Memory?
Su Ming first received the elf trade representative.
The elven messenger presented two carved boxes emanating wisps of cold air, their surfaces covered with fine water droplets. After Su Ming accepted them, the messenger elegantly explained his purpose.
"Fertilizer?" Su Ming raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. "What purpose do you intend to serve by purchasing this?"
Previously, in order to alleviate the food shortage caused by the war, Su Ming hired a group of planters from Silver Moon Forest to plant a large area of fast-growing food crops in the East of the Ridge region, which had just been brought under his control.
The war with the goblins has ended, and the situation is far more optimistic than expected. However, Su Ming and Katharine's next strategic deployment still requires the use of the dragon legion. Therefore, there is still a considerable shortage in food reserves.
Therefore, with the breakthrough in synthetic ammonia production capacity at the Ruby Base, Su Ming specially produced a batch of compound fertilizer to support this fast-growing agricultural project in East of the Ridge.
"Our plantation specialists reported that your fertilizers have had an astonishing effect on the cultivation of fast-growing crops!" The elf representative's tone was filled with undisguised admiration. "The yield has doubled—we hope to obtain this miraculous resource!"
"Silver Moon Forest is renowned for its natural magic." Su Ming's gaze held a hint of inquiry. "Over 90% of the world's high-end agricultural exports come from your region. Given your unparalleled planting techniques, why would you need to use chemical fertilizers?"
"We do indeed possess many spells that can cultivate seeds, catalyze growth, and accelerate maturation," the elf admitted, a hint of helplessness flashing in his emerald eyes. "However, the nutrients absorbed by crops from the soil cannot be regenerated out of thin air. Although we also use various natural fertilizers to replenish them, their effectiveness... is far inferior to your products."
Soil fertility was indeed a problem that plagued both elves and unicorns, something Su Ming hadn't anticipated.
"Understood." After considering it for a moment, he gave an initial supply quota of several hundred tons.
This quantity is certainly a drop in the ocean for Silver Moon Forest, but Su Ming must ensure that the military production line is not affected.
After seeing off the elven trade representatives who were still eager to continue their visit, Beianqi reported the results of her meeting with the dwarven ambassador. The dwarves proposed that King Star Pickaxe wish to visit the Red Ridge Mine and the Celestite Hydropower Station during his visit.
"I knew this king's purpose in coming here wasn't pure," Su Ming sighed.
"There's no other way; His Majesty Star Pickaxe wants to witness firsthand those 'legendary' and incredibly magical devices," said Beianqi. "You really should understand the impact the Red Ridge Mine have had on the dwarven world."
It's just a visit, so Su Ming agreed, but the security arrangements would be complicated. He instructed Jielusi to coordinate with the dwarven defense department and organize all the details.
Beianqi added, "The materials for the second phase of the 'Vermilion Bow ' project are ready at the experimental base."
"Okay, let's go." Su Ming immediately stood up. "Ruixiuli," he called out.
Ruixiuli was examining the gifts the elves had sent. He opened the silver boxes, and a refreshing fruity aroma filled the air. One box was filled with moon tear fruits that looked like jewels, and the other box contained white dew strawberries that seemed to be sculpted by morning dew.
Su Ming took out his phone, snapped a picture of the exquisite fruit box, and sent it to Zijin with the message: "Do you need someone to deliver it to you?"
"Put it in the fridge," Zijin replied quickly. "I'll have dinner at base."
Su Ming rode on the back of the dragon elder and, surrounded by the guards, flew towards the electromagnetic experimental base. As he flew over the Red Ridge Mine, Su Ming's gaze swept across the hillside below and he discovered that even the last remaining wind turbine there had collapsed.
"Whose masterpiece is this, this 'clever dragon'?" Su Ming sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I was hoping it would last long enough for King Star Pickaxe to see."
The white tower that once stood on the ridge is now broken in half and lies askew among the rocks, its huge fan blades twisted and deformed like a broken bird wing.
"The wounds are fresh!" Su Ming said. "Have the patrol find the culprit, Long, and make him pay for the damages."
Su Ming didn't care about the loss; he already had plenty of electricity. But if he could use the high compensation to recruit a laborer, that would be a decent way to make up for it.
"Okay." Secretary Ainuobia noted it down.
Ruixiuli used his Eagle Eye and noticed something amiss. "The point of impact at the fracture was small, but the force was incredibly powerful; it was as if it had been smashed in two with a single blow." He examined it closely. "These marks don't seem to be caused by a dragon."
"Who would be stupid enough to run into a windmill pole?" Su Ming was now confused.
Upon arrival at the electromagnetic railgun test base, the first batch of equipment delivered was the cooling unit.
Because superconductors are used for energy storage and transmission coils, the "Through" system is equipped with large-scale liquid oxygen production equipment.
These devices had been tested and configured on the Earth side. After the transmission was completed, the engineers quickly connected the power supply and refrigerant pipes. A low hum sounded, and the system started up smoothly.
"The main building uses a double-layered insulation structure, filled with porous cotton in between." Newman led the construction team, planning the famous scheme, "And then cover the container storing liquid oxygen with a vacuum isolation array."
Due to the hot weather, a low-temperature working area needs to be set up for these devices.
"And we should add the Magic Power pump too," Beianqi said.
The liquid oxygen circulation loop needs to be connected in parallel with a backup magic drive system. This is to ensure that, in extreme cases where the entire power system fails, the cooling system can sustain the system until the superconducting coil can safely release energy.
Otherwise, if the superconducting coil, which stores enormous energy, were to lose its superconductivity, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Having completed the transfer of the core heat dissipation unit and thermal management system, Su Ming went to a nearby hillside to rest for a while. The ant-like workers were constantly assembling it. After days of hard work, the behemoth before them was gradually revealing its magnificence.
The equipment of the "Vermilion Bow" system is not entirely from Earth. Nearly half of its functional units were manufactured and assembled in another world using local resources and magical craftsmanship.
As the sun set, its afterglow painted half the sky red, and the heat in the air subsided considerably. Su Ming was about to lie down on his back when something hard pressed against the back of his head. Turning his head, he saw the pig skeleton, "looking" at him with its empty eye sockets.
"[Have you finished your class?]" Su Ming asked via mental connection.
[Hmph!] Mentioning this made Miao Xin's anger burn even brighter. [It's either tedious theoretical learning or endless tinkering in boring simulators, it's so annoying!]
She shifted her frame and lay down on the grass next to Su Ming. "Speak," she said, "Why did you call me here?"
Su Ming took out his phone, brought up his chat history with Zijin, and handed it to Miao Xin.
Miao Xin swiped the screen with her front hooves, reading those lines of text over and over again. [Isn't this a normal conversation between you two? What's going on?] Su Ming recounted what happened in the office that afternoon: when he grabbed Zijin's wrist and said, "I choose this one," Zijin simply pulled her wrist away casually, leaving behind the words, "You have good taste," before leaving leisurely.
Miao Xin didn't understand at first, but once she figured it out, she immediately started rolling around on the grass.
[Hahaha!] She laughed so hard her bones cracked, [So you were after Sister Zijin!]
"Is that so strange?" Su Ming rolled her eyes at her, annoyed. "If you keep doing this, I won't give you any more melons."
The threat was extremely effective; Miao Xin's laughter stopped abruptly, and she immediately sat up straight. She managed to pose the Skeleton Pig as a police dog.
[So you're the only one feeling anxious and uncertain, while the other person seems completely unaffected?] She sorted out the situation before her.
[Otherwise what?] Su Ming was a little annoyed. [I was worried that I might have been too abrupt and whether I should apologize to her—but Zijin didn't take it seriously at all!]
"[You're just too concerned.]" Miao Xin said pointedly. "[In matters of the heart, whoever takes it seriously first loses.]" She sighed as she spoke, "Like that silly me in junior high who sent love letters—thinking about it now, I want to slap my past self a couple of times."
... You mean, Zijin didn't mean it that way at all, which is why she's so nonchalant?
Miao Xin shrugged her white, bony shoulder blades; she'd already learned to mimic the gesture of a pig. [What's important to you is just a casual joke to those who don't care.]
Su Ming sighed deeply, slumped back onto the soft grass, and gazed at the sky dyed golden red by the setting sun. [Why can't I ever meet a girl... the kind who makes my face flush and my heart race with just a little interaction?]
Miao Xin swallowed the words: "If you, you shut-in, want to eat peaches, go play GalGames!"
"[Who told you to be so picky?]" she still complained. "[Relax, relax, this happens all the time.]"
She tilted her head and thought for a moment, her soul fire flickering, "[Hmm, speaking of which, you should find a companion. This other world is so vast, with all sorts of beautiful and diverse creatures—elves, halflings, beast girls... there's bound to be one of them.]"
[Stop!] Su Ming immediately interrupted her, [I'm going back to Earth, I don't want to drag my family here, it'll be a hassle.] [Heh heh, you don't deny the issue of XP!] Miao Xin had clearly grasped the key point.
Su Ming was speechless.
Miao Xin's soul fire flickered as she began to think, "[Then... I'll find you someone back in our hometown? There are a few girls in the Dodder Group, they're pretty and fun!]"
[What? Getting into a cross-dimensional online romance?]
"If all else fails," Miao Xin said with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "Find a good skeleton, fill it with realistic silicone—I've heard that's very popular in the Lighthouse Country these days!"
"... Do you believe I'll dismantle you, stuff you into a silicone mold, and turn you into crystal pig jelly?!" Su Ming was so angry he laughed.
He glared at Miao Xin, their eyes meeting. But suddenly, a vague yet familiar memory flashed through his mind.
Time seemed to freeze for a moment.
Su Ming and Miao Xin looked at each other blankly again.
"[We, lovers?]" Miao Xin asked, her voice filled with confusion.
[You felt it too?] Su Ming frowned.
Just a moment ago, a scene flashed before his eyes without warning: in the cool morning air, soft sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains, and a girl with cascading black hair was curled up asleep beside him, revealing her serene and beautiful profile.
He had never seen a photo of Miao Xin before her death, but the outline of the girl's eyebrows and eyes in the picture was so clear that it was like a brand, making him absolutely certain that it was Miao Xin!
[How strange.] Miao Xin scratched her smooth skull with her bony hoof. [This... ethereal, yet seemingly etched into my bones...] She paused. [I admit, in my past life, I probably would have been capable of just craving something like you, a fresh-faced young man.]
[But!] She suddenly raised her voice, [Su Ming, you don't actually have a bone-gnawing fetish, do you?!]
Su Ming was speechless, completely baffled.
Time flew by as Vermilion Bow was being prepared and tested.
Several days later, the dwarf king, Star Pickaxe, arrived as scheduled.
Elder Yin'er Two and Younier were responsible for greeting them. After a few brief greetings, skipping lengthy diplomatic exchanges, the group headed directly towards the Red Ridge Mine.
Mining and related industries constitute half of the economic lifeline of the Dwarf Kingdom. Star Pickaxe simply doesn't have time for formalities, and the scale of the event is kept to a minimum. The deepest main shaft of the Red Ridge Mine is over 2,500 meters deep, and the minerals mined are rare platinum group metals, which are unheard of in this other world and have extremely low content.
Whichever one of them is it, it's worth the trip for Star Pickaxe to witness it firsthand.
Before inheriting the throne, this dwarf king had worked in the mining industry and was an expert in many things. The incredibly powerful vertical lifting equipment, the long ore sorting belt, and the remarkably efficient ventilation system in the mine immediately drew an uncontrollable look of amazement from Star Pickaxe.
The accompanying dwarven artisan minister was breathing heavily, his rough fingers excitedly stroking the cold metal components on the rock wall, his eyes seeming to blaze with the light of a forge.
"Immediately submit an application to Chairman Su to increase the number of training slots here!" Star Pickaxe instructed. "We need to bring more technical personnel from across the country here to broaden their horizons!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The accompanying official immediately bowed in response.
Su Ming himself was at the experimental base near the Celestite Hydropower Station. Today was also the first full-scale test of the "Vermilion Bow" system after its integration.
The electromagnetic railgun stands upright like a giant steel tower, its entire body covered with a thin layer of white frost from condensation. Currently, it is not equipped with a track, but only has the most basic high-power launch equipment, standing at a height of about 120 meters.
This is the most important part of the satellite launch system. Without the subsequent extension orbit of several hundred meters, its maximum output can reach 30% of the overall maximum value.
The core task today is to verify whether the entire device can operate smoothly.
As preparations neared completion, the intake gates of the Celestite Hydropower Station began to operate. The volume of water flowing into the power generation intake continued to increase, and the turbine units began to accelerate their rotation, with the output power steadily climbing.