Chapter 1478: Chapter 1476: Solidification Plant
Opening the door of the carriage serving as a temporary bedroom, Philip stepped outside, appearing in another narrow carriage.
Inside the narrow carriage were several tables, set up similar to an office. Behind one of the tables sat a square-faced man in his forties, with a dark complexion and an expression that never seemed to smile.
This man was the highest authority on the entire locomotive—Kent Bob. Upon seeing him, Philip quickly greeted, "Good morning, Locomotive Captain."
Bob looked over, nodding lightly, "Hmm." Then he asked, "Did you rest well?"
"Yes," Philip answered honestly.
"That’s good," Bob said, "Get ready, we’re about to reach the Free Energy Element Solidification Factory soon. There’s a lot of cargo to load this time, maybe not enough workers on the train, you should lend a hand."
"Oh, I understand," Philip replied, nodding. This was part of his job, naturally, he had no reason to refuse.
As he spoke, he glanced outside through the carriage window, just in time to see the locomotive approaching the edge of Redstone City, almost at the Energy Shield. In the next moment, like plunging into a waterfall, the locomotive passed through the Energy Shield, entering the outer region, heading into the deep desolate landscape ahead.
"Ka-cha, ka-cha..."
The sound of the locomotive resonated continuously, Philip blinked, reacting somewhat belatedly. He looked back at Bob and asked, "Locomotive Captain, is the factory we’re heading to outside the city?"
"Yes, outside the city," Bob responded, "This trip involves transporting cargo to three places outside the city, the Free Energy Element Solidification Factory is the first, and there are two others. Actually, this trip is relatively long, and the road isn’t easy to travel, might be a bit tough. However, after this trip, the locomotive will be maintained, and then everyone on the train can rest well for a few days."
"I see," Philip nodded. He didn’t mind the tough journey much, after all, no matter how hard, it couldn’t compare to the three years of hunger he had endured. But the locomotive captain’s mention of resting for several days after this trip did make him a little excited. He could see his son again then.
He hoped this trip would be completed quickly... Thought Philip, looking outside through the window again.
Outside the window was a familiar scenery.
The land in view was barren, most of the trees were dead or half-dead, standing crookedly. The sky remained constantly gloomy, though the clock inside the carriage indicated it was seven in the morning, no light rose from the east.
Philip watched this scene for a while, feeling a bit sleepy. Just then, the locomotive roared, navigating a curve, accelerating into a pocket-like valley between two suddenly appearing small mountains.
The locomotive slowly decreased speed, finally stopping in front of a platform, evidently having reached its destination.
Philip’s eyes widened slightly, revitalizing himself, looking through the window towards the front of the locomotive to observe what the so-called Free Energy Element Solidification Factory looked like.
What first caught his eye was a large cluster of buildings.
Counting roughly, there were over a hundred stone buildings, some cylindrical and some square. Although densely packed in one area, upon closer inspection, they were actually distributed quite orderly.
The cylindrical buildings were likely places for storing materials, while the square buildings were probably for production... Philip speculated after observing, having gained some insight over the past month and a half following the locomotive to similar places.
However, the center of the building complex featured three slender cylindrical structures exceeding his current knowledge. Rising from among the dense buildings, they seemed like three longswords, piercing the sky.
The three cylinders were very thin, or rather very tall, the buildings of several dozen stories high in Redstone City had no qualifications for comparison here, the surrounding buildings were even more lowly like grass under big trees.
The tops of the three cylinders were unseen, as they’d disappeared into the lead-gray clouds. Occasionally, light would emanate from the clouds, traveling down along the cylinders’ surface, disappearing into nearby buildings beneath, the purpose unknown.
Having watched these three cylinders for a while, Philip couldn’t help but entertain a bold idea: Could the so-called Free Energy Element Solidification Factory be extracting something from the sky?
If really so, it would be too astonishing.
Afterwards, Philip did not continue this line of thought, as the Locomotive Captain had already summoned him and the transport workers to disembark, preparing to load cargo for transport.
"Go ahead, Philip," the Locomotive Captain spoke.
"Yes," Philip quickly stepped down from the locomotive.
...
Ninth Free Energy Element Solidification Factory, office.
A male secretary in a gray uniform hurriedly entered, looking towards Gro—once a prince of the Jade Kingdom, now the actual Factory Director.
"Director," the male secretary spoke, "The Redstone City locomotive has arrived, saying they’re here to transport goods."
"Hmm," hearing the voice, Gro lifted his head from reviewing documents behind the desk, stretching his neck, "I know about this."
After years of development, Gro’s appearance had changed slightly, his facial muscle lines grew more pronounced, and he looked significantly more stable. Coupled with the deliberately grown beard, he indeed had some semblance of high authority.
In a sense, he was more princely than ever, though now his identity was the Director of the Ninth Free Energy Element Solidification Factory, managing thousands of employees, hundreds of ordinary Wizards, and several Third-level Wizards.
He himself had attained Second-level Wizard cultivation, though it was the result of using Shalin’s Special Breakthrough Potion, but a Second-level Wizard is still a Second-level Wizard, not to be underestimated.
How to say... fate is so changeable... making it impossible to predict what the future will look like...
Except for some minor details, Gro was quite satisfied with his current life.
Looking towards the male secretary, Gro spoke, "The goods prepared for Redstone City locomotive were produced yesterday and stored in the warehouse. Pass my order, have them brought out from Warehouse 6 and loaded directly onto the train."
"Go ahead," said Gro, waving his hand at the male secretary.
The male secretary did not move, his mouth opened slightly, seeming to have something to say.
"Hmm?" Gro raised his brows, asking, "Is there a problem?"
"Well... Director..." The male secretary replied, "An emergency situation occurred in White Valley City overnight, urgently requiring a batch of goods. So three hours ago, while you were still resting, Deputy Director Nancy had already ordered half of the goods in Warehouse 6 to be loaded onto a train and sent over there, which now might not meet Redstone City’s train needs."
"What!" Gro couldn’t help but shout, realizing immediately, got up, paced the office, erupting with anger, "I just took a nap, and half the goods in Warehouse 6 are gone? Why wasn’t I notified when moving them?"
"You... you were sleeping..."
"I never said not to disturb me while I sleep, did I?" Gro was quite infuriated, "Look at me, am I someone who forbids being disturbed during sleep?"
"Director, you’re definitely not, don’t be angry. Deputy Director Nancy said, since you were asleep, we shouldn’t disturb you, she could make decisions."
