Production (8.4K)

As they passed the Celestite Hydropower Station, Su Ming looked down from the dragon's back.

During this period, the appearance of the hydroelectric power station has changed dramatically. What was originally a crudely constructed dam has now been standardized and its height has been increased.

Some construction teams are still drilling and grouting on the dam to prevent water seepage.

Continuing to fly along the river, one can see that many low-lying areas along the riverbank have been transformed into long dikes. A large number of dragons and humans are busy moving stones and compacting the soil, creating a bustling scene.

On the mountain near the Celestite Hydropower Station, the foundation for a separate power distribution facility has been completed and is awaiting the installation of equipment.

Su Ming plans to build a uniquely structured long-rail electromagnetic railgun here. Its core concept is to use the surging electrical energy generated by the Celestite Hydropower Station to assist in the launch of satellites.

Yes, launch a satellite.

Whether it's building a comprehensive strategic reconnaissance system or establishing a real-time communication network covering the entire domain, a sufficient number of orbiting artificial satellites are the ultimate and most ideal solution.

However, whether from a short-term or long-term perspective, relying on large rockets for multiple launches is something Su Ming cannot afford.

Such a massive expenditure is unsustainable for a limited production chain built solely by the Final Bone Mad Machines without a complete social production system.

Jisu, however, proposed a solution: to use an ultra-long electromagnetic orbit to replace the large and cumbersome first stage of a traditional rocket.

According to this concept, an electromagnetic railgun would be used to boost a rocket carrying a satellite to an initial velocity of one kilometer per second, raising its elevation angle and launching it into the sky. The rocket would then rely on its onboard engine to complete its subsequent orbital flight.

If this plan succeeds, it could reduce the rocket's takeoff mass by more than 85%, significantly lowering launch costs!

Compared to trying to develop a high-thrust solid rocket booster, the cost of this approach seems realistic and feasible for the Su Ming side. Its low cost also makes it more suitable for multiple launches to build the required satellite network.

After all, the team that truly needed to rack their brains to solve the technical problems was the remote support team Earth Plane. Su Ming was essentially a half-porter.

However, this plan also hides a deeper consideration for Jin Rongjia and his team. Once the interdimensional communication system is realized, these satellites sent into orbit will become the "tentacles" of Earth's civilization in other worlds. Whether it is to conduct observation or research on other worlds, they can serve as effective fulcrums.

Of course, these are all long-term plans. The most pressing reality facing Su Ming is to first eliminate the enemies who are currently in his way.

****

Shortly after, Su Ming arrived at the Ruby Base. As soon as he landed, Beianqi quickly greeted him with a slight smile, "Good afternoon, President!"

"Good afternoon," Su Ming replied, patting Mo Yuan's Dragon Claw claw in thanks. "Where's Newman?" he asked.

"In the workshop," Beianqi replied, handing over a bulging paper bag. "Jielusi instructed me to be in charge of your meals."

"Thanks!" Su Ming took the bag, opened it, and found two golden-brown flatbreads inside, exuding the aroma of wheat.

"Sorry, I'm swamped with work," Beianqi said, sticking out her tongue sheepishly. "I just made two simple pancakes, please bear with them."

"It's already very good." Su Ming took a bite; the warm, chewy pancake was filled with savory minced meat. "The last time I ate your pancakes was back when we were sailing at sea."

"----Don't mention that again!" Beianqi said, sounding a little annoyed. Because they were heading to the Storm Sea, she was worried that the ship would be too rocked to cook in the high sea states, so she painstakingly prepared a large quantity of pancakes. However, thanks to modern anti-roll equipment, the White Triangle was as stable as if it were on land.

Most of the pancakes ended up being given cheaply to the pirate prisoners.

"What's the list of equipment that needs to be added?" Su Ming asked while eating.

Beianqi handed her a sheet of paper covered in writing. "These are the most urgently needed parts—why don't you take a break first?"

Su Ming took the list and glanced at it; it was all standard equipment. He quickly assessed the overall scale, "Not bad, I can rest after I'm done."

During this period, under the continuous effect of the "Whispers of the Stars" talent, his mental strength increased significantly.

With his improved control skills, he is now able to use different combinations of precision to transmit data at mixed "resolutions".

For example, most components of conventional equipment only need to achieve crystal-level precision, which is sufficient. Without involving changes in chemical bonds, Su Ming's transmission capabilities have been greatly expanded.

Su Ming contacted Miao Xin as he walked.

"The takeout order has arrived!" Miao Xin sent a message in the support team's group chat, quickly entering Su Ming's order details.

The response came quickly. "Everything is readily available; all departments, get ready!"

The group of people immediately got to work in an orderly fashion.

****

Su Ming and Beianqi arrived at the center of a warehouse. All the necessary materials were neatly categorized and stacked. As the ruby production base continued to expand and multiple supply chains were established and improved, the quality of raw materials available was also steadily increasing.

Many materials, after undergoing secondary processing using technological or alchemical methods, become closer to their original form, significantly reducing the energy consumption during Su Ming's reorganization.

This is another important factor that enabled him to improve his efficiency.

Before long, the support team was ready. With a ripple of spatial fluctuation, more than a dozen pieces of equipment, along with a large number of spare parts, were successfully transported and reassembled. The team leaders of the various production departments who had been notified came to collect them.

Su Ming shook his slightly throbbing head, let out a long sigh, and felt that he still had some mental energy left.

"Impressive!" Beianqi clapped softly in admiration, then handed over a stack of documents. "These are not urgent requests; please complete them when you have some free time."

"I feel like I've been turned into a beast of burden!" Su Ming complained half-jokingly. He took the list and flipped through it, finding that it was for new equipment to expand production. Due to the surge in material consumption at the front, Beianqi and Newman planned to add several more chemical production lines.

"Someone like you should be called an 'industrial hen'," Beianqi teased with a smile.

"A hen?" Su Ming didn't react for a moment.

"Oh!" Beianqi covered her mouth and chuckled. "I heard it from the Scholar Bay Owl. She said that in your world, there's a term called 'industrial hen'—I think that's quite a fitting description."

Su Ming glared at Beianqi, annoyed. "That's an industrial machine tool—and it's completely different from what I have!"

****

Later, Newman was also summoned, along with the supervisors in charge of different aspects of the production base.

"These are the serial numbers of the twelve mortar shells that malfunctioned during this combat exercise." Su Ming picked up a list he had compiled on the way and distributed it to everyone. "The attached page details the specific defects found after disassembling each shell—fuse malfunction, shell deformation, uneven propellant loading."

His gaze swept over everyone. "Now, based on your respective areas of responsibility, conduct a retrospective investigation. Verify the production shift records, equipment operating parameter logs, monitoring video recordings of key processes, and quality inspection records for that batch to find the root cause of the problem!"

Everyone nodded and began searching for their assigned sections of the work.

Su Ming continued, "This operation is not only about assigning blame, but also an opportunity to raise everyone's awareness and understanding of quality!"

"That's absolutely necessary," said Beianqi. "Our production operations have many flaws and are far from reaching their limits; there's a lot of room for improvement!"

Since witnessing the precision of technological creations, Beianqi's perception has changed considerably.

"Therefore, we will use this batch of problematic ammunition as a starting point to conduct a quality inspection at the factory," Su Ming instructed. "I will send out the specific action plan in the factory management group later."

The officials in charge responded and left to carry out their orders.

"Then I'll go get busy too." After taking a few steps, Beianqi remembered something and turned back to ask, "What do you want to eat tonight? I'll prepare it when I'm done."

"Don't bother with that," Su Ming sighed softly. "I'll arrange dinner. I'll show you what a 'lazy person's meal' is."

"----Can it be easier than making pancakes?" Beianqi asked with a look of suspicion.

"Of course you can." Su Ming's lips curled into a confident smile. "There are plenty of ways to be lazy!"

****

When Su Ming returned to the office, several members of the publicity team were already waiting quietly there.

He handed over a stack of well-organized frontline battle reports.

"The East of the Ridge Campaign has been won. Officially announce this good news and convey it to everyone in the factory," he instructed.

"Understood, Chairman!" the group members responded in unison, but a hint of barely perceptible confusion flashed in their eyes—why bother summoning them here for a face-to-face instruction when the secretary could have simply informed them of this?

"But your main task is to write an in-depth feature report," Su Ming instructed. "Focus on describing how the products manufactured at the Ruby Base played a decisive role in defeating the enemy on the East of the Ridge battlefield. The theme should be gratitude to the members of the Ruby Base for their hard work on the rear production front!"

The faces of the team members were filled with astonishment. Could the glory of victory on the front lines really be attributed to the production workshop at the rear?

This logic felt foreign to them.

Su Ming handed over a manuscript translated by the Electricity-Swallowing Beast, "For details, you can refer to this."

The team members took the papers and quickly flipped through them; the titles were things like "A solid rear is the strongest front line - A tribute to the Hero who safeguard the front line."

"President, is this arrangement—a way of reassuring the members back home because you're worried they might be restless?"

A young team member asked.

Su Ming sighed; as expected, there were still cognitive biases.

"Production is the core gear of war!" His expression turned serious. "Remember, the type of weapons the production lines in the rear can produce determines the type of battles our soldiers can fight on the front lines!"

The front lines, ablaze with gunfire, represent the essence of war. But the bustling production lines and high-temperature, high-pressure reactors in the rear are what truly support it.

"But," another team member cautiously objected, "Shouldn't we be focusing on publicizing the heroic deeds and selfless sacrifice of the soldiers on the front lines?"

"The heroic fighting on the front lines is indispensable!" Su Ming explained, "But advanced weaponry allows them to reap the rewards of victory without having to be so brave in direct confrontation or charge into battle with such trepidation—that's the significance of our efforts from the rear!"

The members of the propaganda team understood, and they exchanged a few whispered words. Finally, the team leader stepped forward and said to Su Ming, "The purpose of this report you arranged for us should be to awaken the sense of responsibility among the workers at the production base, to make them realize that whether it's ensuring product quality or continuously improving and developing weapon details, it all translates into lethality against the enemy!"

Su Ming smiled approvingly. Mages are indeed the most intelligent group in this world; they understand things very quickly.

"Good, let's proceed according to this approach."

"Yes!" The team members perked up and left the office to get busy.

Next, Su Ming continued to handle various matters.

A scraping sound came from the window. Mo Yuan used his dark Dragon Claw to pry open a window and threw in two lamb legs still smelling of fresh blood.

This was a sheep that Su Ming had asked him to buy from a nearby farm. As for the parts other than the legs, Mo Yuan had obviously already eaten them.

"Thanks!" Su Ming waved at the huge dragon head silhouette outside the window.

He picked up the lamb leg, still smelling of grass and wood, walked to the makeshift kitchen next to the office, threw most of the meat and bones into the refrigerator, and chopped the rest into pieces with a swift, decisive motion.

After blanching the meat, Su Ming threw all the meat chunks into the rice cooker, then added carrot chunks, onion chunks, and rinsed rice, poured in water, and pressed the switch.

"Done!" Su Ming clapped his hands.

Although this way of cooking mutton rice will still have a strong gamey smell, it should still be edible. The key is that it's convenient; the time spent cooking is less than the time spent washing dishes.

Su Ming's current identity is sensitive, and he has made many enemies, making him extremely valuable for assassination. Therefore, he must be cautious about things like meals.

Su Ming mentally berated himself for not having the fortune to be an emperor, yet he had to endure the experience of having to guard against assassination even while eating a meal.

****

Gray Ridge, Goldglint Fortress.

This is the most magnificent and heavily fortified military fortress of the goblin race. It is located about 350 kilometers from the Dragon Race border, a point of balance where it is difficult for dragons to cross the border and launch a surprise attack, yet it is relatively easy to intervene in the front-line battles.

Furthermore, this location is only about 25 kilometers from the coastline, allowing for escape to the sea should an insurmountable crisis arise.

Based on a comprehensive analysis, Goldglint Fortress is the best location for the general command post.

Therefore, when Silver Mask was ordered to search for the hiding place of the goblin high command, this place naturally became his primary target of suspicion.

However, the perimeter of the fortress was heavily guarded, with visible sentries every three steps and hidden stakeouts every five steps.

Silver Mask was, after all, human. Forcing his way in to verify something amidst heavy goblin guards and tight security arrays would be nothing short of suicide.

He had no choice but to settle for second best and lie in wait in a secluded spot near the fortress to observe.

However, the Goldglint Fortress was enormous, and what was even more troublesome was that the goblins had clearly built a vast network of underground passages, with multiple entrances and exits scattered around the fortress like a spider web.

This resulted in Silver Mask, after several days of lying in wait, only being able to observe the frequent movement of people and supplies inside and outside the fortress, showing the tense rhythm of war, but failing to capture any concrete evidence of the existence of the goblin high command.

Unbeknownst to Silver Mask, in the central domed council hall of the Goldglint Fortress, the high-ranking officials of the Goblin Kingdom were embroiled in a heated argument.

Several goblin elders, dressed in magnificent robes, disregarded their usual decorum and engaged in a heated exchange of accusations with a group of armored pro-war officers.

"A full two hundred thousand troops! Wiped out just like that! Even the crucial Sharp Gorge City was lost! Is this the invincible situation you so confidently guaranteed?!" A white-haired elder's voice trembled with anger as he questioned him sharply.

"Shut up!" a goblin officer with a scarred face roared back, his eyes bloodshot. "When the decision to go to war was made, which of you old geezers didn't wholeheartedly support it? Now you want to pin the blame on us?!"

"What about the ' Desecration ' plan?" another elder cried out in anguish. "Instead of dealing a serious blow to the dragon, it has caused the needless deaths of hundreds of our people!"

"A few hundred subjects?" a young, arrogant officer scoffed. "That number is probably less than the number of laborers who die in production accidents in your workshops throughout the year, isn't it?"

On the throne, the goblin king Nilunke, his face ashen, watched the chaotic scene below without uttering a word.

The elder, his sore spot struck, blushed and paled in turns. In his shame and anger, he turned to Nilunke on the throne, "Your Majesty! To support this disastrous war, you mortgaged all of the kingdom's overseas magic workshops and mines to the Temple of Light, didn't you?"

"That's right!" another elder immediately chimed in, his voice shrill. "Now that the betting agreement is about to fail, the Temple of Light could seize our collateral at any moment—this is the goblin royal family's wealth and foundation accumulated over centuries!"

"Enough!" King Nilunke slammed his hand on the armrest of his throne, his voice barely audible. "When the Temple of Light sent aid supplies, weren't you all eager to grab a share? Now that things are going badly at the front, you want to shirk all responsibility?!"

****

The heated arguments emanating from the council chamber grew louder and louder, penetrating the stone walls and greatly irritating Princess Janet in the adjacent audience room.

"This place is like a green asylum. Let's go back to Woden Plantation." Her voice was full of weariness and exhaustion.

Archbishop McIntyre pondered for a moment, then nodded. He quietly instructed the servants standing nearby to prepare the carriage.

The initial reason for choosing to enter this place was its formidable defenses and convenient control over the Goldglint Fortress front lines. However, the situation has now deteriorated rapidly, and the Goblin Kingdom is clearly sinking faster than ever. Continuing to remain in the territory of this ally, which is about to descend into chaos, will bring no benefit whatsoever.

"Regardless," McIntyre turned to Janet, "We've achieved our tactical objective of using the goblins to draw the attention of the Dragon Race and the Final Bone Mad Machines. It's just a pity that the value of these goblins ends there."

"That's all they can do." Janet sighed softly, a hint of disappointment flashing across her face. "They can't even wear them down a little more. Ultimately, the real work will have to be done by ourselves."

She stood up and, with the help of her maid, put on a long, snow-white velvet coat.

A priest rushed in. "Your Highness, Archbishop!" he whispered, "We just received intelligence that Bone King has returned to the Ruby Production Base!"

McIntyre and Janet's eyes met instantly—this was the opportunity they had been waiting for! Su Ming separated from Bay Owl and the others; due to the war, the number of guards around him had been reduced to the minimum!

Janet's voice suddenly became resolute, "Notify the Dark Side Group, the Deboning ' plan is to commence immediately!"

"Yes!" McIntyre replied, placing one hand on his chest.

Janet clasped her hands together in front of her chest, adopting a solemn and devout expression, "Great God of Light above, please watch over and protect these loyal warriors who strive forward and are unafraid of sacrifice to defend Your sacred glory!"

McIntyre and the priests inside the room also closed their eyes and bowed their heads in prayer.

However, the commotion in the adjacent council chamber grew increasingly intense, with a constant stream of harsh shouts and curses, "Lies! It's clearly you incompetent and greedy elders who, by usurping your high positions and making one foolish move after another, have ruined everything!"

"Bullshit! It's clearly you officers in command who are fighting amongst yourselves for power! General Babaluo warned us of the risks of going deep into enemy territory, but you silenced him!"

Janet's eyebrow twitched, her last bit of patience exhausted, and she hastily ended her prayer.

She disdained the goblin's cramped passageway and refused to bend down to crawl through it. Janet led the group directly out of the fortress's main gate and onto the waiting carriage.

***

Although the process of this group boarding the vehicle lasted only a few seconds, it was still keenly observed by Silver Mask, who was hiding and watching from a distance.

Are they the Divine Covenant Faction? Silver Mask frowned behind his binoculars. Although the group wore inconspicuous traveler's cloaks and deliberately concealed their presence, the deep-seated bearing of their movements gave Silver Mask a sense of familiarity.

After all, he and the people from the Divine Covenant Faction were once "colleagues"!

Silver Mask swiftly retrieved a black, box-shaped device from his backpack. He unfolded a tripod, set it up in a crevice between the rocks, adjusted the angle, and aimed the device at the side window of the carriage.

A faint infrared laser beam, imperceptible to the naked eye, instantly traversed hundreds of meters and silently projected onto the carriage window.

Inside the carriage, Janet and McIntyre were still talking in hushed tones. The sound waves from their conversation traveled to the carriage window, causing extremely subtle vibrations on the glass surface.

This minute vibration altered the phase and frequency distribution of the reflected laser beam, and was captured by the receiver of the eavesdropping device. After a series of signal modulation processes, the voices of a conversation appeared in the Silver Mask earpiece. "----We still need to appease King Nilunke a little," McIntyre said, "We need to leave him with a glimmer of hope, we can't let him collapse so quickly."

"That makes sense." Janet realized. "We can't appear so eager to back out."

"Yes, otherwise they might think that our Church of the God of Light is about to begin a purge."

"But they're arguing like cats and dogs right now—" Janet paused for a moment, then had an idea. "How about this, I leave a letter, making up an excuse that I have an urgent matter to attend to?"

"Tell them we need to urgently contact His Holiness the Pope and strive to secure larger-scale and more substantial aid and support for the Goblin Kingdom," McIntyre suggested.

"That's a good reason!" Janet's voice carried a hint of approval.

She gestured for the carriage to stop by the roadside, ordered her attendants to bring out a letter and a quill, and began to write quickly. A short while later, she handed the sealed letter to a priest, instructing him to return to Goldglint Fortress and wait for the goblin high command's "meeting" to conclude before personally presenting the letter to King Nilunke.

From the high ground, although the sounds Silver Mask overheard were quite distorted due to signal modulation and environmental interference, he still quickly identified the two men from their tone and speaking habits.

"Ah—Archbishop McIntyre, and Princess Janet," Silver Mask murmured, "Thank you so much for confirming that the high-ranking goblins are indeed hiding in this tortoise shell!"

He slowly raised his head, looked at the carriage that had started moving again, and began to consider whether he should also find out where this group of people had gone.

****

As dusk fell, in the Red Ridge Crater mine, the tall winch frame cast long shadows in the afterglow of the setting sun, its edges painted with a molten gold hue.

As the last heavy basket of ore was lifted out of the pit by the elevator, the workday came to an end. The humans, dwarves, and enormous dragons, who had worked all day, gradually withdrew from their respective work areas in the mine, preparing to call it a day.

The dwarf engineer Shiquan stood at the edge of the mine, frowning as he flipped through the production data record board in his hand.

A dwarf technician approached, his voice tinged with obvious frustration, "The depth is just too deep! We work hard all day and can only extract a few dozen tons of valuable ore. That's far from the supply required by the base!"

What they are mining now is an ore containing extremely precious platinum group metals (PGMs). As one of the rarest and most difficult elements to obtain on Earth, even in ore, their content is a paltry five grams per ton of ore.

These elements are almost exclusively concentrated in complex, layered intrusive bodies formed by lava flows. This deposit in Red Ridge is buried about two kilometers below the surface. What's more troubling is that, based on current data, further digging is needed to increase the enrichment of platinum group metals.

"Sigh." Shiquan sighed deeply, tapping the record board with his thick fingers. "Buried so deep, even if we did find the ore, the content would only be a few parts per million—no wonder we've never discovered and utilized these elements before!"

"The mine equipment needs upgrading, and the mining plan also needs adjustment and optimization," the technician suggested. "I heard Chairman Su has returned; why don't we go and ask him about it?"

"That's right!" Shiquan's eyes lit up, and he nodded.

Before Su Ming's arrival, the deepest known mine in the other world had only been excavated to about one kilometer. The current two kilometers were only achieved with the help of the advanced equipment provided by Su Ming.

Since this is something beyond the boundaries, instead of blindly figuring it out on our own, we should seek technical guidance from this visitor from another world.

Not far away, the giant dragon Lan Mao had just finished clocking out and was spreading its wings, preparing to fly away from the mining area. He overheard the conversation between Shiquan and the technician.

"Hey!" Lan Mao lowered his massive head. "I'm on my way to the base for lunch. Want a ride?"

Normally, dragons wouldn't bother with these petty people. But right now, he's just a working dragon, and getting along well with the foreman will help him earn those round gold coins.

"Then I'll have to trouble you!" Shiquan replied, looking up.

The Red Ridge Mine is not far from the Ruby Base, especially for flying dragons.

Just seven or eight minutes later, Lan Mao flew low over the Sapphire Base and dropped Shiquan at the factory gate.

He continued flying towards the business district, arriving at the Unexpected Treasure "restaurant" run by goblins and known for its generous portions.

Upon entering the restaurant, Lan Mao walked familiarly to the counter and first filled in his work assignment for the day in the work registration book. "Red Ridge Mine, ore excavation work."

The goblin shopkeeper behind the counter checked the money and took out a shiny gold coin from the cash box as Lan Mao's "work allowance" for the day.

The amount of gold coins isn't much, but the ease of collecting them is a major advantage. For Lan Mao, earning an extra gold coin every day is naturally something he's very happy to accept.

Moreover, taking out half a gold coin would be enough to have a decent dinner at this restaurant.

Lan Mao sat down and skillfully pointed to the most economical item on the menu with her paw. "The usual, one serving of boiled tubers."

"Hey, Brother Lan Mao, this is for dinner?" A slightly smaller Azure Dragon, who had just entered the restaurant, greeted him familiarly. He had also just finished his registration. "Are you planning to save your gold coins for chicken dinner tonight?" he teased.

"You're the same," Lan Mao retorted irritably.

"Hey, how can we keep eating boiled food? We're not getting enough nutrition!" The azure Azure Dragon was clearly in a good mood today. He pushed back the gold coins the goblin had given him and waved his hand generously, "Use them all! Boiled tubers, plus a basket of eggs!"

The goblin clerk immediately repeated the order to the kitchen.

"Actually, the food at the mine construction site at noon is quite juicy and filling," Lan Mao said, chatting with Azure Dragon while waiting for his food.

"I heard the work on Red Ridge Island has been particularly heavy lately?" Azure Dragon asked curiously.

"You bet!" Lan Mao flicked his tail, seemingly still feeling the soreness in his muscles. "Those ores brought up from the deep pit were incredibly heavy! My claws were practically worn out from sifting through them! But—" he changed the subject, a hint of satisfaction in his voice, "And they gave me an extra three gold coins as wages!"

"Three?!" Azure Dragon's eyes lit up instantly. He stretched out his claws and quickly counted on his fingers. "That's a good deal! Hey, Lan Mao, could you put in a good word for me with your foreman and get me a job there for a few days?"

"No problem!" Lan Mao readily agreed. "The dwarves are really anxious and trying every possible way to expand production!"

At the restaurant counter, the goblin waiter with his pointed ears perked up, seemingly organizing the menus, was quietly recording every word of the conversation between the dragon customers inside the restaurant.

However, the shrewd waiter was unaware that, not far from the restaurant, deep within the dense, verdant shadows of a giant, leafy tree, a figure was also watching him.

Rupert, with a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, leaned lazily against a thick tree branch, holding a pair of binoculars in his hand, taking in everything that was happening in the business district, including this Unexpected Treasure, the "restaurant."

"Work allowance?" Rupert's lips curled into a mocking sneer. He spat out the chewed-up blade of grass with a "pfft," his eyes turning icy. "Ha, so blatantly, do they really think we're fools?!"