The limitation of resources has always caused Qin Song a headache. Luna's ability solved the problem of eating, but real development still depends on industry, and industry requires food - coal and steel.

There is no need to worry about the problem of coal for the time being. The emergence of the coal washing method can now support the continuous operation of brick factories.

The main problem is the steel issue. What Qin Song knows about mining and smelting is just fur, and Black Stone Collar does not have talents in this area. At present, the source of steel for all weapons is basically orcs.

But now... the orcs were scared away by the mine formation...

The free steel is gone forever. Although Harald has been harassing battles in Daotan Town with his Spider Demon Artillery Team, he has no way to clean up the battlefield and collect spoils.

The reason why Qin Song spent time to find a shipwreck was to prepare for buying a large amount of steel. In the final analysis, creation was more reliable than buying, and would not be choked.

All risk factors must be taken into account. For example, if the sea monster controls the route, no matter how many gold coins are, they cannot get the resources they are in short supply.

Technology, industry, and trade routes are far more promising than the development prospects of trade, industry and technology routes.

"Alice, how much is the stock of black iron?"

"Well, I'll take a look."

Alice flipped out a small notebook from the table and turned to the last page, with concern on her face: "I just equipped the new recruits' weapons, and two new steam engines from the brick factory. Currently, there are less than 40 black iron ingots left, each weighing about 20 pounds."

"That is, it's only 800 pounds?"

800 pounds is about 700 kilograms, less than half a ton. In addition, Luna's scepter in the planned plan will cost about two or three hundred pounds of black iron ingots. Not to mention, the iron armored steamship designed by Qin Song is currently only in the design stage and does not have enough resources to implement.

"Qin, don't worry. The negotiations between Lia and Captain Mason have made great progress. The Pierre Chamber of Commerce is willing to provide all our needs and is eager to establish a strategic partnership."

"Far water cannot quench near thirst." Qin Song smiled bitterly at the corner of his mouth: "Do you still remember the cardinal? I'm afraid he was ready when he came. Perhaps the Holy Spirit Church has already confirmed our identity and is making a plan of confrontation in an intense manner."

"Ah?" Luna was a little nervous: "Qin, then we should have put him... wrong, and it would be even more certain to put him back. Alas, this Holy Spirit Church is really sinister."

"Steel is an extremely important strategic resource for us." Qin Song frowned and said, "This determines whether we can win the final victory. This problem must be solved."

"Qin, I heard that there is a workshop specializing in iron smelting in Arabia City. Why don't we spend a lot of money to hire some to come to our Black Stone to work? What do you think?"

"This is indeed a solution, but the difficulty lies in the raw materials for iron smelting. The black stone ore currently owned by the Black Stone Collar can be used as fuel, but cannot be used as raw materials. There is no ore vein, but just a cook without rice."

"Mineral..." Alice frowned tightly, obviously there was no good idea.

"Qin, I believe you will definitely have a solution." Luna clenched her fist and cheered Qin Song. She was an optimistic school and was full of confidence in Qin Song.

"There is indeed a solution..." Qin Song nodded gently: "But it is not very mature. Alice and Black Stone Collar did not find any ore veins. However, as far as I know, there are a large number of naturally formed ore deposits in the gifts of the ocean."

That's right, in order to solve the steel problem, Qin Song has been thinking. For him, the recent mineral vein is the seabed hydrothermal deposit he had discovered, which has rich mineral resources and considerable reserves.

But the biggest problem is mining.

"But how to mine?" Alice also thought of this problem: "It's a vast ocean, I don't know how deep it is."

"Yes." Qin Song nodded: "But don't forget that the wisdom that our great gods possess cannot be underestimated. His divine power is spread throughout the world, and the vast ocean was the home of the sons of stars several epochs ago."

There is no way to mine the seabed mine. The worst case is that Qin Song mostly uses the spirit of Dream Walker to transform some marine life and replace human resources to mine minerals.

Don't forget that there is also the ghost ship that can sink to the bottom of the sea, which can be used as a vehicle for transportation for the time being.

"Alice, Luna, we must be involved in the ocean. Whether it is trading, fishing, or mining minerals, it is extremely important to us."

"So, I have an idea. It's time for us to take the initiative to get out of the Blackstone Collar."

"Are you talking about fighting against the Holy Spirit Proof?"

"This is a matter of time." Qin Song nodded: "But there is no need for us to extend the front line completely to Daotan Town. There is also an extremely important facility - the port. We are at the pass of the Blackstone Canyon and the central location of the port to establish the first military stronghold, which can guard the Blackstone Canyon, control the port, and strengthen maritime trade."

"This is a step we have to take, and I think it's time."

"In other words, our current strategic goal has shifted from defense to offense?" Alice nodded thoughtfully: "Indeed, the limitations of the Black Stone Corps are too great. If we want to achieve long-term development, we must go out bravely. And the port is the best entry point. Our trade with the Pierre family will inevitably be more frequent. The port is really too important. Moreover, our advancement will also make the guerrilla team of Sergeant Chief Harald more convenient."

"Yes, from guard to merit! Daotan Town will be the place of decisive battle between us and the orcs and the Holy Spirit!"

Qin Song raised his head, his eyes pounded, and he looked at Alice with a smile.

"I understand! Qin, I support you!"

Looking at Qin Song, who was full of energy and deep eyes, Alice's eyes were full of tenderness and admiration. Yes, his appearance was strange, but he was full of special masculine charm.

The eyes meet, making people smile.

Luna glanced at Alice, whose cheeks were slightly red, and then looked at Qin Song. She always felt something strange was happening, but she didn't know...

...

The plan to turn from defense to offense was unanimously agreed at a brief meeting in the evening, and the next step was the busy planning work. The current Blackstone leader's defense pressure was reduced, and it was changed to General Lea, who led the overall situation, commanded the newly trained recruits, and was responsible for the daily defense of the minefield defense line.

The mission about the Luna statue and the scepter fell on Veronica and Alice's shoulders.

The Blackstone Construction Team, which Sir Weimar, has built more than 40 red brick and tile houses in Blackstone, which basically meets the daily life of brick factory workers and coal mining yard workers.

Therefore, the focus of construction began to shift from civilian to military. Nearly two-thirds of the Blackstone Construction Team personnel and two rock swallowers, led by Sir Weimar, moved forward strategically and began the early construction of the front-line base.

Because it is a military purpose, red bricks are not used. At Qin Song's suggestion, the materials are taken locally, and the continuous cement is used to use a matte stone self-weight wall as the main structure to build a fortress-type front-line defense facility. The sergeant commanders Hu En and Mengke led the veterans to assist them in the construction.

As for the Chief Ralph, he had a special task - using the ghost ship to trap pirates.

Qiaoshe Mons is Ralph's partner, and Sir Weimar's son Reus, also began to take on the heavy responsibility, leading his sniper team to board the Navy ship of the Principality, and cooperate with Ralph in the trapping operation.

The collapse of the Stone Islands caused pirates to emerge from all over the place and plunder on the sea to survive. Roughly estimated that there were at least thousands of pirates.

Population is an important resource, even if their quality is low - the curse of the ghost ship is enough to control them.

In this way, not only will the waterway be cleaned up, the future trade security can be ensured, but the population can be quickly accumulated. Anyway, they are all homeless pirates, and it is a pity not to use them as coolies.

As for Qin Song, he carried out his most important work at present - studying the crystal collected in the underwater cave, and monitoring the activity of the transparent tentacle monster.

Only God is his real enemy.

The so-called crystal cluster is actually a clustered geometry composed of single mineral crystals. It usually clusters on the same substrate, with one end facing free space and through natural development.

There are quite a few types of crystal clusters, common ones include quartz crystal clusters, calcite crystal clusters, calcium oxalate crystal clusters, and almost all minerals may develop into mineral crystals or crystal clusters under suitable geological backgrounds.

Through the basic concept of crystal clusters, Qin Song can conclude that this purple crystal cluster should be crystallized by a single crystal of a special mineral.

As for what a single crystal is, it actually refers to the solid state in which the molecules contained in the sample are arranged regularly and periodically in three-dimensional space.

For example, the wafer used to make CPU is made of refined single crystal silicon.

So, that is to say, the mineral purity of crystal clusters is extremely high!
Chapter completed!