Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“What? What is the City Lord talking about? Are you joking?”
“Make new tracks? Did I hear wrongly?”
“Isn’t this hilarious! Who doesn’t know the costs of making a new set of tracks? Only he can say something like that! Ridiculous!”
“You shouldn’t say that. After all, the City Lord just saved us from a desperate situation. At that time, we didn’t believe the City Lord either, but the truth is…”
“Yeah, yeah!”
…..
After hearing what Luo En said, everyone was shocked for a moment. After they recovered from the shock, they began to discuss among themselves.
Immediately, there was a commotion in the conference room. Some were against it, and some supported it. The side that supported it was Old Chen’s, while the side that opposed it was Wang Yun’s. The two sides were in a heated argument.
Luo En looked at the people in the conference room who were arguing. He had already expected this to be the outcome following what he said and had already prepared his speech. He made a clap with his hands and said sternly, “All of you, quiet down! How can the conference room be so noisy?”
The people on both sides quietened down. Even Wang Yun sat down quietly. He would only dare to sabotage Luo En secretly; but in this situation, if he dared to openly defy orders, he would be attacked by all.
After everyone in the conference room had quietened down, Luo En continued, “Now, the tracks of our mobile city have been damaged; it will take at least a month to repair. I believe all of you know the danger of remaining here for a month!
“Moreover, even if we repaired the tracks, they may not function for long. If we encounter such a situation again, we won’t be able to do anything. We will then be at the mercy of others!
“That’s why I want to make a new set of tracks!”
Luo En looked at the people who were deep in thought and sat down to wait.
After a short while, someone from Wang Yun’s side stood up and said in an emotional voice, “City Lord! It’s not that we don’t agree with you on making it, but the resources and manpower needed to make a new set of tracks are too great. Our mobile city can’t afford it. If something happens during the manufacturing process, everything will be wasted!”
After he finished speaking, he sat down. At this moment, Wang Yun, who was beside him, glanced at him. The person also returned the look. An almost imperceptible smile appeared on the corner of their lips.
When Luo En heard this, he was secretly taken by surprise. What was said seemed to have no problem but, when given more careful thought, had been very elegantly put.
First was to declare that it wasn’t that they disagreed but that there were reasons for it. This would resonate with everyone in the conference room. Even the people who supported Luo En had doubts about it, but they had believed in Luo En a little more. Now that someone had brought out the issues, the people on Luo En’s side had even more doubts.
Next, the person mentioned that the resources and manpower needed to build new tracks were too great and also that if something were to happen during the manufacturing process, everything that was done earlier would be in vain.
These words were indeed vicious!
If he agreed, then Luo En would lose his dignity. If he did not agree, and something really happened, Luo En would be condemned no end!
Humans were all selfish. They would pay extra attention to things that benefited them.
This world was already incomparably dangerous. People had only mobile cities to rely on to struggle for their survival in this world. If something happened to mobile cities, and dashed all hopes of survival, then the one who caused the mishap to mobile cities would be cursed and attacked by everyone!
Luo En looked at the slightly raised corners of Wang Yun’s lips and muttered, “The fox’s tail is showing… Indeed, you were the one who had caused that fever… Once this is said, someone will probably come and interrogate me.”
He could not lay his cards out on the table right away with Wang Yun. After all, he was the commander; he held a high position and had great authority. He also had a reputation in the city. Furthermore, he himself did not have any proof. He had better think through this matter again!
As expected, not long after, someone from Old Chen’s side who supported Luo En stepped forward and said, “City Lord! The resources required to make a new set of tracks are too great. Are you confident? I suggest that we repair it first. When we find a relatively safe place, we can make the new tracks then.”
Of course, Luo En would not give up on his idea. He immediately said emphatically, “I said, make a new set of tracks! I’ll take responsibility if anything happens! Alright, this matter is settled. Everyone, disperse!”
Everyone had no choice but to leave in a respectful manner.
At this moment, Wang Yun was laughing in his heart. His eyes darted around; he was already thinking about how he could plot for something to happen during the manufacturing process of the new tracks without Luo En knowing.
If in the end, the new tracks could not be made, Luo En’s credibility would be lost completely. At that time, all he had to do was to bring up the matter again, incite public anger and then nominate himself and become the City Lord.
As he thought of this, Wang Yun could not suppress the excitement in his heart. He imagined the wonderful days when he would become the City Lord; his footsteps became more cheerful as he departed.
Luo En stared coldly at Wang Yun’s back as he left. Then, he turned around and walked out of the door.
When Luo En walked out of the door, the engineer beside him immediately came up to him and said politely, “City Lord! Are you really planning to make new tracks!”
Luo En nodded and said coldly, “Why? Do you have a problem?”
The engineer quickly bowed his head and replied nervously, “I wouldn’t dare! It’s just that the resources and manpower…”
When Luo En heard this, he realized that the group of people were still worried about their own safety. After all, if manufacturing the tracks failed, all the resources and manpower would be wasted.
Before the engineer could finish, Luo En interrupted him and said, “You don’t have to worry about that! Just do your job! Let the workers continue mining the ores!”
“Yes, City Lord!”
When Luo En saw that the engineer didn’t leave, he asked, “Is there anything else?”
The engineer hurriedly replied, “It’s like this, City Lord. The mine yesterday has been almost fully extracted. We obtained a total of 50 tonnes of copper, 10 tonnes of iron, and one tonne of silver. Now, the mine can no longer be mined; we need to find another mine!”
Upon hearing that, Luo En said coldly, “Then go and find. Do you still need to ask me about this?”
“City Lord! It’s not that we don’t want to look for it, but we have only one small detector in our mobile city, which was left behind by the rich people. It’s a little old. After using it yesterday, it had some problems, and cannot be used anymore. The maintenance workers in the mobile city can’t repair it!
“We don’t have the blueprints for making detectors in our mobile city, so we’re also very anxious!” The engineer was sweating profusely from Luo En’s words, and his voice was a little shaky.
“To mine ores, not only do we need a mining machine, but we also need a detector that can detect where the ores are. Otherwise, we’ll be clueless like a headless fly. Also, if we mine the places the detector has not swept through, we may dig out mutated creatures or cause radiation leakage. Therefore, no one dares to mine in places that have not been swept through by the detector.
“Detectors can be divided into small detectors, medium detectors, and large detectors. Small detectors can only detect an area with a diameter of 500 meters, medium detectors can detect an area with a diameter of 1,000 meters, and large detectors can detect an area with a diameter of 5,000 meters.”
Upon hearing this, Luo En immediately turned on the System to check. He believed the System should have the blueprints.
Sure enough, he saw them. There were blueprints for making detectors in the System, and they were quite cheap. Of course, this was relative to making new tracks.
The blueprint for a small detector required 1,000 Evolution Points, a medium one required 5,000 Evolution Points, and a large one required 10,000 Evolution Points!
These blueprints could not be duplicated, nor could they be remembered. Furthermore, once the blueprints were used, they would burn to ashes on the spot, leaving no traces behind. If he wanted to continue to manufacture, he would have to continue to use Evolution Points to purchase the blueprints.
After pondering for a while, Luo En decided to buy the blueprints for five small detectors first. The workers could not leave the mobile city too far to mine ores, otherwise they would have to expend a lot of resources and manpower to transport them back; the loss would outweigh the gain. Buying five blueprints would maximize the effectiveness of the small detectors..