Feifei awakened!
She awakened!
She awakened!
For any intelligent being in this universe, this is a major event that can determine their destiny in this life. Even the military nobles of the Empire, with their long-standing traditions and esteemed ancestors, would often face considerable chaos during succession if their eldest direct descendant could not awaken, sometimes even leading to their disbarment by the Heraldry Institute.
However, Feifei's attitude was as if she was just recounting what she had for dinner last night.
Perhaps her demeanor was too calm, as even Yu Lian took nearly half a minute to react.
He let out an "Oh" and then gently patted his own cheek.
Yu Lian actually wanted to exclaim "Wow!", but since the young lady was so composed, he would surely look particularly foolish if he did.
"Hey, aren't you happy for me, Yu'er?"
"Happy, yes! It's just... with Feifei's attitude, I don't even know if I should be happy anymore," Yu Lian said helplessly. "So, how did Feifei awaken? Which Star Ring did she open?"
"It was when I was taking pictures of the Far Shore Nebula. Looking at the starry sky, which seemed to be woven from an endless array of brilliant colors, and seeing those halos that were much brighter than ordinary stars, I truly felt some subtle power. This should count as awakening, right?"
...That sounds utterly unscientific! But this is psychic energy; it's not supposed to be scientific in the first place.
Although it sounded a bit too much like a protagonist's halo, upon closer thought, it didn't seem out of place for Feifei at all.
What could Yu Lian say? Of course, he could only believe her!
"So, which Star Ring is it?"
"It's a colorful, iridescent one, especially brilliant! I think it's called the Zealot?"
Yu Lian was momentarily on the verge of tears. Everyone remembers, right? The Zealot can unlock two branches: Driving and Co-fusion. The ultimate form of the former is the Celestial Mentor, who can conjure black holes and ignite stars with their bare hands.
However, since it was his own girl, Yu Lian really couldn't bring himself to feel envy, jealousy, or hatred, so he could only show a warm smile.
"But I really don't understand why it's called the Zealot? Where do I seem zealous?" Feifei asked, dissatisfied.
"This wasn't decided by me, but rather a concept generated when the inner and outer universes resonated. Perhaps the ancestors of the Virtual Spirit Temple believed that whether it's Driving elements or Co-fusion with nature, both require zeal."
Even Yu Lian himself didn't believe that, so it was even less likely to satisfy Feifei.
Seeing that she was still not very satisfied, Yu Lian said, "No matter what, Feifei's awakening is always a good thing! You'll get promoted faster and receive more allowances. Feifei can try to circulate her psychic energy every day, using it to condense into a psychic hand to do more things instead of a real hand, and occasionally use psychic energy blasts to fish. With Feifei's talent, she should be able to break through very quickly. I'll prepare the materials for you to reach Magician."
Magician is the second ring of the Driving path.
In terms of combat power and future prospects, Driving is considered far superior to Co-fusion. At least, that's what current mystical knowledge suggests.
Also, should he teach Feifei the Spirit Vein Breathing Technique? If Feifei takes the magic-user route in the future, this skill, which speeds up mana recovery, would be quite useful. But this was taught by Uncle Wang, and it wouldn't be right without his permission, would it?
Yu Lian thought about it and decided he should first get Uncle Wang's consent. He believed Feifei would understand.
However, Feifei once again reached out and gently patted Yu Lian's face: "No rush. I haven't decided which path to take yet."
The pragmatic Yu Lian would probably think that, unless there was no other choice or the situation was urgent, wasn't it obvious which path to take? But clearly, the young lady had her own ideas.
"Especially when it comes to this aspect, there's no need to force it! In short, whether it's the path, strength, or skills, don't force anything! Go with the flow, be like water! Amitabha! The Star Ring will naturally grow step by step!" she said.
No matter what this young lady did, she always had such a nonchalant, unhurried demeanor, yet the results she achieved were far better than those of diligent people who worked tirelessly.
One can only say that the universe is always unfair. It is precisely because of such unfairness that those who wish to make it fair always struggle so much.
Of course, such philosophical questions are fine to ponder for a moment.
In any case, although Feifei was very Zen, she was very firm in her convictions deep down.
The period that followed was a very happy one. Feifei continued to fulfill her primary duty as a military reporter, and her side job became a substitute teacher at the school.
Every day, she would spend over an hour at the school, teaching two classes to the children.
There were Chinese and mathematics, which all normal people should learn, as well as elective Alliance Common Language and Imperial Common Language. When she felt inspired, she would even open one or two art and music classes for everyone.
"I know there aren't dedicated art teachers yet, and the current school doesn't have the luxury. However, since I'm here during this time, I hope to give the children some understanding of aesthetics. This is also a way to shape their souls, I suppose."
A few days later, Feifei also opened a history class for the children.
"Brilliant culture and Past experiences are also an important part of spiritual cohesion! I won't arbitrarily instill Earth-era history in them, but I should at least tell them the stories of the Luminans and Earthlings fighting side by side over the Past century!"
Nevertheless, in addition to local history, she also added world history, primarily focusing on the various dark histories of the Empire's expansion era.
When Yu Lian had free time, he also attended a class and immediately felt that this young lady was qualified to be a propaganda minister.
Of course, facing such blatant freelancing, Mr. Stoker, the interim principal, and the school teachers all said, "If Miss Fina says so, then it is so." After all, she had only been there for a few days but had already become the Red Maple Factory's goddess from the heavens; everyone loved her. Even the Luminans, who were said to be unable to distinguish human genders, were no exception.
Everyone expressed that, indeed, only such a Miss Fina matched Captain Yu Lian's style; they truly were a golden couple, a perfect pair!
In short, Feifei suddenly understood why Yu Lian liked this reviving industrial town and this factory, and she was very happy.
Yu Lian was even happier. In reality, he was still very busy. The pulse electromagnetic device assembled from parts salvaged from the spaceship frequently malfunctioned and required constant debugging. The blast furnace, built with the power of 'I think so,' was not very stable, and once, a serious accident occurred where a pipeline collapsed. Fortunately, he was Present, so there were no serious injuries or fatalities. He could only continue forward, dragging this very makeshift alloy production line, in a cycle of finding problems, solving problems, new problems arising, and then continuing to solve them.
Although there were many problems, production could not stop for a moment. All the skilled workers at the Red Maple Factory were mobilized, continuing to work three shifts, day and night.
Under these circumstances, Yu Lian, as the (currently) most knowledgeable "technical expert" in metallurgy on site, naturally dared not rest for a moment, staying at the factory almost non-stop, ready to deal with anything that happened at any time.
"Even when Yu'er was leading us in drills and training, he wasn't this tired!"
"That was a drill; this is real combat!" Yu Lian said as a matter of course.
Feifei blinked, thinking that Yu Lian made a lot of sense this time.
Everyone at the Red Maple Factory was deeply moved, feeling that if Captain Yu Lian, an external special envoy, was so dedicated, how could they not give their all? Thus, the technical team, led by Buska and Stoker, also prepared to keep vigil with Yu Lian.
Of course, they were just ordinary people after all, and if they really slept only three hours a day like Yu Lian—it used to be less than two hours, now it had increased—they would quickly collapse, so they could only work in three shifts after all.
But even so, in their free time, they were still poring over every technical textbook they could find, eagerly enriching themselves.
So, whenever he had time, Yu Lian was also happy to discuss with everyone, doing his best to teach them everything he could.
Their average education level was only middle school, and many things were simply beyond their comprehension, so they could only learn some of the most basic things. But even so, Yu Lian still believed he was sowing seeds, witnessing towering trees being nurtured in the soil.
Such soil always exists; the key is whether you are willing to sow the seeds.
"Officer, am I very stupid...?" Once, an older technician, after making the same mistake on Yu Lian's assigned task for the third time, hung his head in dejection.
"Why do you think that? I made five mistakes the first time," Yu Lian said with a smile.
This was true. In his previous life, he was actually a liberal arts student, and in his last life, to force himself to become a technical expert, he had endured many hardships and taken many detours.
"...A few years ago, the last general manager said the same thing. He said that old fools like me could only survive thanks to the jobs he provided, and if I couldn't even do this much work, I deserved to starve to death." The old man sighed, still resentful of the insult from back then.
"What did he make you do?"
"Uh, he made me install a dome for his villa. But, but I've never seen such complex equipment!" the old worker said.
"But aren't you an electrical repairman?" Yu Lian was shocked. He wondered if that idiotic general manager was so poor that he couldn't even afford a professional air conditioning technician?
"Firstly, you are an electrical personnel, and this is not your specialty. There is specialization in every field; no one has the right to criticize your ability in a non-professional area! And even less the right to insult your character! Furthermore, he has no right to make additional demands of you outside of your regular work!"
As Yu Lian spoke, he glanced at everyone, and seeing that they were all looking at him, he cleared his throat and said in an even more solemn tone: "...And then, there's the second point I want to tell all of you! And it's the most important point: your jobs are not given by the boss! You are not supported by the boss! It's exactly the opposite!"
"You support the boss! This one point, please, all of you, remember no matter what!"
Seeing that everyone seemed a bit confused, as if they weren't used to this statement, Yu Lian repeated loudly: "It's the workers who support the boss, not the boss who supports the workers! Everyone, repeat after me!"
"It's... it's the workers who support the boss, not the boss who supports the workers?"
"Louder, I can't hear you! Do you think you can operate machinery speaking so softly?"
"It's the workers who support the boss! Not the boss who supports the workers!"
"Very good, very spirited!"
For these technicians who had only received basic education and some technical training, for now, this kind of method, which bordered on malicious brainwashing, was the only way to make them firmly remember this point.
Fortunately, Mr. Stoker, the only highly educated person Present, seemed to be lost in thought, clearly engaging in deeper contemplation.
Wasn't this also a kind of sowing?
And so, although he was very busy every day, Yu Lian felt incredibly fulfilled and joyful. He knew very well that once most of the problems were resolved, the Red Maple Factory would have essentially summarized a completely new metallurgical process.
This was completely different from the high-tech black technology developed by powerful nations relying on the legacy of the Enlightener; it was a crystallization of the Wisdom of the working people, belonging entirely to the civilization of this era.
Buska and Stoker also seemed to have realized this, and immediately became even more excited than Yu Lian.
Therefore, the many problems they encountered along the way could not be considered bad news.
Besides that, there was also various good news.
First, New Seville, after receiving the alloy samples sent by Yu Lian, finally made up its mind. It is unknown what work Lilia and Lilia's father, Mr. Afonso, one of the local gentry, did, but the New Seville City Transportation Autonomous Committee—which seemed to be a newly established structure—finally placed an order for 100,000 tons of Taishi Alloy with the Red Maple Factory.
At the same time, the other party also stated that if the finished products were of the same quality as the samples sent, the Red Maple Factory would be considered the primary cooperation unit for the superconducting metal materials required for the railway in the future.
Additionally, if other ordinary steel, steel pipes, copper wires, etc., were good, they could also purchase a small amount.
The above were all normal operations. What was delightful was that they also sincerely sent a portion of the deposit... Of course, cash was unlikely, as the wealthy residents of New Seville were still in a wait-and-see period, but they still sent a considerable amount of agricultural products and daily necessities as per the previous agreement.
This was actually a good thing! Anyway, in current Maple City, currency was pretty useless, and fragrant fish, meat, fruits, and vegetables were much more tangible than that.
That evening, almost every family in Maple City smelled meat again. At this moment, the atmosphere in the city was even more enthusiastic than when the first batch of alloy was produced a week ago.
Only then did everyone truly and most directly feel that hope had really returned!
Whoever dares to destroy this hope, even a god will be killed for you to see!
Both the Luminans and the Earthlings had this realization!
Then, just as everyone had enjoyed a good meal and was preparing for the next day's work, Xia Xiake, who had been out of the city for a week, returned with the morning glow, but he brought not-so-good news.
