Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

The black-gray palm crows flew across the deep blue sky, while the gold-red, blue, and purple stone mountain shimmered on the emerald green plain. Against the backdrop of distant verdant forest, this brilliantly colored exposed hill seemed to harbor the divinity of the earth, and was so captivating.

"Is this the stone mountain said to possess divinity in local legends?"

Priest Tomate walked to the edge of the colorful stone mountain, his expression becoming serious. He squatted down, picked up a hefty rock, and carefully examined it in his hands. After a moment, he solemnly reached a conclusion.

"Chief Divine bear witness! These brightly colored stones must be some kind of mineral ore..."

Hearing this apparent conclusion, the old militia Chiwaco laughed and shook his head. He first looked towards Tikalo with an inquisitive expression.

"Tikalo, in your fleet's records?..."

"There's no mention of what kind of mountain this is in the Royal Family's fleet records..."

"Old Pu, what do you think?"

"Huh? Hmm...my back aches, I can't see clearly."

"Bah!"

The old militia spat, turning to look at the only person among them who could identify mineral ore, the Divine Revelation Priest.

"Priest Mekate, would you kindly take a look..."

"Alright!"

Mekate nodded and stepped forward. After searching for a moment, he too picked up a gilt ore, weighed its heft, then tested its hardness. He then gazed at the slightly visible green surface of the ore, pondering in silence. After a while, he took out his small bronze hammer, chipped some blue-green powder from the ore's surface, and tasted it.

"...Bitter, with a noticeable pungent smell... This is malachite! This vast mountain is definitely a large copper mine, and of no low quality!"

"Hmm? A copper mine? This dark red with yellow, along with blue, purple, black, and gray colors, doesn't quite resemble the copper mines in the Alliance's South..."

Hearing it was a large open copper mine, Priest Tomate's brows twitched. He exchanged glances with the old militia, both showing some disappointment. Large copper mines were present in the southern counties of the Kingdom of the Lake. Moreover, high-quality red copper could easily be obtained on the commercial routes of the Northern Continent.

"These red and blue-purple patterns are very unique. I always feel there's more than just copper in this copper mine!"

The old militia pondered for a while, scratched his head, and made a decision.

"Praise the Chief Divine! Since we're already here, let's carefully investigate for a day and take some ore back!"

Soon, a large cohort of samurais with the group scattered and began to work busily. As dusk approached, the sunset cast its glow, bringing an end to the day's exploration.

Just as Priest Mekate had assessed, the entire mountain and the surface area extending for miles was a large copper deposit. A rough estimate placed the copper deposit's reserves at least in the millions of tons!

Slight despondency showed on everyone's faces. Compared to the Kingdom's urgent desire for open-pit iron ore, a distant high-quality copper mine didn't count for much. After all, in the vast and bountiful American Continent, "copper" was never lacking.

They were unaware that the copper mountain they had discovered was the largest copper mine on Cuba Island, the Great Cobar Copper Mining! This astonishingly large copper mountain was once one of the world's largest mining operations by the late 19th century, containing high-grade, tens of millions of tons-level rich copper ore!

In later times, this large copper mine was excavated to over four hundred meters underground, and still produced ore. In this era, if the Ming Empire could exploit this large copper mine, the currency revenue brought only from this one mine could solve the financial issues that began to manifest during the Chenghua period!

"Chief Divine bear witness! It truly is a large copper mine, larger than any of the Kingdom's! Ah, what a pity!"

Priest Tomate looked around, observing the signs of the mineral belt extending for miles, and sighed. Puap rubbed his waist, stared down at the ground for a long time, then picked up a piece of dense and heavy black-striped hard stone to carry with him.

At this time in the world, no one recognized the true nature of this hard stone, nor did anyone realize that another rare mineral lay next to this copper belt, a gift from the Paleogene Period – high-quality nickel-manganese ore.

Indeed, the Cobar copper belt and the Bayamo manganese belt are geographically tightly connected and even partially intertwined. In later mapping data, the Bayamo manganese belt's manganese reserves were seven million tons.

"Chief Divine bless! Record the position of this large copper mine in the navigation logs. The Kingdom is rapidly expanding, and even Cuba Island's copper mine will soon have an opportunity for exploitation. Discovering this unclaimed large copper mine is indeed a great accomplishment!"

Priest Tomate lowered his eyelids, and when he opened them again, there was a look of invigorated joy. He inspired the fleet members, gazing towards the East.

"Praise the Chief Divine! The fleet's next target is two hundred miles to the East at the Guata division. We will stay there for two days, proclaim the glory of the Chief Divine, and leave the Chief Divine's illustrated scriptures! Then, traveling another three hundred miles onwards, we will arrive at the easternmost point of the long snake head on Cuba Snake Island!..."

"From there on, the fleet will turn to the Northwest, taking the route back home from the other side of Cuba Snake Island! According to the records of the Mayapan Royalty, open copper mines are located at Mayali Region north of the Cuban Snake Head! May the Chief Divine guide us to discover the iron mines and journey home!"

"May the Chief Divine guide us to discover the iron mines and journey home!"

On hearing this, everyone's spirits were lifted, and they all began to pray devoutly. Old militia Chiwaco exchanged a glance with Mayan merchant Tikalo, and a thoughtful glimmer flashed in their eyes. A moment later, Chiwaco looked again at the jubilant Puap, who clamored for homecoming, and his eyes lowered with a hint of reluctance.

"Old Pu, my friend of many years, I wouldn't harm you... It's just that the mistakes you've made need to be atoned for, to clear up matters before His Lordship..."

As dusk settled, bonfires were lit on the plain, bringing a rare burst of vitality to the mineral mountains dormant for millions of years. This trace of human vitality receded with the rise of the morning sun, finally boarding seven timeworn repaired longships set for the far eastern fertile lands of Cuba.

The vast sea and sky stretched out, solitary sails heading eastward. Several days later, the Kingdom's exploratory fleet passed through the thriving Guata region, staying for two days to teach the Chief Divine's doctrine, preach the prophecy of the white men, gathering enough food and water. Guata region was situated near the inner side of a bay in a coastal lagoon, boasting abundant water sources, flat terrain, and rivers converging, making it a natural deep-water harbor.

In future times, the location of the Guata region would have another "imposing and intimidating" name, known as "Guantanamo."

Half a month later, continuous rain came at the end of July, and the first hurricanes of August began brewing. Finally, the Kingdom's exploration fleet reached the easternmost point of Cuba Snake Island. From here, looking out at the eastern sea, one could occasionally see sturdy dugout long canoes carrying brave Taino fishermen, taking days' worth of cassava towards the opposite coastline.

Just across the coastline, within less than two hundred miles by sea passage, lay a large island bustling with human activity and thriving tribes. This great island was home to tens of thousands of Taino people, who held it as the shared ancestral land of the various Taino divisions, a water-rich nation. The name of this great island was referred to by local Taino people as the "land of tall mountains," also known as "Haiti."