Chapter 263: Chapter 190: The Ship Is Talking to Me!
Hoffman stared somewhat blankly at the scene before him.
Although he had already spent some time in the Ark’s steel plant, every time he saw the way people worked, this technician from the Empire still felt a deep sense of absurdity.
He watched with his own eyes as a strange halo was traced around the sun, a splendid and magnificent solar waterfall poured down from that halo, then drove straight into the very core "mining" zone of the factory.
This was the power of the Ark Leader...
There was no doubt that this era had gained yet another platinum‑level big shot.
Immediately after, he saw bare‑chested workers skillfully hauling a mineral resource called "Ash Soil," and every steel‑making Melting Furnace was erupting at every moment with a blinding golden radiance.
Thousands upon thousands of tons of Nightmare insect shells were thrown in, the blazing flames of light licked at the Empire’s nightmare, and in less than a moment those savagely shaped, grotesque shells were swiftly melted by the flames into molten iron, then poured into specially made ladles and transferred to the various steelmaking workshops.
Hoffman carefully watched those young faces one by one.
He had originally thought Lord Linlan was just treating these people as expendable shipbuilding material, since each and every one of them had personally handled the corpse of a Nightmare Demon, yet after all these days, not a single person had mysteriously vanished, and no one had fallen into despair and madness in their dreams.
Among them, there was even a young Feis Race man with orange ears and tail who had visibly gotten a bit fatter...
The Ark’s upper echelons never docked the workers’ pay; if they did a good job there were even extra rewards. Under the Lord’s influence, everyone was straining every nerve to work hard.
All this time, Hoffman had held a wait‑and‑see, hesitant attitude toward the claim that the Ark could "control Celestial Calamity." After all, he had personally experienced how terrifying the Nightmare was, but after witnessing the Ark’s current state with his own eyes, Hoffman had no choice but to accept this absurd reality.
In front of the Ark Leader, these Nightmares really were like skinned lambs!
Could Celestial Calamity truly just be fodder to nourish civilization?
No... that wasn’t right. Hoffman’s eyes grew somewhat confused. Ever since he had seen Lord Linlan’s face, he kept feeling as if something was subtly reshaping his mind...
Maybe it was just an illusion.
"Elma, the No. 3 open‑air stockyard is already filled. You guys go pile this batch of material by the woods to the east first!"
The steel plant’s supervisor beside him was deftly using the golden cube in his hand, shouting instructions: "But watch the terrain—you can’t let the material sink into the marsh!"
The next second, dozens of Light‑Seeking Vehicles dangling giant insect shells swept across overhead.
Hoffman subconsciously swallowed; every so often, a massive amount of Nightmare corpses would be delivered here...
This was something he simply couldn’t make sense of. Did the Ark’s soldiers not take casualties?
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Hoffman."
The supervisor’s voice pulled Hoffman’s thoughts back. Abel had just hung up with the Messenger; he walked over, a simple, honest smile appearing on his face.
These past few days, Abel had been producing suitable steel billets according to the requests of this Empire technician.
Abel had always respected talents from every trade. In his view, he was merely lucky to have been promoted by Lord Lin Lan from a small blacksmith to his current position.
This island‑born and bred supervisor did not want to hold the Leader back, so Abel would never let any opportunity for self‑improvement slip by.
His tone carried humility as he looked this elderly man in the eye: "In your opinion, is there anything in our ironmaking process that could still be optimized?"
"From what I can see, the way you handle your materials is already quite good."
Hoffman replied drily, "But you personally are still a bit lacking in management; I might be able to offer a few suggestions there."
"That would be wonderful! I’ve always admired talents like you!"
Abel immediately smiled and extended his hand toward the other man. "And this round of shipbuilding is the first cooperation between the Ark and the Empire, so we have to make sure we do it beautifully."
Looking at the middle‑aged man before him, Hoffman inexplicably felt a trace of tension.
Though Abel’s tone was modest, the air about him was, as always, calm and self‑assured.
Perhaps because of the Ark Leader’s influence, all these big and small supervisors in the Ark seemed to possess a firm conviction of their own. Confidence ran in their bones, as if no difficulty could ever bend their spines.
Foreigners bearing torches walked toward the everlasting night forged by the end; there would always be someone chasing that glow which drove away suffering.
·
The shipyard the Ark had built by the sea was already taking shape.
The large billets produced in the steelmaking workshops would all be sent to the shipyard, then the Empire craftsmen would use the levellers and hydraulic presses they had brought for the next stage of processing.
The sound of metal being cut rang out without pause; Empire craftsmen were scattered through the various shops, forging different parts of the hull.
After being smelted in the Sunlight Flame, those horribly shaped insect shells had turned into neat, square billets and slabs. Their surfaces shimmered with flickering Starlight, and a faint, elusive flame of light burned across them, at least making them look not quite so frightening.
Several Sun Warriors were stationed at the entrance of the segmented‑construction workshop.
"It’s the day again for Lord Lin Lan to take people to the ’broken Seagull City’ for training..."
Jason looked at the Light‑Seeking Vehicles hoisting materials in the distance and muttered under his breath, "Hope my ’dummy’ can perform a bit better this time..."
If "he" didn’t perform well, Instructor Ed and Legion Commander Jay would definitely keep their eyes on him...
Every time Lin Lan finished a training run, there would always be a few lads placed under Ed and Jay’s "special care," drilled until they were half dead, unable even to crawl.
"Heh heh heh..." Jason suddenly let out a weird chuckle. "Among the people Lord Lin Lan took for training this time, that bastard York is in there, right?"
"That brat was just laughing at us a couple of days ago, saying how our legs turned to snot like slugs after training, and that real warriors would never embarrass Lord Lin Lan."
Kael curled his lip. "Hmph, I hope those mechanical bugs can teach him a good lesson on my behalf."
Not far away, the Empire workers were silently busy. Compared to the roaring bustle of the Dawn Steel Plant, the shipyard under Empire leadership seemed strangely muted.
From time to time, people would glance over at those Ark Soldiers in Golden Armor.
Every one of these warriors stood over two meters tall, monstrously burly, and they could easily lift several tons of steel. They could also fly around on their Light Wings; if needed, a single shout from them would save the factory the trouble of using a crane...
"Aaaahhh!!"
Just then, a scream of pure terror rang in everyone’s ears.
Under the suddenly sharp, vigilant gazes of the Sun Warriors, a young man came stumbling out of one of the workshops.
"Everyone! These Nightmare hulls are alive!"
He waved his arms wildly, his face gone deathly pale. "It was talking to me just now! The ship was talking to me!!"
