Time flew by, and half a month passed in the blink of an eye. During this half-month, everyone in Lin Yu's base seemed to have undergone a complete transformation.
They all recovered to their healthiest state, and their physical fitness was stronger than before. After all, with the medical pods' repairs, their bodily functions were fully restored to optimal condition, radiating new vitality.
This group of people gradually became familiar with the industrial base, specifically all the areas they were allowed to visit—the purely residential zones. However, for them, this area was like a giant maze; even after half a month of exploration, they still hadn't fully understood it.
And in the distance, giant industrial machines continuously emitted a rumbling sound, like an unceasing industrial symphony.
Through the busy robots coming and going, they learned that this was Lin Yu's industrial center, a forging base filled with iron, fire, and power.
Recalling the past half-month, everyone from the Underhive felt as if they were in a dream. They had never imagined such a wonderful life could exist in the world.
There was an endless supply of beer and drinks, a small amount of precious vegetables and fruits, and an inexhaustible amount of giant bamboo rat meat.
This giant bamboo rat was a type of large mutated rat-like animal Lin Yu discovered when he previously explored the Underhive's ecology. Its ferocity far exceeded that of rats in his previous life.
A single one was three to four meters long and over two meters tall. If an ordinary person encountered a mutated rat, the outcome would be truly unpredictable. Later, Lin Yu, relying on his wisdom and the Great Clock's guidance, researched and modified their genes.
After modification, the giant bamboo rats grew even larger, with a single one providing twenty to thirty tons of meat. Thus, Lin Yu named them giant bamboo rats. Not only that, but the giant bamboo rats' meat became more nutritious, their temperament became gentle and lazy, and their powerful reproductive capabilities were retained and optimized.
With ample space and nutrition, the giant rats' numbers could increase exponentially during a short breeding period, providing a stable source of meat for the base.
This day, Lin Yu, uncharacteristically, passed by them. Normally, he spent most of his time immersed in the laboratory, using the Great Clock to deeply research the scanned Imperial tech products, while eagerly learning the vast knowledge stored within the Great Clock.
The former limping veteran, now, under the miraculous effects of the medical pod, had transformed into a vigorous middle-aged man.
He carefully ran up to Lin Yu, his eyes showing a hint of reverence and caution, and asked in a low voice, “Lord, I have some friends who might be able to offer you a little bit of possible help. Could we bring them over too?”
He was a bit worried, as this Lord had already given them generous treatment with free food and drink, and his request seemed a bit greedy.
“You may. What is your name? You can also call me Lord of the Divine River from now on.”
Lin Yu was secretly pleased, thinking that he wouldn't have to personally recruit people from the Underhive anymore. After all, he felt he was more suited to be a scholar than a warrior, constantly wielding a bladed staff.
“Alright, Lord of the Divine River, my name is Ge Lei. Thank you for your grace, Lord of the Divine River.”
Ge Lei quickly and respectfully replied, his voice tinged with excitement.
“What are the requirements?” Ge Lei asked, emboldened.
“No cultists, and no gang members who kill for pleasure. The rest can be recruited. However, your combat strength is too weak right now. I have equipped you with some simple exoskeleton armor and laser rifles. The battery packs for these weapons can be directly charged by putting them in fire. I'll also give you a 10-person squad of armed robots as a deterrent.”
As he spoke, Lin Yu used his consciousness to order Gaia to dispatch a squad of armed robots.
Before long, a squad of armed robots marched in orderly steps. These cold iron figures gleamed with metallic light, reflecting dazzling rays under the sun.
Their hands were equipped with rotary laser guns, their barrels emitting a faint blue glow, as if ready to unleash destructive energy at any moment.
Folded on their arms were sharp monomolecular arm blades, their edges glinting coldly, practically indestructible. Their high-strength alloy armor was incredibly hard; only concentrated artillery bombardment could destroy it, and ordinary firearms and laser guns were completely ineffective against it.
Even the Space Marines' boltguns would need to focus continuous fire on a single point to possibly breach it.
“Thank you for your grace, Lord of the Divine River. I will do my utmost to let more humans bask in your glory.”
Ge Lei said excitedly. It seemed the Lord of the Divine River had long harbored the idea of gathering followers, otherwise why would he have prepared so many things and provided so much support?
Lin Yu's mouth twitched slightly. Ge Lei's shallow thought waves, unprotected by dark information shielding, were completely exposed to the Great Clock's constant dark energy scans.
“By the way, from now on, only those who have passed the loyalty screening can enter this base. This place cannot be known by the Noble United Council yet.
I will provide you with some engineering robots and a large number of atmospheric starch synthesizers and self-circulating water purifiers. You will build a new city on the outskirts near the base. Then I will provide you with a fusion reactor for energy, which will be sufficient for your initial use.”
Lin Yu said with a serious expression.
“Alright, Lord of the Divine River, we will definitely fulfill your command.”
Ge Lei replied eagerly, his eyes filled with determination. After speaking, Lin Yu turned and left, leaving only Ge Lei, who was about to organize personnel to go out.
“Pete, you guys don’t seem to be doing so well lately, huh?”
Ge Lei looked at his friend, a hint of teasing in his smile.
At this moment, they were in a camp located near a junkyard. Mountains of garbage around them emitted a pungent odor, and under the baking sun, a nauseating miasma pervaded the air.
However, there were also some valuable items among the trash, which allowed a camp to be barely built here. Most of the camp's buildings were dilapidated, cobbled together from various discarded materials, swaying precariously in the wind, as if they could collapse at any moment.
“It was thanks to your help just now that we were able to repel the raiders' attack, otherwise the camp would have been breached.”
Pete looked at the vigilant people around him, his expression one of surprise and uncertainty. His gaze occasionally swept towards the ten gigantic humanoid machines in the distance, his heart filled with curiosity and awe.
“Have you pledged allegiance to some important figure? How do you have such advanced weapons?”
Pete pointed at a few companions standing behind Ge Lei. They were uniformly clad in exoskeleton armor and held laser rifles that looked quite powerful.
These exoskeleton armors had sleek lines, radiating a metallic sheen, like sturdy battle armor, bestowing great power upon their users.
“This is thanks to the grace of the living god, the Lord of the Divine River. He has given us everything: clean water, endless food, and advanced weapons. Now he needs more followers. How about it, should your entire camp also pledge allegiance to the great Lord of the Divine River?”
Ge Lei said proudly, his chest puffed out, as if he were the luckiest person in the world.
Pete looked at him as if he were a charlatan, secretly thinking: What Lord of the Divine River, or Divine Emperor? Having lived on this planet for so long, he had never heard of any of these gods manifesting.
In this Ghoul Star Region, forgotten by the Empire, Warp travel was full of unknowns and dangers. Nine out of ten Warp journeys ended in shipwreck and death, or getting lost in the dark Warp of space.
The people here had long been accustomed to struggling for survival in hardship and despair, and they no longer held any illusions about so-called gods.
“Hey, I know you don't believe, but the Lord of the Divine River can provide endless clean water and endless food—that much is true—and also give us a safe sanctuary.”
With that, Ge Lei took out a bottle of clean purified water from behind him and handed it over. The bottle of purified water sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight, like a precious treasure.
Pete was half-skeptical, even looking at Ge Lei with wary eyes, as he slowly took the bottle of water. He gently unscrewed the cap, brought it to his nose, and sniffed, detecting no unusual odor. Then, he cautiously took a sip.
As soon as it went down, his eyes widened, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face. This water had not the slightest strange taste, and even carried a faint sweetness. It was a wonderful taste he had never experienced before, a purity only rumored to be enjoyed by the noble dignitaries in the Upper Hive.
“I'm very sorry, this is indeed purified water I've never tasted before, but I have to consider the more than 3,000 people in the entire camp. Can I follow you to the Lord of the Divine River's sanctuary you mentioned and take a look?”
Pete's eyes revealed a hint of hesitation and anticipation.
“Yes, that's absolutely no problem.” Ge Lei said joyfully, as if he saw the hope of successfully winning Pete over.
Pete meticulously explained some matters within the camp, even preparing for the possibility that he might not return from this trip. He knew that this might be an opportunity to change the fate of the camp's people, and even if the path ahead was full of unknowns and risks, he was willing to try.
Subsequently, Pete took the flying hoverbike provided by Ge Lei and his companions, speeding towards their destination. The flying hoverbike streaked across the sky like a black lightning bolt, tracing a graceful arc. Soon, they flew to the outside of the new city under construction.
Though the city was empty, a large number of engineering robots were busily working with great enthusiasm. They were building more skyscrapers according to the pre-planned schedule. The construction speed of these robots was incredibly fast, astonishing like magic.
Among them was a type of floating, octopus-like robot, with eight tentacles connected below its hemispherical head. Its eight tentacles could flexibly connect and replace various tools. Under Gaia's remote control, the robots cooperated seamlessly, without any errors or omissions.
These octopus robots could even self-replicate under Gaia's control, completely eliminating the need for an assembly line for their construction. This was a logistical robot specially developed by Lin Yu, designed for construction and maintenance.
They could not only build skyscrapers but also repair various weapons, including heavy tanks and even some small spacecraft. Their functions were diverse and widely applicable, and their construction was extremely convenient.
Currently, 3 million such robots were serving Lin Yu's highly automated industrial cluster system, which demonstrates the powerful industrial strength Lin Yu had developed during this period.
Pete watched everything before him in shock, his eyes filled with awe and reverence. He saw a logistical robot wielding a giant power hammer, slamming it down on a patch of ground in the distance.
In an instant, a powerful force erupted, and the nearby ground material was immediately pulverized into molecular states, with faint molecular-level dust emerging.
It turned out that this was a technology Lin Yu had developed by rethinking and modifying power weapons. The power hammers carried by the logistical robots could directly pulverize ground material into molecular states, and then collect these molecular-level powders with a tractor beam, allowing for extremely rapid collection of building materials.
Then, these molecular-level powders were used with 3D printing technology to directly cast incredibly sturdy buildings. The newly constructed buildings were even harder than ordinary steel, like an indestructible fortress.
Pete then looked again, and on a giant skyscraper being erected in the distance, a dozen logistical robots floated in mid-air. Blue beams were continuously emitted back and forth from below the robots, and wherever the beams swept, the building's structure continuously extended upwards.
In just a short time, a building quietly took shape. At this point, Pete completely let go of his lingering doubts. He knew that if someone with such powerful strength wanted to harm them, they would be like ants, not even qualified to futilely resist.
But at the same time, he also realized that such powerful strength might bring them true hope and sanctuary.
And so, with Lin Yu's powerful technological strength and the efforts of Ge Lei and others, in just half a month, the newly built mega-city, capable of accommodating thirty million people, had taken shape. The buildings in the city were even larger and soared higher than Earth's skyscrapers.
Due to the advanced materials and construction techniques used, the construction process was more convenient and faster, and the footprint was not as vast as cities in his previous life.
At this time, this new city already had five to six thousand residents, and the number was still increasing. Everyone who came here seemed to see the hope for their future lives!