Ten thousand I am across the heavens

After leaving his own pieces to develop on their own, Dao Tian focused most of his attention on the ship. Not long after, secret documents concerning the advancement to Level 3 Mechanic were delivered to him, along with a set of sophisticated nanomechanical equipment.

Along with the nanomachines, he was also given a confidentiality agreement that required signing a swearing oath before powerful figures. He was bound by extraordinary constraints and forbidden from revealing the technology. This "technology" was essentially the user manual for the nanomachines, something he was intimately familiar with, even though the malfunction expert who gave it to him had described it in a very mystical way, saying that using it required extreme caution and that it needed to be properly preserved and returned to the organization after use. Any damage would incur a huge penalty for compensation.

However, in the Republic of Mountains and Rivers, this thing is actually an everyday item, roughly equivalent to a massage device in the 21st century on Earth. It can guide the growth of Dao traces by stimulating the body. Because it is not a professional device, the efficiency of guidance is limited.

The precision isn't actually very high. Citizens of the Mountain and River Republic, when they truly need to refine the Dao traces within their bodies, do so in simulated zero-gravity chambers, undergoing precise training while guided by instruments. The lowest possible precision is at the nanometer level, while the smallest unit of this nanomechanical system is over ten nanometers in size. Reaching that level of precision with them is practically impossible. Therefore, positioning is more suited to everyday items or health supplements.

However, this thing is quite precious even outside. If used properly, even just adjusting the precision of one's own Dao traces to the micrometer level would be enough to barely hand-craft some chips. The only problem is that the precision of the chips won't be very high. After all, the precision of the Dao traces within the body is inherent; even with sophisticated techniques and tools, the basic industrial level here makes it difficult to manufacture nanometer-level chips. But this is enough for them. After all, computing cores are all imported. The auxiliary hardware they manufacture, even with just a tiny bit of computing power, can multiply the efficiency of artificial intelligence.

"Try to master the use of holy water as soon as possible, and dismantle all those messy modules you've accumulated. Start cultivating again according to the techniques I've given you. During this time, you can put aside other tasks and apply for reimbursement for the resources needed for cultivation. The most urgent task is to quickly upgrade to a Level 3 Mechanic, at which point you will truly be in charge of a section of the ship. If you can complete the Level 3 Mechanic promotion before setting sail, you might even become one of the leaders during the upcoming voyage."

After all, including the captain, there are only twenty-one mechanics of level 3 or higher on the ship. If there were one more of you, you would have some decision-making power.

Clearly, the Sage of Fault had already considered the other side as one of his own, hoping to use this opportunity to win them over to his camp. Dao Tian readily agreed. In reality, he hadn't used the so-called holy water for cultivation at all; the silver nanomechanicals at most provided him with a massage effect, relieving his physical fatigue. The precision of the Dao traces on his body far exceeded the limits that these things could create, and they were quite stable. Even if injured, they could self-repair based on their interconnections. Although this order would gradually become disordered after the loss of logistical support, and the precision would gradually decrease over time, only after returning to China for repositioning and correction could he return to his optimal state. But he could basically maintain this state for five or six years without major performance issues. According to the instructions, once he unhidden the parts of the Dao traces within his body and exposed the main parts, he would be qualified to advance to a Level 3 Mechanic.

With this level of skill and confidence, the so-called holy water is meaningless to him. He can simply leave it aside and return it later. This is the perfect time for him to use it to build his own team. On the surface, he can't use his mechanical abilities during this period. After all, in the eyes of others, he should have cleansed all the modules on his body, even the original Dao traces, leaving only normal Gu worms, starting from scratch to rebuild the basic framework within his body, reshaping and constructing it according to the framework given in the cultivation manual.

During this stage, one cannot freely unleash extraordinary power; otherwise, the Dao trace components within the body may become disordered. If one loses composure, all previous efforts may be in vain.

If he were to use his supernatural powers during this period, his secret would be exposed, but this wouldn't significantly impact the formation of his team. If he could completely take over an entire warehouse section, the number of Level 2 mechanics under his command should increase to around 50. The number of Level 1 mechanics would reach four to five hundred, and the number of workers would exceed ten thousand—enough to support the framework of a small-scale industrial system.

Some small countries on Earth might not even have this many industrialized populations combined. If these people unite their strength, cooperate effectively, and operate efficiently, the power they can unleash would already be enough to dwarf most extraordinary beings below the level of immortals.

The industrial capabilities represented by the various machines in the entire warehouse section are definitely not weak. Dao Tian's own promotion initially met with much dissatisfaction. Although later they more or less learned about his abilities and how he easily completed tasks that even a level 3 mechanic might not be able to handle, without seeing it for themselves and witnessing the process firsthand, there was still some resentment.

But these objections were quickly suppressed. Because this guy had money, he genuinely distributed it. Dao Tian had secretly gone ashore during this time and traded his acquired cultivation materials on the black market. These were all auxiliary materials needed for advancing to level 3 Mechanic. In other words, the Holy Water would need to be recycled later and couldn't be sold. Otherwise, he might have had to sell the Holy Water through private channels to make money.

These materials used for promotion to Level 3 Mechanic are all incredibly valuable and unavailable for purchase, making them easy to sell and generate substantial funds. Combined with the approved funding, this is enough to motivate subordinates as before. Who wouldn't want more money and greater security for their family and livelihood? More importantly, with over 1 people, a small industrial system is now operational. While internal circulation might not be feasible in the short term, this small group is already self-sufficient in certain sectors like catering, entertainment, and digital products. Although using manufactured goods to offset wages is a terrible practice, it must be acknowledged that using produced goods for employee benefits bypasses the market, significantly improving both costs and efficiency. Of course, this is detrimental to the external market; a black hole of funds that only generates profit but doesn't spend it is a nightmare for the outside world. However, this small group is currently too small. No one noticed anything unusual about their cash flow, and no one noticed that the initial internal circulation had already begun within this group of nearly 1 people.

With a large enough workforce and diverse industrial sectors, a wider range of benefits can be provided. For example, the ship's fruits, vegetables, and fresh seafood. With minimal effort from the chemical department, coupled with well-established hydroponics and marine cage aquaculture technologies, these can provide employees with a reasonably good diet without relying on external suppliers. The ship's mini-textile mill and pre-booked canteen further cater to the employees' needs.

This system is currently working quite well. It allows for lower expenditures while providing more benefits to employees. The principle is to eliminate middlemen who profit from price differences. Although the production cost of some industrial goods is slightly higher than that of larger manufacturers due to the smaller size of the organization, it is much lower compared to market prices. These in-kind benefits, if converted into monetary terms, may even exceed the workers' original wages. These benefits, in turn, effectively reduce their living costs, making it easier for them to save the same wages on board compared to equivalent wages in other companies on shore, and ultimately reaching their hands.

In contrast, the other cargo holds are completely the opposite. While the crew can still go ashore, prices within those cargo holds remain normal. However, once the ship sets sail and is disconnected from shore, the prices of food, water, and other necessities skyrocket. It's practically a scheme to extract money from the crew. It's a true case of making money on board, spending it on board, and not wanting to take a single penny home. It's obvious which side is more efficient.

The only group not entirely satisfied with this trial system were the Level 2 Mechanics. The internal oversight system made it much harder for them to embezzle funds. Several Level 2 Mechanics who were caught earlier were even kicked out of the group. Later, seeing the system working and the profits accumulating, it was too late for them to be envious.

However, overall, if we only consider the increase in income, the improvement for Level 2 Mechanics is the least significant. It's at most less than 10% higher than before. The reason is simple: these guys were already beneficiaries. At least, they were part of the beneficiaries. If it weren't for the adjusted distribution model, the entire group's work efficiency would be higher, creating more profit. Under this model, their income would inevitably decrease. In fact, their share of the overall income has decreased by more than 70%. Dao Tian actually wanted to cut it even lower, because theoretically, their income still doesn't match their contribution. But Level 2 Mechanics are still valuable talents, and he had to find a way to retain them. Ultimately, through his calculations, he barely managed to keep it at the level of a slight increase in overall income, ensuring that even if he couldn't attract more talent, he wouldn't let the existing talent leave voluntarily.

Besides adjusting the industrial system of his own warehouse section, he also took the opportunity to thoroughly study the secret cultivation manual given to him by his superiors—the instruction manual itself. This thing was of little value to him. The information recorded within wasn't even considered obsolete by the Mountain and River Republic, because the system itself was already far more sophisticated than any so-called cultivation manual when it was first created. After all, the initial version was personally created by Lanno, allowing for numerous trials and errors, coupled with a wealth of knowledge. The initial version was already quite advanced.

What he wanted to see was the content recorded in this modified manual. What kind of improvements and simplifications had been made? After studying it for a while, he discovered that if an ordinary, talented level 2 mechanic followed the outline recorded in the manual, they might end up being controlled by others and suffering great losses on this path.

After repeatedly examining the internal Dao trace circulation constructed by this cultivation method, he discovered that it lacked self-stability and required periodic correction using nanomechanical devices; otherwise, errors would appear after a period of use, and it could not self-repair. Furthermore, in some locations, there were redundant modules of unclear significance, which were indistinguishable from the critical modules, mixed in with them. Based on his deduction, its primary function was to instantly melt away the surrounding Dao traces. In other words, what this cultivation method produced was a self-destruct system with a single button. However, the self-destruct button was not controlled by the cultivator; only those who mastered the creator's system could easily decipher it. For native mechanics, seeing this for the first time would be completely incomprehensible.

"As expected of you, you really dare not relax your guard against your subordinates in the slightest. It's like guarding against thieves. Not only do you need to constantly borrow nanomachines or the help of cultivators who are good at adjusting the distribution of your Dao traces to maintain your own Dao traces, but even then you're not at ease. You have to keep the self-destruct button in your hand. And once your Dao traces are destroyed, unless you are a truly genius with extraordinary talent who has cultivated them on your own and used nanomachines for assistance, there is really no possibility of restoring your strength, except for Yao Wei asking to borrow nanomachines. You might even fall back to a level below a level 2 mechanic."

[To be continued]

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