Hydroelectric power station

The road construction is progressing rapidly, which allows more manpower to be allocated to the construction of the Ruby Base.

According to the detailed planning drawings provided by the Earth team, the pile foundation work for six factory buildings of varying heights, with a total area of over 30,000 square meters, has been fully launched and construction is underway simultaneously.

Despite having nearly a thousand necromancers, the Final Bone Mad Machines is beginning to show signs of manpower shortages as multiple projects are being pursued simultaneously.

Another dwarven cargo ship arrived at Sapphire Port. Unlike before, this time the ship was not carrying ordinary cargo, but a complete dwarven mining team, as well as all sorts of otherworldly mining equipment.

Su Ming, accompanied by Beianqi, greeted them at the dock.

Soon, a group of burly, muscular dwarves steadily stepped onto the dock using the lowered gangplank.

"Welcome, Mr. Barak Shiquan!" Beianqi greeted him with a warm smile, stepping forward to greet him.

"Oh, the little girl from the Green family has grown so much!" the dwarf with a thick beard, clearly the leader of the group, replied in a loud voice.

The two opened their arms and hugged each other.

Introduced by Beianqi, Su Ming stepped forward and shook hands with Shiquan. The other's palm was rough and thick, and holding it felt like holding a weathered stone, even causing Su Ming pain.

Beianqi saw Su Ming put his hand, which had been squeezed until it turned white, behind his back and secretly shook it off. She leaned close to Su Ming's ear and whispered, "Shiquan didn't use much force at all—this is just a normal handshake for dwarves to show friendliness."

"----Understood."

Afterwards, Shiquan arranged for the other team members to unload the mining equipment at the dock, while he followed Su Ming to the Red Ridge Mountains, located next to the Ruby Base.

When the group arrived near the crater, Shiquan jumped down the slope without saying a word, sending a large number of rocks crashing down in his wake.

He chose a spot, grabbed his pickaxe, and began digging, sending rock fragments flying. Soon, he unearthed a piece of ore with a unique odor. He tapped it with the tip of the pickaxe, and the ore shattered, revealing a bright yellow, translucent cross-section.

"This place is indeed rich in sulfur, and the purity is quite good," Shiquan said confidently after carefully examining the broken surface.

Su Ming nodded affirmatively, agreeing that professional matters should be handled by professionals, and he didn't need to do everything himself.

"But is the amount you need really so much that it requires a professional mining team like ours to excavate on a large scale?" Shiquan asked, quite puzzled.

In this other world, although sulfur has many uses, the byproducts obtained from processes such as pyrite smelting are sufficient to meet the demand.

"I'll buy as much as you can dig up," Su Ming said confidently. "We can sign a formal contract."

He didn't elaborate further; after all, the scale of raw material consumption by technological industries was beyond the comprehension of these otherworldly dwarves.

Upon hearing this, Shiquan stopped dawdling. He quickly completed the preliminary survey of the mine and assessed the difficulty of mining.

Su Ming adopted a production contracting model: Shiquan's mining team was fully responsible for all the manpower and material resources required for mining, and the final settlement was based on the quality and quantity of the delivered ore.

Both parties quickly signed the detailed terms and price on the contract scroll, and Shiquan turned around to lead his team to get busy.

"Our electric winches and similar equipment can greatly improve mining efficiency," Beianqi suggested to Su Ming. "Could you summon some and provide them for them to use?"

"A little later," Su Ming replied, "We need to wait until the Ruby Base's power system is built and running stably." After a moment's thought, he added, "At that time, these devices can be provided to the dwarves on a rental basis. The rental fees for the equipment and the delivery of the ore will be calculated separately, with each account split."

Beianqi nodded in understanding, "That's fine, this arrangement is very reasonable."

Su Ming looked up, casting the light westward. The Red Ridge Mountains were only about 150 kilometers away from the Dwarf Kingdom's territory as the crow flies, but the White River Canyon and the mountain range at the border stretched between them, making transportation extremely inconvenient.

As a crucial connecting hub, the construction of the White River port has not yet begun, thus hindering its transportation potential. Furthermore, a bridge spanning the White River Canyon must be built to enable low-cost interaction with resources on the other half of the Dragon Valley.

"We need more labor," Su Ming thought to himself, and couldn't help but sigh.

He turned to look at Ruixiuli standing to the side. "How are you feeling? Are you still able to handle it?"

Ruixiuli smiled. "No problem at all. It's much better than when I crawled out of the Divine Might Prison." He stood up from a nearby boulder. "Do whatever you want. I'll do my best to bury the Divine Covenant Faction!"

Su Ming then looked at Jielusi, who was traveling with him.

"His physical condition is fine, I'm keeping an eye on him," Jielusi replied confidently.

"Alright," Su Ming turned around, "Let's first check on the construction progress of the Ruby Base, then we'll go to the Chicken Dinner Internet Cafe to see how those 'dragon customers' are doing!"

****

As he approached the internet cafe, Su Ming sensed a familiar presence. A slight smile played on his lips. "Zijin is back."

In the past few days, as the equipment has been installed one after another, the number of people coming to play games has surged, and the internet cafe has quickly reached full capacity.

Since the dragons' habitats are scattered and many have come from afar, Su Ming thoughtfully provided paid accommodation and catering services.

The accommodations are relatively basic, but thanks to the efforts of the logistics team, a variety of fast food options have been successfully made available.

Given the dragons' enormous appetites, even with the costs kept as low as possible, a meal still starts at two gold coins. The dragons seem insensitive to the concept of money and don't seem to care at all about Su Ming's rule that the fee doubles after three hours of use on the same day.

Some dragons even go so far as to book the entire night, and when they're tired of playing, they luxuriously sleep soundly in their "private rooms" within their nests.

Based on a base fee of 5 gold coins per hour, the daily cost would be over 200 gold coins!

Soon, some dragons' already meager gold reserves were depleted at an alarming rate, and they began to incur debts.

Boom! Boom!

Several magical explosions rang out in the air above the internet cafe.

Su Ming quickly floated into the air and, sure enough, saw Zijin's figure. The girl was majestic, while below, five giant dragons crashed to the ground in a sorry state.

Su Ming looked closely and saw that their wings were indeed tangled together.

"Disrupting order and causing trouble!" Zijin's voice announced clearly, "A fine of fifty gold coins, do you all accept that?"

The dragons nodded frantically, and only then did Zijin release the restraints on their wings.

"According to regulations, your outstanding game fees have reached the maximum allowed limit," she continued. "You are prohibited from logging in until you pay off your debts."

The dragons looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Where can I earn gold coins?" a dragon asked. "There are very few places willing to hire dragons."

Zijin coughed lightly and pointed in the direction of the Ruby Base, "One hundred kilometers away is the Red Ridge Mountains. The human base there employs a large number of Dragon Race for work."

The dragons were overjoyed to hear this; having a way out meant they would soon be able to return to that captivating and enchanting world.

One of the dragons eagerly asked Zijin, "How much is the salary?"

"Ten gold coins per day," Zijin replied.

This caused an uproar not only among the dragons involved, but also among the surrounding giant dragons, who all expressed their dissatisfaction, saying, "It's too low!"

"Yeah, yeah, that's enough for two hours of playtime, and then we need to eat!"

Su Ming flew to Zijin's side and cast a megaphone spell. "Don't rush," he said, holding up his first finger. "First, if you successfully complete your work for the day and receive an excellent rating, you'll receive an extra 50% bonus." He then held up his second finger. "Second, this is just the simplest basic excavation work. If you can learn and move into more technical positions, your base salary will increase in stages—fifteen, twenty, or even twenty-five gold coins per day—and this can be combined with the excellent rating bonus." He paused briefly. "Furthermore, there's an extra bonus for working a full week without a hitch."

"Finally," Su Ming added, "You'll earn one point for every day you work diligently. The higher your points, the higher your priority for computer access, and you can also enjoy different levels of discounts, up to 40% off!"

After listening, the dragons considered the offer and found it quite attractive. The dragons who were both in debt and fined were especially tempted. They whispered among themselves for a moment, then quickly flapped their wings and flew towards the Ruby Base.

Finally, things had turned around, Su Ming breathed a sigh of relief, only to notice the girl beside him making the same gesture in perfect unison.

The two chuckled at each other.

****

"However, someone also needs to be stationed at the Ruby Base." Su Ming's tone revealed a hint of worry.

These dragons, if they are willing to work, would be an extremely powerful help. But if they act up, they would be a very troublesome matter.

"Don't worry about that, I've already spoken with the elders in detail," Zijin told Su Ming. "They recognize this as an opportunity to push the Dragon Race to change and are willing to provide assistance. Elder Gold Dragon has already gone there; he will be responsible for maintaining order at the Ruby Base."

Su Ming nodded, relieved. He looked around, "By the way, where's Elder Yin'er? I can't see him."

Yin'er is probably in charge of maintaining order in the internet cafe.

"Oh, didn't you mention the rumor about 'giving eggs for clearing the pass' a few days ago?" Zijin explained, "Elder Yin'er thinks it's very likely that someone, or even a dragon, deliberately sabotaged it. So, taking advantage of my visit, he personally went to investigate the clues."

"Whoever it is, he's a clever fellow." Su Ming sighed.

After a while, several more dragons, addicted to the game and in debt, came up to us, asking to find work to pay off their debts.

After a moment's thought, Su Ming decided not to send them to the Red Ridge Mountains this time. Instead, he assigned them to the road construction team to widen and reinforce the roads.

Su Ming summoned necromancers and erected a huge, eye-catching recruitment sign outside the internet cafe. The sign clearly stated the number of dragon laborers needed for each construction site, such as the Ruby Base and road construction, as well as the job type and corresponding daily wages.

Considering that the initial construction at the port has been completed, he added the task of dredging the Sapphire Port channel and clearing silt from the harbor, sincerely recruiting dragons with good swimming skills to carry out the work, providing an extra 3 gold coins as a daily sea-going subsidy, as well as a hot bath.

According to the pre-planned process, the "Chicken Dinner Internet Cafe" set up a special "Giant Dragon Labor Department". This department is responsible for collecting and publishing employment information from various places, reasonably allocating work locations and tasks according to the size and ability of the dragons, and calculating and distributing wages based on the work performance of the dragons reported back by various departments.

Meanwhile, Su Ming also deployed another "Dandelion" floating base station above the Ruby Base.

Now, the heads of each engineering team are equipped with portable communication devices, and landline phones have been installed at some key fixed points. The members of the Final Bone Mad Machines are amazed by this "magical device" that can make clear calls over hundreds of kilometers. But Su Ming knows in his heart that the magical ability of these devices depends entirely on the coverage of the airborne base stations.

Communication can only extend to where base stations are deployed.

Just as Su Ming and Zijin were going over the details of the "dragon labor" work, Elder Yin'er's massive figure appeared. He wasn't empty-handed; he was holding a Blue Dragon that was noticeably thinner under his claws.

"Found them," Yin'er said succinctly to Su Ming. "This is the culprit behind spreading the 'giving away eggs' rumor."

As he spoke, he released his grip.

The skinny Blue Dragon confessed that he was extremely dissatisfied with the time limit set by Su Ming for the trial, but he was unwilling to pay gold coins to play. So he came up with the strategy of spreading rumors, trying to muddy the waters and see if he could take advantage of the chaos to get another chance for a "free trial".

"Heh, quite the clever fellow," Su Ming said, looking at the Blue Dragon with a playful tone.

It was a sigh of relief, but the punishment he deserved was indispensable. Zi Jin immediately announced his punishment: five days of forced labor as compensation for this disruption of order.

Su Ming sized up the Blue Dragon's thin frame and decided it wouldn't be efficient to use it for manual labor. After a moment's thought, he proposed an alternative, "How about this, you do the advertising and promotion for us. Tell the dragons in other areas of Dragon Valley about what you saw and heard at the internet cafe—those novel and fun game experiences. As long as you successfully attract fifty new customers, everything will be wiped clean—of course, absolutely no more using those 'giving away eggs' rumors to deceive the dragons!"

Upon hearing this, the Blue Dragon's eyes immediately lit up. "That's easy!" He then thought of a crucial problem, "But—how can I prove that I brought those new dragons?"

"Simple." Su Ming was prepared. "I'll give you a stack of trial vouchers. Each voucher allows a new user to enjoy a free half-hour session. Anyone who uses one of these vouchers to visit and then pays to use the machine afterwards will be considered a referral."

Blue Dragon's eyes darted around, and he thought the method was feasible, so he nodded in agreement. "Okay!"

Su Ming added an enticing condition, "After you reach the goal of fifty new customers, I will reward you with an extra gold coin for each new customer you successfully bring in who makes a payment."

At that moment, Blue Dragon's eyes lit up with excitement, and he replied without hesitation, "Deal!"

****

The internet cafe wasn't far from Sapphire Port. Seeing that things were initially stable, Zijin and Su Ming returned to the Pansy. The massive, silver-white hull of the ship stood quietly in the bay, like a stable landmark.

In the past few days, Su Ming has sent two more Rainbow Drone, which, together with the previous one, form a three-drone formation. These propeller-driven aircraft have amazing endurance, and can fly for more than thirty hours on a single mission.

Su Ming only needs to control them to take off and land once a day, and they can continue to perform their missions.

Thanks to the deployed Dandelion aerial communication base station, which provides location beacons, the Rainbow Drone can strictly follow the preset route for round-trip patrols and perform terrain mapping on other areas of Dragon Valley.

The synthetic aperture radars they carry are constantly transforming the landscape of the earth into digital models.

Furthermore, these aircraft can now perform missions during the day.

To avoid repeating past mistakes, the drones are prominently painted with the emblem of the Dragon Court beneath their wings, and Dragon King Gelie has even branded his unique aura onto the drones. Now, if the dragons were to spot them, they would only be seen as alchemical creations dispatched by the Dragon Court to carry out important tasks.

The Dodder Group also developed a core technology called "Dragon Recognition." This technology can accurately distinguish different individual dragons by capturing and analyzing the unique signal characteristics of the scales on the back of the dragon, and can record and statistically analyze them.

Relying on the massive amounts of data transmitted back by drones, the system has rapidly accumulated a sizable population database.

"Longkou census?" Zijin flipped through the data report, raising her eyebrows with a hint of confusion.

"In reality, the Dragon Race has a rather vague understanding of the exact number and distribution area of its population," Su Ming said, while checking the drone's operational status. "This survey will also serve as a systematic investigation of the dragons within its territory. Once the survey is complete, your Dragon Court can use this data to conduct a formal census and establish comprehensive population records."

"I understand." Zijin sighed softly, rubbing her temples. "Managing such a scattered group of dragons is truly a troublesome matter. However—" A glint of light flashed in her eyes, "If more Dandelion base stations could be deployed, improving the efficiency of information transmission across the Dragon Race territories, the management difficulty should be significantly reduced."

Su Ming slowly shook his head. "The core components of the Dandelion base station rely on a variety of rare elements, and reserves are limited. My initial plan is to deploy only ten nodes."

"Only ten floating spheres?" Zijin asked in surprise. "Aren't you planning to cover the entire Dragon Race territory?"

"This is the follow-up plan," Su Ming confirmed. "The current focus is on completing the initial production of the base and finishing the second phase of the Pansy's refit." He looked out the porthole at the sea, which was beginning to churn slightly. "We must prioritize eliminating the Divine Covenant Faction."

Zijin nodded, indicating that development should serve the strategic plan.

****

In the afternoon, the long-brewing storm finally swept through the harbor. Lead-gray clouds hung low, and a dense curtain of rain connected the sea and sky.

The construction site on land was also shrouded in torrential rain. Considering the intense work that the members of the Final Bone Mad Machines had been doing for days, Su Ming ordered: construction to be suspended during the rain, and everyone to rest nearby.

Those who could return to the mothership boarded the ship one after another, and the interior of the Pansy, which had been somewhat empty, suddenly became bustling and warm. Footsteps and conversations mingled in the corridors.

With the main work suspended, the communication devices on Su Ming's body, which had previously been frequently receiving inquiries about the construction site, also fell silent. Zijin ended her call with Elder Dragon Court's Zhimeng and also had some rare free time.

"Shall we take the afternoon off too?" she asked Su Ming.

"Okay." Su Ming stretched, he was tired enough these past few days. He walked to the porthole and listened to the pattering of the raindrops.

"Oh, right," Zijin suddenly remembered something, took out a small black USB drive from her bag, and handed it to Su Ming, "I've arranged for everyone to scan all the books in the Dragon Race Library, and the information is all here."

Su Ming immediately accepted it. "Perfect timing! I'm about to launch my language parsing project too." He then gave a wry smile. "However, parsing a new language system requires enormous computing power. The planned wind and solar power arrays simply cannot support it. Moreover, the Ruby Base itself is a major power consumer."

In addition, the intermittency of wind and solar power is also a major drawback. Therefore, all demands point to one solution – building a thermal power plant.

But after careful consideration, Su Ming came up with a new idea: to build a hydroelectric power station!

According to mapping data transmitted by Rainbow Drone, the White River, which flows through the Red Ridge Mountains, has several natural drops in this canyon terrain. These turbulent sections of the river severely hinder inland waterway transportation and greatly limit the tonnage of ships that can navigate through them.

Su Ming pulled up a 3D map, pausing his finger on a spot about twenty kilometers downstream of the White River, which flows past the Red Ridge Mountains. "If we build a high dam here, a vast and gently sloping reservoir will form upstream. It will not only be a hydroelectric power station but also a river port, and we won't need to build a bridge to cross the river!"

Zijin's eyes lit up. She simply thought of the enormous scale of the dam project, forgetting that it would also save a lot of investment in other areas. The White River divides the Dragon Race's territory in two, and a permanent bridge capable of transporting large quantities of goods is absolutely essential to build.

"While providing a stable and abundant power source," Su Ming said excitedly, "It will enhance the navigability of the inland waterways from the Dwarf Kingdom to the present day to the thousand-ton class, and enable two-way passage for cargo ships within a certain range!"

"Interesting!" Zijin exclaimed. The benefits it brings are a bit exaggerated.

"For a hydroelectric power station of the same scale, I only need to transport the core turbine generator unit from Earth," Su Ming continued. "But building a thermal power station of the same scale would require transporting the boiler, steam turbine, massive pipeline system, and other complete facilities, making it far more complex."

A sudden realization dawned on Zijin's eyes. "The main dam of the hydroelectric power station was built using power from another world!" She grasped the key point. "This requires mobilizing a powerful construction team!"

She quickly mentally rehearsed the feasibility, "It would probably require the power of nearly a thousand dragons. Such a landmark project could become a reality in a relatively short time. Moreover, for a water conservancy project of this scale," a smile suddenly appeared on her lips, "Doesn't it just so happen that we have a master who excels in this field?"

Su Ming also laughed and said, "Yes, Newman is already on the ship and is expected to arrive in the next few days!"

Zijin suddenly clapped her hands. "So this kind of thing should be discussed together when Newman arrives." She looked at Su Ming. "We agreed on a holiday, and now we're discussing work again."

She rubbed her wrist. "How about we go to the training ground—"

"No!" Su Ming immediately shook his head and refused. "How about we play a game together?"

"Alright then." Zijin wasn't disappointed, but then she raised her index finger. "Let's make this clear first, no Tetris!"

"That kitchen one-"

-"

"No!" Zijin promptly refused.

She even reflexively activated her Omniscient Vision until she confirmed that Qiluo was lying in Beianqi's room, letting the girl gently comb her mane with a bone comb, before she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

The unicorn squinted its eyes, its tail swaying contentedly, clearly enjoying itself.

A pang of sadness welled up in Beianqi's heart. She had been extremely busy lately, and as the temperature rose, Qiluo's fur was falling out in large quantities.

She was frustrated; she had missed out on so much, so much hair!

Su Ming scrolled through the computer's program list, "For two-player games... hmm, there's one called ' It Takes Two,' it looks pretty good."

Zijin picked up a controller and sat down on the sofa. "Okay! Don't lose to me."

"This is my first time playing this too," Su Ming replied, clicking the mouse and selecting the projection option. "And this looks like a casual cooperative game."

The big screen lit up, and a heartwarming game loading screen appeared. Su Ming picked up another controller and began a rare moment of relaxation.