Chapter 198: Cold Start Phase Two, Completed!

Chapter 198: Cold Start Phase Two, Completed!

Chen Jian received a message from He Shuo in the dead of night, and by the time he finished reading it, it was already midnight.

According to the management left over three hundred years ago, Fuxi had lit a fire and left a guard post meal on the outskirts of the base; Chen Jian was hungry, so he decided to go to the post for a bite to eat.

But to his surprise, when he stepped onto the open ground outside the base, he saw not only sentries and the newly arrived refugees, but also Huang Yu and three trembling Chinese soldiers shivering in the cold wind.

“What are you all doing?”

Chen Jian scooped porridge into his bowl and asked curiously.

“Report, commander: those three failed the internal affairs inspection and I have put them on penalty stand!”

Huang Yu answered with vigor; Chen Jian shook his head with a mixture of laughter and exasperation, thinking to himself:

“Good grief, you can’t use a magic carpet without a tower, so you resort to this, huh?”

“You said you’d press them down, and you jump straight into action?”

Chen Jian gave the three penalized soldiers a meaningful glance; the three, who had a hint of complaint in their eyes, instantly straightened their expressions.

In the biting cold wind, the three dared not move a muscle.

Until Chen Jian finished his porridge, Huang Yu ordered a dispersal, and the three shivered back into the fortifications.

Chen Jian stopped Huang Yu, who wanted to follow them back, and then said:

“You have a bowl of porridge too; let’s talk.”

Hearing Chen Jian’s words, Huang Yu was startled, straightened instinctively, and then said:

“Commander, you speak, I’m listening!”

“Sit down!”

Chen Jian glared at him; Huang Yu hesitated a bit before sitting, and Chen Jian continued:

“It’s not about corporal punishment—punish if you must; the unit is yours, leading it is your responsibility. Unless there’s a special circumstance, I won’t intervene.”

“I have something I’d like your opinion on.”

At that point, Huang Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He coughed and, a little awkwardly, said:

“I thought you might think I’m being too harsh. What do you want to ask me?”

Chen Jian gathered his thoughts and laid out the Mechanical Cult’s plan and He Shuo’s scheme for Huang Yu.

Then he began:

“So the situation is this.”

“Now we intend to create one, several, or a series of industrial marvels to support He Shuo’s god‑making movement.”

“But a problem stands before us.”

“What kind of marvel can deliver the greatest shock to the followers of the Mechanical Cult?”

“We don’t know, because we’ve seen so many that they’ve become commonplace to us.”

“And the colossal beings that naturally possess ‘divinity’ are still beyond our current ability to fabricate.”

“So I want to ask you: from your perspective, what kind of ‘miracle’ would astonish you most, even make you believe in a god’s existence?”

“If you hadn’t told me beforehand, everything here would make me think a god exists.”

Huang Yu said solemnly:

“Massive underground works, intelligent machines, a superior environment on the wasteland—this place already resembles the so‑called ‘Divine Kingdom.’”

“But it seems we can’t transport these things over there, either.”

“Perhaps we could use the base’s projector to cast images onto the smoke?”

“That’s where the problem lies.”

Chen Jian shook his head and said:

“My initial thought was the same, but the base lacks equipment capable of large‑format projection.”

“The biggest projector can only display a few meters square, and its brightness is pitifully low.”

“So that plan can’t be carried out.”

“What we can choose must be something more ‘tangible.’”

“It has to be within our capabilities and easily remind the cultists of a ‘divine oracle.’”

“If that’s the case, it must differ from what the Mechanical Cult has previously spoken of.”

“A holy statue or battle armor won’t work.”

Huang Yu mused:

“At least for me, even if I’m not a follower of the Mechanical Cult, I’ve heard those widely spread concepts before.”

“Those ideas are already tied to the Mechanical Cult; even if we present them, most civilians will still think they belong to the cult.”

“On the contrary, I think what you saw at the Empty Tenth Division base was truly awe‑inspiring.”

“Even just seeing the photos gave me a powerful sense of oppression.”

“And imagining it soaring made it even more incredible.”

“After all, that thing is a completely different concept from the drones I’ve seen.”

“Unfortunately, those things can no longer fly.”

“Indeed.”

Chen Jian nodded thoughtfully, but soon his mind sparked again.

All the aircraft at the Empty Tenth Division base are grounded, yet I still have a functional fixed‑wing aircraft in my hands!

At Base 095, the reconnaissance‑strike integrated UAV!

Though it’s called “small,” its wingspan is close to ten meters.

Add its flying‑wing layout, jet engine roar, and a top speed exceeding Mach 1,

and such a thing flying in the sky would dwarf the tiny, even “micro,” UAV combat swarms used with the 30A by countless multiples!

This could become the key image.

Divine Kingdom, sky, machinery.

What else could be more fitting than a large aircraft?

Most importantly, choosing this route would hardly require any extra resources from Base 011.

Chen Jian already had a rough plan in mind; he patted Huang Yu on the shoulder and said:

“Very good, very inspiring.”

Huang Yu was taken aback and instinctively asked:

“Have you already figured out what to do?”

Yes.

Chen Jian rose to his feet, and Huang Yu promptly asked:

“Do you intend to make those colossal aircraft take to the skies again?”

“That would be an exaggeration—given our present capabilities, it’s beyond our reach.”

“Nevertheless, rest assured, you will witness that day.”

“Very well! I shall live to see that day!”

With solemn expression, Huang Yu spoke, while Chen Jian could only laugh through his tears:

“Do not utter such ill‑omened words. We shall all live to that day.”

“The destination our squad must reach is still far away.”

“Let us go back and sleep.” “The second phase of the cold start is about to finish; tomorrow is a great day.”

“Gather everyone together.”

“Everyone must come to bear witness to this milestone!”

At dawn, 5:20 a.m., a reminder from Fuxi whispered into the ears of the sleeping Chen Jian.

“Commander, the second stage of the cold start has concluded.”

“The intelligent workshop is now online, awaiting your inspection.”

As the words fell, Chen Jian snapped to full awareness.

He sprang up, seized his coat and slipped it on, leapt from the bed, flung open the compartment door, and strode out.

Meanwhile, in the activity zone, Huang Yu had already marshaled everyone into formation, listening to Lei Jie’s address.

It seemed Lei Jie had risen earlier than Chen Jian; when Chen Jian reached him, Lei Jie was already at the final point of his speech.

“In short, once inside the workshop, no one may enter the work zones, especially the clean‑room area.”

“Everyone must strictly obey the regulations and refrain from damaging the workshop’s operational environment.”

“The importance of this intelligent workshop far exceeds even the armaments stored in the arsenal.”

“You must approach it with the utmost caution and reverence, understand?”

“Understood!”

A chorus of synchronized replies rose from the crowd; Lei Jie nodded and turned to Chen Jian, saying:

“Captain, the troops are assembled; we may depart.”

“What say you, shall we leave at once?”

Seeing his eager demeanor, Chen Jian hesitated not a moment and ordered immediately:

“Advance!”

At the command, everyone formed three neat rows and entered the lift in turn.

Leading the way were Chen Jian and his companions; the instant the lift halted, Lei Jie rushed in without delay.

Chen Jian followed into a passage designed for observation; as the glass façade’s lights flickered on one by one, the breathtaking tableau of modern industry unfolded before his eyes.

Massive machinery, labyrinthine rails, orderly ant‑like robots, and ever‑flashing indicator lights.

Chen Jian drew a deep breath and then commanded:

“Fuxi, commence the briefing.”

“Understood, Commander.”

Fuxi’s voice rang out at once, then, in a calm yet solemn tone, it continued:

“We presently stand at the topmost tier of the intelligent workshop, the autonomous supply module.”

“This module comprises sub‑units for smelting, casting, mechanical grinding, and more, delivering raw material to the entire workshop.”

“However, the smelting and casting sections within are modest in scale; they merely reprocess stored finished raw material and lack the capacity to smelt or cast directly from virgin ore.”

“Even so, this module already satisfies the production demands of the vast majority of downstream processes.”

“For instance, within its raw‑material pre‑treatment system, the alloy dosing centre can automatically perform unmanned weighing according to scheduled tasks, dynamically adjusting ratios with an error margin of no more than fifteen grams per ton.”

“Coupled with this system and the module’s high‑precision vacuum‑induction furnace, large isostatic press, high‑pressure casting machine, and other equipment, it can supply parts for a wide array of devices.”

“In theory, from the simplest steel nail to the most demanding aircraft‑engine fan blade, material preparation can be completed within this module before proceeding to the next stage.”

“Understood.”

Chen Jian nodded slowly, while the other Huaxia soldiers and the residents of Base 011 standing nearby were so stunned by the scene that they even forgot to move forward.

They had never beheld anything so extraordinary.

If the “finished products” they had glimpsed at the 011 works had already stretched the limits of their perception, then what lay before them now utterly shattered their preconceived notions, only to be reassembled like fresh mortar.

For the first time, they truly grasped the meaning of the word “industry.”

This is far beyond anything the Mechanical Cult’s rudimentary workshops could ever compare to!

Everything here operates with such immaculate order, as if obeying a law they have never been able to touch.

Perhaps that very law is the embodiment of truth!

At this moment, Chen Jian and his companions pressed onward.

Only after Lei Jie’s reminder did the others, as if waking from a dream, refocus their gaze and fall in step with him.

“We now stand within the basic production module, which is divided into three sections: the core machining unit, the additive manufacturing unit, and the auxiliary production unit.”

“The core machining unit houses a super‑heavy CNC machine, six machines of varying sizes—large, medium, and small—and additional equipment such as a machining centre, a flexible manufacturing cell, and an ultra‑precision grinder.”

“The additive manufacturing unit comprises two metal 3‑D printers primarily for complex structures and high‑precision parts; when needed, they can also produce ordinary components, handling parts up to 2.5 meters in size.”

“With this module we can fabricate virtually every device and component required by industrialisation; the only limitation is the availability of material.”

“Understood.”

Guided by Fuxi, Chen Jian and his party continued onward.

Afterwards, Fuxi sequentially outlined every module of the intelligent workshop: the equipment interconnection module, the data‑management application module, the auxiliary production module, the logistics transport module, the production‑decision module, and all others.

When they completed the circuit and returned to the lift, a full four hours had elapsed.

Back in the living quarters, everyone wore a complex expression, a mixture of excitement, awe, and disbelief.

Yet more than anything, an unwavering reverence, as if confronting a deity, persisted from start to finish.

The raw, unmediated might of modern industry unfolded before them; in that instant, the native inhabitants—who had never truly comprehended the term “industry”—simultaneously harbored the same thought:

No wonder the squad leaders have maintained such fierce confidence all along.

No wonder they regard the Mechanical Cult, the Sanctified Blood Hall, and every power on this wasteland with unwavering contempt.

It is not born of ignorance, nor of arrogance.

Rather, because

They are fundamentally unlike any of the other great powers that roam the wasteland.

They are the creators.

Creators of the mechanical realm!

Close beside Chen Jian, Ji Xing still lingered, gazing wistfully back at the intelligent workshop; after a moment, she burst into laughter.

"If we were to bring those fanatics of the Mechanical Cult here, they'd probably truly believe this is the so‑called abode of the God of Ten Thousand Machines."

"Indeed."

Chen Jian chuckled, nodded, and then said:

"They will never be able to comprehend that such splendor is, in fact, forged by humanity itself."

"But from now on, we shall create an even greater magnificence."

"Fuxi!"

"I am here."

Chen Jian took a deep breath, then said:

"Initiate the production task."

"First production task: a small converter steel plant."

"Understood. The production task is scheduled; the projected completion time is five days."

(End of Chapter)