The feuding great powers either fought over black petroleum or coal that shone black.
"Yeah!" An old man acting like a young man, Gu Zhaobei couldn't help but give the sky the middle finger.
Descending into the valley was significantly more difficult than under normal circumstances, but their auxiliary equipment played a crucial role.
Their crampons crunched on the snow as they cautiously descended to the valley floor. It took them half an hour, and they even broke a light sweat, excited.
A black mass of coal, even more abundant at the valley floor than seen from the mountainside, was instantly collected by Gu Qingcheng into her storage cabinet with a flicker of thought.
Now, Gu Qingcheng truly appreciated the benefits of the storage cabinet; no matter how many supplies were stored, it never filled up. And honestly, the prices were quite fair. Storing so much coal only cost a small storage fee.
Compared to the previous system where one item of food cost one 'shuang dian' (a point), this time they had struck it rich.
Gu Qingcheng vowed that she would never again complain about the system charging one 'shuang dian' to store a single vegetable, given how foolishly generous it was.
Thousands of tons of coal were collected in less than fifteen minutes.
The coal mine was rudimentary; the coal was dug out of the tunnels by laborers, one hoe at a time. After being brought to the surface, it was then carried down the mountain by surface laborers.
Despite performing the most arduous and exhausting work in the world, and being in close proximity to the world's most important resource, the laborers lived in poor conditions.
They lived in dilapidated thatched huts and ate wild vegetable porridge, devoid of oil and salt.
After a brief tour, Gu Qingcheng saw numerous "ice sculptures" of laborers scattered around.
Some had frozen to death in their shelters, others outdoors, and some by newly lit fires.
Gu Qingcheng felt a pang of sorrow, but having seen such scenes frequently, she was becoming more accustomed to them.
The mountains and wilderness were deserted; after completing their task, they should leave.
Following the map's guidance, they didn't need to retrace their steps. They could take the official road used by laborers to transport coal down the mountain, which led directly to the Jinsha River.
Following the map's directions, Gu Qingcheng and her father took another hour to reach the banks of the Jinsha River.
The mere act of walking had been arduous for them. They thought of the laborers who had to carry over a hundred pounds of coal down the mountain, sighing and wondering what kind of lives these people led.
To the surprise of the father and daughter, the end of the road was a dock.
Numerous cargo ships, at least twenty, were moored there for coal transport, varying in size.
The larger ships could carry at least a hundred people, while the smaller ones could comfortably hold thirty to forty.
"Dad, shall we go aboard and have a look?" Gu Qingcheng asked.
Gu Qingcheng remembered that the next natural disaster would be a flood, and a thought sparked.
"Alright," Gu Zhaobei said, a hint of understanding dawning on him.
They casually inspected a few cargo ships. The decks were filled with baskets of coal and charcoal. Naturally, there were crew members, but not in large numbers; larger ships had about twenty crew members, while smaller ones had a dozen.
Apart from the crew members who had frozen to death, the ship's facilities were undamaged.
"Dad, I want to store these ships. We can use them later," Gu Qingcheng said.
Gu Zhaobei, aware that the impending natural disaster was a flood, nodded in agreement.
"This is an unexpected gain. I was wondering where we would find boats to use, but commissioning a large ship would take at least over a year. I never expected to find ready-made ones here. It's truly serendipitous, guided by fate."
Indeed, if they hadn't wanted more coal, they wouldn't have come here, and without coming here, they wouldn't have discovered the ownerless cargo ships.
In a few more days, these ships would surely belong to Prince Xia. Missing it by even a day might have meant they would have had no claim.
After a brief discussion, the father and daughter began lifting the bodies of the crew members from the ships to the shore.
The ships were originally moored by the dock, connected by wide wooden bridges. Fueled by energy pills and the prior assistance of black chocolate, their stamina was superior to that of ordinary people, and moving the crew members was effortless.
To store the ships in the storage cabinet, the crew members' bodies had to be properly arranged. Gu Qingcheng couldn't possibly store them as well.
Counting them, there were a total of 21 cargo ships.
There were 10 large cargo ships and 11 small ones. In terms of passenger capacity, they could accommodate four to five hundred people in total.
Fearing any further delays, the two of them hurried to finish the task, even though the sky was growing dark.
It took over two hours just to clear the scene, and it was already night.
Gu Qingcheng purchased head-mounted rechargeable lights from the Cat Supermarket; they provided excellent illumination, with each light covering a 20-square-meter area.
She and Gu Zhaobei each tied one on, providing ample light.
After much effort, the bodies of over 200 people were neatly arranged on the dock. The sheer number of them, gathered together, was quite eerie.
Fortunately, Gu Zhaobei, a surgeon, possessed courage and skill, and was unfazed by such a sight.
After their arduous work, the father and daughter found straw mats from the ships and covered the bodies, preventing them from being exposed to the wilderness.
In their current situation, they couldn't bury them. The ground was frozen solid, making it impossible to dig.
For now, there was no immediate concern of being preyed upon by wild beasts, so this simple arrangement would have to suffice.
Gu Qingcheng considered it and then bought incense, candles, and paper money from the mall. She lit the incense and candles, burned the paper money, and offered a prayer for their peaceful rebirth.
Would anyone else, like them, be reborn in an unknown place?
Watching the smoke rise and dissipate into the boundless sky, Gu Qingcheng suddenly understood the ancient saying that the rising smoke was a form of communication between humans and the heavens.
Once confirmed there were no more bodies on the ships, Gu Qingcheng stored all of them into the storage cabinet.
Although Gu Zhaobei was accustomed to seeing his daughter use this ability, the sight of such large ships vanishing before his eyes was still quite astonishing.
He sighed and said, "Qingcheng, if you hadn't gained this ability, we wouldn't have survived here for more than three episodes."
His humorous remark made Gu Qingcheng burst into laughter, dispelling much of the somber atmosphere.
With the task completed, the two put on their ice skates and helmets, turned on their head-mounted lights, and began to skate back along the Jinsha River.
The surrounding wilderness was silent and deserted.
Up to this point, apart from the personal guards of Prince Xia they encountered yesterday, they had not met any other living people, so they moved freely, accelerating without restraint.
The ice at night reflected the moonlight. With the headlamps illuminating their path, they skated quickly. It took them over an hour, just like in the morning, and they finally arrived at the outskirts of Jinsha City.
The two turned off their headlamps, switched back to their crampons, stored any excess belongings in the storage cabinet, and cautiously approached the city gate.
The city gate remained wide open. The howling cold wind, like a wild man muttering after being abandoned by his wife, raged uncontrollably at the city entrance, forcefully trying to curry favor with a rival.