I'll Accept It Even If It Costs Me My Life

Alloy Plasteel is the most fundamental and widely applied multifunctional material throughout the Imperial civilization. It can be used in construction, the manufacturing of machinery and weapons, and for repairing and reinforcing facilities and vehicles. Its high strength and corrosion resistance allow it to be used in extremely harsh environments, making it capable of meeting work requirements across a variety of vastly different settings.

This is especially important on the harsh Nuxiao Planet.

As far as Gu Hang knows, Nuxiao Planet does not possess the technical capability for large-scale production of Alloy Plasteel. The entire planet is still using relatively basic and primitive common steel.

In comparison, the performance of Alloy Plasteel is far superior.

It is obvious that if they master the ability to mass-produce Alloy Plasteel, the Waste Mine Society will reap substantial profits.

The scarcity and widespread demand for Alloy Plasteel keep its price high. Gu Hang, who possesses the Black Box, can keep production costs extremely low—even more advantageous than producers on other planets who specialize in this industry.

Furthermore, Alloy Plasteel brings more than just profit.

However, when it comes to mass production, Gu Hang is concerned that the ore output of the Waste Mine Society might not be enough.

The Waste Mine Society lacks sufficient manpower, Gu Hang hasn't acquired equipment for mining ore, and crucially, the quality of the Waste Mine veins themselves is only average...

It is enough for now, but as more and more smelting furnaces are crafted by the Black Box, a shortage will inevitably arise in the future.

However, by that time, there should also be a stable output. There is no need to worry about finding sales channels; it will sell easily. Importing raw materials on a large scale is also an option. In the future, the pillar industry of the Waste Mine Society will certainly shift from resource extraction to metal smelting.

"This batch of produced components should be enough to assemble one smelting furnace. Ship them to the Waste Mine Society; production can begin."

Patel never doubted that the Governor would fulfill his promises.

If he said he would build them a production line, he would definitely build it.

But he never dreamed it would arrive so quickly.

He saw a group of slaves—or rather, workers—from the Governor's camp, escorted by Servitor soldiers, delivering all the production components via carts.

Having received the news in advance, Patel brought the young and able-bodied members of the Waste Mine Society to help unload the cargo.

The manual was already prepared, and a technical worker from the Governor's camp would guide them on how to assemble the smelting furnace.

At first, Patel was worried that he and his subordinates, a group of illiterate men who barely knew a few characters, wouldn't understand the process. But once they actually started, he found the process much simpler than he had imagined.

The manual contained text, but it was mostly various diagrams, which were not difficult to understand.

They first installed the furnace body vertically, then carefully aligned each connection point. Next, they used fasteners to firmly secure the various parts of the furnace body together to ensure its sturdiness and stability.

Following that came the furnace lid, the observation window, the exhaust pipe...

Finally, he personally installed the furnace door.

The entire assembly process was very simple yet rigorous; one just had to follow the steps one by one. The only requirement was to be careful and ensure that every detail was repeatedly checked and confirmed.

The installation work took them half a day.

They placed the energy crystals that had been sent along with the transport team into the energy module of the smelting furnace and started the heating system.

The entire furnace body gradually became hot, and the temperature continued to rise.

A batch of prepared ore was fed into it.

The workers of the Waste Mine Society were soon drenched in sweat in the heatwave, yet they remained at their posts until the Alloy Plasteel smelting furnace finally began to operate, emitting a roaring sound.

A few hours later, it was dark.

The produced molten alloy cooled into metal ingots within the molds, stacked neatly.

Patel did not know that the batch of Alloy Plasteel he produced was of much lower quality compared to the top-tier Plasteel produced by the Black Box in the Governor's camp.

But even if he knew, it wouldn't matter.

As long as it was qualified Plasteel, that was enough; it was already an excellent industrial product on Nuxiao Planet.

Old Butch, who had been overseeing the construction of the Waste Mine Society's surface camp, couldn't help but run over to see the finished product.

The two leaders of the Waste Mine Society, past and present, looked at the batch of Alloy Plasteel ingots and giggled together.

A tremendous sense of satisfaction filled their hearts.

No one could experience the power of industry more personally than they could.

From this day on, the Waste Mine Society would no longer be a place that could only rely on manual labor to dig up low-quality ore and sell it at a low price in exchange for food that couldn't even fill their stomachs. They possessed industrial capabilities; they could directly produce Alloy Plasteel and sell it for a higher price.

They would no longer endure hunger and cold; they would, as the Governor said, live a good life as long as they were diligent and hardworking.

Old Butch sighed, "Even if the Governor wanted our lives, I would accept it."

Patel laughed and patted his uncle's shoulder, "The Governor won't want our lives; the Governor wants us to live better and better!"

Soon, the second smelting furnace was also delivered to the Waste Mine Society.

The production capacity for Alloy Plasteel was further strengthened.

But the problem Gu Hang had previously worried about did indeed occur—just two smelting furnaces had already consumed almost all the ore produced by the Waste Mine Society.

To continue expanding production capacity, more raw materials were essential.

At the same time, energy was also an issue.

The smelting furnace used energy crystals, which were also a form of black technology under the Imperial system.

In Gu Hang's understanding, this was essentially a battery—though, naturally, far more powerful than the batteries he remembered.

High-density energy was bound and condensed within solid crystals, allowing it to be released safely when necessary. On some worlds, these energy crystals could be mined directly; however, in most cases, planets with advanced energy industries would use various power generation methods to compress energy through specialized processes, directly manufacturing these energy crystals.

Without a doubt, Nuxiao Planet itself lacked this production capability. The ones Gu Hang was currently using were still the spoils he had scavenged from the Quintet.

But he couldn't keep scavenging forever.

However, there was some good news.

First, the energy crystals Gu Hang had on hand were still sufficient for now.

Second, the smelting furnace could be connected to an electrical power source in addition to using energy crystals.

Gu Hang still had time to build a power supply for his territory.

This was also a headache-inducing task. He wouldn't even consider high-end, sophisticated methods; primitive power generation was essentially just boiling water, but he still needed fuel to do the burning.

"Fuel... raw materials... Trash Town?"

Gu Hang muttered to himself.

The Trash Town he spoke of referred to a survivor settlement located one hundred kilometers north of the Waste Mine Society. That place held the output Gu Hang needed.