prynovel Chapter 97 The Harvest from the Ant Hole
Chapter 97 The Harvest from the Ant Hole
Deep inside the ant hole.
The sour, putrid smell left behind by the Zombie Mushroom King after its death still lingers among the rock walls.
One hundred new players began their first day of work, which included meals and accommodation.
In the dark and damp underground, most newbies can only use the most primitive and crude iron pickaxe, or even carry the collapsed rubble by hand.
Inefficient, and frequently accompanied by screams of pain from falling rocks hitting the instep.
"Don't pull it! This game's physics engine has a reaction force! Do you want to herniate your disc?!"
A new player with the ID "[Royal Pirate with Hook]" stood on a high place, waving a wooden stick that served as a command baton, and cursing at several newbies below who were trying to move the boulder by brute force.
"You haven't found the right support points, and the entire load is concentrated on that rotten rock below. Any movement will definitely cause a second collapse! Everyone, step back!"
The newbies, looking dejected after being scolded, let go of their burdens. Their previous brute force had not only failed to move the stone, but had also drained their stamina bar significantly. The exhaustion was so real that they just wanted to log off and go to sleep.
The pirate with the imperial hook jumped off the rock and turned to call to his other companions.
This inefficient chaos didn't last long. Several new players who filled in civil engineering and mining labels on their application forms quickly took over the chaotic construction site.
Disdainful of the haphazard and reckless actions of ordinary players, they found a few sturdy load-bearing wooden beams in the ruins, attached them to thick hemp ropes, and set up a simple pulley and triangular support frame in an open area.
Next, they laid out a simple chute using wooden planks.
"Listen to my command! One, two, pull!"
What used to require a dozen people to carry can now be easily moved down the chute by just three or four people pulling ropes. Not only has efficiency tripled, but physical exertion has also been greatly reduced.
Even more outrageous, the pirates with the imperial hook even made a work schedule on the spot, dividing the hundred newbies into a rock-breaking group, a transport group, and a logistics and water delivery group, creating an assembly line operation in the ant hole.
Although the people assigned to the rubble-breaking group complained that this stupid game made moving bricks too realistic, their bodies were very honest as they wielded their tools.
The 100% physiological feedback ensures that every strike is accompanied by a genuine tingling or numb sensation in the palm.
A newcomer, who somehow got hold of a white headscarf, even started doing a field assessment while tapping on it, explaining to his companions how realistic the texture of the rock strata's stress surface was.
With proper coordination, the originally chaotic ruins were cleared out into a clear route.
The slag that was transported out was neatly piled up on both sides of the passage, serving as simple load-bearing walls to reinforce the cave.
The other new players didn't seem to care much. The "Royal Hook Pirate," who was also a new player, was directing them. After all, many players were just following the main group to experience the game content.
Da Niu, being rather lazy, stood on a towering rock, watching the group of skilled newcomers and couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.
"These civil engineering and infrastructure workers are, to be honest, really skilled."
He muttered to the demon beside him, "I remembered that big shot from Pearl Harbor who ran away with a bucket. He was a player from the first test, and he still hasn't changed his class. That guy is over there leading NPCs to renovate houses every day, while these guys are out there digging up graves underground."
Wangliang rested his two-handed sword on the ground and nodded in deep agreement: "Da Niu, we've really met our match as foremen this time. If these guys can increase their efficiency, they'll all snatch up the piece-rate wages that GM promised."
Da Niu's eyes darted around, and he lowered his voice: "What are you afraid of? We're the supervisors. The wreckage they dig out will eventually have to go through us to be transported back to the ruins. Making a profit as a middleman is the way to go."
The two were just figuring out how to extract the remaining value from this group of efficient cattle and horses when a commotion came from the pulley system.
"We've found something big! Get the lever up and pry it out!"
The pirate with the imperial hook roared at the top of his lungs, and seven or eight newbies with full stamina immediately pressed down on the thick wooden bar.
"rise!"
The newbies on the other end were so nervous that their faces turned red and the veins in their necks bulged.
The heavy wooden bar made a sound as if it was about to break, and the soil below was pressed into a deep pit.
With a grinding sound, a heavy metal object covered in hard mud was dragged out of the rock strata.
This is a dilapidated mechanical base left over from before the great upheaval. It is over two meters long, its surface covered with irregular erosion marks, and it is incredibly heavy. When it crashed onto the muddy ground, it made a loud thud. The surrounding water rippled outwards.
This is by no means just some simple scrap metal. Look at the tightly interlocking structure; it is clearly the remains of some kind of large machine tool.
Although the large gears were jammed by rust, the gaps in their meshing indicated that this was definitely not a defective product that could have been made by hand hammering. Several fixing bolts even remained on the edge, deeply embedded in the iron plate at the bottom.
Da Niu immediately went and called Lynn and Elliott over.
The young foreigner, carrying a kerosene lamp, scrambled into the mining area. When he saw the heavy industrial relic covered in rust on the ground, his blue eyes practically lit up.
He crouched down and used the small knife he carried with him to scrape away the mud on the surface little by little, carefully observing the internal structure.
He didn't even care about the unpleasant smell, pressing his face close to the interlocking metal parts, measuring the gaps between the gears with his fingers.
"This is good stuff." Elliott spoke in broken, fragmented Chinese, the words seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth, "Drive shaft, gear set, bearings. I understand these. The principle behind them is very simple."
He gestured with his hand to indicate the size, his mind racing.
"The density of this steel is far superior to the scrap iron found on the ground in the abandoned city. Even though it's rusted, it's still sturdy," Elliott explained to Lynn and the surrounding players, gesturing as he spoke.
"BOSS, with the black steel you gave me and acid, I can try to replicate these shells and parts."
Hearing this, the surrounding players erupted in excitement, with Da Niu rubbing his hands together and asking, "Does that mean we'll be able to build muskets and cannons soon? I've always dreamed of being a heavy-firepower powerhouse in the game!"
"What do you, a warrior, need pirate weapons for? Regretting it and want to switch to artillery?"
Elliott's face fell, and he shook his head repeatedly.
"NO NO NO, it's impossible." He spread his hands, his tone filled with the helplessness of technology being locked down by the laws of physics. "The outer shell can be hammered. But the power source, the engine, no way. The iron in the ruins has too many impurities. If we use a hammer to hammer it, the gaps in the cylinder block are too big."
He struggled to organize his thoughts, trying to explain the principles of the internal combustion engine to this group of illiterate people.
“You don’t understand.” Elliott picked up a stone and drew a crude cylinder and piston on the ground. “Without good machine tools, you can’t make a sealed cylinder. Gunpowder, or steam, requires high pressure. If the gaps are too big, gas will leak out, and there will be no thrust.”
He smashed the stone in his hand: "If the gunpowder ignites, the pressure rises, and without a seal, bang! The weapon explodes, and we'll die."