“In short, because this machine is broken, you can’t refine Taeon Ore.” Yu Lian nodded as he inspected the machine. “Indeed, this should be an assembly line designed by Furnace Fort Heavy Industry. Its core… should be that Hersch Furnace.”
The so-called Hersch refers to the name of the chief god, the Sun God, in the classical mythology of the Commonwealth from its home planet era. Later, in the Commonwealth language, it came to mean “sun.”
Thus, this type of furnace can also be called a Sun Furnace.
Babalu nodded: “Actually, the mother ship of the automatic mining drones also has problems. And we don’t have much money for maintenance, so the mining machines can’t move. But these are small problems. At worst, our workers can carry power hammers and energy picks down the well to dig. If the Sun Furnace breaks, then there’s really nothing we can do.”
As the two spoke, they walked out of the factory building and soon arrived outdoors. In front of him stood a large machine over ten meters high, which at first glance looked like a tall tower assembled from rebar, pipes, and rounded metal tanks, possessing a considerable industrial aesthetic.
Structurally, this thing looked like a large blast furnace, but it was also the most sci-fi blast furnace Yu Lian had ever seen.
He also knew that what was currently exposed to him was only the above-ground portion. The true main body was underground, forming a massive automated ore crude refining system.
This was the Sun Furnace of Red Maple Factory, a super machine with a volume exceeding 10,000 cubic meters, and it was the most magnificent giant in the hearts of the Red Maple Factory workers.
“How beautiful, isn’t it?” Babalu gazed at the sleeping Sun Furnace, letting out a sigh as if in pilgrimage.
“Much more magnificent than that sky god!” he added.
The first sentence was purely an expression of emotion and praise, while the second carried obvious resentment and sarcasm.
Yu Lian looked at Babalu behind him with interest. He felt a sense of camaraderie with this young Lumina worker, who had not left a very prominent mark in later history.
“You’re really not like a typical Lumina person,” Yu Lian chuckled.
Babalu paused slightly, then said with a helpless expression, “That’s because the typical Lumina people you’ve met are not very typical.”
He then explained to Yu Lian that Lumina people are actually a very homeland-oriented ethnic group. Precisely because of this, when Red Maple Factory’s management’s expansion plan inevitably threatened to destroy the vast maple forests, everyone naturally found it difficult to accept.
Lumina people are indeed a martial and vigorous race. Before humans discovered this Planet, some tribes living in the mountains or by the lake, who lived by hunting, would have the hunting of a Lumina Dinosaur Bird or a lake armored crocodile as a coming-of-age ceremony.
Of course, it was naturally a team effort. Lumina Dinosaur Birds and armored crocodiles are both fierce predators averaging over a ton; how could ordinary people with only cold weapons truly defeat them?
Later, the stories spread and became that all Lumina people had to defeat a Dinosaur Bird with their bare hands to be considered adults, otherwise they would be thrown into the mountains to become bird feed.
“What kind of messed-up rumors are these! If that were true, the Lumina people would have gone extinct thousands of years ago! Most Lumina people, anyway, I think there’s not much difference from Earth people! Eat, sleep, work, marry and have kids! Of course, we really like our hometown, so we don’t like to go up there and wander around like you humans!”
The Lumina worker leader pointed to the sky, and Yu Lian knew he was referring to the Universe.
Thinking about it now, there were indeed very few crew members born on Lumina. In this cosmic era, there were quite a few intelligent races so attached to their homeland. They might excel in various fields, but they were also destined not to become the main characters on the grand stage of the Universe.
“As for the so-called sky god… sigh, even a thousand years ago, before humans arrived, only some superstitious tribes worshipped him. I don’t know how he became the main god of all our Lumina people. Of course, those who cause trouble outside are not clear-headed, so they need to chant something, right? Yes, anyway, the Lumina people you’ve seen outside are all… guys with something wrong up here!” Babalu pointed to his head again.
He added, “What do their terrorist activities have to do with us ordinary Lumina people who live peaceful lives! Yes, the tribes of the Eastern Great Plains and the Southern Lake Bay, although they won’t listen to you human bigwigs either, most of them are just diligent herders, farmers, and fishermen!”
Yu Lian felt that this made a lot of sense. After arriving at Red Maple Factory, he had interacted with many Lumina people. Overall, these seemingly fierce four-armed mantis-like people, perhaps due to their innate bravery and strength, did have a somewhat impatient temper, but they truly were not the natural anti-establishment individuals imagined by the outside world, who would pull out four cleavers to attack at the slightest disagreement.
They valued family, homeland, and nature. Similarly, they were also very easy to befriend.
Because of this, the Lumina workers here would truly consider Red Maple Factory and Maple City as the home they had to protect.
“…So, even if the most valuable Taeon Ore here can no longer be mined, you still don’t want to leave!”
“Everything here, we built it little by little ourselves. It’s just that many people have still left. If the Sun Furnace doesn’t start running again, I can’t say what the future holds,” Babalu said helplessly.
When the Sun Furnace stopped operating, the Engineers at the factory did try to repair it. However, on one hand, this thing was truly precious, and the technicians dared not make big moves; on the other hand, this type of Sun Furnace was, after all, a quite sci-fi piece of equipment, and its internal structure was so complex that ordinary Engineers couldn’t even understand it, let alone repair it.
There was no choice; since they couldn’t fix it themselves, they could only contact the manufacturer.
The greedy capitalists of the Commonwealth were not Hans filled with craftsmanship, so it was impossible for them to have buried brand new spare parts wrapped in oiled paper nearby decades ago.
Furnace Fort Heavy Industry stated that the warranty period had expired several years ago, and many key components had reached the end of their service life. Furthermore, since the equipment damage was caused by the user’s “indiscretion,” they, as the equipment manufacturer, bore no responsibility. Additionally, if a preliminary investigation was required, travel expenses and accommodation for the Engineers would need to be reimbursed.
They provided Red Maple Factory with a list of Engineers, a scale that looked less like they were coming to repair a furnace and more like they were coming to dismantle a home.
Naturally, there was also a bill that still shocked the ancestors of Red Maple Factory when they thought about it now.
This was just a bill for preliminary inspection and repair. Did a preliminary check really require so much expense? Also, did these people’s accommodation standards need to be so high? Eight dim sum, eight cold dishes, and eight hot dishes for every meal, and they even needed a dedicated transport ship to bring ingredients and Pure water from the Commonwealth homeland.
Even when Tangheisser Duke was still around, he wasn’t this extravagant, was he?
However, Furnace Fort Heavy Industry stated that preliminary inspection was certainly not valuable, but knowing where to start the inspection was quite valuable!
Furthermore, over ninety percent of Lumina Planet’s territory was defined by the Galactic Civilization Council as unopen “barbaric regions.” Who knew what unknown parasites and viruses might exist? To protect the basic right to survival of Commonwealth citizens, carrying clean food and water was very reasonable, wasn’t it?
In short, just getting the Engineers to come, and what their living standards should be, involved five or six years of back-and-forth haggling.
On one hand, it was because the unscrupulous merchants of the Commonwealth were truly difficult to deal with; on the other hand, Red Maple Factory itself was dragging its feet.
There was nothing that could be done; from the day Red Maple Factory was established, its property rights were never clearly defined.
The Earth Central Government owned a portion, the Far Shore Star Region Government owned a portion, the military owned a portion, and the rest belonged to the Lumina Tribes who participated in its construction and the uprising at the time.
However, who had the final say, and who was the largest shareholder, was never explicitly stated and never legally documented.
When they were making money, everyone got along, but when it came to spending money, especially when they were losing money, the problem became very serious.
The workers felt that this couldn't go on, so they pooled some money together and managed to invite the Alliance's Engineer team over.
The Engineers from the Alliance tinkered at A Factory for a month, and after enjoying stewed armored crocodile meat and Dinosaur Bird egg custard, they wiped their mouths and told everyone at the factory, "It's beyond saving, it can't be fixed, you need to replace it with a new set."
"The most important Osai core is damaged, so it cannot power the solar furnace.
Do you understand?
Well, let's put it this way: an ordinary blast furnace powered by electricity can generate temperatures above 1000 degrees Celsius, which is enough for the initial smelting of ordinary iron ore.
However, Taeon Ore is different; it not only requires temperatures above 6000 degrees Celsius, equivalent to the surface temperature of a young adult star, but also requires the neutralization of its inherent magnetic reaction.
Therefore, inside the solar furnace, what is needed is not only high temperatures but also a controllable magnetic field… This requires the control of the Osai core.
However, this type of control core is one of the Alliance's core engineering secrets, and direct repair is impossible; a new one must be ordered.
Additionally, because of your non-compliant operations, the RP72 pipeline is severely aged and also needs to be replaced.
Furthermore… (over 1000 words of lengthy discourse omitted below)"
"So, do you understand what I'm saying?
It doesn't matter if you don't; just do as we say!
New solar furnace, new production line, new roar, and then truckloads of top-grade Taeon superconducting alloy!
Understood?
This is all about money!"
Babalu said that if he had been there at the time, he would have shot that guy's dog head off.
However, the new management of Red Maple Factory, the General Manager representing the interests of the new shareholders, directly expressed opposition.
"Red Maple Factory is not that affluent yet!
We've just taken office and are already facing such losses; I really can't explain this to the investors!"
The well-dressed General Manager, whose name was unimportant, said so.
Yes, after a long period of back-and-forth, the Commonwealth Government and the Far Shore Star Region Government could no longer tolerate the factory's losses.
Moreover, the era of the Independent War had ended, and it was time for everyone to return to their rightful places.
Government is government, and matters like business operations should be left to professionals.
Thus, the portion of shares belonging to the government was bought out by a private company from the Commonwealth for a large sum, and it also obtained operating and management rights.
Additionally, it's unclear whose connections that private boss used, but the government also put some pressure on the military, and the military representative stationed at Red Maple Factory was withdrawn.
As for the military industry that originally belonged to Red Maple Factory, it had already been gradually relocated years ago.
Without the constraints of the government and the military, the representatives of the private investors probably felt that, facing a group of unrefined workers and uncultured Lumina elders, this enterprise, and even this planet, were entirely at their mercy.
So, the suave, slick-haired General Manager proposed another suggestion.
"Since we can no longer refine it, let's just sell the ore directly!" he said.
"I've already invited geologists to survey, and our ore quality here is very good!
And I'm also in contact with Deep Space Mining Group; it will cooperate with us to build our own professional mineral transport fleet!"
Speaking from a business perspective, from the standpoint of an operator pursuing profit, this guy's idea cannot be said to be wrong.
After all, in Yu Lian's previous life's hometown, having abundant resources meant one could be complacent.
A certain country that should be planting cannabis instead of maple trees, and a certain country whose ancestors were all exiled criminals, both managed to find small joys by selling resources.
"...Sigh, I used to think all the military representatives were idiots!
Now that I think about it, having military representatives isn't so bad; at least they wouldn't let these unscrupulous merchants do as they please!"
"He wouldn't dare do as he pleased!
Didn't you guys revolt again very soon?" Yu Lian said with a smile.
Babalu also smiled; he always regarded this as a glorious part of the factory's history.
He said as a matter of course, "Because my master's master said that we are glorious smelter workers!
If we only live by selling the inheritance left to us by the universe spirit, sooner or later we will degenerate into addicts and rapists!"
Babalu's master's master was actually the first chairman of Red Maple Factory's Workers' Self-Governing Committee, an old human worker named Tom Wise, and also one of the leaders of the insurgent army formed by Red Maple Factory workers.
This is also a name buried in the long river of history, but equally a humble hero.
It's just a pity that the old man passed away five years ago; otherwise, Yu Lian would really have wanted to pay him a visit.
In short, under the leadership of the then-worker leader, Old Man Wise, Red Maple Factory went on strike.
In reality, the workers at that time were isolated and helpless.
The management were representatives of the capital, their enemies; and the rebels, composed of Lumina cultists who worshipped the "sky god," were also attempting to attack the city and factory area.
"Humans have deceived us!
Their machines, their tall buildings, their cities, their railways, are all symbols of evil!
Destroy them and return to our true lives!" the Lumina Rebels said.
"They've had Dinosaur Bird droppings in their brains!" the old workers said.
So they began to prepare their own self-defense force for the factory.
On the other hand, the capital representatives finally couldn't hold on any longer.
The enterprise couldn't generate profit for a long time, all business plans were ruined by the workers, plus the small-scale attacks that occasionally broke out near the urban area—who could endure that?
So, they left Lumina dejectedly.
It's been almost ten years now.
But since then, Red Maple Factory and Maple City seemed to have been forgotten, until today.
Babalu was a bit wistful.
Beneath their feet lay rich reserves of Taeon Ore, but now it couldn't be converted into actual profit, which was like begging for food while sitting on a mountain of gold and silver.
"We won't beg for food; children of Red Maple wouldn't be so useless!" the Lumina worker leader shouted.
"My grandmaster led everyone to reclaim land and farm outside, my senior brother went hunting in the mountains, and I... still organized everyone: those who should mine, mine; those who should produce, produce!
Although Taeon Ore can't be refined, iron and copper and such are still possible!
The equipment left by Tangheisser Duke is still there, and we've built a few blast furnaces ourselves, so we can still produce iron.
The Packages 4 Factory and 5 Factory can produce tools and simple machines, which can then be traded with other tribes, maintaining the basic livelihood of the entire city."
This was consistent with what Yu Lian understood.
From Mr. Wise onwards, several worker leaders had been trying their best to maintain order in this city.
This was entirely self-rescue through production!
Yu Lian truly felt profound respect for this worker leader.
However, he also knew that using agricultural era production and trade models would not be able to sustain this industrial city for too long.
Therefore, the key to everything was to get the solar furnace running.
To turn the Taeon Ore buried underground back into superconducting materials that would delight the Universe!
"So, do you know how to repair the solar furnace?" Babalu asked with hopeful eyes.
"I'm sorry!
I don't know." Yu Lian shrugged, looking frank.
