Chapter 1477: Chapter 1475: Adaptation
"Ma Qiu?" A female voice suddenly sounded from the side.
The round-faced man looked over and saw a young woman coming over.
The round-faced man became respectful: "Ah, it’s Steward Donna."
"Hmm." The woman responded, casually took the paper from the round-faced man’s hand, squinted her eyes, "Ma Qiu Philip? 165021? Atlantis University Level 1, Dorm 6, Room 502, Bed 1... seems it is indeed him..."
The woman recalled some past events, got lost in thought for a moment, handed the paper back to the round-faced man, and said, "This Ma Qiu is a senior of mine, the relationship is... alright I suppose, he looked after me before. So just take a little care of this father and son duo, and allocate them a good place."
"Steward, you see, sending the kid to..." The round-faced man pondered, softly suggested, but was interrupted.
The woman named Donna waved her hand: "Don’t bother me with such trivial matters, decide on your own, I trust you’ll handle it well."
After finishing, she turned around and left.
The round-faced man looked at the woman’s departing figure and couldn’t help but smile bitterly, yet he had no choice.
He knew that the woman’s identity was not ordinary, rumored to have connections with Shalin’s upper echelons, continuously developing in Shalin. She came to Redstone City’s small labor department to understand the lower-level situation, to gain some experience, preparing to become an independent manager of a certain department someday.
Such a person, he could absolutely not afford to offend.
So...
"Whew—"
The round-faced man took a deep breath, looked up at Philip and his son, and decided: "Here’s what we’ll do, you..."
...
A month and a half later.
"Crunch, crunch, crunch..."
In the vibrating carriage, on a small wooden bed, Philip opened his eyes and woke up.
He didn’t rush to get dressed, but lay quietly on the bed for a while, recalling what had happened in the past month and a half—because he felt that he was most clear-headed right after waking up.
The first thing to mention was the decision by that round-faced man from the Labor Department half a month ago. It was his decision that landed Philip here, and his son in another place.
Back then, the decision was to send his son Little Jimmy to enroll in the Ninth Technical College in Redstone City.
The Ninth Technical College is a medium-sized school, with average teaching quality, which seemed not much like favoritism. But in reality, it was the best choice because it was funded by Redstone City, offering free education, accommodation, and meals. If students excelled, they would even receive scholarship bonuses, something many longed for but could not achieve.
Then there was his job, where he was assigned as a locomotive attendant.
The so-called locomotive attendant job lacked any technical content, requiring only cleaning, trash collection, helping with cargo handling, and checking if the carriage doors were shut properly.
Although these are trivial tasks, the salary was quite high. The only issue was spending most of the time on the locomotive, leaving almost no personal life.
This resulted in him and his son Little Jimmy only meeting twice in a month and a half.
Yet, being on the locomotive meant no need to worry about accommodation, with meals provided free of charge by the transit stations, allowing nearly all wages to be saved.
Back then, the round-faced man from the Labor Department had told him: since he lacked special skills and was not young, it was hard to arrange anything better. So, he might as well temporarily be a locomotive attendant, at least to save some money.
After working for six months, the identity assessment period would pass, and as long as there were no major issues, he’d be accepted as a permanent resident of Redstone City. By then, the job options would expand, and he could use the money for more choices.
He believed the round-faced man had no reason to deceive him, so he followed his advice and worked comfortably on the locomotive to this day.
Reflecting on that month and a half, though not long, it significantly impacted him, revealing his strong adaptability for the first time.
Similar to when he quickly adapted to the Eternal Night World and the life of hunger before, he swiftly adapted to the life of a locomotive attendant and to everything in Redstone City.
For instance, he learned that the so-called steel monster was not truly a monster of steel, not even a living being but a complex mechanical creation.
The one he was currently on was known as the Mark Three Magic Locomotive, and there was also another one, the Luo Shen Type 2, essentially smaller steel monsters.
The small steel creatures ridden by people were called double-wheeled human-powered vehicles, or bicycles... though they weren’t self-driving, requiring human effort.
Additionally, the furnace installed on four wheels, driven by humans, was another type of modified magic locomotive called Bunsen Type One. For personal use, it was quite expensive; even with his decent salary, purchasing one would mean saving up for decades without spending on necessities.
The boxes on the street that dispensed canned food were called vending cabinets, which were relatively cheap—just one Universal Coin could buy a can sufficient for a meal.
The metal pieces in booths that allowed people to converse with "ghosts" were magic communication machines, enabling quick contact with people far away. He had tried once, contacting his son Little Jimmy, and indeed heard his voice with great surprise, though the expense caused him heartache—just a few words cost the equivalent of three cans.
The silver mini-houses that always terrified him eventually revealed their nature as transport elevators, similar to automatic moving steps that could take people higher or lower. Five women went in, three men came out, not because the women turned into men, but because they went up while the men were returning from above.
Besides these, he uncovered much more.
Like how the Energy Shield outside Redstone City, usually nearly transparent and freely passable, would turn red and isolate when operating at full power. Or how Redstone City had a giant underground food planting base producing abundant crops, enough to feed the city’s population with surplus. Additionally, the public safety in Redstone City was outrageously good, virtually eliminating fears of robbery or theft due to severe punishment of any crimes.
Redstone City was truly an interesting place, and although his identity assessment period wasn’t over, meaning potential official monitoring by Redstone City, he already considered himself a member of it.
He made a simple plan: after working as a locomotive attendant for half a year, he’d rent a small place near the Ninth Technical College to see his son frequently. Then, he’d find another job nearby or perhaps venture into some business.
But before that, he’d need to excel in his role as a locomotive attendant.
Thinking of this, Philip heard some noise outside, prompting him not to lie around any further. Quickly he dressed up and headed for the door.
He remembered the Locomotive Captain had told him today was special, and to stay alert, as instead of heading to any transit station, they were going somewhere called... the Free Energy Element Solidification Factory.
Free Energy Element Solidification Factory?
With a "squeak," Philip pushed the door open.
...
