Mexico is one of the most famous countries in the world for drug traffickers, and the lack of government strength has led to political corruption, drug traffickers in power, frequent homicides, and even assassinations of high-ranking government officials, which are rare in other countries in the world. The environment in this country is perhaps only stronger than that of the African continent, which is still mired in genocide...... Strong, limited.

This North American country is rich in natural resources, but due to its unique political environment, it cannot be developed on a large industrial scale, and the modern industrial chain of the whole country is biased towards manufacturing. And the country's most famous specialties are oil and drugs. The drug giants have well-armed and well-trained private armies that can even rival the size of local government armies.

Such a weak neighbour was absolutely no threat to the United States of America, and in fact conspiracy theorists generally believed that Mexico's years of unrest were also fueled by foreign intelligence agents. The only thing that could cause trouble for their powerful neighbors is the constant illegal entry of refugees and the large quantities of drugs in the territory of the host country...... A trivial side effect, compared to the black profits that can be siphoned off from it, is just a headache for the grassroots management.

Seventy kilometers east of Laappaz, the capital of Baja California Sur, an old sports car from the last century hurtles down a potholed road. In fact, the road is more suitable for horseback riding, at least not to make the passengers on it want to vomit.

"How long is it going to arrive? I'm almost smelling my vomit. ”

A dark-skinned man struggled to hold the steering wheel with a cigarette in his mouth. Another, more square-faced man was holding two vintage shotguns in the back compartment and a plastic bag in his hand.

"This map is from 20 years ago. The devil knows if there is a little scum left in the copper mine. The boss probably thinks too much, this kind of bird does not lay eggs. Can't even fuck a groundhog. ”

The two men were members of a small and medium-sized drug-producing and trafficking organization. This group is a new gang, and the members add up to about thirty or forty people. They set up their underground workshops in remote mountainous areas. In recent days, it has been heard that someone in the mountains has reopened a long-abandoned copper mine, just a dozen kilometers away from their underground workshop. Although it doesn't seem very far, considering the terrain of the mountains, it is already a distance of more than a day on foot.

If the new owner of the mine wanted to make the industry bigger, there would be a new small village in the area. For this cautious gang, it is news that cannot be judged to be good or bad. So the two members were sent by the boss to find out the news.

"It's the road ahead, turn left into it."

In this economically underdeveloped province, the government does not have the extra economic budget to build roads, especially in such a deserted area. Horses are more reliable than cars. The two struggled to turn the car in, but within two minutes the road had to force them to switch to walking. The two cursed each other as they strapped their shotguns on their backs. The two guns are likely to date back to the time of the Mohicans, but fortunately they were still usable.

After walking along the mountain road for more than ten minutes, the two caught a glimpse of a dirty street sign. The name of the original mine was already vague, but someone nailed a new sign to it, in Spanish, English, and a script that the two did not recognize: "Tongfeng Mine, Metal Refinery and Anxin Nano Medical Device Assembly Workshop, Private Territory." Welcome to visit".

"What a mess...... the driver scratched his head, "Is this Japanese?" Anshin？ It reads like a Japanese ......."

"I think it's like Chinese......"

"Have you studied Chinese?"

"Nope."

The condition of the mountain road behind the road sign still did not improve, but the two found that there were shallow footprints here. After turning the corner of a mountain, the ultra-modern industrial facilities at the top of the mountain stunned the two spies for two minutes.

It seems to be a fully automated operation. Because there was not a single figure in sight. A factory with a near-future design...... No, it's not like a factory, it's like a private villa. It's just that there is probably no second rich man in the world who would be interested in building his mansion in such a place. The two looked at each other and wondered if they had strayed into the private resort of a big drug lord.

"Welcome, both...... I haven't seen a living human in days. ”

A slightly stiff Spanish voice rang out from behind the two of them. The two of them were startled, quickly pulled out the pistol at their waists and turned to aim.

Standing behind them is a man who seems to have stepped out of an Old West story. The eyebrows are supposed to be Asian, but the long hair is tied in traditional Indian braids, the naked and slender upper body, the lower body is barefoot and wears a pair of leather pants, and several sharp throwing knives and hand axes hang from the belt. With a string of hares tied up with straw ropes on his shoulders, he stood in front of them as if he had traveled through time and space.

"Let me introduce myself, I am the owner of this mine. Are you a government prosecutor, or a hunter ......? The strange man's eyes swept over the shotgun behind the two and the pistol in their hands, "Hmm...... I've spent my free time these days learning the art of hunting, and judging by your outfits, I'm afraid you're not professional hunters, and you have a very faint smell on you......"

The oddly dressed Indian man leaned in and took a breath.

"Methamphetamine." The man spelled out the word accurately and happily cocked up his fingers, "I guess you two should be civilian anti-narcotics cops." Do you check the health of the mine? The government approval is at the head of my bedroom bed, if you want to start checking from that, please wait a minute. ”

"Uh...... Excuse me...... We're still ......"

"Let's take a tour of our factory first." The strange man suddenly smiled, "Our company has the world's leading mineral mining technology, and has pioneered the use of fully automatic management, which only requires a small amount of early investment in von Neumann machines, and they will drill deep along the veins in a few weeks, with low cost, high returns, short cycles, low risks, and safe and environmentally friendly...... It is a risk-free investment. ”

The two of them involuntarily followed the strange man towards the entrance of the mine. It was a wide entrance to the mountain wall, and the structural reinforcement of the mine tunnel decades ago was now weathered.

"Please wear a hard hat before entering." The strange man put down the hares and marmots from his shoulders, took a few brand-new hard hats from the wall of the entrance, put one on his head, and handed them to the two.

The mine was dark and dark, with nothing to be seen, and there was no trace of human activity at all. There was only a strange rustling sound, and as the strange man snapped his fingers, thousands of lights suddenly lit up on the cave wall. The lights were still moving slowly, and when the two of them got closer, they saw countless silver spiders with glowing bellies, each the size of a fingernail.

"These are mining-type nanomachines. Geothermal spiders. The name didn't take much thought, but the name comes from the fact that they can draw energy from geothermal energy, automatically detect the distribution of surrounding ore veins, collect ore with their nano-sized mouthparts, and refine it directly in their digestive organs to form high-purity ore ingots. ”

Let a guy who looks like an Indian explain this to himself...... Technology that is completely beyond the scope of the two of them understands, there is a subtle sense of fantasy. In fact, the two of them had completely forgotten their original purpose, and just followed the strange man to the depths of the mine.

"And the most subtle thing about the design is their biology. To be precise, it is the biological nature that is simulated by the Guò intelligent program. Notice the refining device on their abdomen? There, when enough ore ingots have accumulated, about 40 grams, they begin to construct a juvenile geothermal spider, and I designed this self-reproducing system. It's a humble imitation of nature, but it's enough for mining. ”

The man groaned for a moment.

"Although affected by the unfortunate situation of the amount of ore veins and the excavation of lava and groundwater - the vicinity of the volcano-prone zone - the number of these small things is growing exponentially. I only brought about two bracelets with me at the beginning, which is about 400 grams of mechanical blueprint. But before the week came, the mountain was almost dug through...... Speaking of which, did we design the limits for growth at the time? According to the simplest mathematical calculations, wouldn't it be a matter of months to empty the earth's crust...... Forget it, don't care about such trivial things. ”

Seeing the terrifying expressions on the faces of the two, the strange man smiled and said:

"Jokes aside, in fact, these spiders eat mainly metallic minerals such as iron, copper, gold, silver, and tin. The rocks of the earth are mainly silica compounds, and my spiders are not interested in gnawing on them. That's why I had to find a bonanza to mine...... So, do you have any thoughts on your visit? ”

The three of them had already walked into the depths of the mine, and it was obvious that there were large, deep cracks in the walls of the mines, and thousands of spiders had drilled into the cracks and advanced towards the depths of the veins. The scarred rock formations are like dried cheese, and people are frightened to look at, and they are afraid that they will collapse in the next second. The feet were covered with a layer of black particles that looked like sand, which, according to the weirdos, were the slag left behind after refining.

“…… Uh, indeed...... Great investment potential. ”

"It's better to make money than drugs......" The person who said this was quickly stepped on by his companion.

"Hmm......" the weirdo didn't seem to notice their words, "since you two are destined to be here, let's just let you try out our company's new health care products, which are not officially on the market yet, but they can definitely improve the quality of your lives......

"What...... Health products? ”

"Don't resist." The man dressed as an Indian said with a smile.

"Spider!" The driver pointed to the shoulders of the square face in horror, "The spider is crawling into your ears!" ”

"It's safe." The weirdo reiterated with a smile.

――――――

Half an hour later, the two embarked on the way back.

The hearts of the two were filled with peace and quiet. For the first time in adulthood, they felt serenity, warmth and peace again. (To be continued......)