Chapter 382 - 354: Great Development of the Island
"What about using pure Ghost Gold?"
"We could, but the cost would be too high," Li Yue said. "It’d be like forging weapons from solid Gold—prohibitively expensive and just not worth it. If the entire arrow was made of Ghost Gold, it would be fine if we could retrieve it. But if we can’t, it becomes a single-use item."
"That’s fine. Make two for now. We don’t have to use them for regular situations, but we need to have them for critical moments."
Li Yue seemed to understand. "I’ll have someone forge two pure Ghost Gold arrows when I get back."
As Li Yue and the other artisans pushed the Crossbow Wagon back to the Military Equipment Supervisor, he turned his head and saw three Fishman artisans following Li Tieshan in a nearby clearing.
"Brother Yue, should we get a few Fishmen over here too? I hear those Fishman artisans are quite skilled."
Li Yue was tempted for a moment, but after thinking it over, he shook his head.
"Forget it. There’s no need. Besides, we don’t understand the Fishman language, so we can’t communicate."
"We could hire from outside," a round-faced artisan with a buzz cut suggested. "Recruit someone who understands the Fishman language. I know a guy who’s been picking it up really fast. He can pretty much communicate with the Fishmen now. Why don’t we bring him in?"
Li Yue’s brow furrowed, and he snapped his head around to stare at the man. "What are you trying to say?"
The artisan laughed awkwardly. "Nothing."
Li Yue scolded him harshly. "I have always emphasized that I don’t allow pulling strings or nepotism here. Don’t you forget the rules!"
Hearing this, the artisan’s face went pale. He grew annoyed at being reprimanded in public by someone so much younger than him and instinctively talked back, "How is this pulling strings? The Fishman artisans are really good. Bringing them in would make everyone’s work more efficient. Everyone else thinks so, too."
"Is that what all of you think?" Li Yue asked, looking at the others around them.
The area immediately fell silent.
The other artisans all lowered their heads, pretending to be busy.
Li Yue scanned the group, his gaze finally landing back on Wang Hao. "Engineer Wang, as it happens, the Armor Workshop has an open spot for a transfer. Pack your things. You’ll report there tomorrow."
Wang Hao’s legs went weak, and he nearly stumbled. He clearly hadn’t expected Li Yue to be so merciless. The pay at the Armor Workshop was worse than at the Divine Machine Workshop, and more importantly, the work was much more demanding. He hurriedly begged for mercy, "Brother Yue, I really didn’t mean anything by it! I was just thinking it’d be good to have an extra hand..."
Li Yue couldn’t be bothered to listen to his explanation. "Do you think we can’t handle the work? You’re in such a rush to bring in Fishmen, but they’ve spent their whole lives in the sea. They’ve never even seen a ballista."
Seeing that Li Yue was dead set on getting rid of him, Wang Hao panicked. "Li Yue! I’ve worked here for a long time, damn it! What gives you the right to fire me with just a word?! This is fucking tyranny! I’m going to report you to the President!"
Li Yue glanced at him but didn’t respond.
Wang Hao stood frozen for a few seconds, shot back a venomous glare, and finally stomped his foot before turning and storming off in a rage.
The surroundings fell completely silent.
Everyone had heard that Li Yue had been with the President from the very beginning. Wang Hao would likely have to swallow this loss in silence.
Li Yue was silent for a long moment before speaking. "You all know full well how I usually treat you. I fought hard to get the benefits we have at the Divine Machine Workshop. Whether we hire more people or expand is a decision for the President alone. No one should be getting any ideas about it. Our top priority is to do the work we have in front of us."
...
「Several days passed in the blink of an eye.」
The Gated Community’s development of the surrounding islands was gradually getting on track.
Large quantities of seafood were transported back to the Island by boat every day.
At the same time, two new large ships were launched one after the other.
As the number of ships increased, the flow of personnel and transport of materials between the surrounding islands became more and more frequent.
Lines of ships sailed across the water, like pens tracing routes of ink upon the surface of the sea.
In addition to the large ships, many smaller boats had also appeared on the nearby waters.
These small boats mostly operated with a crew of three. It wasn’t many people, but it was just right for sailing in coastal waters, with some rowing and others fishing in cooperation.
"President, after deducting for losses and paying out wages, our net income for today is twelve tons of seafood."
"Mm. Seafood spoils easily if it’s not processed. Have everyone work overtime to handle today’s catch. Do we have enough salt?"
Jia Liangcai replied, "The salt production from the Home’s Salt Wells is having trouble keeping up."
Qin Ziwen couldn’t help but feel frustrated at the news. ’Damn it, the Gated Community already has four Salt Wells, and my personal one is even at Level 3. How is our salt production still not enough?!’
"It’s fine. This is the ocean. We’ll just get salt from the sea."
Jia Liangcai thought for a moment, then said, "Using salt evaporation ponds is time-consuming and labor-intensive; it won’t yield results quickly. For a short-term solution, our only option is the boiling method, but that consumes a lot of fuel."
"The Island is full of trees. Go cut them down."
Jia Liangcai sent people out to spread the word, explaining the boiling method for producing salt in detail and offering to trade grain or other supplies for the finished sea salt.
Once the news broke, the quiet Gated Community stirred to life, like the surface of a pond after a stone is tossed in.
Soon, the residents of the Gated Community began to take action.
Some used old bedsheets and boiled fine sand as filters, repeatedly straining the seawater several times. Then, they poured it into pots; soup pots, stew pots, and iron woks were all put to use.
They boiled the water continuously over a medium-high flame, stirring constantly with a spoon during the process to prevent the salt from sticking to the bottom and burning.
After some time, a ring of cloudy salt frost would form along the inside rim of the pot, and fine crystals would begin to float on the water’s surface.
They would carefully scrape off that layer of moist crystals with a spatula and spread it onto baking sheets, iron trays, or even clean ceramic tiles.
After it was left to air-dry, or placed near a fire to let the residual heat evaporate the last of the moisture, the coarse sea salt was complete.
It might have been a bit bitter for eating, but it was perfect for curing seafood.
’So this is another way to preserve food.’ Lorne squatted in a nearby clearing, intently watching the workers, who wore gloves as they cured seafood with coarse salt.
When he lived at the bottom of the sea, prey caught by the Fishman Race could only be kept for five days at most. After that, the meat would start to rot and stink, giving off a heavy, putrid smell.
The Human Race’s method of preserving food was a revelation to Lorne.
They extracted the essence of the ocean from the sea itself, then used that essence to preserve their food. He heard them say that salted fish prepared this way could last for one or two years.
’If the Fishman Race could also master this method of food storage, they might never have to worry about food again.’
The longer he spent in contact with the humans, the more Lorne felt that their civilization held something that fascinated him.
"Does that make it taste better?" a young Fishman standing beside him asked curiously, pointing at the salted fish.
"No, but it lets you store it for much longer," Lorne replied, shaking his head.
He thought for a moment, then stood up and walked over to the busy Liu San. In slow, halting Chinese, he said:
"Can I... help?"
Liu San, who was in the middle of curing fish, looked up and gave him a simple, honest smile. "Of course you can."
...
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