Seventeen days later.
Molten Rock Empire's resource planet, Red-13N, was a planet entirely crimson, with many deep mining tunnels on its surface.
A spaceship from the Sand Sea Stellar Cultivation Camp landed on this crimson planet.
Click!
The hatch opened, and Ender, along with over twenty students, stepped out of the spaceship.
"Resource planet Red-13N, with a diameter of 9,642 kilometers. This planet has no atmosphere, a harsh environment, and is filled with various cosmic rays. Life forms below Stellar Rank cannot survive."
As soon as he stepped onto the crimson land of Red-13N, information about the planet appeared in Ender's mind.
He looked into the distance and saw bare crimson mountains without any vegetation, as well as many tall drilling rigs.
Looking up, he could see the dark Universe and the endless starry sky, as well as the Stellar radiating light and heat.
This was his first time operating on a planet without an atmosphere, and everything felt very novel.
"Alright, you have three months on this planet to complete the collection mission."
The Cosmic-Level Instructor of the Sand Sea Stellar Cultivation Camp said, "This trial mission will be fully transmitted simultaneously by the Virtual Universe, so don't think about relying on the miners on the planet to complete the mission."
"The collection targets will be sent to your communicators in ten minutes. Good luck."
After he finished speaking, the spaceship's hatch closed with a "click."
"From the information provided by the Stellar Training Camp, this planet has no plants apart from the Molten Rock Empire's miners. Our collection targets are probably minerals!"
A student complained in a low voice, "This is treating us like miners!"
Another student chimed in, "You'll get used to it. This collection mission is considered simple."
In the eyes of many students, this trial mission was indeed simple. There was no need to hunt Ferocious beasts or collect plants; just being a miner was very safe.
"It's here!"
Ten minutes passed, and everyone opened their communicators in unison.
Looking at the collection mission targets on the light screen in front of him, Ender couldn't help but click his tongue, "It really is being a miner, and a deep-well miner at that!"
He had a total of thirteen mineral collection targets. For every ten tons of a mineral, he would receive 1 point, with a maximum of 10 points for each type of mineral.
In other words, if he collected ten tons of all the minerals, he would get 130 points.
Without communicating with others, Ender opened the map of Red-13N and flew towards the nearest mine shaft, stepping on his Heavy Defense Disk.
The planet Red-13N was not large, and its resources were limited. Everyone's collection mission targets were similar, so there was no possibility of cooperation.
Because Red-13N had no atmosphere and was interfered with by various cosmic rays, the mining equipment used on this planet was highly reliable but not precise. These pieces of equipment were extremely reliant on human operation.
After entering the mine shaft, Ender flew along the tunnel. Not long after, he encountered several Stellar Rank miners.
"Hmm?"
As he passed by these miners, his gaze swept over them, and he felt that one of them looked familiar.
"He probably just looks a lot like someone, otherwise I would definitely remember."
With his Stellar Rank memory, it was impossible for him to forget someone familiar; it was most likely just a similar appearance.
Moreover, Red-13N was very far from his hometown, Kuka Planet, so no familiar people would appear here.
"Is that...?"
One of the Stellar Rank miners looked at Ender flying past him, his heart filled with shock!
"Oh! That should be someone from one of the Empire's Stellar Training Camps." A miner who had worked on Red-13N for a longer time replied, "They come once in a while, perhaps every few years to more than ten years."
The miner who spoke first said with some disbelief, "Stellar Training Camp!"
"Yes, Geniuses from the Stellar Training Camp. Only the Empire's top Geniuses can enter, and they have boundless futures!"
Another person praised enviously, "Unlike us? Digging minerals here day and night!"
Regarding his companion's praise, the first miner's expression was very ugly. "How long has it been? Just over a year!"
"That little guy from the Royce Family actually entered the Stellar Training Camp in such a short time!"
This miner was none other than Marcel Holke, who had once made things difficult for Ender during the Morning Light Academy's entrance test!
Because he rejected Ender's special admission to Morning Light Academy, he was removed from his instructor position on the grounds of abusing his power for personal vendetta. Later, it was found that he had embezzled Imperial property and was exiled to Red-13N to mine.
He had to return the embezzled Imperial property and interest, plus a fine, both requiring a huge amount of contribution points.
At his current rate of earning contributions, it would take him over a hundred years to earn enough contribution points to return to Kuka Planet.
He was still fortunate; those instructors who escaped from the Kuka Planet Joint Training Camp were even more miserable. If they didn't dig up precious minerals, they would never be able to leave Red-13N for their entire lives.
"This talent is too terrifying!"
At this moment, Marcel was very worried about his Family. "I wonder how the Family is doing now? Will they suffer retaliation from the Royce Family?"
Seeing Marcel in a daze, a miner reminded him, "Hey! Marcel, hurry up and get to work! Don't space out!"
Marcel came back to his senses, "Okay."
Worrying about his Family now was useless, because he had to continue his mining career and work hard to earn contribution points to go home.
...
On the other side, Ender, who had long since forgotten about Marcel, continued to fly deeper into the mine tunnel.
"According to the map, there are tools stored here."
At a tool storage location, Ender picked up tools and flew towards an unoccupied mine tunnel...
Thump thump thump!
Three months passed, and Ender's mining career ended.
His luck was good in this collection mission; he filled up several minerals, obtaining a total of 94 points, ranking among the top in points obtained in this trial mission.
He returned to the Sand Sea Stellar Cultivation Camp by spaceship.
Ender pondered how to use his points in his room. "Adding the 1 point I had left before, I now have 95 points."
"Exchanging for the Soul Piercing Needle secret technique requires 104 points; I don't have enough points."
"If I spend 50 points on one lesson from a Domain Master instructor, then I'll have 45 points left. After completing the next trial mission, I'll have enough points to exchange for the Soul Piercing Needle."
He mused, "If I use 80 points for nutrient capsule enhancement, I'll have 15 points left. Even after completing the next trial mission, I might not be able to exchange for the Soul Piercing Needle."
Hesitating for a moment, he decided to use all his points on improving his strength. "Exchanging for the Soul Piercing Needle can wait."
"As long as I raise my Gene Energy Rank, my Spiritual Master Rank will naturally rise accordingly, and the power of the Soul Piercing Needle will also greatly increase!"
He planned to spend 80 points on nutrient capsule enhancement after returning, raising his Gene Energy Rank to Stellar Level 4, and his Spiritual Master Rank would also reach Stellar Rank Six.
With a 32-fold life Gene Level, he could fight across four Ranks within the same Realm, meaning he would have few rivals in the Stellar Training Camp!