Chapter 142.1: Other Than Physical Labor, We Also Have Other Services

At 7:00 in the evening. The night was dark.

Next to the towering steel fortress, a heavy truck stopped steadily.

Compared to the driver who jumped out of the truck, the size of the truck could be described as massive. However, if it was placed with the steel platform and crawler next to it, its massive figure would appear a little small.

From a distance, it looked like a worm crawling on the side of a shoe.

The driver who got out of the truck used a tablet to operate the automated loading and unloading platform to unload the cubes of metal blocks from the truck.

These metal blocks were all pressed from recycled garbage. The specifications were cubes with a length, width, and height of one meter each, and the density ranged from 6 to 7g/cm3.

There were doors, hoods, and all kinds of metal parts, all tightly compressed together so hard it was hard to tell what they looked like before.

It must be said that the residents of the shelter were really competent. Not only were they physically strong, but they were also very enthusiastic about their work. They scraped off almost everything that could be recycled.

The only downside was that they seemed to be stuffing in things that couldn't be recycled as well...

But that wasn't a big problem.

These metal blocks would be later sent to a specialized processing workshop where they would be processed from station to station, and go through a series of automated production processes before finally becoming what they needed.

The waste that couldn't be put to use would be automatically removed from the production line during the production process.

Wearing a thick protective suit and a hard hat, an engineer unfolded the flexible screen of the tablet and walked towards Li De, who was standing next to the temporary warehouse.

"The total amount of scrap steel collected today is 112 tons. I will send them to the production line later. Tomorrow, we can start the replacement process of the crawler."

Li De asked, "How much steel do we need in total? I mean, if we only collect scrap like that?"

The engineer thought for a moment before he responded, "At least 3,000 tons... Maybe 5,000 tons."

Li De frowned. "Why is the difference so big?"

The engineer said helplessly, "Can't do anything about it. The steel quality of those civilian vehicles is too poor. Maybe the manufacturers wanted to save cost and reduce weight, all the steel was filled with a large amount of unrecyclable carbon-based copolymer, not to mention the oxidized part, basically it's already very good that we can recycle 400 kilograms of steel from one ton of scrap steel.

"And I have to say, we need not only steel, but also rare metals... I'm expecting to get titanium or uranium in this place, but tungsten is the worst material we can use. Otherwise, we would break down again after moving 500 kilometers west at most."

Tracks and wheel hubs were the hardest hit areas for wear and tear.

Not to mention mechanical structures such as bearings and transmission wheels. Even if it was not as serious as the wear of the tracks, regular replacement was necessary.

In fact, it was reasonable to say that in the underground garage that was not soaked in water, the recycling value of abandoned vehicles was relatively high, and the recycling rate could reach almost 40% or even 50%.

If it was those scrap cars that were exposed in the wilderness, the recovery rate may not even reach 30%.

After all, rainwater was weakly acidic even under natural conditions. Moreover, no matter how weak the acidity of carbonic acid was, after two centuries of continuous pickling, no matter how advanced the technology used to make it was, it would still be corroded.

And pickling was more deadly than oxidation. Oxidation would produce rust at worst. If that happened, a car's frame may collapse, but the metal elements would still be there and would not disappear. But if it was eaten by acid, then the ionized cations would be carried into the soil by the rain, and it would be really impossible to recycle anything.

Li De's brows furrowed even tighter as he carefully pondered what the engineer had said to him.

After moving 500 kilometers, they would break down again...

According to the route they planned on the map, they would probably be still in River Valley Province after moving 500 kilometers west.

If the Pioneer broke down in the wilderness, it would be a real problem.

"I understand the situation now. I will let the people from the Marine Division send a search team to focus on searching for rare metal materials in this area."

The engineer shook his head and said, "It's hard to find those materials in this area, so I suggest you look for them near the fifth ring in Clearspring City. A basic common sense is that the more intensive the civilization activities, the higher the macro utilization rate of rare metals. For example those maglev vehicles. Whether it is the magnetic generation devices on those vehicles, or the maglev roadbeds buried into the walls of high-rise buildings or under the ground, all of them contain the materials we need... Those things wouldn't be found in the suburbs that had no three-dimensional highway network.

"Also, the search for controllable fusion fuel rods also has to start soon. The fuel rod we are currently using only has 8% fusion fuel left. Even if our crawler does not break down, I am afraid we have to find a place to stop and solve this problem."

Li De asked suddenly, "How long do we have before we run out of energy completely?"

"It's enough for us for a while, but you know, we can't stay here forever."

If it was just that little consumption, their 8% energy was enough for them to use until next year.

But like his engineer said, they couldn't stay there forever.

The most energy-consuming part of this land-based fortress was not the production workshops on it, but its four engines.

To make a fortress that weighed tens of thousands of tons move smoothly on land, if they used diesel engines, it was estimated that it would consume at least several tons of oil per kilometer, which was equivalent to 1~2 armored divisions marching on an off-road terrain.

"The contact point of Shelter 404 has just been built. Their people are currently helping us find a guide. We should be able to set off within two days at the earliest, so this problem should not be big." Li De explained.

The engineer sighed, "Hopefully. Compared to the collection work, the recovery of nuclear fuel rods is not so urgent, as long as they can be obtained before departure. Speaking of which, I have to praise the blue coats. Their work efficiency is very high. It completely exceeded my expectations. What benefits did you promise them exactly? Why do all of them work so hard that it's like they are on drugs?"

When the engineer reached the end of his sentence, his face was full of disbelief and he looked at his boss curiously.

Li De also had a complicated expression on his face, as if he didn't know how to answer the question.

To be honest, when he saw the results of the day’s resource collection, he was also surprised.

According to their past experience of hiring those local survivors to help pick up garbage, it was already considered not bad that they would collect 300 kilograms of garbage every day. After all, it would take time to cut, transport, and compress. Moreover, those local people were relatively dumb and very slow when doing the work. Watching them work would often make their blood pressure soar.

However, those blue coats actually took only one afternoon to collect more than 500 kilograms per person! It was double what they expected!

If they were given a whole day, wouldn't the per person scavenging capacity be more than a ton?

Their work enthusiasm was simply off the charts!

Although it had nothing to do with him, Li De couldn't help but wonder in his heart how much salary their administrator gave them to keep them so motivated.

"Where are they?"

"They've already returned, and now they are cooking in the camp."

Li De nodded.

As long as they came back safely.

At this time, a staff member of the logistics department suddenly came from the side.

"Division Chief, you got a phone call."

"Transfer the call over."

Taking out a lighter-sized earphone from his pocket and hanging it by his ear, Li De stretched out his index finger and tapped on the white earphone.

The dark green light beam projected forward, and soon a three-dimensional holographic image was woven in front of him, showing the outline of the other party's facial features and bust.

"Your holographic communication system is really good, how much does it cost?"

Li De coughed lightly as he looked at Chu Guang, who was curiously looking left and right.

"... We haven't considered selling this for the time being."

"Okay." Chu Guang in the hologram nodded, as if to express his understanding. Li De hoped that he really understood.

With a smile on his face, Li De continued, "How can I help?"

Chu Guang didn't answer the question directly, but looked at him with a smile and said in a relaxed tone, "It's nothing special, I just want to ask, how do you guys feel about how quickly we work?”

"Very... It's okay." Li De wanted to say very good, but he suddenly thought that the person in front of him was an old fox who was good at disguise, so he immediately changed what he was about to say.

Unfortunately, the other party seemed to have caught the change in the expression on his face, and the corners of Chu Guang’s mouth curled up into an inconspicuous smile.

Li De suddenly felt a tinge of regret...