Chapter 824: Chapter 359: Secrets of the Pine Tree Coal Mine (Part 3)
It should be noted that before the Tree of Miracles became the Pillar of the Divine Kingdom, as a false miracle, its greatest function was to fulfill the power of its user.
Accompanied by a faint glow, the safe in front of them opened with a click.
Raventon’s mouth dropped open, and his eyes widened in surprise.
Really, can you ask for divine intervention just to open a safe?
Healing the poor with miracles and helping believers open safes—if you hadn’t mentioned it, I’d have thought it was some kind of heroic thief.
He folded the tool kit in his hand and tucked it back into his chest, murmuring:
"Now I have no choice but to believe in the Eternal Pure Light."
In a place where Raventon couldn’t see, Erin pinched Wu Chang, quite displeased with him tarnishing her reputation.
She communicated with Wu Chang spiritually, asking: "It’s all your fault. What should I do if one day I receive prayers from believers asking for help to open a safe?"
Wu Chang put on a flattering smile and said: "Then you can inflict divine punishment hard, and it’ll be ridding the world of evil."
Just as Raventon thought, there were two ledgers inside the safe. He opened one and, after glancing at it, said with interest:
"A coal mine that not only uses a potentially destructive safe but also encrypts its ledgers—how interesting."
Wu Chang leaned over and asked: "Can you decipher it?"
Raventon shuddered and asked: "The Eternal Purity Crown can’t possibly help with decrypting a ledger too, right?"
Wu Chang shook his head; the Eternal Pure Light couldn’t do that. The miracle skills were on cooldown.
Raventon sighed with relief: "That’s good; it seems detectives won’t be replaced anytime soon."
"Deciphering the ledger is easy. I’ve investigated the mine owner; he’s a typical businessman, not a particularly clever guy."
"To ensure stability in decoding, he must have kept the decryption clues close at hand."
Raventon touched his forefinger to the bookshelf in sequence, finally stopping at a book titled "Application and Maintenance of Steam Engine in Coal Mine."
Pine Tree Coal Mine is the largest coal mine in Stilan. The mine owner frequently attends social events and is rarely seen at the mine; the bookshelf in the office is more for decoration.
Yet on this decorative bookshelf, this particular book looked older.
"A manager capable of causing a historically significant explosion at the mine wouldn’t spend so much effort on such basic knowledge."
He pulled out the book and opened a page, indeed finding strange annotations within.
"Just as I thought, with this, it won’t take long to decrypt the ledger."
Wu Chang praised: "As expected of the first detective of Grimland, we’re waiting for your good news."
Luckily, Raventon spoke fast enough, otherwise he would have intervened.
Though the Eternal Pure Light couldn’t decipher the ledger right now, the All-Knowing Crystal could.
Raventon worked quickly; in just over ten minutes, he noticed anomalies in the ledger.
He flipped through the ledger and said:
"I’ve only deciphered part of the ledger, but one thing is certain: there’s an issue with the profits at Pine Tree Mine."
Wu Chang asked: "What kind of issue?"
Raventon said:
"In the ledger for Pine Tree Coal Mine, the profits for shallow coal and deep coal are calculated separately. The profit for shallow coal, compared to other coal mines, isn’t much different."
"But in the section for deep coal, not only are the profits higher than for shallow coal, they are several times greater—this is definitely an issue."
Meeting Wu Chang’s puzzled eyes, Raventon shook his head, knowing their leader didn’t understand, and began to explain.
Excavating deep coal is more challenging, digging tunnels is more difficult, and the costs are higher.
Studies have shown that to extract one ton of deep coal, the coal consumed just in operating the steam engine is 0.6 to 0.8 tons.
In contrast, shallow coal is easier to extract, requiring less than 0.1 tons of coal per ton extracted.
This calculation only considers energy costs, not the longer labor costs and higher maintenance expenses.
Compared to shallow coal, deep coal doesn’t make money.
For deep coal profits to surpass those of shallow coal, over 90% of the miners at Pine Tree Mine would have to ignore shallow mining and focus on deep mining, which is clearly unreasonable.
Raventon looked at Thomas and said:
"As far as I know, the shallow coal reserves at Pine Tree Mine are huge and far from being exhausted. I don’t think the personnel distribution at Pine Tree Mine would follow this model."
Thomas slightly bowed his head and quietly said:
"Sir, as you mentioned, most of our miners remain in the shallow mines."
Raventon nodded slightly and said:
"Exactly, in the information presented to the public, Pine Tree Mine is only cooperating with Grimlan University to research deep coal mining technology as preparation for future transitions, not refocusing on deep coal mining."
"In this scenario, for deep coal profits to exceed shallow coal, there is only one possibility: they must have found something else in the deep mines."
"Can you tell me what they found, Thomas?"
Thomas’s face showed tension, hesitating whether to reveal the truth.
Wu Chang said: "Don’t worry; we’re not from the Police Hall. We don’t care about anything beyond the explosion case, nor about whatever you might have done."
Seeing Wu Chang’s words, Thomas relaxed. He took a deep breath, went to the mine owner’s desk, dismantled the brass sun ornament on the desk, and removed the brass sphere representing the sun.
He unscrewed the brass sphere and extracted a piece of black mineral, the surface shimmering with iridescent black.
"Sir, the thing they found in the deep mines is coal essence."
Hearing this, Raventon’s face didn’t show surprise—instead, he wore a look of realization.
"I knew there had to be something amiss in Pine Tree Mine to cause such a big affair."
Wu Chang listened, somewhat confused, but he didn’t immediately ask what was going on. Instead, he took the black mineral from Thomas.
The mineral felt light in his hand, lighter than ordinary coal; it contained no discernible Extraordinary Energy, and the Abyssal Game didn’t pop up with an item notification.
Important things without a prompt—this wasn’t the first time in the Steam Phantom Dungeon.
He put on the King’s Badge and indeed saw unusual information about the mineral.
"Item Name: Coal Essence" (Unlocked by King’s Badge)
"Item Type: Special"
"Item Description: Coal essence contains a special energy that can significantly increase thermal efficiency; it is one of the best energy sources for Extraordinary Steam Engines."
"Note: This coal essence is condensed and purified by the Extraordinary Refining Machine, a mineral purification technology unique to Stilan, and is a dazzling jewel on the Industrial Crown."
