Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 91 Let's build a big one?

As the safety zone in Haiqu began to operate smoothly, cheers erupted in the research area of ​​the Taimon base.

It took two days for the experimenters to take a steel billet out of the vacuum furnace, roll and draw it into a steel bar, and finally deliver it to several senior engineers.

"Everything went smoothly! As expected of you, Xiao Tao, you were just as good as ever."

Several elderly men surrounded a young girl who was holding a piece of oracle bone. It was Tao Yue, who had stayed at the base.

At this moment, she had a bitter face, somewhat unable to resist the enthusiasm of these people.

"I already told you not to come to me with this kind of thing. Just follow the standard procedure. I'm not a fortune teller..."

"We came to you precisely because you're not a fortune teller. What era are we living in that you still practice feudal superstition? We're doing scientific prediction."

"Oh right, right..." Tao Yue rolled her eyes: "Now can you let me go?"

"Don't go! Why don't you eat something before you leave? We might need you to take a look later..."

Tao Yue said helplessly, "It's unnecessary, really unnecessary. I'm not as useful as you think... Now the chicken farm next door needs me to help with the first batch of hatching, and they need me to help with the construction of the fence..."

Thankfully, the internet industry doesn't exist anymore, otherwise Tao Yue could already imagine the scenario where those programmers would drag her over to test their programs before they even run.

Seeing the young girl who had been through so much, the group of older men blushed and said, "We were just worried. You go ahead and get busy. We'll treat you to dinner later. Old Liu is a great cook, you have to come."

When this was mentioned, Tao Yue perked up a bit and agreed.

Seeing the girl leave, the senior engineers turned their attention to the steel bars that had just cooled down.

This steel bar is ten meters long, completely black, and unremarkable in appearance, seemingly without any special features.

"The fact that it can be manufactured proves that the powder metallurgy approach is correct, but we don't know if the actual effect meets the requirements."

"Old Chen, come and take a look."

The one called Old Chen was a metal-type ability user. He nodded, stepped out from the crowd, squatted down, and placed one hand on one end of the steel bar.

"It feels like... there's a certain gap in quality compared to normal steel bars. The yield strength and tensile strength might not be very high. However, we used old technology, so this gap should be acceptable overall."

Although elemental affinity users can directly sense some things, at least at this stage, this perception is still vague, and they can only make a rough estimate, just like ordinary people judge the size of an object by saying approximately how many centimeters.

Of course, this can be improved through practice. The more refined one's perception of the relevant aspects, the stronger one's control over the ability itself, which means the greater one's strength.

The criteria for judging the strength of superpowered individuals are not simply based on who can conjure the biggest fireball.

The engineers, however, were unconvinced by his explanation: "Who told you to look at these things? Do we need you to measure the yield strength?"

Old Chen chuckled sheepishly: "Hey, I'm used to it, it's an occupational hazard. You guys wait while I get ready."

After saying that, he closed his eyes.

As the supernatural power was activated, a white light appeared on the steel bar and quickly spread to the other end, the whole process resembling flowing water.

"it is good!"

Someone shouted excitedly.

"How do you feel?" "The conductivity is excellent. I didn't even have to exert any effort. The proportions given by the commander-in-chief were indeed correct."

“Great… I heard that silver-based alloys have higher transmission efficiency, but it’s not necessary yet. Let’s make the spirit lens as soon as possible. Once these things are completed, our remote communication problem will be solved.”

"Not only for long-distance communication, but also for making weapons."

"But the communication problem is the most urgent problem to be solved now... We don't necessarily have to wait until all the technologies are in place before we can start construction. These steel bars are for making antennas, so we can build the antenna part first."

The senior engineers exchanged glances and nodded to each other.

"The vacuum furnace at the base is too small and has low production capacity. Quickly contact Licheng and send all the spiritual energy crystals we have there so they can start production!"

“I don’t think we can take this risk. Although Licheng is not far away, there are still many dangers along the way. We don’t have many spiritual crystals at the moment, and they are all hard-earned by the frontline soldiers. We cannot afford to lose them.”

A respected elder nodded and made the decision: "It's just the materials needed for one set of equipment. We can use our own. If it's slow to build, we can work in three shifts or two shifts. We can divide the work among ourselves, and it won't delay things."

"But how should we build this antenna now? The plan given by the commander-in-chief doesn't restrict the specifications too much, so we should be able to build it ourselves according to our actual situation."

The group returned to the archives together and repeatedly examined the relevant manufacturing processes.

"I have an idea."

Old Chen said, "The commander-in-chief must need a large communication device, preferably one that can broadcast directly to the world. I think we should do it to the highest standard. Isn't the base going to build a road along the wall? I think we can lay this antenna under the road. The antenna can be as big as the base."

"This……"

"The idea is good, but do we have enough materials to complete this project?"

"Calculate the relevant costs and report to Commander Qin Chang. This matter may require the commander-in-chief to make a decision personally, so we can prepare the plan in advance."

-

The news quickly reached Su Xun. His work had been quite regular lately, involving attending meetings and giving lectures to people with superpowers. When he received the news, he realized that the base's progress was faster than expected.

However, this was not too unexpected, as it is a very basic thing. Of course, it probably also reflects the hard work of many staff members in the research area.

"Their idea is quite bold. Is there a shortage of crystals right now?"

Jiang Yi nodded and replied, "We don't have enough spiritual energy crystals on hand right now. If we want to complete the project, the gap is not small. In addition, this is not the only project that needs this kind of thing."

In order to enable the various shelters to quickly establish themselves in all aspects, Su Xun had prepared quite a few technical solutions before the apocalypse.
“It’s alright. A large communication device is necessary. We can approve them to start building it first. Leave the crystallization to us… Don’t assign this task to Dengzhou. They need to prioritize solving the zombie horde problem.”

A secret realm has also appeared in the Dengzhou area, but there hasn't been much activity, so no large-scale operation has been launched there for the time being.

After a moment of contemplation, Su Xun asked, "How many ability users have reached the second tier now?"

“217 people,” Jiang Yi answered without hesitation.

"That's 217 squads... Actually, we don't need that many people."

If all goes well, the giant creature rising from the depths of the secret realm may not be able to leave with a complete corpse, but those lower-ranking beings that it has driven to the shallows can be harvested ahead of time.

(End of this chapter)