86: This hot spring is amazing

Tian Ming looked at the dark and deep cave entrance, and a bundle of fiber rope appeared in his hand.

The rope had a hook, and a carbon fiber tripod was set directly above the cave entrance.

"Three of you follow me down; I'll catch them, and you transport them.

The rest of you stay up top and receive the cages, understood?" Tian Ming said.

Gouzi nodded slightly: "Understood, Boss."

"You don't need to worry; the space below should be very large, just don't stray too far from me.

With me here, those rats won't be able to get close."

Gouzi was emboldened by Tian Ming's words and, with two strong men, followed Tian Ming down.

Upon reaching the bottom, they found that the underground cave space was indeed very large; their location was a semi-circular space, and the temperature here was very high, around twenty to thirty degrees Celsius, which felt very comfortable.

Gouzi took off his cold-weather gear and said, "This place is good, quite warm."

Tian Ming shone his powerful flashlight and walked towards the depths of the cave.

This was probably seventy to eighty meters underground, but it was very dry; touching the surrounding rocks, they felt somewhat hot.

"Boss, is there lava under our feet?"

Tian Ming shook his head: "You really don't study.

At 70 meters underground, it's at most a granite layer.

Such a high temperature indicates there's a hot spring underground.

If lava surged this close to the surface, it would have turned into a volcano long ago."

"Boss is brilliant and knowledgeable," Gouzi followed closely behind Tian Ming, flattering him as he walked.

"Stop flattering me.

This underground cave has already formed a very slow airflow; it should be connected to the outside world, otherwise, it wouldn't have such a high oxygen content.

The cave walls are warm; the heat promotes air circulation inside."

"Boss, then how do we catch those rats?" Gouzi continued to ask.

"We are currently going downhill; when we get near the heat source, we should be able to see them.

This type of rat should use geothermal heat to forage, so once we find them, we'll have a way to catch them," Tian Ming said as he walked.

They walked another twenty to thirty meters and indeed saw a few rats.

These rats were very large, similar to rabbits, completely grey-black, with a pair of sharp incisors.

Tian Ming waved his hand, and several carbon fiber cages directly formed.

The rats were enveloped within the cages; startled, they frantically bit at the carbon fiber cages, making squeaking sounds.

But no matter how much they struggled, they couldn't bite through the carbon fiber cages.

Gouzi watched dumbfounded: "Boss, you're amazing!"

Tian Ming smiled slightly: "Keep walking; after I've caught all the rats here, you can move them.

I want to see how many rats are here."

These underground caves should have been formed by crustal movement, combined with long-term groundwater.

But the groundwater gradually dried up due to human activities, which is why it became so dry.

Continuing forward, they soon arrived at the heat source.

This was a hot spring, about half a meter deep, with bubbles rising from it.

The pool was very large; the flashlight beam reached the opposite rock wall of the cave at about thirty meters.

There must be more caves underwater, extending to other places.

This water was clear, not stagnant, but flowing.

Next to the pool, there were also many holes about thirty to forty centimeters in diameter, densely packed, numbering in the hundreds.

"It seems these rats use these holes to enter and exit," Tian Ming said.

Gouzi looked at the holes, his scalp tingling: "Boss, if we have to catch them one by one, when will we finish?"

Tian Ming squatted down and touched the water temperature in the pool.

The spring's temperature was very high, at least above 60 degrees Celsius.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Those rats were all scared away by me just now.

You go to the exit and tell them to call Shen Yi over.

I'll wait here for you."

Gouzi nodded and quickly hunched over, running back the way they came; he didn't want to stay there any longer.

After Gouzi left, Tian Ming sat by the pool.

These large rats should have come through the holes to warm themselves here.

These small creatures are very sensitive to danger.

He had killed so many of their companions in one move earlier.

As long as he stayed in this cave, they would definitely not come back.

However, it was really warm here.

It was likely that underground magma had surged through fissures to a place very close to the surface, heating the groundwater.

If heat exchange pipes were installed here to direct the heat into the Shelter, then the heating problem for the Shelter's buildings would be solved.

Calling Shen Yi over was to have him assess whether such an idea could be implemented.

Moreover, the water source inside this cave was also very good.

In Tian Ming's perception, all this water was high-quality mineral water.

There weren't many heavy metals, and even if there were some harmful elements, it wouldn't be a problem for Tian Ming's ability to remove them directly.

After waiting for about 20 minutes, Gouzi returned with Shen Yi and a few others.

When Shen Yi arrived at this underground cave, he marveled at its spaciousness.

He was somewhat surprised; if they hadn't been digging earthworks to build the city walls, they wouldn't have discovered such a giant underground cave beneath the abandoned steel factory so early.

"Boss, I'm here," Shen Yi said.

"Look at this water temperature; can it be utilized?" Tian Ming pointed to the hot spring.

Shen Yi squatted down and tested the hot spring water with his hand.

He quickly withdrew his hand, clearly burned by the water.

If the water temperature was over 60 degrees Celsius, the rocks beneath the water would certainly exceed 60 degrees, reaching around 70 degrees.

Shen Yi nodded slightly and said, "It can be utilized.

It would be a bit lacking for power generation, but it's more than enough for heating."

"Then, after I finish catching the rats, we'll make a vertical shaft at the entrance.

You go back and think about it, design a heat exchange plan, and see how to utilize this large heat source most efficiently," Tian Ming said.

Shen Yi nodded slightly: "No problem, this shouldn't be too difficult.

If we can find that magma fissure, we can use geothermal energy to generate electricity."

"No rush on that; our Shelter's electricity issue isn't very prominent yet.

One step at a time, no need to panic," Tian Ming said.

"Okay, then let's catch the rats now."

Tian Ming glanced at Gouzi.

Gouzi quickly walked over and said, "Boss, what do you want us to do?"

Tian Ming walked to the wall covered with holes.

His current control radius was 10 meters.

He could clearly see the situation within 10 meters inside the rock.

"I will seal all the holes here and connect all these holes internally, leaving only one exit.

Then I will heat the air inside these holes, and the rats will definitely run out.

I'll set up a large cage at the exit, and then you can just transport them."

Gouzi listened to Tian Ming's plan and grinned, "Boss, no problem."