A biting cold wind blew in from the sea, whipping the Imperial Flag high above the shore. Beneath the blue-and-gold Sword and Plow emblem, soldiers and technical craftsmen were welding the day's third anchoring pile to a steel framework. Unsealed magic network runes glimmered faintly on the ground nearby, while sparks from thermal beams striking steel scattered across the recently hardened surface. Within the metal frame, more than ten meters tall, some copper pipes and heat-conducting fins had already been secured in position, awaiting connection to the remaining heat pipes.
This enormous device was part of the "waste heat recovery center." Through Alchemical Solution circulating inside its pipes, it would collect waste heat released by several nearby facilities—including an alchemical reaction tower, a rune-smelting factory, and a Mud Monster waste incineration center—and distribute it through highly efficient heat exchangers into the camp's heating system, warming parts of the area west of the coast.
To survive in the frigid northern regions over the long term, such technology was indispensable. It was far cleaner and more efficient than cutting down the slow-growing cold-region trees at the foot of the mountains for firewood, and it would minimize disruption to the lives of local residents. Someday in the future, these facilities might even heat nearby settlements—though that was still a long way off.
Farther away, across the open, level ground near the North Port coast, makeshift houses, military tents, watchtowers, and newly built brick structures stood scattered about. Supplies were piled high in the storage yards, large construction machinery that had recently arrived at the worksite bustled constantly, and a temporary pier stretching out toward the sea had already been erected. Beside it lay a vast planned area that would one day be used to build dry docks.
That temporary pier was not secured