Chapter 1153
Chapter 1153 - 1139: Water Factory
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8 min read
When selecting a landing site, Lu took into account all kinds of intelligence before making many decisions.
The primary one being the positioning of his own team.
Unlike most explorer teams that "come up and get to work" in a combat style, Lu Ping’an’s team’s greatest advantage has always been in "logistics" and "production level".
Naturally, he aimed for maximized benefits from the very start...
"So this is the ’Spirit holy water’ refinement base? It really is spectacular..."
In the southwest corner of the city constructed of floating bamboo, Lu Ping’an saw his first coveted "treasure"—the production base for the legendary artifact "Spirit water".
And its structure, from the onset, gave a tremendous shock to Lu Ping’an and the others.
It reminded Lu Ping’an of the grand projects back in his homeland, like the super dam that overshadowed an entire mountain range.
It was a huge and transparent "conch", with ripple-shaped pipelines coiling inside it, drawing in vast amounts of sea water, with busy workers both inside and on the outside the pipelines.
On the outside, Long Arm People, Fishmen, and similar aquatic Beastman Technicians were operating the equipment, adding batches of materials into the pipelines while divers from both Long Arm People and Fishmen labored within the inner circles of these pipelines.
The conch’s spiral shape was, perhaps, just to accommodate the coiled pipeline, which could stretch out for dozens of kilometers if unraveled; even now, tightly wound, it occupied a solid corner of the city.
This scene brought back memories for Lu Ping’an of those abandoned steel factories in the ancient city, where the furnaces and pipelines might have also seemed as large as the sky when he was a child.
For those whose livelihoods depended on it, that might have been their entire world...
"The raw materials for Spirit holy water are actually worthless—it’s just the local seawater. Some say it’s because the world’s seas are a soup with countless special properties, allowing the miraculous potion to be extracted through condensation and purification..."
In front of Lu Ping’an, the middle-aged man Su Menglin spoke eloquently; he was the director of the local water plant office and also took on the task of receiving "foreign guests".
The young man in front of him, although he had been here for less than a week and held a nearly laughable position as a Trainee Priest within the church, was proven to be extraordinary simply by Mr. Quasi-God bringing him into the congregation personally.
With the arrival of the Divine Boat, a new round of intelligence exchange had been completed, and the locals were gradually becoming aware of what kind of tough character this smiling youth was... At least his family’s restaurant was quite good, although it was a mystery how he managed to serve hometown dishes from thousands of miles away.
Err, some of the "special challenge cuisine" was an exception, which reminded one of exotic realms and the universe; it was a bit beyond the taste limits suitable for humans, probably the result of hiring some alien chefs for culinary research and development.
𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
"... This purification technology wasn’t originally ours, it was that of those ugly and coarse Gray Dwarves, and initially, due to incomplete technology, our production was embarrassingly low until a Water Elemental Controller found that Abnormal Abilities could compensate for the deficiencies, and our efficiency surpassed the original products, the only downside is..."
Director Su pointed at the workers above and the divers in the pipelines, among them some were handling instruments, and others seemed to be directly manipulating the water flow.
This astonished Lu Ping’an, as "Water Control" was not a career ability one could simply possess.
"... It’s quite easy to obtain, as long as we are within Mercury 42, after all, we have..."
Old Su pointed upwards, and Lu Ping’an immediately understood.
Once the deities directly intervened in the lives of mortals, their very existence became a resource, a power, and even a reliable "source of power".
"Ocean God?"
"Yes, just a small sacrifice is needed to unlock the low-level Water Control abilities..."
As long as the sacrifice is sufficient, even "Temporary Divine Favor for combat" can be acquired, which undoubtedly indicates that deities have become thoroughly embedded into this world, becoming a part of the basic rules.
Furthermore, the connection with the deities has become quite effortless, as long as you are human, a mere wooden statue of a god can serve as the "altar" for the ritual, where "sacrifices" can be exchanged for "Temporary Divine Favor".
Yes, Temporary Divine Favor, just like the tiny rune marks on Lu Ping’an’s forehead, right arm, and left arm—that’s the "Three-Piece Set" vital for survival here.
Not only do they vanish into thin air once one leaves, but while they are cheap to activate, their maintenance cost is quite high.
As far as Lu Ping’an knows, other species can also pray to the Three Gods for Divine Grace, only their "sacrifices" tend to be much more expensive.
This also hints at the fundamental difference between this world and other worlds... this is a war world, where the competition is in comprehensive national power and overall warfare, relying solely on individual strength is limited.
If abilities such as "Water Control" can be easily obtained from the deities, then low-level combat power could also effortlessly form a cluster advantage, perhaps the war situation is a bit different from what I expected...
"Boss Lu, what do you think? Are you interested in making additional investments? This is sure to be a profitable endeavor."
When the finished product is a premium like "Spirit holy water," and the raw material is almost unlimited ocean water, anyone knows this world indeed holds the value to befuddle minds like those of dogs.
On the other hand, it’s evident that such "purification technology" is not simple; the construction costs of these massive purifiers are high, and just one look at their vast size and the number of workers involved makes it clear that the maintenance costs must also be astronomical.
And with such devices, it is apparent that the larger the specifications and the more units there are, the better the effect, as economies of scale can significantly reduce costs and increase efficiency...
"We are building Unit 3 right now, and if you’re willing to invest, the cap is 15%. But if you’re willing to wait for the construction of Unit 4... probably within half a year, we could let you have a 50% exclusive investment!"
The water plant in this corner of the city is, in a sense, "public"... its existence predicates on the city providing shelter and military support, and the high construction and operational costs also make a solo endeavor hardly practical.
"...Even if you have the full technology set, trying to build here on your own, forgive my frankness, you would infuriate everyone..."
As time went on, this strange "collective investment subscription system" took shape; you pay money to buy shares here, let the professional water plant operate for you, and you just collect dividends regularly.
Of course, there are certainly plenty of fishy dealings involved, such as the operators dipping into their wallets when investors are not looking... but since investors watch each other, most of the profits are ensured against daily "erosion".
"...I’ll take a look, I’m new here, and I haven’t decided which occupation to invest in yet."
After some consideration, Lu Ping’an chose to politely refuse.
It’s not that he couldn’t afford it... this investment was essentially a guaranteed gain and could even be considered a bonus issued by the city to the internal power factions of Lin Nu’s Church.
However, Lu Ping’an knew that by taking this "dividend," he would likely be bound to this city.
"I want to look around some more; perhaps other cities might be good too..."
Smiling, Lu Ping’an revealed his genuine thoughts. To him, this city might be a bit too small.
His candidness was too much, causing Director Su a bit of embarrassment.
He hesitated, but his expression conveyed the message quite clearly, "Then what are you doing here?"
Lu Ping’an just shook his head.
"I’m not interested in ’Purifiers,’ doesn’t mean I’m not interested in other business. I came here to discuss a big deal with you all..."
— End of Chapter 1153 —