Volume One: First Arrival Chapter Thirty-One: Construction

Both men nodded, signaling their approval of Meng Xingchen’s decision.

Zhai Yao asked, "Could we build the dam ahead of schedule? Whether it’s for smelting iron or firing cement, there’s a crushing stage involved. It would be best to build a water-powered crusher."

Liang Junyi replied, "We don’t have any building materials yet. How are we supposed to build a dam?"

Meng Xingchen said, "That shouldn't be a problem. Engineer Liang, you need to shift your mindset. We are in another world now, and we have supernatural abilities. Often, when the technology falls short, our powers can bridge the gap."

Meng Xingchen led Zhai Yao and Liang Junyi to find Zhao Lei and Chen Yang, who were using their abilities to quickly mix mud and create brick molds. Both were young men in their twenties; compared to mixing mud and making bricks, they would have preferred to be on the battlefield, but to accelerate the construction of the camp, they remained at the brick kiln.

Seeing Meng Xingchen approach, they stopped their work and greeted him: "Boss Meng." The young travelers had all started calling him Boss Meng, following Ye Feng’s example.

Nodding, Meng Xingchen asked, "Have you both mastered the basic meditation technique?"

Chen Yang, the more outgoing of the two, replied, "We’ve both mastered it. Ever since we gained magic power, the duration we can use our abilities has increased significantly." Zhao Lei nodded in agreement.

Meng Xingchen asked, "I heard you can control rock now. Can you quickly fuse crushed stones into a solid mass?"

Chen Yang said, "We can do it if it’s a small amount."

Meng Xingchen continued, "The spot we picked for the dam is only about five meters wide. We can fill bamboo baskets with stones, dump a large number of them into the river to block the flow, and then have Chen Yang and Zhao Lei use their abilities to fuse the stones into a solid structure. That should work, right?"

Zhai Yao and Liang Junyi exchanged glances, and Liang Junyi said, "The flow of this small river isn't very strong; it should be feasible."

Meng Xingchen turned to Zhai Yao and asked, "Besides the water mill, I recall you mentioning wanting to build a water-powered forging device?"

Zhai Yao nodded. "Although using Tongtong’s ability to create metal equipment is more convenient and faster, it feels like something is missing without the process of forging. Moreover, once we start producing steel, we can’t rely on Tongtong’s ability for mass-producing weapons forever. Since we’ll have the convenience of a dam, we might as well build a water-powered stamping device."

Meng Xingchen looked at Liang Junyi. "I’ll leave the design of the dam to you, Engineer Liang. We have four requirements: water supply for the camp, irrigation for the fields, and the power for the stamping device and the water mill. Also, ensure that once the dam is built, the upstream water level won't flood the current farmland of Li Family Village. Can you manage that?"

Liang Junyi rubbed his slightly balding head. "Everything else is fine, but if we can't flood the upstream fields, won't the water storage capacity be too low?"

Meng Xingchen considered this. "Our primary purpose for the dam is convenience of water access; we don't have a high demand for storage. Let’s prepare for both scenarios. I’ll ask the village elders later if this river has a dry season. If it does, we’ll have Researcher Yuan and the plant-control ability users help the villagers ripen their current crops, and then compensate them with a portion of the land we plan to cultivate. If the river has no dry season, then we won't worry about storage and will prioritize protecting the villagers' fields."

Liang Junyi nodded. "No problem. Since we’re building a water mill, the blast furnace and the cement kiln shouldn't be built here; we should build them near the dam."

Thus, Liang Junyi began designing the blueprints for the dam, while Zhai Yao started drafting the designs for the water mill and the water-powered stamping device.

Finding himself with nothing to do, Meng Xingchen asked Chen Yang and Zhao Lei, "Have you mastered the basic battle aura?"

Chen Yang replied, "Not yet. We’ve memorized the breathing rhythms, but the movements never seem quite right."

Meng Xingchen felt a spark of excitement—he finally had something to do. "Show me a demonstration, and I’ll help you correct your form."

Hearing this, both men were delighted. The feeling of clearly perceiving one's body becoming stronger and one's power increasing was intoxicating; once experienced, it was hard not to get hooked. Ignoring the fact that they were at the brick kiln with many people watching, they immediately struck a pose and began practicing the basic battle aura.

Meng Xingchen didn't intervene, letting them complete the routine. Once finished, the reason they hadn't succeeded was obvious. For modern urbanites who were physically unaccustomed to such exertion, some of the movements of the basic battle aura were quite difficult. Due to a lack of flexibility, Chen Yang and Zhao Lei were failing to execute many of the positions correctly.

Meng Xingchen demonstrated the moves and then corrected them one by one. Although some movements caused them to wince in pain as they stretched their ligaments, they gritted their teeth and persevered. Finally, both received the system notification that they had mastered the basic battle aura.

Feeling the surge of heat within their bodies and sensing their newfound toughness and strength, they couldn't suppress their joy. Even the introverted Zhao Lei couldn't help but shout, "Thank you, Boss Meng!"

Once the basic battle aura was mastered, their constitution and agility would increase, making further practice much easier. The rest was just a matter of time and consistent effort. Under the envious gazes of the crowd, Chen Yang and Zhao Lei returned to the task of "playing with mud" with renewed enthusiasm.

Meng Xingchen spent the morning shuttling between the village and the kiln, patrolling while practicing his Phantom movement technique to increase his proficiency. At lunch, he asked Li Shan about the river's flow and learned that in all his memory, the river had never run dry.

Shortly after lunch, Liang Junyi’s dam blueprints were finished. A site inspection revealed that the lowest fields of Li Family Village were only about a meter above the water level. While designing the dam, Liang Junyi also created an irrigation system, allowing the dam to regulate water levels for the fields.

Just as Liang Junyi was explaining his design, a commotion broke out at the entrance of the village. Recognizing that the mining team had returned, Meng Xingchen breathed a sigh of relief and went to greet them.

The mining trip had been a success; the team brought back not only plenty of iron ore but also some limestone. Seeing Meng Xingchen, Tongtong stood up on the back of the bull and waved frantically.

With a stable source of iron ore and limestone, the camp’s construction officially got on track. That afternoon, the kiln started firing its first batch of clay bricks and producing charcoal.

The next day, with the help of the travelers and villagers, Zhao Lei, Guo Yu, and Chen Yang—the three earth-control users—built the dam. That same day, the water-powered stamping and crushing devices designed by Zhai Yao were completed. The main components were cast from alloy salvaged from the plane wreckage and pig iron collected from the kobold nest.

The iron ore and limestone were mixed according to Zhai Yao’s instructions and fed into the crusher to be ground into powder. The mining team made daily trips to the mountains, and the water-powered device ground the materials into storage.

Today, the blast furnace built from clay bricks was finally finished, marking a major event for the camp’s progress and the travelers' future independence in steel production. All the travelers arrived at the scene. While the villagers didn't fully understand the significance of the blast furnace, they could feel the importance Meng Xingchen and the others placed on it, and those with nothing better to do gathered to watch.

Under Zhai Yao’s direction, the charcoal and ore were layered into the furnace. Because it was experimental, the furnace was only three meters high, shaped like a chimney, with a radius of about a meter at its widest point.

Although Zhai Yao understood the technical principles, this was their first attempt under such primitive conditions, and they hadn't found coal, forcing them to substitute it with charcoal. Despite having fire-control users to assist, Zhai Yao wasn't entirely certain of success.

Over the past few days, not only had the camp construction progressed, but everyone’s strength had also steadily improved. With Meng Xingchen’s guidance, all the travelers had mastered the basic battle aura. Most of the villagers, excluding the very elderly or young, had also learned it. While they lacked a system to quantify the effects, their strength and agility had noticeably improved.

Seeing Zhai Yao’s nervousness, Meng Xingchen patted his shoulder. "Don't worry. With the fire-control users and the aviation fuel to assist, the temperature will definitely reach the requirements. At worst, it’s just a question of the quality of the iron, and even the iron blocks from the kobolds can be optimized by Tongtong." As he said this, he patted Tongtong’s head.

Tongtong beamed, nodded vigorously, and held up her small fist, looking as if she had everything under control. With the mastery of the basic battle aura, her constitution had reached seven points. Despite her small frame, she was undeniably a girl with super strength.

Seeing the loading was complete, Zhai Yao took a deep breath and shouted, "Ignite!"

Ye Feng snapped his fingers, and the charcoal at the base of the furnace ignited. Beside him, Xiao Yun, Cheng Jingyu, and Zhao Yanyan—the other three fire-control users—stood ready. Next to the furnace was a wooden box nearly as tall as a person: the bellows Zhai Yao had prepared.

Xu Chenguang began to slowly operate the bellows, pumping air into the furnace. Beside him, the other two members of the "Berserker Trio," Liu Haoran and Qian Leju, stood ready to take over.