Stepping into the cave entrance, the chill immediately enveloped several people.
The group of people took out the torches they had prepared and lit them with lighters.
"Boss, watch your step."
Abu walked at the front holding a torch and gave a reminder.
The torches of several people illuminated the surrounding area, while Liu Xiao's flashlight was able to search the area in a targeted manner.
Not long after the group entered the cave, Liu Xiao saw a stone with a red lining at his feet.
He knelt down and wiped the surface of the stone with his sleeve.
"Hey! It's really there! It's just exposed at your feet, and you don't even have to dig it out!"
He was so excited that he took out a hammer from his backpack and smashed it hard.
With a "bang" sound, Liu Xiao smashed down a large piece of rough stone with his hammer and put it into his bag.
The main reason he went into the cave this time was to confirm, so he could just take some back with him.
"Let's walk a little further in."
Although Abu said that he never dared to enter the inside of the cave and only dared to pick up stones at the entrance of the cave. But now when Liu Xiao looked at the darkness deep in the cave, he no longer felt cold and terrifying.
This place is simply his cornucopia of money trees! We must occupy it as soon as possible... Oh no, start mining as soon as possible!
A few people walked further in, and saw more and more red stones along the way, and the quality seemed to be getting better and better.
What surprised Liu Xiao was that there were not only red stones, but also stones that glowed blue.
"In addition to rubies... there are also sapphires?"
Liu Xiao was so happy that he was ready to knock some more and take them back to show the fat man.
But as soon as he went down with his hammer, there was suddenly a strange sound in the darkness deep in the cave.
"Um!?"
After last night's battle, several of Liu Xiao's employees were on high alert. At this moment, they clenched their weapons and looked over.
But the deep cave seemed to have no end, and the torch couldn't illuminate the distance at all.
"What's the sound? Could there be some evil beast living in here?"
Liu Xiao thought of what Abu told him and speculated that the evil beasts might hide in such deep darkness during the day.
"Back off! Don't disturb them...step softly!"
The group of people, who did not dare to go deeper rashly, slowly exited the cave.
Liu Xiao's original joy of discovering the mineral vein was poured cold water on his head at this moment.
"Damn... If we want to systematically mine this mine, we must get rid of the evil beasts entrenched in it... It seems that we need to find some professionals to deal with it..."
Liu Xiao glanced at the few people who didn't even have decent weapons, and asked: "Does any of you know if there are mercenaries or something here? Even if you spend more money, you must completely eliminate the hidden dangers in the cave."
After hearing Liu Xiao's question, several people looked at each other and shook their heads in confusion.
"Boss, I've heard of mercenaries in the Abandoned Fort before, but they don't come to the Forest of Despair very often. There's nothing to hunt here, and it's dangerous at night. Secondly, half of the local aborigines live deep in the Forest of Despair.
Orcs, they are quite fierce, even mercenaries dare not mess with them."
Dwarf Johnson had worked in a big man's house before and had more experience than the others. He immediately told what he knew about the situation.
"Aboriginal half-orcs?" Liu Xiao repeated doubtfully.
"Yes, boss, those half-orcs rarely go out and live a primitive life of eating hair and drinking blood deep in the forest. However, their fighting ability is really strong. If we are unfortunate enough to see them, we usually choose to hide away."
After listening to the dwarf's explanation, Liu Xiao raised his eyebrows and glanced at them, cursing in his heart: "You say that others eat hair and drink blood? You are not the same..."
"Wait..." Liu Xiao suddenly thought of something and asked again: "You said they rarely go out, but it doesn't mean they never go out... Is it possible... that I can hire these orcs? Let them come
Clear out the threats in this cave!"
"this..."
This time, several people had a tacit understanding, and they all focused their attention on the dwarf Johnson.
"This...I don't know...I have never dealt with half-orcs...but boss, if you are interested, you can go to the slave market in the abandoned castle! The gentlemen in the city like half-orcs very much."
Orc slaves are sometimes sold openly in the market! Maybe you can meet orcs there!"
"Oh? Slave trader?"
Liu Xiao couldn't help but become interested when he heard these four words.
"But where is this ruined castle?" he asked again.
Speaking of "Abandoned Castle", Dwarf Johnson suddenly became excited.
"Returning to the boss, the Abandoned Castle is the nearest large castle to the Forest of Despair! The people there are very rich, and they are well-dressed and can write and draw! There are many rich men living there!"
"That's it..."
Liu Xiao thought about it for a while. The man with the carriage in the secret passage market was probably from the Abandoned Fort. If he could still see him today, he would inquire in detail.
"Okay, today's exploration will stop here first... Let me draw a rough topographic map of this valley... Then we will go to the market to buy some things and recruit some people on the way."
Liu Xiao said as he took out his notebook and drew an extremely sloppy and simple map on it.
But it was such a map that was almost graffiti, but the people in Abu were once again stunned when they saw it.
"Boss... you... can also draw maps? This... this is a skill that only members of the royal family can master..."
Liu Xiao was speechless for a while. For a moment, he felt that Abu and the others were mocking him...
But...looking at the extremely adoring eyes of these people, it really doesn't look like...
Well, he can only assume that most of the residents of the other world are illiterate and aesthetically blind, and his level of drawing here is considered a dimensionality reduction attack.
After drawing the topographic map, several people returned the same way and rested briefly at Abu's hut. Then the dwarf drove the carriage to the market again.
However, this time, before a few people arrived at the market, they saw from a distance that the place was crowded and extremely lively.
"Why are there so many people?"
Dwarf Johnson looked at the crowded market, turned his head and said behind him: "Boss, the carriage can't get in, there are too many people."
"Forget it, let's walk."
As soon as Liu Xiao jumped off the carriage, he saw the crowded crowd suddenly boiling.
"Master~~~ Do you still want someone? I'm very cheap!"
"We took the risk and waited here before dawn, just waiting for you to come~~!"
"Sir~~ Do you need a personal maid? What do you think of me? I am very fertile~~!"
Liu Xiao looked at a dwarf woman who was about 1.3 meters tall and weighed about 150 years old and was flirting with him, and suddenly felt nauseous.
"Ugh...ahem~ Don't crowd~! Get in line~~! I do want to hire some people today, but it's also targeted~~! Those of you who have the skills will be given priority~~!
"
Liu Xiao stood on the carriage and shouted his request loudly.
His initial plan was to hire 20 people to develop the valley around the mine first.
Later, he contacted the orcs deep in the forest and hired them after paying a certain price to eliminate the hidden dangers in the cave.
After it is truly safe and on track, more workers will be hired in batches.
However... Judging from today's situation, there are at least two hundred "applicants" on site... Ten people are competing for one social worker position... It is really a brutal recruitment season.