Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 111 Insufficient Manpower
Although he was a little dissatisfied with Chen Xi for interrupting his thoughts, 32 quickly got into the role, pulled Chen Xi to the bridge of the battleship, and introduced himself to Chen Xi in front of a huge stereoscopic projector.

"So far, we have completed the three connections and one leveling of a circular area with a radius of 32 kilometers, and are currently reinforcing the continental shelf." explained to Chen Xi, pointing to the huge circular area projected in front of him.

This is a huge circle that was unimaginable in the 3K era. It is so big that it can even fit the entire country of Seris.

After all, the straight-line distance from the northernmost to the southernmost point of Seris is only more than 3,700 kilometers, which is more than enough to fit into this circle.

But in the Warhammer world, this is just the foundation of an ordinary intercontinental factory.

"Has the core of this planet cooled down?" Chen Xi took a look at the various planetary data displayed next to the projector and asked 32.

32 nodded and said with some regret, "Yes, we were hoping that the planet's core hadn't completely cooled down. That way, the factory could save some energy, and the lava inside the planet could be mined to provide minerals...

But unfortunately, this planet cooled down almost 70 million years ago, and now there is only rock inside.

Although some minerals can be extracted, if you want to build an intercontinental factory, you can't hollow out the ground under the factory! Instead, you have to use various materials to reinforce it.

The first batch of mineral resources officially mined from the Hot Dog Planet were basically used here."

32 was a little reluctant to use the precious minerals to lay the foundation. After all, if she saved a little of these minerals, it would be enough for her to build a frame for her ring.

"Don't be stingy with these resources. Rostov I will continue to provide us with various mineral resources." Chen Xi naturally comforted 32 and skillfully painted a pie for her: "And as long as this factory is up and running, we can then develop the other twelve star systems in the sub-sector!
By then, the mineral resources will be produced by the seven resource-rich mineral planets in the entire sub-sector, rather than relying solely on Rostov I.

Chen Xi was quite skilled at making promises, but 32 said helplessly, "That's true, but the construction period for the Intercontinental Factory is too long! And such a large factory would require a huge number of workers just to keep it running!"

The factories in 40K are not the automated production lines of the 3K era. Although the Mechanicus can indeed use automation to replace many places, it still requires servitors and low-level priests to complete production manually.

This ship does have a group of priests on board, and they are capable of doing some of the work, but there are still not enough people!"

There would be at least tens of thousands of crew members on a foundry ship. Although a considerable portion of them were low-ranking lower-deck sailors, the number of low-ranking priests and even high-ranking priests on the foundry ships of the Mechanicus was still considerable.

Simply put, this is a complete technical team, and it is a top technical team that, apart from being slightly short in numbers, can take over the management of an entire intercontinental factory.

After all, a casting ship has a complete production line, which is equivalent to a large factory in itself.

It was just because of the limited number of people. Without affecting the operation of the foundry itself, 32 could only withdraw about two thousand crew members and less than one hundred low-level priests, and then let them carry out the construction.

In order to meet the construction requirements, 32 also rubbed a large number of engineering vehicles that are larger than the Mastodon tank and the Warlord-class Titan to meet the construction needs.

Otherwise, relying solely on manpower, it would take a thousand years to complete the first phase of construction. "So how big is the manpower gap now?" Chen Xi attached great importance to this question. After all, without enough workers, the construction could not be completed on schedule, and the impact would be enormous.

"Right now... I need about 32 skilled workers! Note that they need skilled workers, at least those who can screw in screws and tighten wrenches. Ordinary illiterate lower nesters are useless! In addition, we need a large number of low-level priests, at least !" stated his requirements to Chen Xi, adding, "As for ordinary lower nesters, it would take at least million to fill this factory, and these are the easiest to obtain."

32 shook his head slightly after saying this. Although manpower was worthless in the empire, it was really difficult to get mid-nest technical workers and low-level priests.

As for the 100 million Xiahemen, all we have to do is find a traveling merchant to buy them.

Although the empire is abstract, if it is the middle nest area within the hive city, both the social security and living standards are still above the average baseline.

This also provides a foundation for Zhongchao residents to receive better education and advancement. They have at least received basic reading and writing education, understand simple mathematics, and have the necessary skills to be competent in their jobs.

For the residents of Zhongchao, as long as they study hard, it is not difficult to find a relatively stable job in Zhongchao that can support their family after graduation.

For a Zhongchao resident, as long as he is diligent and willing to work hard, it is not particularly difficult to live a good life or even maintain relative wealth.

If you are lucky or gifted, you can try and see if you have a chance to move up to the upper nest.

It is precisely because of this that if Chen Xi draws out only skilled workers from a hive, it is highly likely that the ones he draws out are the pillars of the hive in the middle nest.

They often work in large factories on the planet, supporting the operation of the factories and maintaining the stability of the local imperial world.

Because of this, the population of Zhongchao usually does not move around easily in large numbers.

Although the empire does not prohibit the trafficking of human beings, this relatively elite population is still the apple of the eye of each governor and an important pillar for maintaining the local imperial world economic prosperity, industrial production and social stability.

Unless Chen Xi uses some darker means, such as hiring pirates to plunder the population, it would be difficult to get so many Zhongchao skilled workers.

Relatively speaking, the only places that can obtain such a large number of skilled populations are the Empire's various forge worlds and planets influenced or controlled by the Mechanicus.

In the emerging sector of Mariupol, only the workers on the sector's forge worlds can meet this population demand.

"Two hundred thousand skilled workers? Okay, I'll find a way to get them for you." Chen Xi nodded and agreed.

Although recruiting 200,000 skilled workers is not easy, these are necessary conditions for the Intercontinental Factory to be successfully completed and put into use, and Chen Xi had to find a way to meet them.

(End of this chapter)