore was not as big as everyone had expected. It was only the size of a normal person's fist.
Edmund looked at the ore that the conscripts had excavated and then looked at the piece that Fang Zhao had excavated three times. No matter how he looked at it, it was an eyesore.
This time, Haydn really wanted to shrink back. He had really tried his best!
Kevin Lin switched the live broadcast to filming mode. Live broadcasts had a time limit. If he could not even excavate something he was satisfied with, he might as well not do a live broadcast. He would film first and switch to live broadcast mode when he had excavated something. He had still been too confident in the abilities of the bunch on planet Baiji. If they had arranged for this result after a month, planet Baiji could forget about attracting any more investors. When he thought about the results of the other four channels, Kevin Lin felt that his own future was rather bleak.
Although the program team had arranged for the live broadcast time of the five channels to be as close as possible, because they were on different planets, it was impossible for them to be completely synchronized. By the time Fang Zhao had started excavating, the other four channels had already finished their first day of live broadcasts. Channel 5 was the last one.
Online, netizens who had just watched channel 5's live broadcast started discussing.
"Hahahaha, it's a pity they are all wearing helmets. I can't see their expressions. Why isn't the camera panning? I want to see Colonel Edmund's expression."
"It's Edmund."
"Hey, who cares. I just want to see their expressions now!"
"I did some calculations. Among the five celebrities, Fang Zhao is the worst."
All five channels had arranged for live broadcasts of the mining area. Although the other four did not have to excavate like conscripts, for the sake of the live broadcast effect, they had entered the mining area to conduct live broadcasts. According to the arrangements made by the base, all they had to do was dig at the designated spots.
Channel S2's Fritz had dug out a palm-sized power ore on his first pick. Channel S1's Li Xiaoxiao had done well too. Her first pick was slightly smaller than Fritz's, but her second pick was bigger.
Channel S3's Andre looked a little crude, but he was meticulous. His first pick did not yield much. He had used too much force and had even broken the ore. On his second pick, he had discovered that there might be ore. Under the guidance of the veteran miner, he had patiently dug out the power ore bit by bit. Finally, he had been lucky enough to dig out a power ore the length of an adult's forearm. He had even hugged it and taken a photo. Now, it had become the headline of Project Starlight's news feed.
Overall, although the others had not dug out a bigger ore than Andre's on the first day of live broadcasts, they had at least made some gains and were not too unsightly.
Even channel S4's Tianhao, who had the worst mining result among the four, had originally thought that he had dug out the smallest power ore. His expression was sour, but he was not stupid enough to blame the people at the base during the live broadcast. He only threw a tantrum after returning to the base.
Now that he knew channel S5's Fang Zhao had worse luck than him, Tianhao felt much better.
"It's good that someone is at the bottom. It's not that unsightly. I heard that during the live broadcast, Fang Zhao dug out a worm on his first pick, a few peanuts on his second pick, and only a small power ore on his third pick. Do you think the people of planet Baiji deliberately tricked him? "Tianhao rubbed his chin in thought.
The S4 special correspondent following Tianhao shook his head. "Probably not. The people of planet Baiji can't be that stupid."
"Then it can only be Fang Zhao's bad luck. His luck was bad and he could not dig out anything," Tianhao concluded.
The S4 special correspondent nodded in agreement. At the same time, he was rejoicing in Fang Zhao's misfortune. Kevin Lin, that guy, is probably pissed off.
As for the investors watching the live broadcasts on the other five channels, after a comparison, their impression of planet Baiji was the worst.
Some investors and observers from related companies sneered. Heh, I thought there would be a show of big ores being dug out one after another. In the end, even with special arrangements, it is still like this. It goes to show how low the density of ore on planet Baiji is! Trying to pull in investors at this sort of place? Not a chance!
Considering the costs of traveling, setting up a communications network, and taxes, investing in planet Baiji was definitely a losing proposition. Only an idiot would invest! In the future, even if planet Baiji released more advertisements for the mining area, they would not believe it!
Baiji base's highest-ranking officer, Shanta, who was also watching the live broadcast, had an ugly expression on his face. None of the higher-ups in the base had good expressions. This was not a good start. Their beautiful plans had just gotten started and now they were being thwarted. What were they going to do in the future? Did they really have to wear the label of a poverty-stricken area and ask for donations? Which large base had risen to prominence by relying on donations? They all relied on big investors to pull them in!
The people at the mining area also sensed that the atmosphere was not right. Today, they were especially obedient and did not slack off, afraid of angering Edmund.
Hayden was on the verge of tears. "I … really … really didn't do it on purpose!"
He really wasn't targeting Fang Zhao on purpose. He really hadn't wanted Fang Zhao to embarrass himself during the live broadcast. He would never do something that would harm himself while harming the enemy!
At the same time, Hayden was also explaining to Colonel Edmund. This was the person in charge of the power source mining area. Hayden's military service time was up until October, so he still had to work under Edmund for half a year.
Edmund glanced at Hayden in silence and turned to leave the mining cave. He decided to write his transfer report first.
Hayden stood in the same spot, not knowing what to do.
Fang Zhao sighed and patted Hayden on the shoulder. "I know you didn't do it on purpose."
Hayden felt that Fang Zhao was really a good person. Even after being embarrassed during the live broadcast, he could still calm down and console him.
Fang Zhao asked Hayden, "Don't think about anything else first. Tell me about the quality of the rocks here. How do you determine which areas might contain ores?"
Knowing that he could be of use again, Hayden perked up and explained in detail to Fang Zhao. As he explained, he carried a pickaxe and dug. Combining theory with practice, he dug out a piece of ore that was close to 20 centimeters long. He dug again and dug out another piece that was half an arm's length. He really found a big one just by digging.
Hayden: "…" I really didn't do it on purpose!!
Worried that Fang Zhao would have other thoughts, Hayden hurriedly explained.
Fang Zhao was not angry because of this. He knew that Hayden had not cheated him. Not digging out a big ore could only be attributed to bad luck. That was probably what everyone thought in their hearts.
Thinking about it this way, Fang Zhao found it funny. He had always been told that his luck was good, but this time, his luck was bad.
"It's fine. Go on," Fang Zhao said.
Seeing that Fang Zhao really did not look angry, Hayden heaved a sigh of relief. He told Fang Zhao everything he had learned and summarized in the past six months. He only hoped that Fang Zhao would be able to dig out a big ore in the future. That way, perhaps Edmund and the base leaders would not blame him.
While Hayden was explaining, he dug out another power ore that was the length of an arm. This could be considered the biggest power ore he had dug out in the past 10 days!
According to convention, there was a reward for digging out such a big power ore. Normally, Hayden would be shouting in excitement and showing off in the various mining caves, but today, he could not bring himself to be happy.
This rock had appeared at the wrong time.
Hayden leaned against the stone wall and squatted down. If it had been during the live broadcast and Fang Zhao had dug out such a big power ore, there would have been cheers. Hayden would have received a handsome reward, but unfortunately, Fang Zhao had not dug out a satisfactory result three times during the live broadcast.
"There's no need to send this part back, right?" Kevin Lin asked Fang Zhao in a low voice.
In the video taken just now, Hayden had casually dug out a big piece. If it was sent back to the public, it would only prove that Fang Zhao was useless.
"Send it back. Let everyone know that planet Baiji still has a lot of power ores and is worth investing in. "
Fang Zhao really did not need to get emotional over such a small matter.
Hayden, who was squatting on the ground, looked at Fang Zhao gratefully.
What planet Baiji's top management wanted most was to attract investors. Fang Zhao was willing to bear the negative comments online and release the video so that people would not label planet Baiji as a "barren land." Hayden was really grateful.
"Thank you! You will definitely dig out a big ore! "Hayden said sincerely.
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