Chapter 439 - 8: The Celestial God Himself
The lavishness of the third anniversary rewards is truly outrageous.
After unwrapping the last few rewards, Chen Zhou and the natives counted the quantity of all the supplies.
Besides the H-beams, I-beams, square and round steel bars, rebar, bolts and rivets, sand screens, and various cements these construction materials, the rewards also included two medium-large machine tools.
One of them is a bullet pressing, turning, and drilling machine tool from the Soviet Union modeled after Switzerland.
The other is a simple rail steel homemade drawbench used for processing rifle rifling.
These items are considered the centerpiece of the rewards, but if we talk about life-saving items, it would have to be a few small boxes of medicines—
The medicines are concentrated in a plastic box, most of which are emergency special-effect drugs.
For example, nitroglycerin controlled-release buccal tablets for treating acute angina, Yunnan Baiyao spray for rapid swelling reduction, Yunnan Baiyao powder for emergency hemostasis, and two small bottles of quick-acting heart-saving pills.
Next are skin and trauma medications, such as Erythromycin Ointment, Miconazole Nitrate, Trauma Pill, Blood Circulation Ointment.
Finally, there are special cold medicines for treating bacterial infections, anti-influenza viruses, and anti-inflammatory, including berberine, oseltamivir, ibuprofen.
The quantity of the medicines is far less than that of the construction materials, with only three boxes of each medicine available, and if the illness recurs, it's only enough for two courses of treatment, not to mention the shelf life limitations.
But for Chen Zhou, each of these commonplace modern medicines is extremely valuable.
As products of developed modern medicine, in this backward 17th century, each one can be said to be akin to an Immortal Pill.
Especially antibiotics, which can quickly show effectiveness against most diseases of this era.
...
As for the other rewards, while they are also considered good, compared to construction materials, machine tools, and medicines, they pale in comparison.
Stained glass, tomato and carrot seeds, watches, these are just the cherry on top.
Especially carrot seeds, Chen Zhou thought it would have been better to have ginger or potatoes instead; he wasn't very fond of the special sweet taste of carrots.
However, considering carrots contain a large amount of vitamin A, which can treat night blindness, he still plans to cultivate another plot of land and plant them in large quantities.
...
Receiving an unprecedented amount of rewards is undoubtedly something worth celebrating.
But before the festivities, Chen Zhou and the natives must quickly move the moisture-sensitive items to dry and safe places.
Originally, he planned to lead the natives in a solemn ceremony at noon on the 30th, followed by an evening event and a grand feast.
But seeing the mountain of rewards, there's no doubt that all plans are ruined.
At most, after finishing today's work, he can gift a few items to the natives, but the ceremonies and banquets must make way for transporting the supplies.
...
Before officially starting work, Chen Zhou mapped out a new area based on the range of this reward.
He didn't know whether the expansion of the reward range this time was a one-time change or a permanent one, and thought that after moving the supplies, it was best to continue cutting the construction materials, so he spent extra time leaving new lines on the beach.
Once the supplies are moved, he plans to have the natives build two wood-stone walls on the inner and outer circles respectively.
By the next reward time, whether cutting by the outer circle or along the inner circle, they can manufacture batches of wooden boards and stone bricks—
After all, he worked hard for the usage privilege; if conditions allow, he wouldn't waste any chance to utilize the spatial cutting.
...
Among all the supplies, the importance of medicines and machine tools is undoubtedly ranked first.
However, the machine tools are too large to fit into the Forging Room, even moving them is a bit strenuous, so Chen Zhou can only build a large rain shelter right there to properly store the machine tools.
Among the construction materials, the unpainted square and round steel bars and rebar also need to be placed in dry locations.
Although the cement is packed in heavy-duty plastic bags, and short-term exposure to water isn't problematic, it's wise not to overly trust the plastic packaging, and it will also need to be moved eventually.
Even the painted I-beams and H-beams need to be relocated elsewhere within half a month.
Otherwise, when the mysterious reward distribution next time restores the cutting area, splitting the well-made finished construction materials would make Chen Zhou regret tremendously.
...
Since coming to the island and starting a new life, the education the natives received from Sunday or Chen Zhou has always revolved around the themes of science and realistic natural laws.
For example, the growth patterns of plants, details needing attention in livestock reproduction, including some basic natural meteorological knowledge.
The old Priest from the original tribe, when encountering incomprehensible matters, always attributed them to the Celestial God and fabricated reasonable explanations.
But here, the courses almost never mention anything about "God."
Only after Sunday finishes teaching, and in a good mood, with a desire to express, would he occasionally tell them some novel myths.
These mythological stories were told to Sunday and Saturday by Chen Zhou.
The Celestial Gods in the stories are vastly different from those in the tribe.
These Celestial Gods have distinctive personalities, they would shoot down the sun to protect the people, turn into birds carrying stones to fill the sea after drowning, knock down the pillar supporting the sky in anger…
Unlike the primordial divine beings worshipped by the tribes, these Celestial Gods seem more like flesh and blood powerful humans.
They wouldn't punish their followers for momentary anger or sorrow, nor would they change food production, leaving fishermen empty-handed.