Rapid Development and New Concerns

"My Proxy, you've finally arrived."

"I was delayed a bit on the way, but there's basically nothing going on now. I'll be staying here for the next two weeks."

Fran rode her Black Horse swiftly to the site she had designated for building the factory.

Because of Lucy's previous delays, she was scheduled to arrive here a little later, but not by much.

"Brian, how's the work schedule going? How many people are available?"

"Um... I'm almost never free."

To ensure that no one was idle, Brian was extremely meticulous in assigning tasks.

For example, someone is specifically responsible for moving materials to another location, then another person moves the materials to a processing area, and then someone else processes them there...

"Let's streamline things. We've only just arrived, so give me at least half of our manpower."

Brian hurried out and began gathering people according to the names on the roster. Now he regretted making this arrangement.

If everyone were free, they could just register a name and number and start working immediately. Now, he also has to coordinate the work that has already been assigned.

Brian had some time to spare, so Fran didn't waste any time and immediately began working.

With so many people arriving at their Base Camp, Fran's first priority was to ensure the Base Camp had a certain metal production so that Fran wouldn't need to use Dragon Flame to smelt the metal herself.

Although the metal forged by Dragon Flame might be harder than the steel produced in the Base Camp for a long time afterward, Fran had no intention of spending her Mental Power forging iron all day without doing anything else.

"If we're going to make steel, we need to develop chemical processes first. We have both coal and iron, so we can start by building a coal coking production line..."

Before arriving here, Fran had used her Star Gazing Art to research relevant information. She acted swiftly, using her Telekinetic Hand to lift countless iron ingots temporarily transported here into the air and forge them with Dragon Flame...

As Fran finalized her idea of what she wanted to make, she suddenly realized that she seemed to have forgotten something.

"Wait, it seems there aren't many Ore left in the Base Camp. The railway hasn't been laid here yet..."

Fran's face immediately fell, and she quickly stopped what she was doing because even if she built the factory by herself, there were no materials for her to process.

She immediately went outside and explained the situation to Brian, urging Brian to quickly organize his team...

The workers, who had just come off their posts, thought they were going to build a new house or something, and had their tools all packed, but Brian simply led them away from the Base Camp...

Watching Brian lead the workers out, Fran sighed, put down all her tools, and began designing a train suitable for her current level of expertise.

She took into account the needs of transporting Ore, so she specially made the transport carriages wider and larger. She also considered that the train would make several round trips a day, so she specially designed two locomotives.

The train she designed wasn't fast; it was only slightly faster than a normal person jogging. Current railway conditions didn't allow her to design a very fast train.

Fran spent about three days testing her design and confirming that her steam train was not just a toy to look at, but a real means of transportation.

But Fran soon realized that she seemed to be working too fast—no, it was the workers who were working too slowly.

The slowness wasn't due to workers being lazy or inefficient, but rather because the railway tracks, nails, and worn-out tools couldn't keep up.

These items were all handmade by Fran. Once they were used up, the workers had to stop work. After the report was submitted, the believers arranged for them to make some inferior versions, which were then returned for repair due to their substandard quality...

In short, Fran discovered that the Base Camp's current logistics were completely inadequate to meet her needs. She gritted her teeth and personally spent two days leading the construction of the railway.

Then she spent another half a day developing management systems for the delivered Ore and inspection procedures for the trains.

Fran then rested for half a day. On the sixth day, Fran returned to the Base Camp and began to arrange for workers to build a coal by-product production line.

During this time, Fran discovered that various gadgets, nail tools, and the like were in such short supply that she had to spend three days developing tools and training a group of workers to start producing these items.

By the time Fran finally completed the coal by-product production plant, it had been fifteen days since she first conceived the idea, half a month had passed.

Fran stood on the somewhat chaotic Base Camp, watching the workers push carts with optimized bearings, loading coal into the raw material inlet. Nearby, a group of workers, who had undergone brief training and suffered three injuries, were carefully operating various levers...

Fran also saw the temporary garbage storage area, which had been sorted. The workers' domestic waste and production waste were stored separately, and the workers' residential area had also been cleaned and maintained.

Fran let out a sigh, stretched, and began to plan what to do next.

"I'll take a short break. Next, I need to design the blast furnace and train the workers... That will take another five or six days."

"However, we've already laid the groundwork and have some basic countermeasures in place, so things should go much more smoothly from here on out."

"At this rate of development, I should be able to get these workers to build their own muskets this month..."

Fran was a little unsure, because there were just too many things to do, too many things for her to handle and arrange.

No one else can help, because they simply don't know the key information involved. If someone else is in charge, she will ultimately have to make the adjustments herself.

Furthermore, she was unsure whether she would have sufficient supplies and an undisturbed environment by then.

Although she had already assigned all the tasks, in theory she only needed to wait and the products would be produced in a steady stream.

But things didn't go that way. Although she was certain that the machines she made by hand would have a lower failure rate, they couldn't withstand the workers' haphazard use and prolonged overload.

Furthermore, the management regulations she formulated were designed based on the actual situation on-site, and there are bound to be areas where she didn't consider everything. These all need to be adjusted gradually.

At the same time, Fran has two other issues that need to be addressed but are not urgent and can be postponed.

The first issue is the disposal of waste. Fran can basically only stare helplessly at the waste she receives after production.

The reason these waste materials are considered waste is not because they have no value, but because they are too difficult to utilize.

Fran knew the process of recycling waste and how to dispose of it properly.

But at this time, it's not worth doing so at all. She has to deal with the waste and collect various raw materials, and many important raw material Base Camp do not yet have a source that can supply them on a large scale.

Furthermore, processing these wastes will generate new waste...

From a developmental perspective, the new raw materials are more convenient than the waste materials for both the Base Camp and Fran, because the new raw materials have just been mined and can be used directly.

So Fran had no choice but to store the waste and sewage; she still needed to find a suitable place to put the industrial waste.

Secondly, there's the issue of people, not just labor. The Base Camp's production positions are basically full, and there are also a dozen or so people in flexible positions who will go wherever they are needed.

However, if this continues to develop, for example, if Fran streamlines all aspects of blast furnace steelmaking, then there probably won't be many people in flexible positions anymore, and everyone will have their own jobs.

If Fran continues construction and opens production lines, she will have to temporarily draw staff from her previous positions to handle the situation.

But this isn't a long-term solution; she really needs to address the manpower issue again.

The second issue was the quality of the workforce. Fran carefully examined the knowledge level of her subordinates and found that even most of the believers she brought from the Northern Territory were illiterate.

This matter gave Fran a huge headache, because she simply didn't have the time to improve these people's literacy; she had to focus her energy on designing the production line.

"There's no other way. We have to go back to White Flower City to see if we can find someone literate to come and teach them."

Fran made up her mind again: she would return to White Flower City first to handle these matters, and as for the blast furnace, she would deal with it when she returned.

Fran, greeted Brian, mounted her Black Horse, and rode off towards White Flower City.

River Valley Territory, within the River Valley City, inside the lord's castle.

Lord Morris sat upright in his chair, frowning as he looked at a Knight Attendant who was half-crouching below the steps.

"You mean, something happened at the mine?"

"Yes, my lord, I was originally in charge of Ore processing and food rationing at the mine."

"According to regulations, the transporter was supposed to make a round trip within a day, bringing the grain there and the Ore back."

"But three days ago, I received news that the transporter hadn't returned for two days, so I went to the mine to investigate and see what was going on."

"I didn't see anything suspicious on the way, so I thought I'd ask around the mine first, but when I got near the mine..."

The Knight Attendant's face changed; he recalled the scene and still wore an expression of disbelief.

"I saw the gate near the mine entrance that used to be locked, but it was now wide open. I didn't see the guards either; I only saw two people in gray robes."

"When I went up to negotiate, they attacked me; I was no match for them..."