I became a god by treasure hunting after arriving 500 years early

These strange things, nobody knows where they came from, are capable of absorbing the energy of the Earth veins and have become a focal point for scientists to investigate.

"Just wait a few more centuries, and perhaps a unique ecosystem will have evolved."

"That has nothing to do with us... No matter how rich this place gets, we can't stay forever."

"Sigh, that's true."

About a hundred and fifty miles out, there's a giant mountain peak that reaches ten thousand meters in height!

This mountain also happens to be the former "World Furnace," where most of the minerals are found nearby, distributed in a circular pattern within a 300-kilometer radius.

The further away, the fewer the minerals.

The eruption of the volcano caused its height to rapidly rise, making it even more majestic than Mount Everest!

But because the volcano is so unstable, people have always refrained from tampering with it.

"Hey, brothers, where are you planning to go stroll today?"

Lu Ying asked a group of colleagues as they passed by the corridor, faces flushed with excitement.

"This morning, we noticed that the fog around the volcano's crater has cleared, so it might have stabilized!" Another Captain said smiling, "We're planning to go take a look around the crater."

"Take it easy, don't go getting yourself killed. Otherwise, Conch Mother will be crying her eyes out." Lu Ying casually remarked.

His heart was also somewhat stirred.

However, the Treasure Hunting Team had a tradition: each detachment digs its own territory and can't encroach on another's!

"Brother Eagle, I know you're itching to go too, why not join us? We'll share the credit. The volcano isn't marked as anyone's territory anyway." An officer called.

"Uh... if I remember correctly, the crater is a dangerous area, are we allowed to go?"

"So we've invited Colonel Guo."

Since the invitation was extended like that, Lu Ying decided not to rest anymore—what could be more important than treasure hunting?

Soon, the elite treasure hunting squad, a total of sixteen people riding valiantly on Flying Dragons, took off. These sixteen all had various treasure-seeking abilities and visual acuity.

Especially the leading figure, Colonel Guo Dafeng, as a Level 6 Expert with a Divine Skill of "Cold Ice Manipulation," which allowed him to resist very high temperatures, and he could even move for a short period of time in magma.

Not long after, amid the cries of the "Flying Dragon," they arrived at the majestic volcano "World Furnace," where the temperature was rather high, possibly exceeding 80 degrees Celsius.

Guo Dafeng patted his "Flying Dragon," which was a bit uncomfortable due to the high heat: "You find yourself some mineral rocks to eat, whatever you find is yours. Come get us when you hear the whistle."

"Ga!"

The Flying Dragon shrieked and flew away.

It seemed to have been living quite happily recently.

The soldiers got into their high-temperature suits and began climbing up, climbing over a thousand meters to reach the very top of the volcano, where there was an enormous platform, with the diameter of the crater alone exceeding ten kilometers!

The red, bubbling magma was a truly unique natural wonder, with about a thousand meters of elevation drop from the edge of the crater.

Everyone wore gas masks and a plethora of high-temperature resistance equipment, gazing at the "gurgle gurgle" bubbling crater and gasping in awe.

Lu Ying's eyes sparkled with excitement and trepidation, "So many... Source Fire Crystals! Lots and lots!"

On the cliffs, they saw a dense swarm shining with red light, like ants, of extraordinary Crystal Stones.
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"Source Fire Crystals are a must-have raw material for making Puppets, akin to the function of an engine."

Just one glance revealed clusters of Source Fire Crystals, numbering in the hundreds of thousands!

"And there's a lot of Black Shining Conductive Silicon!"

Black Shining Conductive Silicon, a naturally occurring Materialistic mineral, could substitute for semiconductor processes in the technology stream of Source Fire Civilization.

Even if they were all Inferior Grade materials, there could be seven or eight thousand Spirit Essence value!

"Seven or eight thousand?!"

"I mustn't be mistaken; this here is the biggest mine source." Lu Ying's voice trembled, "One here outweighs a hundred from outside!"

Such an enormous fortune had everyone's hearts racing, almost wishing they could leap into the magma and crazily pluck those crystal stones.

"Don't act rashly! This volcanic crater obviously has some Extraordinary Creatures living in it, and if the volcano erupts, we won't be able to get away with it." Colonel Guo, after all, as a Level 6 Expert, was relatively cool-headed.

He took out a Human-shaped Puppet more than a meter tall from the equipment crate, which had been modified by human experts after gleaning knowledge from Source Fire Civilization.

It had high temperature resistance and was capable of performing some rather complex tasks.

Guo Dafeng took out a black object resembling a laptop.

Of course, it wasn't a materialistic computer, but rather a control device for a "human-shaped puppet", and its method of use was quite impressive, allowing for mind-controlled precision.

For this reason, large puppet technology was regarded as a genuine "unique technology".

"Click clack, click clack!" the puppet started to jog.

"This performance is really something, it's equivalent to a little expert at Level Two."

Under Guo Dafeng's control, the humanoid puppet slowly climbed down the volcano's crater, along the way collecting two "Source Fire Crystals".

It encountered three "Flame Centipedes" mating, which actually weren't extraordinary creatures, somewhat similar to silicon-based entities, a bit like insect soldiers, but they lacked the ability to devour and evolve.

In any case, they were quite peculiar.

It also suffered an attack.

A creature somewhat resembling a rat bit off one of the puppet's arms, but then, realizing that the strange thing in front of it wasn't alive, it slowly lost interest...

"Having this thing really is convenient." The team kept calculating mineral richness as they investigated, their hearts fluctuating like the underlying magma...

The slope of this volcanic crater was steep, full of holes and uneven structures like a cave, and coupled with the hot temperature, it would indeed be easy for humans to get into trouble down there.

"Wonder when it can be popularized..."

Guo Dafeng said with a smile, "It's said that these puppets also have a memory recording function."

"We control it with our minds to perform a task once, and it will record the entire procedure to replicate it exactly."

Lu Ying asked, "Compared to the Opium Tree Automatic Arm, which is stronger or weaker?"

"Each has its strengths, the Opium Tree Automatic Arm is suitable for precise work and can be accurate to the micron level and doesn't really require maintenance."

"The one before us obviously can't do that, and it also needs human hands for maintenance. But being able to work offline is pretty good too."

All of sudden, Guo Dafeng froze, staring at the screen as if he couldn't believe his eyes, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

He remained stunned for quite some time.

He shouted loudly, "Come take a look! What is this?!"

Hearing this outcry, the soldiers rushed over in a hubbub.

They were all shocked by the image on the screen: near the magma, about 100 meters away in a small hollow, there appeared a small patch of... frost?!

Yes, they weren't seeing things!

The air temperature was nearly six hundred degrees, and even the screen was jumping.

And yet, there was frost?!

The explorers quickly thought of something, their eyes widening in shock as they urged, "Hurry, hurry, Colonel Guo, dig through the ice layer!"

"It might be that... the corpse of a dragon..."

"Could it have died here?!"

The soldiers truly didn't know how to describe their feelings. How should they see the corpse of a Mirage Cloud Dragon?

To be honest, the many valuable treasures they had found could be credited to the Mirage Cloud Dragon.

It was this dragon that had delayed the volcanic eruption, continuing to delay it until now... allowing people to reap a huge windfall.

Otherwise, no one would have even thought of coming to this volcano!

Should they really consume the corpse?

From a utilitarian perspective, that was indeed the best choice.

But...

Guo Dafeng, sweating profusely, controlled the one-armed puppet to start smashing ceaselessly with a rock from the ground.

The ice layer was terrifyingly hard, and after more than two hours of relentless smashing, only a small fraction had been chipped away, but at last... they could make out what was encased within.

People stared at the item in the ice layer in utter astonishment, it was an... egg!