Chapter 54 - Explosives for Mountain Breaking

Richard walked along the mountain path, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. He had nearly circled the mountain but hadn’t found any passage or crack. Combining the previous explorations by the consciousness, he was fairly certain that taking a shortcut to remove the Crystal Skull from the mountain was basically impossible.So, the only option was to carve a tunnel from the outside of the mountain into its interior chamber and retrieve the Crystal Skull from there.

This would be a sizeable venture, especially in this world that resembled the medieval era.

If they were to rely solely on manpower using hammers and crowbars, it might take half a year to complete.

Using magic, the Monroe Chapter indeed contained Earth Magic spells capable of breaking rocks, and he had recently learned one, but at the Wizard Apprentice level, he could only cast them on a very small scale. Even with continuous use, the effect was quite mediocre.

He needed to think of a better method.

Richard squinted his eyes, stopping on the mountain path, and looked thoughtfully at a rock face beside the path.

Richard knew that the chamber lay dozens of meters behind this rock face, but what was the fastest way to drill through this section?

After pondering for a moment, Richard raised his hand toward the rock face and recited a spell.

“Whirr… Whirr…”

On the rock face, stones crumbled and flakes started to peel away.

Shape Earth Magic·Zero Circle Low Level·Earth Stone Control.

“Whirr, whirr,” stones continued to fall, kicking up a lot of dust. It seemed imposing, but in reality, after a lot of effort, only a hole about three or four centimeters in diameter and a dozen centimeters deep was made.

Looking at the hole, Richard pursed his lips and recited another spell. Moments later, a mass of Liquid Oxygen formed and filled the hole.

After completing these steps, Richard thought for a moment, then gathered some sawdust and dry grass from the vicinity and stuffed it into the hole until it was packed full. The standard Liquid Oxygen Explosives were thus prepared.

Yes, Liquid Oxygen Explosives — real explosives, differing from the usual Liquid Oxygen Group explosions because they were filled with a combustible material.

Liquid Oxygen Explosives are a type of mining explosive, invented in 1895 on modern Earth by a German named Linde. It generally involves wrapping combustibles (such as carbon black, coal dust, scrap paper, wood dust, etc.) into a cylindrical shape and immersing them in Liquid Oxygen before use. Once it is saturated with Liquid Oxygen, it is immediately moved to the location where an explosion is needed to be detonated.

Upon detonation, the combustibles inside rapidly burn, the temperature soars, and the volume expands violently, triggering an explosion with more power than nitroglycerin-based explosives like TNT.

With a complete industrial system in place, Liquid Oxygen Explosives are extremely cheap to produce. However, because liquid oxygen evaporates quickly at room temperature, the lifespan of the explosives is very short, usually between 15 to 20 minutes, and must be freshly soaked before use. Therefore, they cannot be used in bullets, bombs, shells, etc. It’s a “peaceful” type of explosive, its main use being industrial mining.

To put it simply, these are explosives specifically designed for rock blasting.

Blast the mountain with explosives, and use explosives to blast through the mountain.

He stepped back, turned his head, and looked at Pandora, pointing to the side.

Pandora’s eyes flickered with understanding, and she reluctantly moved aside to take cover.

Richard took a deep breath, his gaze steely, and waved his hand to release a ball of Flames towards the hole filled with Liquid Oxygen Explosives.

Immediately afterward, he conjured an Air Wall in front of himself.

With a “boom,” the flames flew into the hole, detonating the real Liquid Oxygen Explosives. The rock face shook violently, and a large hollow was blasted open along the pre-cut hole. Debris shot out like bullets in all directions and then were “thud, thud, thud,” blocked by the Air Wall.

When the dust had settled, Richard removed the Air Wall and took a look at the results, finding them quite satisfactory. At least, using Liquid Oxygen Explosives for mining proved far more efficient than manual labor or the mere use of spells, with no need for a month to complete the entire project.

However, during this process, he also had to thoroughly consider any potential problems that might arise.

After all, carving out a tunnel was not as simple as just blasting away continuously with explosives.

Blind violence and destruction couldn’t solve any problems; the real solution still depended on using one’s brain.

Excavating a tunnel might seem straightforward, but in reality, there were many aspects to consider, or else modern Earth would not have developed it into a complete industry.

The method of drilling holes, filling them with explosives, and then blasting tunnels, known as “drilling and blasting” on modern Earth, was primarily used in the construction of mountain tunnels. Apart from the core explosion process itself, it was necessary to consider surveying, lining up, adding structural supports, as well as ventilation, smoke clearance, and slag removal after the blast, among a series of other issues.

Although the current tunnel excavation was planned to be a one-time use and not intended for repeated traffic, in which some safety aspects would not need to be as stringent, it could not be entirely neglected. Otherwise, what if the tunnel collapsed halfway through the excavation due to a blast, bringing the whole mountain down? Given the size of this mountain, if it did collapse and bury everyone inside, not to mention a Wizard Apprentice, even a real Wizard would not survive.

Therefore, some issues had to be thoroughly thought through, solutions found, and only then could the actual excavation begin.

For example, the issue of supports had to be addressed. Using wood for reinforcement was feasible, as the forest was not short of timber. But it would be best to acquire some high-quality iron.

The mining, refining, and forging of iron, however, were more complicated than tunnel excavation, and if he had to do it all by himself, it would take far too long. Fortunately, the technology involved was relatively low, and the current world already possessed a mature system, so he could entirely handle it through direct contact with the outside world, buying what was needed.

Money, he had it. Among his luggage were quite a few gemstones. After all, his plan to break free from the constraints of his identity and leave the Blue Lion Kingdom had been well-thought-out, considering all aspects. But it wasn’t just about having money; he also needed to find someone to trade with.

So… where to look?

Or perhaps, think of another way to solve it?

Richard pondered and beckoned to Pandora, walking towards the base of the mountain.

Time shifted back slightly.

At the forest base of the mountain, dry leaves blanketed the area, and the sound of hooves resounded.

“Clip-clop, clip-clop…”

Prince Gro rode on horseback, with other Nobles vaguely surrounding him. Soldiers scouted and stood guard on the outermost perimeter. Their task was to find wild beasts and notify the Nobles beforehand so that they could hunt them, and to prevent the animals from attacking and injuring the Nobles in a frenzy.

Just then, a strange roar suddenly erupted from a nearby mountain.

“Hiss, hiss!” Some horses, spooked, raised their front hooves high and then slammed them down hard, creating two deep impressions in the ground.

“What’s happening?” someone yelled out.

Everyone immediately went on alert, drawing their weapons and warily scanning their surroundings.

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

Half a minute passed in a flash, and yet nothing happened.

This…