Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

"The iron ore production from the northern mines is sufficient; however, transportation costs are too high, so local smelting is necessary, but..."

Even if transportation costs are factored in, there is still a lack of competitive advantage, especially now that various large-scale projects are underway, and the future Ark construction plan will require even more metal materials, which cannot be supplied by a single mine.

Especially now that the doctor plans to acquire production technology in the Arctic, he will open a more complex refractory steel production line with a lower yield, which will consume astronomical amounts of metal ores and crude steel.

"I don't have any good solutions to this. Farm-level mining equipment simply can't support the demands of such a large-scale project," Old Xia said bluntly. "By the way, how did you guys manage to acquire so much metal and various materials to build the Ark?"

“Asteroid mining, lunar mining, and mantle mining towers,” the doctor said, then added after a moment’s thought, “and seabed mining. The Great Lighthouse of Iberia was originally a mining tower, but…” Now it has simply become a symbol, and after being modified by Iberian technology, it is also used to deal with sea monsters and guide ships.

Do you have the technology?

"Yes, demons can build these mining towers, and so can Hai Si. However, Hai Si's main brain was destroyed, so it's no longer possible. That leaves only the demons' deep-rock mining operations." As a type of Originium living cell, demons can use soil and rocks as food, storing metals and minerals in an enriched form, and then harvesting them as fruits.

The "root system" at the bottom can penetrate deep into the lithosphere to collect petrochemical raw materials and various low-grade metal ores. Although the overall collection efficiency is terribly low and cannot be compared with industrial mining technology, it has the advantage of low cost.

The usage is similar to that of Lao Xia's environmental improvement plants, only larger in size. The Demon Towers should have been normal, elegant towers covered with white crystal shells, with their hideous mouthparts and digestive systems buried underground, and inside the towers were transport pipes made of Originium crystals.

Once inside the core area, just like the cell filtration and synthesis machine that Lao Xia used to make with the evil spirits, the blood rich in metal ions and various minerals is recycled and enriched into tiny metal particles.

Ultimately, it produces dazzling "golden apples" by using plant-like ion pumps and other methods. Although the rate per unit area is impressive, its root system can cover thousands of square kilometers and penetrate several kilometers into the rock. Almost every inch is a synthesis and absorption area. Even if the unit efficiency is low, when this density is reached, the overall speed will not be much lower than that of a mine.

Moreover, according to the doctor, a colleague who is not at liberty to remain anonymous designed a large number of earthworm-like mouthparts to directly eat soil and grind rocks, and further decompose them efficiently in biological digestive fluids.

Then, just like that saying, an artificially designed and edited life will not evolve in complete accordance with the Creator's intentions. Life will always find its own way, and so will evil. Compared to eating dirt, various organic organisms are not only rich in minerals, but also digested quickly.

Furthermore, the error in reading brain neural data, coupled with the accumulation of various erroneous data, caused the demon to completely lose control, transforming it into the current shapeless monster resembling a tower of flesh and blood.

Even though they still follow most of the underlying logic, such as getting into work mode at the command of foreman Master Nian, the professor still prefers that they don't follow this logic.

"So, you not only designed an ecological restoration function, but also allowed it to eat soil and accumulate metals?" Old Xia stroked his chin and asked very seriously, "You didn't just put all the requirements you could think of into it because it's your first time making something like this, did you?"

It's a miracle that their product manager could manage to sort out these potentially contradictory requirements, and especially that their designers actually managed to create them.

"After all, we have to consider the possibility that the destination is saline-alkali land."

This consideration is not wrong, because Lao Xia, who has actual experience in planetary exploration, said that the destination is a saline land, which is already a top-notch place in the universe. There is not a single organic matter to be found on the whole world. It is common to have to start from inorganic minerals to synthesize or to pull comets to hit and replenish carbon and nitrogen.

"So, demons are actually something that eats and digests everything. Of course, there are certain limitations to the digestion rate, and your selective eating design is indeed working..." For example, they would swallow the creations of the ancestors but would not digest or grind them. Otherwise, the original demons would have blown themselves up long ago.

"This is why they not only have mouthparts, but also sharp teeth that can crush warship armor." The accident report of Da Yan has come out. In addition to the mental shock itself, it also includes a large number of simple physical attacks, such as mouthparts that can crush warship armor.

It looked as if a giant sandworm had crawled out of the ground. In a single glance, one of the Great Flame people's polar exploration ships disappeared. In comparison, the demons that the Doctor encountered were just smaller, ordinary models.

Completely different from the high-level goods from the Great Yan region that have absorbed countless fears and knowledge from the border, the demons there are all kinds of strange and varied in function and appearance. This sandworm-type demon is not the only giant demon encountered by the Great Yan exploration team.

They also encountered a colossal land anemone, whose countless tentacles and laser-emitting tentacles at the top destroyed the other two exploration ships of the Great Yan. Of course, these two ships died with more dignity than the first one; at least, they were killed after a fierce battle where they realized they were no match for the enemy.

Another issue is that the gunners were driven mad by the mental shock. The gunners ran out of ammunition before the ammunition itself. The Great Flame's technology can only allow the gunners and combat personnel to face the demons for no more than 10 minutes, and that's only for carefully selected veterans with professional experience against demons.

Kazdel's endurance time was about the same, but each of them could last about 10 minutes, and those with tough nerves like the Patriots and the Iberian Inquisitors could last even longer.

Therefore, the Great Yan had no good way to deal with the Sandworm type. The only tactic was to drag out the Dragon Palace-class and make it impossible for the enemy to swallow it whole, thus suffocating them. But dealing with the Anemone-type demons was simple—it was just a matter of cannons. They hadn't thought things through before, seeing that the Arctic Beasts of Kazdel returned intact without carrying many weapons, so they hadn't packed too many weapons on the exploration ship either.

Now that we know how the opponent was eliminated, let's have a showdown! Fill up with divine laser cannons and see if you have more eyeballs or my Great Flame Cannon Towers. But the problem with such a huge number of lasers is...

To avoid the embarrassing situation of "your capacitors are out of power" halfway through, we specifically purchased a batch of new tower furnaces and blade coolers from Kazdel, as well as high-energy storage capacitor matrices developed by Yike Shifu.

Furthermore, in order to deal with another type of shell-like defensive demon, Da Yan also equipped a large number of "Cosmic General Cannons," a weapon similar to the Kazdel Hot Melt Cannon, that fires ultra-high temperature plasma jets. It is a low-powered magic cannon version of the ancient people's arsenal, which Da Yan repaired and reverse-engineered.

Even so, it is already one of the most powerful and expensive native weapons in Terra. The original "Bipolar Compression Plasma Cannon" was a weapon that could flatten the entire capital of Colombia from half of Ursus, while the one replicated by Da Yan is like the difference between a pop-up cannon and a hand grenade.

With a range of less than 7 kilometers and an effective safe range of only 4 kilometers, it can penetrate approximately 600 millimeters of Dragon Steel armor. Considering the caliber, one shot would completely disable an Abaddon-class carrier. Of course, how to get within 4 kilometers of the carrier is a technical problem.

Because ion confinement technology is barely adequate, the launched ion bombs are extremely unstable, requiring highly sensitive fuses, and may even explode mid-flight if they encounter headwinds.

Therefore, it is not popular in the armory of the Great Yan Dynasty. Only the border guards would need such a thing. As long as it doesn't explode in the muzzle of a cannon, they can accept it.

In response, the Great Yan's assessment of this weapon was "one shot can destroy thousands of miles," literally meaning that after detonation, it would spread forward into a large fan-shaped area of ​​high-temperature ion damage.

If used repeatedly, the surrounding land and buildings, regardless of friend or foe, would be burned to a crisp, literally rotting. Local warlords were unwilling to use it. Moreover, the shells were expensive because they could only be hand-made by the masters, the cannon body was difficult to cast, and all the supporting systems and equipment were more expensive than the last.

The reason they took this out of the armory and installed it on their Dragon Palace-class ships was simply because their exploration team had been wiped out by the demons, leaving them with no way to save face. So, they decided to use this thing to hurt each other.

"So why did the Great Yan people choose the most difficult route?" Compared to the demons on Ursus' side, the Great Yan side is a completely different story. The Great Yan uses demons to gain experience, but aren't the demons also using the Great Yan to gain experience?

The Great Yan Dynasty never uttered any foolish statement about demons becoming stronger through knowledge. At the very least, this information blockade only applies to ordinary civilians. In reality, many people know the inside story, including organized groups of celestial masters and armies numbering in the millions.

This resulted in the demons obtaining an unimaginable amount of information and knowledge from the Great Yan, naturally making the demons that the Great Yan faced second to none in both quantity and quality.

As they ventured out, they naturally faced demons that had leveled up to the maximum by grinding experience. Various giant and super-giant demons appeared, and there were even demons that had lost their ability to mentally attack and focused on strengthening their physical and group attacks. These demons were created by the mechanical soldiers of the Great Yan Dynasty.

Since the machine soldiers are not subject to spiritual corruption, in the eyes of the evil spirits they are alien harmful creatures and malfunctioning machines that cannot be resolved through "communication," so the only solution is to use physical means.

Chapter Eighteen: Pure Accident

Chapter 18

During the repair of the Polar Beast, various excavated items were sent to the cities behind the city for centralized sorting, restoration and exhibition. Among them, the most popular item was the mechanical soldier of the Great Yan Dynasty. After being repaired by Lao Xia, it looked much sharper than the original.

The machine soldier is about 2.2 meters tall. Its structure is not complicated. After removing the outer armor, the skeleton on display is just a bunch of bare metal frames, a combination of joints and motors.

Its head is a sphere similar to Pac-Man's, with a flexible tube connecting its mouth to a fuel tank in its abdomen. Two cameras are positioned in the eye sockets. It fights by using crossbow bolts fixed to its arms to attack and breathe fire. This type of mechanical soldier was the earliest product of the Great Yan Dynasty and was known as the "Fire Department Celestial Soldiers."

It lacks a detailed finger structure and has a limited number of joints throughout its body. It can only perform limited movements, with very little freedom of movement in its arms. It can only rotate 360 ​​degrees around its central axis and rotate 180 degrees up and down using the shoulder joint. It cannot open outwards and is extremely stiff compared to a human arm.

To attack enemies on either side, one raises both arms horizontally and rotates the body around the waist. The entire torso consists of only two rotating platforms, one above the other, for rotating the torso and head. The lower limbs are composed of four mechanical legs equipped with foldable wheels, allowing for gliding on most terrains and walking on complex terrains.

After Lao Xia's testing, it was found that this thing's mobility is limited to four-way translation (forward, backward, left, and right) and rotation in place. In other words, its movement program is limited to four directions, and the distance it moves is constant. This means that it is easy for it to fall into a pit and get brutally beaten in a human-human battlefield.

However, you can't withstand this thing's steel frame and iron body. Its outer shell is also covered with a layer of Dragon Steel and Originium interference coating. The demon's mental attack is meaningless to this kind of machine soldier. They can only use pure physical attacks to exchange fire with this thing.

However, the machine soldier is least afraid of gunfights. Its rudimentary design means that it has few parts and that they are interchangeable. For example, the two rotating servos on its neck and waist can be swapped up and down. This means that most of the machine soldiers that are destroyed by the demons can be repaired quickly, and even two can be combined to make a new one.

The forearm has a cocking mechanism, which allows for continuous cocking and reloading of the crossbow. The flamethrower is also effective against demonic fragments at close range. In the past, during the era of Terran melee combat, these devices could also be used on the battlefield.

Next to this early skeleton is the new type of mechanical soldier of the Great Yan, which was repaired by Lao Xia. It is slightly taller and the skeleton has a much better degree of freedom than the previous model. After Lao Xia's modification, it is a complete steel giant.

Since this thing is meant to be exhibited and ticketed, it was built to look as imposing as possible. The metal giant, covered in matte heavy armor and kneeling on the ground, certainly attracted the attention of tourists and observation groups from various countries.

Its weapon is a repaired Great Flame individual light gun, a "slashing spear" that can be used for both long-range and close-range combat. It also has a small rocket launcher designed by Lao Xia on its back. When launching, it adopts a sprint starting posture, half-kneeling, with hands on the ground, and the body at a 45-degree angle or other launch angle, and then launches 12 rockets on its back to bombard the target.

On the demonstration field, "Command received!" The eyepiece lit up with a red light, and the metal giant, under the control of the remote-controlled sorcerer, went from kneeling to standing. "Identify enemy targets, attack!" The Type 3 mechanical soldier "Tianmen General" raised its individual light gun in 0.2 seconds and attacked six targets at the same time, leaving six ablation molten holes.

Tourists and observers from various countries erupted in cheers and applause from the stands. Next, it demonstrated rapid running, slashing and thrusting with the slashing spear, as well as the ability to unleash small laser beams using the slashing spear.

Old Xia's performance of adding anti-cluster attacks with rockets and throwing grenades also received a lot of praise. However, the expressions of the military officers from Da Yan were very bad—the difference between "our own mechanical soldiers.jpg" and "other people's mechanical soldiers.png".

"Target cleared, battle over, stand by." The machine gunner stopped moving again and half-squatted on the ground.

Due to certain technical reasons, the demonstration did not include obstacle crossing and coordination. The explanation for the former was that the joints and drive devices of these machine soldiers were relics and could not be used for a long time under high intensity. The latter was that only one machine was dug up. The real reason was... that the demonstration of two machines completely exposed their lack of skill.

The question of endurance was not even mentioned. The Great Yan people present knew why: the Type 3 mechanical soldiers were very powerful and therefore required a large energy supply. The Great Yan people had not solved this problem, and the Kazdel people were even less inclined to solve it. They had added even heavier armor and more heavy weapons, which made the endurance problem even more tragic.

Therefore, Lao Xia has no intention of manufacturing such a thing. However, he plans to use it to swindle funding, put it in the Polar Ancestors Museum for performances, and sell tickets. Of course, it would also be useful in attracting other countries to go treasure hunting in the polar regions.

Besides the machine gunners, Lao Xia's invention of an organic matter conversion device was also displayed in the museum as a relic of ancient technology. Inside the square water tank made of white crystals, a futuristic and visually striking light net moved back and forth, occasionally releasing a string of tiny bubbles.

A tour guide was explaining this to the visitors: "Our ancestors' material decomposition and conversion machine only required water, carbon dioxide, and a small amount of minerals to generate various organic substances, including amino acids and fatty acids."

"Please look here, everyone. This water tank is made from white crystals purified by demons. It can absorb dissolved oxygen and nitrogen from the water just like humans breathe, and then combine it with carbon dioxide input from the bottom to produce sugars and oxygen."

"It's like a giant plant, and the things that are emitted are filtered out by these moving filters. You may not be able to see what's in the middle of these filters, but in fact, there are a lot of white crystalline particles that are hard to see with the naked eye."

Visitors practically leaned against the barrier, staring wide-eyed at the water tank. Between the two layers of netting, there were indeed some very faint, reflective spots floating around.

"However, it's quite obvious from here that the equipment here isn't the technology of the early inhabitants, but rather medical technology from Rhodes Island," the guide pointed to a circular pillar beside him. "The filtered solution will go into here and be reprocessed into white crystals and various medical hormones, and of course, it can also be used to produce food."

Here it was quite obvious: a three-bladed mixer was churning a thick, transparent jelly-like substance, constantly filtering out more and more solids. Several bowls were placed on the display table, with bits of powder occasionally falling from the top pipe. "This is all starch and sugar," the ordinary citizens visiting were completely indifferent, but the food processing businessmen's expressions became serious.

Before they could figure it out, the tourists who came later pushed them away, and then they also exclaimed in surprise, and there was the clicking of cameras.

In addition to these relatively complete technical devices, the exhibition also includes a large number of fragments and objects with only humanistic value, such as an early human computing terminal, a completely broken early human personal terminal, and an early human protective suit that is relatively complete but almost impossible for Terrans to wear.

Besides the technology and artifacts of the Terran ancestors, there are even ancient artifacts from the Great Yan and Ursus, such as the flags and soldier badges of the Great Yan's former polar expedition team. The most valuable item is a complete set of "gilded tiger head mountain pattern armor" belonging to a general of the Four Garrisons of Great Yan.

This type of woven armor, made of lightweight alloy sheets, offers little protection and was intended as ceremonial armor for high-ranking generals. Given the technology and equipment of the ancient Great Yan Dynasty, it is clear that such a garment would not be worn in actual combat. It was purely a ceremonial item worn for inspections, oaths-taking ceremonies, awarding medals, and victory parades, essentially equivalent to a military dress uniform.

Due to the freezing conditions, there were no signs of rust, and even the crimson cords on the armor had not faded. The entire set included the arm armor, the gilded tiger-head belt, the shoulder armor, the skirt armor, and the purple-gold-trimmed cloud-patterned boots.

Dressed in the full armor, plus a golden ghost mask, he looked like a majestic, glittering ghost god. Beside him were a general's ceremonial sword and a standard long spear of the Great Yan Dynasty, which was not a ceremonial item.

The reason this item is on display here is that the ransom was not agreed upon with the Great Yan side. The Great Yan side was not willing to pay a high price, so Kal'tsit brought this set of equipment here for exhibition and charged admission fees to see how long the Great Yan side could endure it.

The other relics were arranged with Da Yan. Kazdel would take them for an exhibition, with the agreement that they would be returned to Da Yan after the exhibition ended in a year. Such matters of borrowing cultural relics for exhibition are very common internationally and cannot be considered an insult.

However, this set of ceremonial armor is of a different significance. It is estimated that within a month or so, the Great Yan side will have to send someone to discuss the issue of money again. After all, in the tradition of the Great Yan, it is not only shameful to not be able to bring back the ancestral cenotaph, but also to ensure that no descendant can hold their head high.

If those civil officials continue to haggle, and things drag on for another few months, the military officers will probably have to march to Luoyang to purge the court of corrupt officials and explain the consequences to these officials. Moreover, Kazdel's demands are actually not high, but it's too much for them to pay by weight as if they were giving money to beggars. Who knows how much of the funding will disappear?

"The artifact exhibition is indeed a good idea. The ticket revenue and income from the sale of some ownerless artifacts we have recently received are almost equal to our expedition expenses." Of course, this does not include the modification of the polar behemoths and various upfront costs, but the food, fuel, ammunition, medicine, and personnel wages consumed have been earned back. Considering that the exhibition has only been running for a short time, it will be profitable from now on.

"As for Lao Xia's technology, which has already caught several thieves attempting to steal samples, I believe they will soon take further action." Putting aside other factors, the recent nearly 10% drop in the stocks of sugar and grain groups is enough to illustrate the point.

However, the stock of the distribution company established by Xia's Group and Swire's family has risen by nearly 3% and is still rising further, because the technology is on their side.

“Rhine Lab has already made connections with all sides. The next step is to find a way to secretly and controllably leak these technologies to them. After that, it’s no longer our concern.” Kal’tsit had already arranged the follow-up operations. “Have you decided what benefits you want to exchange?” The biggest problem now is in the last step. Kazdel hasn’t decided what benefits to exchange. Simply put, the seller hasn’t decided how much to ask for.

The benefits they need are either unavailable or impossible for the other party to provide, while the price that the other party can accept is not what Kazdel really needs.

"We need to focus on resource security. We need steel, Originium, and synthetic materials, not only for polar exploration but also for orbital launches and Ark maintenance operations," the doctor said. "I don't think it's a problem, right?"

"No, it's not. In fact, it's a win-win situation. I thought you would ask for a higher price."

"There's no need for that. When gazing at the stars, you also need to watch out for the pits under your feet. One lesson is enough," the doctor said, shaking his head.

A few days later, Colombia and Kazdel signed a standard commercial agreement to trade a total of 40 million tons of rare elements and aluminum ore at par value. In return, Rembitox would supply Kazdel with a total of 200 million tons of iron ore, though this was a chargeable one, but at a 10% discount to international prices, making it a discounted supply at par value.

To receive this batch of minerals, the original transcontinental shipping route was reopened, passing through the Ursus-controlled area, the Casimir dispute zone, and into the Columbia Plain. The reopening of the transcontinental shipping route slightly loosened the noose around Terra's economy, and both Casimir and Ursus unexpectedly reached some kind of agreement not to attack this route.

After two years of famine and hardship, the Qasimir people were finally able to sell their produce through this waterway again, or simply leave the war-torn country.

Towns along the waterway also used their last remaining resources to repair the ports, and the idle unemployed found work again. The land-going ships, with their water and fuel, brought them considerable income and job opportunities.

Most of these minerals were sent to the smelters in Victoria and Kazdel, while some went to the Great Yan. As a result, Lungmen survived the most difficult winter and saw the dawn of spring.

At Kazdale Space Center, an engineer repeatedly shouted through a megaphone as he inspected the giant launch vehicle up the metal staircase.

"Pre-launch checks complete. All personnel evacuate the launch area." The deflector slowly closed, and in the bunker-like observation area, technicians nervously checked every line of data. Once everything was ready, the launch process entered its countdown.

"Ignition!" With a deafening explosion of flames, the launch vehicle pulled a plume of white smoke into the sky. Unlike the previous failed launches, this time everything seemed to go smoothly. The engine, now made of durable steel, finally didn't explode halfway through the mission.

Furthermore, some of the materials used in the missiles unearthed from those ruins can also be used here, since the purpose of these missiles was to be launched into space to attack asteroids.

"20,000...40,000...80,000! Another breakthrough!" The lunar observation station could finally see a glimmer of light rising from Terra, and then, in the next second... "Boom!"

"It crashed into the Originium meteorite."