September 12, 830
Autumn has arrived, and Red Maple Factory remains the same. Mr. Babalu said that there is always hope.
I can understand him, and I can also understand everyone's reluctance to leave, but this city is actually on the verge of death. Four of our power plants have already shut down, and the two remaining in operation can only sustain the factory and the mine. Residents in the city have long been relying solely on walking and animal power for transportation.
Our tap water and air conditioning systems are also aging and frequently malfunction, yet there's a lack of maintenance. However, we don't have the money to hire professional repair personnel.
I truly love this factory, this city, and everyone here. However, reality tells me that this situation cannot last.
Finally, will the title of my thesis become 'The End of Red Maple Factory'?
I don't want that.
September 18, 830
Today, Aunt Martha brought another girl to me, saying that she would be delivering my lunch from now on.
Aunt Martha sure has a lot of free time! Is it because the Group 3 task she's responsible for isn't going well?
Also, that girl is from Red Maple Factory, and she's quite pretty...
No! Cerdy Stoke, your future is not here after all.
September 25, 830
I've finally prepared the course materials for the next year or two of school, thanks to a batch of materials sent by everyone from the 'Student Union.' If I had to download them from the Empire's database, the scholarship and savings from my part-time jobs over these two years wouldn't be enough!
This way, I can rest a little easier, right? Even if I leave, the school can still function.
Uncle Katkama said I should go home for dinner today.
I can mention it to him.
September 26, 830
I couldn't say it at all! Little Carter excitedly said that he could be promoted to the advanced class next year and asked if I would still be his teacher.
How could I say it? Should I just tell him directly that if I don't leave, I won't be able to leave?
September 30, 830
Today, everyone returning from the Southern Lake District said that in a while, several boats of flannel would be sent over. This way, at least everyone can prepare some clothes for winter. But even so, there's no way to prepare clothing for everyone in the city!
The heating system cannot be activated, but winter in Red Maple is not particularly cold. As long as everyone stays at home and minimizes outdoor activities, they should be able to get through it.
This way, I should be able to leave, right?
October 3, 830
Today, taking advantage of the Emperor's birthday discount, I was finally able to afford renting the Empire's Source Wave Network. I can finally communicate with everyone in the 'Student Union.'
Lao Tan told me that the Bakerville and Kaitai students here have been provoking us again. Everyone decided to settle it outside the city the day after tomorrow! Good luck to them! Anyway, they've fought more than a dozen times, everyone's used to it.
I told Lao Tan about my current dilemma, and he told me to follow my heart. I always feel like there's a hint of mischief in his words. However, what he said made sense.
His words always make a lot of sense.
October 9, 830
The day after tomorrow, I'll be twenty-six. My parents and sister sent me a greeting card. They don't know that I'm currently in Luminar, which is in the same star sector as them, do they? Hehehe!
October 11, 830
The students are all celebrating my birthday! I'm not leaving.
Either the factory collapses, or the factory thrives!
October 15, 830
The flannel will arrive tomorrow, so today I assigned production tasks to everyone.
Aunt Martha asked me again if I had feelings.
What feelings!
My seven-foot body is already dedicated to the factory, I have no time for such thoughts!
October 16, 830
Too many things happened today, I don't even know where to begin.
Captain Yu Lian is truly a strange person.
Judging by his age, he should be part of the 'Elite Bureaucracy Group,' right? However, I have never seen an elite military officer discuss the future of a factory with everyone, nor have I seen an elite military officer eat sweet potatoes and wild wheat soup with everyone. And I've certainly never seen an officer casually toss aside his uniform and roll up his sleeves to enter the laboratory.
October 17, 830
Mr. Babalu told us that Captain Yu Lian has already set an example for everyone, and the children of Red Maple Factory cannot fall behind others.
Mr. Buska also started dismantling those ships. He was quite unsure at first, but Captain Yu Lian gave him a blueprint and told him to go for it boldly.
October 18, 830
I taught the children in the morning, went to the garment factory in the afternoon, and was in the cafeteria in the evening.
Everyone is working hard!
However, Captain Yu Lian still ate roasted potatoes and muddy greens with us today.
We need to get some meat and eggs!
October 19, 830
Mr. Xia Xiake is preparing to venture deep into the southeastern grasslands to hunt a giant Dinosaur Bird flock. This could potentially result in very significant casualties! Uncle Xia Xiake, however, said he was prepared.
Captain Yu Lian stopped Mr. Xia Xiake. He told everyone that he had already negotiated an agricultural product trade application with New Seville. As long as our plan proceeds smoothly, a transport ship full of agricultural products will arrive next month.
I believe the island lords of New Seville wouldn't be so easy to talk to; someone must have vouched for us.
October 20, 830
Mr. Buska has been worried, saying that the equipment in our chemical laboratory is not complete enough. Most importantly, various safety devices are somewhat old, and he's unsure if they can guarantee Captain Yu Lian's safety.
Something indeed happened today; the circuit device of the toxic substance discharge port burned out directly because it had been running at full capacity for too long. One can imagine how many dangerous experiments Captain Yu Lian conducted in the laboratory.
As a result, due to a chain reaction, the laboratory door was also locked. The Captain was trapped inside.
Buska personally went to repair the circuit, burning his palms with sparks.
I didn't know when that thing would be fixed, so I led everyone to manually pull open the door using a tug-of-war method.
For those few minutes, I felt like I had used up all the brute strength of my life; my whole body is still aching now.
However, it seems we overreacted a bit. When Captain Yu Lian came out, he wasn't even wearing protective clothing, just telling us that progress was very smooth.
Can a spiritual energy user really achieve this level?
spiritual energy users are truly amazing!
October 21, 830
The pulse machine can begin assembly trials.
Mr. Buska was still a little worried and called me to help. Our progress was relatively smooth.
October 22, 830
During dinner, Captain Yu Lian praised us and pointed out some mistakes made during assembly, helping Mr. Babalu revise the blueprints.
He's truly a superman. He stayed in the lab until 4 AM and only slept for less than two hours. Now, he's full of energy again, helping us design the mechanical assembly procedures.
Captain Yu Lian once again expressed his gratitude for being saved. Everyone felt he was too polite, and they all thought that even if they hadn't intervened, he would have walked out of the laboratory unharmed.
Uncle Xia Xiake said that if a real fight broke out, he might not last three rounds against Captain Yu Lian.
I don't quite understand their spiritual energy user matters. In short, how powerful is Uncle Xia Xiake? And what level is Captain Yu Lian, who can make him unable to last three rounds?
However, such a person, even without spiritual energy, would be great enough!
Also, Captain is really rich! He actually said that once everything is successful, he will treat everyone in the city to a meal! A grand feast! That alone, the cost of ingredients would probably be tens of millions, right?
October 23, 830
Old Man Beikai finally returned. He told us that a considerable portion of the northern tribes had entered that ancient city and defected to that 'son of a b*tch.'
Old Man Beikai has always referred to the rebel leader, Kergege, by that name.
Of course, there are still sensible people; some northern tribes are migrating south, hoping to resettle in the Northern Xia Hills area and form an alliance with us.
The old man hoped to see Captain Yu Lian, but heard that the latter had re-entered the laboratory. Old Man Beikai sighed, saying he had seen many military representatives and Central Special Envoys, but never one like this.
The old man is right!
October 24, 830
Today, we continued to modify the pulse impact machine. Mr. Buska finally found a rhythm. He said that once the impact machine is actually built, he can go for the international Engineer certificate.
October 25, 830
Uncle Xia Xiake listened to Captain Yu Lian's advice and did not lead everyone deep into the southeastern grasslands. However, he still led everyone today and caught a nest of mountain boars in the hills, numbering over a dozen.
Mr. Babalu made a large pot of soup with the mountain boars.
On the tenth day after Captain Yu Lian arrived at Red Maple Factory, he finally ate meat for the first time.
He smiled very happily.
Everyone was very happy too.
October 26, 830
Today was truly a fulfilling day.
Captain Yu Lian emerged from the laboratory once again, saying that this time it was a success and they could begin testing.
The morning's experiment was indeed very successful; the chemical reagents, which I didn't understand, successfully dissolved the coating on the surface of the taion ore. This means we no longer need to rely on the solar furnace.
The Captain was also very satisfied with Mr. Buska's work and even asked me if I wanted to get an Engineer certificate.
Originally, everyone planned to complete the debugging of the pulse device this afternoon, but another military representative arrived, surprisingly from the General Headquarters.
We thought that military representative was here to requisition supplies again, but he was actually relaying the front-line situation to Captain Yu Lian.
It was then that I remembered that as a Central Special Envoy, the front-line situation was also within Captain Yu Lian's jurisdiction.
Everyone was a little worried that the Captain would leave.
October 27, 830
Fortunately, the Captain did not leave.
Today, Aunt Martha asked me what type of girl Captain Yu Lian liked.
I think Aunt Martha is still too idle. I've already added half of the production tasks to her group!
October 28, 830
Captain Yu Lian also joined in, helping us with the final assembly and debugging of the pulse device.
Captain Yu Lian has been at Red Maple Factory for two weeks now.
These two weeks have also been the two weeks where we all had the most confidence and hope.
It is our fortune to have met someone like Captain Yu Lian.
Tomorrow is when we will activate the pulse machine. Whether it succeeds, whether it can neutralize the magnetic field of the Taeon Ore, depends on tomorrow.
I'm really looking forward to tomorrow!
I don't understand metallurgy, let alone chemical engineering, so I'll try a different writing style.
This diary-like writing style seems quite popular recently.