Warhammer: Starting with Industrial Revolution

Luo Ning had extremely high expectations for this ancient colonial ruin that had been dormant for thousands of years.

Thanks to the tireless work of the priest team led by Victor, the colony's energy core, which had been dormant for 12,000 years, was finally started smoothly.

As Viktor finished reciting the last line of the soul-soothing prayer, the massive fusion reactor emitted a soft, steady hum.

On the control terminal's data panel, the fluctuating parameters instantly settled into a stable green. The lighting array of the entire underground ruins lit up one by one, and the soul of the machine, dormant for millennia, finally awakened once more.

Looking at the perfectly stable operating data on the panel, both Ronin and Viktor showed a long-lost sense of relaxation.

"With a stable power source for the entire colony, the pace of the subsequent repair work will be greatly accelerated." Victor's voice carried a hint of undisguised fatigue; even as the chief mechanical priest, several days of continuous maintenance and core debugging of the machine spirit had almost exhausted his energy. Yet, even so, his tone was still full of barely suppressed joy.

"Lord Victor, you've worked hard. I plan to repave the road we've developed in the Death Forest, which will make it much easier to transport workers from Hive City. I also plan to connect the colony's energy supply to Hive City. But for now, we only need to supply the road. What do you think, Lord Victor?"

Luo Ning asked respectfully.

"I'll arrange for someone to leave a dedicated connection port, so the workers can just connect it after they've laid out the circuit." Victor answered quickly, in a good mood, and even his words were no longer as concise as usual.

Soon the road repair project was launched, and the originally uneven dirt road was compacted and paved with gravel and asphalt.

Cables were laid on both sides of the road, and a high-mast lighting was installed every fifty meters, so that even on the darkest nights in the Death Forest, the road was always lit.

At the entrance where the road leads to the Nest City, Ronin had a huge obsidian monument erected.

The top of the monument is inscribed with the four large characters "Road of Hope," while the body of the monument is densely covered with names.

That included all three thousand workers who participated in the road construction and the one thousand soldiers responsible for guarding it, without exception.

Those who sacrificed their lives during the exploration were specially marked with their names, and together with the survivors, they were forever engraved on this stone tablet.

On the day the stone tablet was unveiled, countless people from Xiachao District crowded at the intersection, looking at the names on the tablet that were like their own and had once been regarded as cheap labor. Many people's eyes welled up with tears on the spot.

They lived their entire lives in the darkest corners of Chaodu, never remembered by anyone, and never imagined that the bigwigs of the Governor's Mansion would engrave the achievements of these lowly commoners on a stone tablet and place it in the most conspicuous place in Chaodu.

Luo Ning never broke his promise. All the workers who returned alive were assigned to the middle-level factory area to learn professional skills from scratch.

The families of the fallen workers also received full compensation and long-term living security under the dual supervision of Olga and Delaman; no one was left behind.

After dealing with civil affairs, Luo Ning immediately turned his attention to the security system for this road to the future.

He arranged for the engineering team to clear a five-meter-wide firebreak in the dense forest on both sides of the road, completely eliminating the possibility of mutated creatures lurking by the roadside and attacking passing vehicles.

Meanwhile, the production line for automatic sentry towers, overseen by Victor, has completed its commissioning, and Ronin immediately placed a large order for their deployment along both sides of the road.

In the future, a checkpoint will be set up every five kilometers along this road, with a 100-person team stationed there on duty in three shifts around the clock.

This lifeline connecting the hive city and the ruins must be guarded so tightly that even small-scale mutant gatherings or scavenger gang invasions can be easily dealt with.

Although the ground floor of the ruins was almost completely destroyed by thousands of years of wind, sand and war, it has a wide view and a large enough area to be an excellent site for building a military base.

He has even made plans to build an independent airport here, which will make the transportation of personnel and supplies from the Nest City to the Dome Base infinitely more convenient in the future.

In Ronin's blueprint, this place will be built into a complete military fortress, his new lifeline for controlling the planet, and also a top-secret location.

In just six months, once Viktor has repaired the production line in the ruins and put it into mass production, his defense forces will undergo a dramatic upgrade in both weapons and armor.

Of course, he never forgot the promise he made to his two allies.

On his first day back in the Nest City, he ordered the construction team to transport all the pure white marble found in the ruins warehouse to the central square of the Nest City.

Even though the site's transportation system had long been destroyed, the workers who descended the nest still managed to transport these heavy stones to their destination intact, thanks to their tenacity.

Father Moraes followed Ronin throughout the inspection of the stone unloading process. Watching the workers move the sacred stones in an orderly manner, he hesitated several times before finally speaking up.

"Lord Ronin, I know you and Olga have a very good relationship. Could you please try to persuade him again? He is very talented and his faith in the Emperor is devout enough. He shouldn't waste his talents on the trivial management of the Lower Nest."

Luo Ning smiled awkwardly. He knew Olga all too well; this native of Xiachao never forgot his roots.

Even as the influence of the State Church in Hive City grew daily, and Father Moraes repeatedly extended olive branches, he never considered abandoning the Lower Hive District he had managed to build and joining the State Church.

Moreover, Luo Ning would absolutely not let him go.

Olga made significant contributions to the implementation of civil affairs management and reforms in Xiachao District.

He was a natural-born manager. The key was that he had no selfish motives whatsoever and was considered "one of their own" by the people of Xiachao. Only with him could the reforms in Xiachao truly take root.

No one else could achieve the same results.

"Olga is a native of the Lower Nest, having grown up through countless trials and tribulations. His feelings for the place run deep, and he doesn't want to leave, so let's not force him," Ronin replied politely. "Wherever you work, you're contributing to the Emperor and the Empire, aren't you?"

Ronin said politely, which made Father Moraes sigh.

Meanwhile, Victor also chose his own secret laboratory: the STC database and technical archive on the second basement floor, where the doors had been welded shut by the colonists and the area cleared with molten metal bombs.

Even though this place has been completely destroyed, the chief priest of the Mechanical Church on this planet is not concerned about the time and effort required to repair it.

Looking at the frantically flashing red light in his electronic eyes, Luo Ning knew all too well what he was planning.

Even if there is only a one in ten thousand chance, even if only a few broken STC fragments are found, it would still be a tremendous gain for the Cult of Mechanism.

However, Ronin was happy that Viktor was willing to choose the second basement level for the laboratory.

This place is very close to the seal leading to the third underground level. With Victor and his Guardians stationed here year-round, this forbidden area of ​​the empire is only more secure.

All the plans were finally finalized. Luo Ning put on his coat and was about to issue the next construction tasks when there was an urgent knock on the office door.

The guard strode in, his face bearing a barely perceptible hint of solemnity. He bowed and reported, "Sir, in the factory area of ​​the middle level of the capital, dozens of workers have jointly submitted an application, saying they have urgent business to discuss with the Governor in person. They are very agitated and refuse to leave no matter how we try to persuade them."