Chapter 109: The Power of Workers
Half an hour later, inside the industrial ship in synchronous orbit.
Shen Quan woke up on his own before the alarm clock rang. He turned his head to look at his buddy in the same dorm and found that the other person was also awake.
The two exchanged a smile.
He had slept very little these past few days, but he wasn't tired at all. Perhaps this is how people are when they are very focused and have something to look forward to.
If he wasn't in a zero-gravity environment, Shen Quan would find it hard to believe that he was actually living inside a spaceship! Thinking back to when he followed the caravan for trade, only to be captured by Raiders in the Desert and locked in a cage, it felt like it was just yesterday.
And now, I am one of Li Star's first astronauts after the apocalypse.
An astronaut! And also a glorious space fighter assembly worker!
It feels like a dream...
As soon as he thought of this, he immediately felt full of energy.
Over thirty interns, due to slightly poorer physical fitness, were temporarily unable to pass the astronaut selection, with female workers making up the majority.
There's nothing that can be done; this is a physiological difference caused by gender.
However, the tasks of these sisters are also very important. They are responsible for producing space fighter subsystems on the surface, as well as agricultural production units to supply their hometown, Red Iron Town.
"Come on, come on! If you're awake, hurry to the washroom. It'll be crowded if you're late!"
The buddy next door urged.
The dorms on the industrial ship are six large open rooms with three-tiered bunks, totaling 1500 beds. They are far from full now.
Although they are open rooms, each person has a private L-shaped sleeping pod with good privacy, where they can lie down or sit up straight. The sleeping pod has a hard, retractable blackout curtain, a folding small table, and a personal storage locker.
All the "furniture" is made of polymer or carbon fiber material, making it very lightweight.
These are said to have been the basic amenities for ship crew members before the apocalypse, but for Shen Quan, it felt as luxurious as staying in a high-class hotel.
The washrooms are more complex than the dorms, divided into two modes: zero-gravity and planetary surface. In zero-gravity mode, members need to enter a cylindrical shower cabin, where they float inside while shaving and brushing their teeth, and undergo ultrasonic water mist full-body cleaning.
To prevent waste from floating everywhere, the toilets are negative-pressure type, divided into two kinds for solid and liquid waste. Before use, the corresponding body part must be sealed tightly against the opening. After use, they must be cleaned and disinfected promptly, or you will definitely be surrounded and beaten by the next person using the toilet.
These most basic hygiene tools in daily life now require relearning and adaptation, and are full of novelty.
After washing up, Shen Quan put on the industrial exoskeleton assigned to him and floated towards the mess hall for a meal.
The food on the ship is prepared uniformly on the surface of Li Star according to Jubian's instructions and brought up by spaceplanes.
The variety of dishes is actually not much different from those on the ground, except that the amount of powder and sauce needs to be controlled as much as possible to prevent them from floating everywhere.
Various grilled meat dishes became the most popular because they are easy to eat, and the staple food is white rice balls that were harvested recently.
As for soup and drinks, they are packaged in paper bags and can be drunk by sucking through a straw. The materials for the paper and straws are said to come from rice stalks.
One really has to admire the wisdom of Cangyuan's official employees. Those people seem to know everything and can think of everything.
Full and satisfied, off to work!
"Coming, Quanzi! Today is very important! Put in a little more effort, and our first fighter jet can roll off the line!"
Chief Engineer Black Smoke waved to him from a distance.
Like everyone else on the industrial ship, Shen Quan basically received the news the moment Apollo launched the nuclear strike.
Since then, he noticed that the state of the Engineers had changed.
Before, it felt like they were more like "playing".
But now it's different. They started working desperately. In the words of the Engineers themselves, they were "working their guts out to prove a point".
Sometimes, two groups of Engineers with different opinions would even argue about the process and progress, and even wanted to have a one-on-one fight with exoskeletons to decide whose opinion to follow.
The intensity was terrifying to watch.
But in the blink of an eye, when it was lunchtime, they seemed to have completely forgotten their previous arguments, gathering around the dining table to discuss and brainstorm together.
One moment they were frowning in distress, the next they were laughing heartily.
Besides the loud Uncle Black Smoke, there was another Engineer who left a deep impression on Shen Quan.
That person had a strange name, "Came to Work Overtime on a Motorcycle". Like other old employees, he came from the planet of supreme glory where humanity originated - Earth. He didn't seem young either, only a few years younger than Black Smoke.
Before joining Cangyuan, he was said to be a technical expert at a shipyard called something like "Jiangnan", and had participated in the design and construction of real giant warships!
Even on Earth, there weren't many people with this kind of experience!
Wow, this level of experience made Uncle Black Smoke have to concede.
Under the command of Uncle Motorcycle, everyone disassembled each fighter jet into five different modules: front, back, left, right, and center.
Each module was built to about 70% completion, and then assembled together for final assembly.
This way, in the early to mid-stages of the project, more work surfaces were available, fully utilizing the advantage of having more people, and reducing the working hours by one-third.
Among them, Shen Quan's job was "wire management", which is installing the internal cables of the aircraft.
This was not easy. It was hard to imagine that the interior of a space fighter jet, 17 meters long and weighing 13 tons, actually contained hundreds of different cables, with a total length exceeding 20 kilometers.
Although he had unleashed his full potential, it was still impossible to understand the function of these cables and the principles behind them in a short time.
Fortunately, the industrial exoskeleton had "" assistance, which could automatically identify the type of cable and indicate the installation position. He just needed to be as nimble as possible with his hands and feet to improve work efficiency.
Currently, all Red Iron Town residents can only do assembly work. Cangyuan Engineers possess two skills they do not: industrial modeling and programming.
Uncle Black Smoke has already promised to teach him programming later. He said that the programming language Cangyuan is currently using is already close to natural language.
It was ten thousand times simpler than what he learned back then.
It's truly something to look forward to!
That afternoon, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Black Smoke muttered something like "May Luban, Mozi, and Old Master Zhuge bless us",
Afterwards, he climbed onto the back of the fighter jet with a strong sense of ceremony and installed the last rivet.
At that moment, the entire place was silent.
A few seconds later, thunderous cheers erupted.
Cangyuan's first self-produced light space fighter was officially delivered to the aviation team!
"It's not big, but it's very beautiful!" From above, Fengqi Loulan leaned against the railing, watching with sparkling eyes.
"This one's mine, by the way. First come, first served." Chang Kong, who was nearby, reminded him in time.
"I know, I know! You're the ace, of course you get to go first~"
"Heh heh—
Four new rookie pilots had arrived on the ship.
Although they were rookies, their arrogance and confidence were completely undisguised. Their every movement was natural and effortless, their backs always straight. Even when going to the toilet, they held their heads high; they were practically eating with their chins raised.
As soon as they boarded the ship, they surrounded Chang Kong, saying they had come because they had heard of him and had to meet him. Although they complimented him with words like "ace," "distinguished," and "master among masters," anyone could hear the underlying meaning in their words.
So you're the Cangyuan ace, huh?
The air was thick with tension!
Brother Chang Kong must have also heard the provocation, and was probably holding back a breath.
"Mm-hmm, it's really good. It looks even better than I imagined!"
Male God stood with his hands on his hips, tilting his head back to look at the sharply designed nose of the aircraft, full of praise for the creations of the Engineer players.
"But why does this plane have wings? There's no atmosphere on the Moon, so they can't just be for decoration, right?"
"Those aren't wings, they're heat sinks," Black Smoke explained.
"Our laser cannons are much more powerful than Apollo's broken Gatling guns, but every time we fire, 40% of the energy is converted into waste heat. In the vacuum of space, there's no air convection, so the heat can only be dissipated through the heat sinks using thermal radiation."
"Couldn't you use water cooling? Just heat it into steam and vent it directly."
Male God only studied liberal arts, but he wasn't stupid at all.
Idiots can't become first-tier players.
"You could, but before it evaporates, the water would significantly increase dead weight, affecting flight capability."
"That's true. Speaking of Jubian, wasn't he always the one to jump in and answer questions like this?"
Black Smoke: "He can't get online right now. He's been called by a TV station to do a show."
Male God: "TV station? On camera in person? Did that kid reveal his identity?"
Black Smoke: "I don't know how the TV station found him, but the show is tonight, and it's a big one."