It is precisely because of Natsu Mastenbrooke's outstanding achievements and his superb talent in robot and Necron technology that Soshyan became more dependent on him, not only making him an Astral Knight battle robot The second commander of the brigade also made him the second Mechanicus person after Dietrian to have access to the most secret armory of the Astral Knights. In a sense, he has begun to compete with Dietrian. potential.
The main reason why Nasu came to see Soshiyang was because when Soshiyang was working on Naisen No. 5, he sent him to Naisen No. 6 in advance to investigate the mineral resources here, and Nasu was there. After analyzing the various types of raw ore mined by Naisen No. 6, he sent his own exploration team to dig some underground and conducted several rounds of detection using instruments, and finally came up with a rough result.
Judging from the data submitted by Suna, Nathan 6 is a planet rich in minerals. Its mineral types are generally not very different from Nathan 5. The specific reserves cannot be determined due to the short detection time. Accurate information can be obtained, but the reserves of heavy metal raw ores should be considered above average.
However, there is a very special place in Naisen No. 6, which the Ministry of Justice has not discovered -
Naisen No. 6 has an extremely large gold-rich vein, which is the reason why Su An exploration team sent by Na accidentally discovered it around an active volcano on the planet near the Antarctic. According to their detection results, there was a gold vein that almost spanned the continent. It was probably a huge mineral that carried a large amount of gold elements in the early stages of the planet's formation. Meteorites and even asteroids directly impacted the surface of the planet, permanently changing the orbit of Nathan 6. Some of the remnants formed huge gold veins around the impact area along with the movement of the earth's crust.
This also explains why there are some gold mines in the Ministry of Justice's raw ore list.
However, the Ministry of Justice was obviously not that focused on this prison world, and did not invite very professional mechanical priests to conduct investigations, so they guarded a golden mountain but did not find it at all.
This brings good news to Soshyan.
You must know that gold is also a rare mineral in the empire. After all, the conditions for the formation of this metal element are too harsh. Whether it is a supernova explosion or a neutron star collision, it is an extremely low probability event in the huge galaxy. , so even in the 41st millennium, gold is still a high-value precious metal.
In addition, gold also occupies an important position in the industrial system of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Many cutting-edge products and weapons require the use of this metal, such as the famous Poison Blade. Its various internal facilities and instruments include at least 0.4 tons of gold, the poison blade is expensive not only because of its complex structure, but also because of the various expensive and rare metals it uses, which determines its cost.
But why couldn't gold serve as the common currency of the empire?
A very important reason is that the rarity of gold makes it difficult to meet the commercial needs of all the world if it is placed in an extremely huge empire. In addition, since the establishment of the empire, a law has been enacted that prohibits Although private transactions and gold storage were not strictly enforced at first, and small-scale private transactions and gold holdings were considered unspoken rules by default, as time went by and the people of the empire became increasingly impoverished, the ban on gold became stricter. Because this gives the upper class a good excuse to plunder private wealth. (I made it up myself, don’t take it seriously, but I sometimes wonder why the presence of gold in the empire seems to be very high and yet very low. It is used everywhere on ships and buildings, but it is not very common as currency. Of course, there are some The world uses gold coins, but they are not common)
This is why gold can be seen in palaces, battleships, churches, and even equipment in the empire, but it is difficult to see it only in areas below the Middle Nest. reason.
But gold is ultimately a rare precious metal. It is naturally an equivalent commonly used by merchants or bulk interstellar trade. It has the same status as palladium in the maelstrom area, but it will be more valuable in some areas. , for example, in places like the solar system where the population is highly dense and there are many powerful people, in some border areas, the value will be relatively low. Generally speaking, it can be called a very "valuable" mineral. Although Nathan 5 also produces gold, most of it is associated ores, and a few deep gold mines have long been dug out. After all, most of the planet's gold elements exist in the earth's core.
The large gold veins of Naisen No. 6 can be said to be a fortune from heaven. According to Nasu's detection results, its potential reserves should be around 5 billion tons.
So Soshyan asked Nasu not to move in a hurry, but to prepare the necessary equipment and personnel, and after the relocation of the Legal Department is completed, he can then go to the mineral vein area for mining. After all, it is located at the south pole of the planet. , the daily average ground temperature is as low as minus 80 degrees, and in extreme cases can reach minus 120 degrees. It is definitely difficult to mine manually, so it is best to use mechanical mining. As for the use after mining, Soshiyan plans to use part of To pay for the construction costs of Ulan Huda, Naisen No. 6 needs to build many new facilities to become a new colony. These all rely on Ulan Huda's mechanical construction team. Although he is the opponent's allegiance, Soshyan cannot It really makes people work in vain, even if Bangura does not complain, it is not fair to Ulan Huda.
The other part is used to purchase large civilian equipment from Zhao Akada and order new warships. The rest goes into the battle group's warehouse as preliminary administrative expenses. After all, Soshiyan With so many subordinate organizations and institutions being added, those new personnel also need to be paid, especially technical personnel such as scholars, who cannot just be sent away to those who stutter, right?
After having a basic understanding of the situation on Naisen 6, Soshyan immediately set off for the planet at the edge of the Naisen galaxy, Naisen 7.
Naisen 7 is similar to Neptune in the solar system. It is also a gaseous planet. It is also the largest of the Neisen planets. Therefore, it has a total of 10 satellites of different sizes. It looks huge from a distance. blue sphere.
This kind of planet has almost no significance for colonization, because the surface temperature of the planet is often as low as minus 200 degrees and is filled with large amounts of methane, ethane and acetylene, but for the Mechanicus, such a planet is of great significance because it often represents Found a mechanical source——
Promethium!
Yes, a considerable part of the promethium used by the human empire is mined from these gaseous planets. Others, such as under the ice of frozen worlds or in the promethium seas of dead worlds, can also be mined. Promethium, like the more famous world Safinius in the Storm Star Region, is famous for its huge sea of promethium.
To obtain promethium, you first need to mine raw ore. Raw promethium in gaseous planets often exists at a depth of 7,000 meters in the mantle, accompanied by huge diamond mountains. Although the reserves are not small, mining is relatively difficult. It is far from being as easy as just digging through the ice in the frozen world, let alone the Promethium Sea, which can easily use drilling platforms to obtain large quantities of raw promethium. But after all, the reserves are here, and the Promethium Sea is not easy to find. , for this reason, the Mechanicus has also developed the technology to obtain promethium from gaseous planets.