Brown Gold Island's Coal + Public Setting Notes Three

The following morning, after several transfers, Miao Xin appeared at the gate of the target factory.

She put on her mask and touched up her makeup in front of the mirror. The disturbance was thwarted, and the security guard, unaware of anything amiss, led her to the reception room.

The old man only glanced at her once, at the very beginning.

[This ability is quite useful.] Su Ming exclaimed in admiration.

The factory wasn't large. The workshop manager, wearing work clothes, was haphazardly collecting some catalogs in his office.

It was handed to Miao Xin.

"My surname is Zhang." He glanced to the side and introduced himself, "What kind of underwater vehicle are you looking for?"

Miao Xin flipped through the catalog, took out a sheet of paper with her needs written on it, and handed it over.

"A speed requirement of thirty knots?" Manager Zhang exclaimed in surprise, looking at the data. "Twenty knots is achievable, but it will severely impact the range."

[Changed to fifteen sections.] Su Ming realized that his demands were unreasonable.

Miao Xin then relayed the information.

Manager Zhang continued reading, "All-electric, 100-kilometer range, towing a 3-ton payload—that means the underwater vehicle is quite large."

"It's alright, we have plenty of budget."

"A 100-meter buoy antenna, purely radio-controlled?" Manager Zhang looked down at the control requirements, "No satellite signal? The radio range is at most ten kilometers."

Ten kilometers is far too short, Su Ming frowned. It's only a few minutes' distance for these dragons, not enough to make a difference. Drones could be used as relays, but the number of relay devices needed would be considerable.

In war scenarios where detection and sabotage are imminent, the more communication nodes there are, the more vulnerable this tactic becomes.

"Using a communication buoy as a relay would also work, but the range of signal buoys on the sea surface is limited." Realizing the client's specific requirements for remote control distance, Manager Zhang was also considering solutions. "Is there any special reason why you're not using satellite?"

"If I could, I'd definitely want a satellite too," Su Ming thought to himself.

After communicating for a while, Su Ming confirmed that civilian products would have difficulty meeting the control distance requirements. Moreover, the speed of the submersible was difficult to increase, making the feasibility of the plan extremely poor.

Even military underwater vehicles cannot achieve the long-range reliable control required for tactics without the support of a modern system.

After pondering for a moment, Su Ming decided to abandon this route and instead seek other solutions.

He opened his phone and searched, quickly discovering that human creativity didn't require him to show off his skills. Products that perfectly met his needs already existed and were readily available.

With cargo loaded onto Earthworm Island, the White Triangle set sail overnight for Brown Gold Island. Simultaneously, communications were silenced, and the ship ceased responding to communications to avoid revealing its approximate location.

After two and a half days of full-speed sailing, the White Triangle arrived at Brown Gold Island at noon on the third day. The island is large, covering an area of over 200 square kilometers, but the vegetation is sparse, and there are traces of excavation everywhere, with black dust covering the ground.

In many places, derricks stand, but most are dilapidated, with only a few appearing to be in use.

Su Ming looked through his binoculars and noticed that the rocks on the island had a rich variety of colors, mixed with crimson and blue-green. "It looks like there's iron and copper ore too. It's a good resource island!" he exclaimed.

"Actually, this mining island is declining." Beianqi also came onto the deck. She had recovered a lot and could handle normal daily activities. She had been to Brown Gold Island several times and was quite familiar with the situation here. "Although there are many iron and copper mines on the island, they are all by-products, and the smelting costs are too high for them to be worth mining."

"That's a bit of a pity. If we could mine coal and smelt iron and copper on the spot, this island would definitely be rolling in money!" Su Ming said with some regret.

"The coal reserves are almost depleted; the shallow veins have been mined out, and what's left is underwater," Beianqi continued. "The mines are frequently collapsing and leaking water, and production is decreasing every year."

These aren't the fundamental problems; the real issue is that the other world's mining and refining capabilities are insufficient. If Earth's technology and equipment were introduced, this island could be revitalized in no time, becoming a dazzling industrial gem.

He turned and looked up at the bridge. Zijin had been standing there for a while, observing the island's scenery. This wasn't like her usual behavior. A guess formed in his mind. Su Ming sent a message to the girl: [Déjà vu?]

"[Yes, could it be you too?]" Zijin asked in surprise.

"Yes, the more I look at this island, the more familiar it seems," Su Ming sighed. "It feels like I've been here before."

[I feel exactly the same way you do—but this is my first time at sea.]

[This is my first time in your world!] Su Ming said irritably.

"How about we go to the island together sometime?" Zijin suggested.

[good.]

As the White Triangle approached, the few workers on the dock began to whisper among themselves.

"This boat is so white."

"The design is really weird; I've never seen anything like it before."

As Su Ming's abilities improved, the White Triangle's shape became smooth, with no trace of bones visible. To make it look more like an ordinary ship, Su Ming even erected several masts and dressed the zombie in sailor suits.

However, the ship's trimaran configuration remains quite unique in this world.

Qiluo also came to the deck, and when she saw Zijin, she shuddered. "Hmph, bad person!"

The unicorn was missing a tuft of mane at the back of its neck, and Beianqi looked at it with great distress.

"This could sell for a lot of money!" she grumbled to herself.

****

Qiluo's resentment dissipated quickly. Su Ming made a large bowl of noodles with soybean paste and had Zijin serve it to her. The little unicorn soon beamed with joy.

To conceal the White Triangle's special nature, Su Ming shut down the propellers, relying on port tugboats and towing cables to complete the docking. Beianqi descended the steps alone to meet the port staff who were there to greet her.

"Miss Beianqi, greetings." Deputy Supervisor Kilian her with a weary expression. He slowly raised his head. "Is this your family's new ship? It's quite unique."

"Hello, Mr. Kilian! This is the Little White Poplar." Beianqi returned the greeting, then got straight to the point, "We're here to purchase one thousand tons of coal."

"Sure, we have plenty in the warehouse."

"I need high-quality low-caking coal or long-flame coal."

Kilian looked troubled. "This kind of coal warehouse only has two hundred tons. The storm a few days ago seeped through the rock strata, and now the entire mine is flooded, so the coal can't be transported out."

"Then let's drain the water," Beianqi asked. "How long will it take?"

"About ten days," Kilian sighed. "We still have over a hundred workers trapped underground, and everyone's busy with this."

"So much!" Beianqi exclaimed in surprise. "After the water is drained, is there any hope for them?"

"We brought some dry rations, but it certainly won't last until the rescue," Kilian lamented. "Everyone's worried. If a hundred people die now, our coal mine will be finished."

After offering a few words of comfort, Beianqi returned to the White Triangle to inform the others of the situation.

"No wonder there are so few people at the dock." The unicorn's horn suddenly emitted a light, and a wave of energy spread outwards.

The people on the dock glowed in twos and threes, mostly with a pale blue or transparent light.

"Not bad, there's no evil presence." Qiluo said smugly.

Detect Alignment can detect a being's inclination towards good and evil, and towards order.

"So this way you can tell good people from bad people?" Su Ming was very interested; this was a very convenient skill.

"It's not that simple. People are incredibly complex. My detection relies on intentions, not outright actions." Qiluo continued her investigation, receiving a grayish response from the deputy supervisor. "For example, gray represents lawful neutrality, but that doesn't stop him from using rules and regulations to withhold workers' wages, because that's the order he approves of."

"I see. So, which faction are you on?" Su Ming asked curiously.

The unicorn turned its head and cast its detection light upon Beianqi, a silver color that clearly represented neutral goodness.

"We sisters are all pure silver!" Qiluo said proudly.

"Hmm, take a look at mine too!" Su Ming said, glancing at Zijin beside him.

The latter noticed this and said, "If you want to see it, feel free."

The light enveloped the two of them, and a pale blue color, representing chaos and goodness, rippled across Zijin's body.

"It's not neutral good, after all." The scholar was quite dissatisfied. "Where did I break the rules?"

"It's like you didn't get your nickname 'Belladonna' for nothing," Su Ming retorted. Then he noticed that all three of them were staring at him. He quickly looked at himself and saw that his whole body was radiating a pure white light.

"Sister, are you mistaken! How could someone like this be lawful good!" Beianqi shouted, but she found that Qiluo ignored her and instead approached Su Ming with stars in her eyes. "Hey, sister, you can't!" she quickly grabbed.

Su Ming wasn't surprised by his own camp; the concept of kindness ingrained in his civilization was deeply ingrained. As for lawfulness, he followed more rules than anyone else. From lining up for meals and toilet breaks in kindergarten, to taking turns playing games; to school rules and regulations, to various factory rules and safety regulations at work, to traffic rules when going out, not to mention the ubiquitous law.

Even after arriving in another world, he always followed his heart and principles, and he has no regrets in this judgment.

The unicorn shook off Beianqi, transformed into a little girl, and went over to grab Su Ming's clothes, "Su Ming, I can ride you!"

Su Ming nearly choked on his saliva, ignoring the potentially misunderstood meaning in his words, "Um, I am indeed very innocent, but I am not a virgin!"

"A young girl?" Qiluo asked, puzzled. "What does this have to do with a young girl?"

"Su Ming, do you care whether your cat is male or female?" Zijin interjected.

"It doesn't really matter, it's all the same whether you're spayed or neutered."

"So what do you think a unicorn's gender has to do with her?"

Is that so?! This is the first time Su Ming has heard this; indeed, legends shouldn't be taken at face value!

The detection spell ended, the pure white aura around Su Ming disappeared, and Qiluo's eyes finally cleared up a bit. Beianqi quickly dragged her aside.

"Sister, why are you testing the factions?" Beianqi said, displeased.

"To find suspicious people and determine if the other side is deceiving us," the unicorn replied matter-of-factly, its gaze still fixed on Su Ming, filled with resentment.

Su Ming decisively took a step back and hid behind Zijin.

"Alright, sister, please don't use your talent anymore—you get all horny whenever you see someone pure white!"

"This is my nature as an auspicious beast!" Qiluo retorted, "Didn't the fairy tales you heard when you were a child teach you that!"

"Please don't ruin the fairy tale!"

While the two sisters were arguing, Su Ming turned to Zijin and whispered, "Get a set of magic-forbidden cloaks; I'll go pack my weapons."

Shall we disembark and take a look around?

"Of course, saving people is the priority. Since the four of us are all kind-hearted, let's skip the formalities."

"That's true." Zijin resignedly walked towards the cabin. "Let's hurry up and rescue the miners, buy the coal, and leave as soon as possible."

The two had no concerns about their safety upon landing on the island. As a declining mineral island, Brown Gold Island lacked any significant combat capabilities and was considered a standard low-intensity zone.

The White Triangle's arrival here was impromptu, and given their speed, even if they were discovered, no one could possibly ambush them before they did.

Su Ming donned a cloak of forbidden magic and disguised himself as a follower, following behind Beianqi. The girl, on the other hand, led the Human Form Qiluo, and the two of them and the beast disembarked from the ship.

Originally, they wanted Qiluo to guard the ship, but Beianqi said that her sister was extremely curious and that if she was left alone on the ship when there was no danger, she would be the greatest danger to the ship. So, Zijin had no choice but to stay behind.

Beianqi explained her intentions to Kilian, who was in charge of the port, and the group was quickly invited into the reception room. Fletcher Lores, the owner of the mining island who had not shown up until now, also rushed over.

"You say there's a way to drain the water quickly?" Fletcher asked directly upon meeting him, not even bothering to bow.

"Yes, our equipment can pump water at a rate of 3,000 cubic meters per hour," said Beianqi. "As far as we know, this efficiency is dozens of times greater than the combined efficiency of all your current equipment."

"Installation time?" Fletcher asked hastily.

Beianqi tilted her head slightly, and Su Ming quickly sent a message.

"About half a day," she replied to the mine owner.

"Really!" Fletcher exclaimed with delight. "How much do you want in compensation?!"

"We'll take the coal, it'll be free," Beianqi stated, a price that had been agreed upon beforehand.

Fletcher hesitated; the price was much lower than he had expected. This wretched island lacked everything, except coal.

"We just happened to be there and wanted to lend a hand in saving lives," Beianqi explained. "Besides, if we wanted a high price, could you afford it?"

Fletcher immediately bowed deeply, "Thank you all for your help!"

Without much delay, the three immediately began surveying the site. The coal mine was located on the south side of the island. Over the years, parts of the island had been excavated, and the remaining veins stretched diagonally towards the seabed. The last vertical main excavation was only about 200 meters from the coast.

The shaft exit is a large, flat area where more than a dozen alchemical water pumps have been installed, with water gushing out from pipes of all sizes.

Su Ming estimated the distance; if the White Triangle was moored on the shore, it would only require about four hundred meters of cable to connect to this location.

"Beianqi, have the coal miners erect utility poles from here to the sea, about twenty meters apart, all the way to the shore," Su Ming said. "Install a large winch and hoist at the mine entrance, and prepare some buoys."

"OK."

He contacted Miao Xin himself, and when he disembarked, he had already arranged for her to start working on the water pump.

"How is it?" Su Ming asked.

"Large-scale mining pumps are easy to find," Miao Xin replied. "The nearest factory is 500 kilometers away, and it's daytime now."

In this country full of factories, finding common civilian equipment is too easy, and the advanced information network has also greatly facilitated Miao Xin.

[Go there first, then proceed after dark.]

[On my way.]

Su Ming returned to the Triangle and began making cables.

The water pump must be installed underground, and its power will be supplied by the ship's steam engine and generator, so a cable needs to be run directly from the ship.

The water pump has a power of about 800 kilowatts. Based on a 6 kV three-phase current, it requires three copper core cables with a cross-sectional area of 35 square millimeters.

The copper purchased this time contains a large amount of copper wire. The contractor can twist multiple strands of copper wire together and wrap them with an insulating alloy coating to make a simple cable.

Before her mental injury had healed, Beianqi went to direct the zombies to twist the wire, while Zijin made alchemical paint.

Having made these arrangements, Su Ming began to study the power supply system.

Previously, Su Ming installed a 1000-kilowatt generator to power the MK71, but unfortunately the power supply standard was American.

There are certainly ways to get a new generator, but the replacement and commissioning will take time.

Su Ming asked Miao Xin to contact the sales consultant and learned that they had matching 6 kV frequency converters based on American standards in stock in their warehouse, which was specially made for the convenience of overseas customers.

That saves me trouble.

Electromechanical products account for 60% of exports to Lighthouse; the significance of this is often selectively overlooked.

Miao Xin requested an electronic document containing the installation and usage instructions for the water pump from the sales representative, stored it on a flash memory card, and was then summoned to another world by Su Ming.

She then destroyed the phones. These were all secondhand, purchased through various channels, and she currently has a large stockpile.

Looking at the hundreds of pages of documents displayed on the computer screen, Su Ming sighed and began to read.