Epoch of Twilight

Chapter 491: The Ice Mining Company’s New Project

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"First, second, third and fourth batch, please queue to enter landing hatch no.1!"

"Fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth batch, please queue to enter landing hatch no. 2!"

"The ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth batch, please queue to enter landing hatch no. 3!"

...

The gentle hum of electronics could be heard all over the huge space on the top floor. Under the shadow of the large emergency spaceship, there was countless support staff who wore biochemical, nano-protective clothes. They were in a neat queue, entering the spaceship in order.

Time passed and soon, it had been more than four months since Luo Yuan last landed on the earth to obtain the gigantic beast’s energy crystal. They were ready to enter earth again to collect the gigantic beast’s dead body. After the interstellar creature lost its energy crystal, it would have stopped its struggle and died after two days. Luo Yuan did not want to do everything himself to avoid people from getting used to being dependent on him. At the same time, he also wanted to make full use of the unemployed people and thus, collecting the dead body became a new project for the people who lost their job in the ice mining industry.

In order to fully master the logistics of such a huge operation, a large number of factories worked around the clock. At the same time, new results from the research were also applied to the manufacturing of equipment for this particular project. In other words, they were doing a test-run for new technology. However, the production timeline that was originally given by the manufacturers were postponed time after time. It was not a matter of them being unable to manufacture the equipment but was instead due to the changes in technology that happened too fast.

With a complete set of the Glassian industrial system, one could take their time to explore the technology, especially more so now that the nanomaterial factory has been completed. Even if there was a severe lack of technical staff support, humans remained at the top of the chain when it came to expertise in their respective fields. There would be new innovations every other day and technology would become obsolete and get replaced every month. The level of human technology was developing at an alarming speed. This happened to the point where some equipment had to be disposed of because they became obsolete the moment they were manufactured. Obsolete technology had to be gotten rid of as soon as possible.

The original timeline of the project was initially postponed for one month. Then, it was postponed for two, three and now, it had been postponed for four months. If Luo Yuan had not noticed this and had them fix a date, the project may just take a few years to complete.

...

It was crowded outside the spaceship but people were arranged in a neat formation. Cui Weichuan got his teammates to join his formation.

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"Start counting off!"

"Reporting, captain! There are 300 people in the first squad. All 300 present!"

"Reporting, captain! There are 301 people in the second squad. All 301 present!"

All the staff members here were on reserve duty. Almost all of them had military training and even the management of the company undertaking this project were from a military background.

After Cui Weichuan performed spectacularly well in the ice mining project, he got promoted and was now the squad leader. The number of people under his management increased from 100 to 300 people. Realizing that it was now his turn, Cui Weichuan reported, "Reporting, team leader! There are 300 people in the second squad but there are only 299 people here. One of them is on leave."

"Why are there people on leave? Did he give a reason?" The team leader frowned and asked.

Since the last project ended, these people have been unemployed for half a year. Even the leader had to send in an application for a leave if he was sick. After all, the project was on earth, now 600,000 kilometers away from their people. The company did not go to all this trouble to enter earth just to have one staff take a leave of absence. If they missed the opportunity, they would be considered AWOL and their absence meant they had resigned from the company - the discipline within the company ranks were very strict.

"There’s a general examination for adults a few days later, he’s taking the test by himself. Prior to the apocalypse, he was a senior year student that was behind in his education." Cui Weichuan said matter of factly.

"Is that so? All the best to him then. No matter what, he was part of the team." The team leader sighed. The learning environment in Hope City was vibrant as the government had come up with countless, free tuition classes for adults. Many who had been students before the apocalypse and even some of the young men who had been in the workforce for many years joined the crowd, studying hard for the sake of their future.

It was hard to be on the top of society these days as most of the resources they had were put into research. The size of government housing you would receive from the government was also based on your education background. Compared to most people who lived in a residence of nine square meters, a research intern or an assistant engineer lived in an 18 square meter residence. It was twice the size compared to most people. If they had a partner, the size of their residence would be further increased and if they were senior researchers or engineers, their residence would measure up to 100 square meters.

Since the company handling the project was only temporary and had yet to be officially recognized, his residence was the standard size although he was the team leader. The treatment he received was even worse than some of the technical staff who was only there temporarily. Cramped in a room with his family of three, it would be overwhelming if they had to stay there for an extended period.

However, he was not upset with this treatment. He knew that there would never be equality in society - not in the past and most definitely not in the future. Compared to the time before the apocalypse where money was a measure of wealth for most people, knowledge was the currency now. He thought that this was much fairer. If not for being old and incapable of learning, he would have enrolled in a university. Fortunately, he still had his son.

"It’s going to be our turn soon! Everybody get ready to board hatch no. 5!" The team leader looked at the progress of the team ahead and commanded loudly. Cui Wenchuan led his team into the residential cabin and realized that it was no longer empty like what it used to be. Due to the mission, there were changes to the cabin. More safety seats were added and the entire residential cabin was like a meeting room, large enough to accommodate more than 100,000 people.

He followed the team and soon arrived at his designated seat. The safety set-up on the seat was exactly the same as the one in his room. He put on the safety harnesses habitually, his chest and belly wrapped in a soft material.

He noticed the staff next to him breathing heavily, so he laughed and said, "Old Lin, you’re still nervous? Didn’t you experience this before when there were no safety seats yet?

"I’m a little nervous, squad leader. It’s not safe to fly in this spaceship from outer space all the way back to earth, it just doesn’t seem safe to me." Old Lin was a construction worker prior to the apocalypse. Although he had boarded the spaceship once during the migration, he was still terrified.

"This spaceship is made by the aliens. There’s no need to worry, it can fly through the universe and this is just a short journey. It’s even safer than riding in a car."

"I’d rather ride in a car, at least it’s more practical." Old Lin thought and said.

Suddenly, the spaceship shook and started to move. Cui Weichuan held his tongue and did not say the things he wanted to say as he turned pale. He did not seem nervous but he was actually scared. Since he had been on the land for quite a while and hardly took the airplane, it was not all enjoyable to fly back to earth. Fortunately, everything went smooth and there were no hiccups during the journey back. He only realized that they had landed on earth when he heard the announcement.

Cui Weichuan followed the rest and exited the spaceship, but the people ahead of them stopped moving.

"Oh my, what’s that in front of us?"

"Is that the dead body of the mutated beast that we are supposed to collect!"

"This is a mountain!"

Hearing the exclamations from the crowd, Cui Weichuan held onto his curiosity and waited patiently in the queue. Soon, the team started to move forward and he saw it for himself.

There was a dead body that looked like a small mountain not far away, half buried in the iceberg. Most of its body was covered in thick snow, but its claws were showing and its size was shocking. He took a deep breath and suppressed his urge to shout out loud. He was the squad leader and he had huge responsibilities. He could not help but take a peek at the dead body. Although he had prepared himself mentally when he gathered the 50,000 people for the project, what he saw was beyond his wildest imagination.

The first few days were merely preparations being made for the work to come. Thousands of work vehicles and large-scale cutting vehicles were sent from the spaceship. The construction of mobile nuclear stations had begun on the layer of ice. All the vehicles were now powered by electric as the breakthrough in nanomaterial technology had removed the restrictions obsolete technology had on batteries. Vehicles no longer needed long, twisted wires anymore.

For the next couple of days, workers set up lights, an emergency hospital, a maintenance factory and steel scaffolding around the interstellar creature. During the operation, everyone had to be tied to a rope as the interstellar creature was too massive. Without such safety precautions, accidents could happen easily. Cui Weichuan woke up each morning and wore a protective vest plated with biochemicals. Standing on the interstellar creature with curiousity, it was a great opportunity he had to train his body. He did not stand out as there were people who always surrounded the carcass at any given time of the day.

Although the biochemical vest seemed like it was only a thin layer, the people wearing it could not feel the cold around them. With a helmet attached, the vest was fully sealed and the cold wind outside was blocked, relying only on the gas tank to breathe. It was an inconvenience but nobody dared to take off the helmet as it was the only thing separating them from the cold. It also worked as a layer of protection to fend off the terrifying energy coming off from the interstellar creature’s body. One worker ignored the warnings and took off his helmet, passed out immediately and was in a coma for three days. After he woke up, he became insane but those were, of course, only rumors. From that day onwards, Cui Weichuan had never seen that worker again and on that very night, the team leader warned them again on the severity of the matter.

After preparing for five days, the bomb squad placed the explosives within the interstellar creature’s body on the morning of the sixth day. When it exploded, the snow on the dead body slid off, revealing its majestic body. Without the cover of snow, it seemed to be slightly smaller in size but still, it was both stunning and terrifying. Covered in silver scales under the light, it seemed to shine brightly, making them think that this creature were those they once heard in legends. Its body and head were buried under the ice. Only one-third of its body was above ice but that alone was more than 100 meters high, like a small mountain. Cui Weichuan gulped but nobody noticed his behavior as everyone’s attention was on the mysterious, terrifying, interstellar creature.

Once the whistle was blown, they snapped out from their amazement and began work on the body.