After leaving the Chongxing Base, quite a few children around the same age as Brian Carter were already heading toward the ring-shaped mountain five li south of the base. Most of them traveled in groups—after all, in such harsh natural conditions, the power of unity could be even greater at times, not to mention the need to guard against being robbed of their hard-earned gains along the way.

Generally speaking, most of the children in the base would choose to go mining at the ring-shaped mountain near the end of the month, staying anywhere from a day to a week. Those who were highly capable, or just lucky enough to stumble upon a rich vein, could mine enough in a single day to exchange for the next month’s food rations.

Likewise, for those less fortunate or lacking in strength, a week was pretty much the limit they could endure at the ring-shaped mountain. First, the mountain’s harsh climate was almost unbearable—the raging blizzards mixed with bean-sized hail battered them around the clock, and even adults would struggle to withstand such torment.

Second, by the end of the month, food supplies were already running low. If they insisted on staying at the ring-shaped mountain, not only would their strength be sapped by hunger, but they might not even have the energy to carry back the ore they’d already mined. After all, trading a small amount of ore for half a month’s rations was still better than starving to death on the mountain—anyone could do that math.

With his second-level physical training, Brian Carter quickly adapted to traveling under 1.5 times gravity. The five-li journey took him only about fifteen minutes to complete.

Brian Carter didn’t follow the main group, but instead walked another two li ahead, stopping at a little-known climbing point. This plan was something Brian Carter had made three months after arriving on Patrick Star.

Back then, he was only at the first level of physical and mental training. He’d stumbled upon this climbing point by chance, originally intending just to collect enough ore to exchange for a month’s rations before heading back. Unexpectedly, a sudden flash flood trapped Brian Carter on the ring-shaped mountain. Although, compared to the tens of thousands of meters high the mountain reached, the spot where Brian Carter was trapped was only at the foot, with his strength and stamina at the time, he simply couldn’t make it down the mountain through the flood.

After enduring for two days, the storm finally subsided, and he was greeted by one of the few clear days Patrick Star had each year. At the same time, Brian Carter discovered a path leading straight to the mountainside.

Although this “path” barely deserved to be called a road, it was still much easier to traverse than the dense forest cliffs he’d faced before. Brian Carter took a risk and spent two days following this path, reaching a height he’d never imagined he could climb.

There, Brian Carter mined ore of much higher quality than anything found below three thousand meters. The rare high-grade primal fire crystals, seldom seen below three thousand meters, could be collected here in just a few hours—several kilograms at a time. There were even primal blue crystals, a single kilogram of which could be traded for half a month’s rations.

That trip to the ring-shaped mountain brought Brian Carter a huge windfall—he exchanged it all for two months’ worth of nutrient solution.

But his luck ended there. When he tried to retrace the route up to the mountainside, he simply couldn’t find that winding path again. The harsh weather on Patrick Star made him lose his way. After several fruitless attempts, at the same time the following year, Brian Carter found the “path” again. What amazed him was that it was the same day of the same month, after two days of flash floods, and once again the sky cleared...

With a second success, Brian Carter became certain that this path to the higher reaches of the ring-shaped mountain only appeared on this special day each year. Although he couldn’t explain why, he knew clearly that this meant if he came prepared next year, he could make a huge profit.

If he only mined enough ore to exchange for two or three months’ worth of food at once, wouldn’t that be a waste of this once-a-year opportunity? When the phrase “one effort for a lifetime of ease” flashed through Brian Carter’s mind, he was already set on today’s journey.

Although you could see two suns on Patrick Star, and even in raging blizzards the twin suns still hung high in the sky, the nights here were extremely long—about twice as long as the days.

After climbing to the three-thousand-meter height he’d visited many times before, Brian Carter found a lava cave just big enough for three to five people and stopped to rest. He looked up at the twin suns gradually sinking in the west, took out half a bottle of nutrient solution, carefully took a sip, then quickly screwed the cap back on and put it away.

A bottle of nutrient solution could provide an adult with three days’ worth of energy. For a child like Brian Carter, who was only eleven, a bottle could sustain him for a week.

At Chongxing Base, to get a bottle of nutrient solution, you had to hand over ten kilograms of primal fire crystals. Setting aside the effort of finding a source of primal fire crystals and climbing to three thousand meters, even with only crude tools, it would take a child at the third level of physical training five hours to mine ten kilograms of primal fire crystals.

Although there were still two hours left—enough time for Brian Carter to mine three kilograms of primal fire crystals at a nearby source—he didn’t do so. Instead, he used his backpack as a pillow and drifted off to sleep in comfort.