C4 She Caught It!

The sight of the old man effortlessly lifting the Worm Iron Ore left many onlookers in awe. It's common knowledge that this particular ore is incredibly dense, and despite the stone's basketball-sized appearance, it weighed in at over 100 kilograms. Yet, the old man hoisted it as easily as an athlete gripping a basketball. It was clear to all that he was a master with formidable strength.

As material wealth grew, so did the human pursuit of longevity. In response, the Carlos Federation championed the practice of cultivation among its citizens. This led to a renaissance of ancient martial arts and the emergence of new schools of physical training. Given that many of the era's prestigious professions, such as planetary exploration and insect taming, required personal combat prowess, and with the world far from peaceful, citizens of the Federation often turned to body techniques and cultivation methods to bolster their strength. A strong individual could easily secure a respected social standing and income.

Tang Tianyuv, however, was the exception. His constitution was so frail that he was incapable of practicing any cultivation methods. Despite his foster parents' encouragement, even after over three months of dedicated effort, he failed to see any progress with the Carlos Moon, a basic technique provided free by the Federation.

Returning to the matter at hand, the young man was refreshingly decisive. He swiped his card for 4,500 credits and said, "Let's not complicate things. Please, just split the stone open for me."

"Sure thing," the old man replied, foregoing any further conversation. He deftly moved the stone onto an alloy blade rack on the other side and secured it before asking, "Do you want to mark it yourself?"

"No, no," the young man replied with a hint of impatience. "Just cut it right down the middle."

While laser cutting was the norm for most materials, Worm Iron Ore was an outlier, impervious to all laser beams. Only a rudimentary physical approach could breach its structure, making the alloy blade rack an essential tool for the trade.

Acknowledging the request, the old man grasped the rack and pushed down firmly. A crisp "Chila" echoed as the stone split evenly in two, revealing a rich, red texture within, yet devoid of any hidden treasures.

"It really failed," the young man said with a self-mocking shake of his head, managing a laugh. "It looks like the lucky few in this world are just that—very few."

The old man chuckled in response, but offered no words. With decades of experience in the Worm Iron Ore industry, he'd seen countless hopefuls come in search of treasure, only to leave empty-handed. The odds of striking it rich were less than one in ten thousand—a fact he knew well before the first stone was even split.

The likelihood of finding an Energy Crystal within Worm Iron Ore was abysmally low, a fact known to all. Yet the allure of the crystals was irresistible. Dreamers were plentiful in this world, and it was precisely these dreamers that kept the ore merchants in business.

Tang Tianyuv remained a detached observer, with Yem Yu dutifully at his side. Despite her striking beauty, she went unnoticed; the stones held everyone's rapt attention, more captivating than any beauty could be, rendering the pair virtually invisible.

As more individuals selected and cut open their chosen stones, the results were predictably empty. Watching intently, Tang Tianyuv began to grasp some of the unwritten rules of the trade.

The stones, freshly retrieved from other planets by adventurers, were enigmatic; their secrets impenetrable to human technology. Yet, seasoned miners could make educated guesses about the presence of crystals based on a stone's exterior. Stones with a higher likelihood of containing crystals were deemed superior and commanded steep prices, making them a high-stakes gamble. In contrast, those unlikely to hold crystals were considered inferior and sold cheaply, a modest wager at best.

Even superior stones, once cut and found empty, were almost guaranteed to be crystal-less. Still, some gamblers were willing to bet on the slim chance of finding crystals not at the core, but elsewhere within the stone, perhaps even near the surface. Thus, these partially sliced stones were relegated to the inferior pile as well.

Another factor was size. Larger stones had a greater chance of housing crystals, a pattern confirmed by humanity's millennia-long history with Worm Iron Ore. The bigger the stone, the better the odds—a rule of thumb that had stood the test of time.

So, what Tang Tianyuv was looking at was a shop that specialized in selling low-grade Worm Iron Ore. The place was crowded because most of the clientele were novices just looking for a bit of fun, and naturally, they didn't want to spend too much for their entertainment.

The premium ores? Those were a headache for the connoisseurs to deal with.

As the shop began to quiet down, Tang Tianyuv seized the moment to inquire, "Boss, what about that stone over there?"

He was referring to the black stone that emanated an odd power.

The shopkeeper glanced over and asked, "What stone?"

"That one, the black one," Tang Tianyuv pointed out, "in the corner, under the wooden rack."

The shopkeeper peered over, squinting, until he finally spotted the nondescript black stone. He was taken aback, thinking to himself how unusual this young man was. Others might gamble blindly, but at least they knew a stone when they saw one. How could this fellow fail to recognize a stone? If you're looking for stones, they're on the shelves. Why look there?

Despite his confusion, the shopkeeper maintained his professional integrity and explained, "That stone got mixed in with the last delivery by accident. It's not Worm Iron Ore at all."

"Oh," Tang Tianyuv responded nonchalantly, "but I'm interested in buying that stone."

The shopkeeper, who had just taken a sip of water, nearly choked upon hearing this. "What? You want to buy this stone? I've already told you it's not Worm Iron Ore."

"But I'd like to buy it," Tang Tianyuv insisted, fixing his gaze on the shopkeeper. "Could you name a price?"

The old man was baffled, scrutinizing Tang Tianyuv with a flicker of suspicion in his eyes. "Could this stone actually be valuable? But why haven't I noticed anything special about it all this time? I've got plenty of experience with Worm Iron Ore. Even if that stone turned red, it doesn't look like it could produce an Energy Crystal by its appearance..."

After pondering for a while and still coming up empty, he couldn't resist asking, "Young man, what do you want with this stone?"

"It's nothing," Tang Tianyuv said with a guileless scratch of his head and a smile. "I was thinking of making a small wager, but after seeing their bets, I realized it's not worth gambling money on stones. So, I gave up on betting. But since I'm here, leaving empty-handed just doesn't sit right with me, so I'd like to take a stone back home."

He paused, then added, "Worm Iron Ore is way out of my price range. That stone over there looks pretty worthless. How about you sell it to me? It'd save me from bad luck of going back with nothing."

Tang was dirt poor, and he was trying to use a bit of reverse psychology on the old man: The stone's not worth much, so don't charge me an arm and a leg. Better yet, just give it to me.

The old man had an epiphany and chuckled, "You've got your ways, I'll give you that. But I deal in Worm Iron Ore here, and I can't just hand over the stone for free. That would be bad luck for me. Tell you what, give me five hundred and I'll consider it selling you the lowest grade of Worm Iron Ore."

Tang was floored.

He thought he was being clever, but the old man was a step ahead. Even after he'd made it clear the stone was worthless, the old man still insisted on five hundred. And Tang's pockets? They held a mere eighty-six and two.

Just then, he felt something warm, delicate, and soft brush against his palm before swiftly being withdrawn, leaving behind a few banknotes. It could only be Yem Yu's doing.

"Yem Yu... she's truly empathetic," Tang thought to himself with heartfelt gratitude.

He hated the idea of borrowing money because he lacked the confidence to pay it back. But this time, he had a hunch that the strange power within the stone was going to be of great significance to him. Maybe, just maybe, from his initial reluctance to step into Black Stone Lane to his eventual entry, his destiny had already begun to shift in subtle ways, signaling that it was time for a turning point in his life.

So, Tang Tianyuv only hesitated briefly before clutching the banknotes in his palm. He then gave the old man a firm nod and declared, "It's a deal!"

Onlookers in the shop gazed at Tang Tianyuv as if he were a fool for actually spending five hundred yuan on such a nondescript black stone. The old man accepted the money with one hand and hoisted the stone with the other, asking, "Want to have it cut open?"

"No, no," Tang Tianyuv hastily replied, shaking his head.

With a sly grin, the old man casually tossed the stone into Tang's chest, proclaiming, "It's all yours now!"

The stone was merely the size of a fist and, even as Worm Iron Ore, it couldn't possibly weigh more than twenty kilograms. The old man's toss seemed natural, yet Yem Yu couldn't help but let out a startled cry, reaching out instinctively to intercept it. She vividly recalled how her Brother Tang had once stumbled from a mere two-kilogram basketball.

But Tang Tianyuv, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, effortlessly caught the stone in his hand and strolled out, beckoning, "Come on, Xiaoyu."

"Brother," Yem Yu dashed after him, her large, luminous eyes wide with astonishment. "You actually caught it!"

"Yes, I caught it..." Tang Tianyuv's own eyes grew wide in surprise. "Did I really just catch that?"