Vientiane Throne of Civilization

Chapter 1664 Steam Excavator (Bonus chapter for 500 monthly votes)

"Let us see your Majesty!"

Zhou Xu's arrival caused a stir.

Besides the 'steam excavator' project team, many other project teams are also conducting research and development tests at the test site.

The commotion quickly attracted the attention of other project teams, and many people instinctively looked over.

Zhou Xu was traveling in casual clothes this time, not wanting to make things too complicated.

He quickly waved his hand.

"You all go about your business and don't worry about me."

The project team members were extremely nervous, but they continued with their final tests.

Meanwhile, Zhou Xu's gaze also fell on the huge steam excavator in the field.

Compared to the excavators Zhou Xu remembered, this one was undoubtedly much larger and heavier.

The bottom features a tracked wheel design. Qin Fen was already developing a dwarf steam tank, and the tracked wheel design is universal, which unexpectedly saved a lot of trouble.

The top section features a design resembling a small house, with an overall rectangular shape.

The fuel tank is located in the rear section, with a large cylindrical chimney connected to the top. The front section is the cab, which is connected to a huge combined robotic arm and bucket.

Fuel was added, the steam excavator started up, and with a muffled thud, thick smoke billowed continuously from the large chimney. The excavator operator, sitting in the cab, nervously carried out the operation.

In this era, the excavator's robotic arm was far less flexible than Zhou Xu had imagined. It consisted of two large parts connected together and could only perform some very simple movements, which were not very smooth; it would move and then stop.

This is almost unavoidable due to limitations in technology.

However, ignoring the less-than-smooth movements, the actual effect was quite good. Under the driver's control, the bucket easily dug open the ground in front of it and scooped up a large amount of soil, with an effect far exceeding that of manual labor.

This allowed the driver, who had been extremely tense throughout the process, to finally breathe a sigh of relief. Perhaps because he gradually relaxed, his operation became more skillful, and he steadily controlled the steam excavator to carry out the digging action.

In just a few moments, a large pit was easily dug.

The driver then began to control the excavator to adjust its position and further enlarge the pit.

Simply digging a couple of times doesn't mean that the development of a steam excavator is successful. After all, durability and stability are also very important for this type of machine.

After the pit was enlarged to a certain extent, the driver began to operate the excavator to cover up the excavated pit.

The entire operation was completed smoothly, and the project team members couldn't help but cheer. Zhou Xu also expressed his satisfaction with the result.

"well done."

While acknowledging the achievements of the research and development team, Zhou Xu turned to the team leader and spoke about his own requirements.

"I need to send an excavator to the Saint Laurent region. Do you have any good ideas?"

"..."

Their emperor really did set himself up for a difficult problem right from the start.

Moreover, this is the Saint Laurent region, where there isn't even a railway yet, making transportation a huge problem.

Under these circumstances, although the steam excavator can be driven, it is very slow, so don't expect it to make it through.

The project leader, who was fully aware of this, could only say in the end...

"Perhaps we can disassemble it into larger, more easily transportable components, and then assemble it once we get there." "Okay, let's do it that way. You can arrange it later."

With just a few words, Zhou Xu got the job done.

Although a method has been developed and a steam excavator has been successfully developed, there will obviously be a lot of trouble before excavation work can officially begin on the Death Plains.

Distance and transportation are both factors; if it can start in the second half of next year, that would be considered fast.

Fortunately, Zhou Xu wasn't in such a hurry anymore. They had already found the location; how could the items possibly run away? At the latest, it would only be a matter of two or three years.

After finishing his trip, Zhou Xu returned to the palace and continued to review the reports that had been sent to him. There was a thick stack of them, and they were definitely not just reports.

This was indeed the case, as it also contained a considerable amount of identification registration information for the dwarf troops.

Previously, the identities of the dwarven forces led by Vol'jin had not been confirmed because they had gone on the expedition with the Great Zhou army.

It has only been confirmed now.

But for the Population Registrar's Office, their work has only just begun.

After all, the more than two million people in the Saint Laurent region are still waiting for them to register.

When the head of the population registry learned the population figures for the Saint Laurent region, his anxiety finally subsided...

Zhou Xu clearly knew that the workload this time was indeed outrageous, so he called on Teacher Wang Dong to help as well.

Teacher Wang is now a mage at the peak of the Transcendent Realm. With his help, efficiency can be improved a lot.

In addition, the Royal Mage Corps is still in the Saint Laurent region at this time. They all have the 'Eye of Insight' and can help out, which can be considered as a change in training methods. The missionaries of the state church, led by Joan of Arc, also joined in.

Having done this much, Zhou Xu said he had truly done his best.

Even now, when Zhou Xu thinks about this matter, he can't help but sigh with melancholy, and then he starts to look at the latest report sent back by the Population Registration Bureau.

The dwarf army's population registration was just a warm-up for the Population Registration Bureau.

Currently, although there are no Vajra Realm warriors within the dwarf race, there are more than a dozen at the Hundred Refinement Realm.

But currently, apart from Woking, the others are only at an excellent level.

After reading the report, Zhou Xu's gaze fell on the wooden box that had been delivered along with it.

Upon opening the wooden box, Zhou Xu was immediately greeted by clusters of mantras and light.

In the Saint Laurent Empire, keeping secrets is a capital offense, but those powerful and wealthy people clearly still secretly hoarded quite a few.

Unfortunately, they couldn't escape their 'peeping eyes'.

Zhou Xu glanced at them and saw that there were about four or five.

That's actually quite a lot; the Saint Laurent royal family's inventory isn't much more than theirs.

Whether you can find the mantra, whether you can put it into an effective combination, and whether the combined mantra resonates with you—the whole process is a constant gamble on luck.

This is something where even if you try your best, you might not get a result.

As he absorbed the box of mantra orbs and listened to the system notifications that kept ringing in his ears, Zhou Xu's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Hmm? Adding the Saint Laurent royal family's incantation from before, it seems like we can come up with one..."

(End of this chapter)