Chapter 57: Chapter 57, The Curious Engineer

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Having an engine doesn’t mean you have a car or construction machinery.

Chassis, moving parts, suspension systems, transmission systems, body design, control systems… to build a good car, many things are needed beyond just the engine.

However, the issue of quality can be solved later; having an appropriate power source marks the beginning of everything.

To put it bluntly, if you take alloy steel to make a frame, a transmission rod, some wheels, and create a running tricycle, then pull a flatbed cart behind it, it’s already a big step forward from relying on human or animal power.

Now that we have the engine, if we could also pull out some vehicle or construction machinery design, the heavy industry of Gu Hang’s territory could take a big step forward.

Before that, Gu Hang planned to first find someone to design a simple, functional vehicle to improve transportation efficiency, and incidentally, to explore some export possibilities. If the production volume is sufficient and the performance adequate, creating a small three-wheeled truck to equip his troops would result in a motorized infantry battalion.

Gu Hang arrived at his secret base, where a basement was dug, walls erected, and the loyal and reliable mech-servant soldiers, having received strict orders, guarded the place, allowing no one to enter.

Of course, Mr. Gu could enter at will.

Here, the two previously extracted technologies and four Black Box Manufacturing Machines were present.

In addition, a lot of space was reserved. On one hand, to accommodate the feeding and production of the existing four machines; on the other hand, to facilitate the placement of more machines in the future.

He configured the new two machines that had been set up.

This secret factory also employed workers. Due to the high security level, they lived in the factory with strict orders not to let information leak, were not allowed to go out without special circumstances, and were monitored when they did go out.

They poured the raw materials into the production Black Box for engines, and quickly, under Gu Hang’s initial setup, two engines, one large and one small, that met his requirements were produced.

These two engines would be sent to the research institute, where the technician from the Quintet would study them.

After all, there was no clear path to conquering the production line for synthetic starch; it was difficult to craft. The industrial and scientific research foundations under Gu Hang were shabby, and even the more basic technologies on the scale of the imperial civilization were hard to achieve.

This also indirectly proved how valuable the technological capabilities within Gu Hang’s system were.

Frankly speaking, if Gu Hang wanted to meet the imperial taxation every two years, it would be crucial how well he could utilize the technological offerings from the tech panel.

If Gu Hang managed to transform Rage Owl Star into a mini casting world, then the lowest tier of imperial tax would no longer be a concern.

Back to the present.

He first used the Black Box to make two completed engines. Once the research institute had a specific application plan, they could produce more.

There was also no rush to start the production line Black Box; similarly, it would begin operating at full capacity to produce engines once the application plan was in place.

All these didn’t need to be rushed.

…

The person Gu Hang had high hopes for, who was to ponder how to overcome the challenges of synthetic starch technology and come up with an application plan for the ‘Whetstone’ Engine, was now using a mechanical hand to scratch his head, contemplating his secret factory.

Wu Jiarong was just too curious.

She came from a casting world and was a technical officer who might have been promoted to mechanics.

But… the infighting within the Sect of Mechanics was much more severe than outsiders could imagine. She lost the fight, not only failing to get promoted but also losing all her possessions and knowledge to others, along with her personal freedom, and was traded as imperial tax.

But after that, she couldn’t say her luck turned, but at least things didn’t get worse.

She was at least a technical officer and not a slave worker, and when the Tianma Fleet needed more personnel, she was thrown onto the Quintet, where she remained for ten years.

She had already resigned herself to that fate.

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Having left the casting world and the system of the Sect of Mechanics, she was unlikely to have any room for advancement anymore. Even aboard the Quintet, she was not the only technical specialist; several tech-priests were present, but it was difficult for her to be taken on as a student and have the chance to be taken off the starship and develop further in the future.

Over time, she even began to think that her current life wasn’t so bad after all.

It wasn’t too busy, there was no need for cutthroat competition, just do her own job well, maintain her portion of the starship’s structure—especially the logistical system. She still had a group of slave laborers and junior specialists under her to manage and allocate.

As for herself, she also had some free time when she was off work to research things she was interested in and tinker with little gadgets, which was quite entertaining.

Life didn’t seem too bad at all.

Just when she had almost accepted her fate, an order from Colonel Yelisia transferred her, along with a few junior specialists and the production line and spare parts for synthetic starch, to the surface.

The good days were over.

That’s what she thought.

Wu Jiarong found that it seemed she could never entertain the thought of resigning to her fate. The moment she did, fate would immediately slap her in the face, press her down further, and see if she still accepted it.

Ten years ago, she hadn’t won the fight, she admitted defeat, and planned to think about promotion next time. She was thoroughly defeated, became untouchable in the empire, and could never return to it; now, she no longer struggled, thinking that spending the rest of her days on the starship was quite good, even considering marrying a man and having a child while her body modifications hadn’t extended to her belly yet, only to be assigned to the surface of Rage Owl Star.

After all, there’s always a lower bottom.

But what could she do about it?

She could only endure and work hard without complaint.

However, after arriving on the surface, she discovered… things didn’t seem as bad as she had imagined?

She knew that Mr. Gu, the governor, could almost be said to have started developing this place from scratch. The industrial and research foundations were virtually nil.

But beyond that, everything else seemed to be a benefit!

She had no worries about food and clothing, and even ate better than on the starship; although she followed the governor’s orders to research how to realize synthetic starch technology under limited conditions, she herself didn’t have to eat synthetic starch.

According to the work points system devised by the governor, her work points were quite high, and the allocation quota and quality were not bad either.

In the daytime, she could bask in the sun, and at night she could enjoy the breeze, none of which the starship had.

And more importantly, she had found a long-lost ‘goal’.

This thing, seemingly abstract, but when it comes down to reality, it’s just one point: knowing the significance of her own work.

Seeing the hungry looks of the refugees from Revival City, she honestly didn’t have much sympathy for them, but her research could help them get food, and that couldn’t be considered a bad thing. Eventually, she would see people’s happy faces, receive praise from the governor, and know that her work was truly making a difference.

Unlike on the starship, day after day, year after year, without seeing a clear work achievement. Those cannons, those machines, maintaining them daily or every so often seemed to make no real difference.

Besides, the task of synthetic starch given by the governor was quite interesting in itself.

It was challenging, yet it seemed to be within her capabilities.

She was motivated to do her job well.

And apart from motivation and goals, she had rediscovered another thing that had been missing for a long, long time:

Curiosity.

She was very curious about what the governor’s secret factory was all about.