Terra Tinkers Construct is fine.

Kroos tilted her head, looking at the ceiling, her expression shifting back and forth, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated, then after a long pause, she finally shrugged and spread her hands, managing to squeeze out, "You know, that's how it is."

"..."

Well, it doesn't seem like acting.

After a short while of joking around, Kroos led him through the interior of Rhodes Island, into a complex, non-public area, and down to the engineering department management area on the lower deck of the ship. The engineering department area of ​​Rhodes Island was quite deserted. For example, this workshop cabin, which was supposedly arranged by Kal'tsit, had a considerable amount of space, and some miscellaneous items that hadn't been moved yet were piled up in the corner, as if it hadn't been set up for very long.

Although it appears spacious, the Dali Garden effect of light passing through the air when the indoor lights are turned on reveals traces of dust—but the sheer scale of it is enough to demonstrate Kal'tsit's high regard for it.

Space is a precious resource on a land-based ship. Since Milan Kelsey dared not neglect her but did not know how to arrange things, she chose a room that was as spacious as possible, which already showed her respect.

"This is it. As per Kal'tsit's requirements, this is the largest independent workspace that can be allocated as quickly as possible. Even considering the extended preparation time, there are few larger ones than this."

Seeing Milan's appraising gaze upon the cabin, Kroos put her hands on her hips and said smugly, "The energy interface, ventilation system, and even running water are all directly connected to the cabin. If there are any special requirements, we can discuss them further... So, what do you think, sir?"

"It's alright. After all, you can't expect too much from the cabin. Overall, it's sufficient for now."

Milan roughly planned the placement of several working blocks and the arrangement of the multi-block structure in his mind, and nodded; Kroos blinked, but still couldn't resist her curiosity, and asked in a low voice, "Uh, so, Mr. Milan, right?"

"To be able to secure such a piece of land on the ship right away, especially as a high-ranking figure in Kal'tsit who specifically emphasizes his status, what exactly is your identity? Would you mind telling me? And this place isn't small either, so what kind of trouble are you planning to cause?"

"What kind of identity could I have? At most, I'm just someone who lives a long time and has some old connections with Kal'tsit..."

Milan paused, then turned to meet Kroos's eyes and smiled: "I also have some old acquaintance with the Doctor—I mean, from a long time ago, do you understand?"

"Wow..."

Kroos made a sound that was difficult to understand.

"As for what kind of trouble they plan to cause..."

Milan thought for a moment, tilted her head, and said, "Hmm, maybe, possibly, probably, it's the type that deals with materials metallurgy and customized field equipment...?"

——Rhode Island Core Conference Room——

"First of all, congratulations everyone. I understand the process of the mission, and it was completed very successfully."

—It's just that it's a little too perfect.

Kal'tsit began the discussion in a calm voice. Although it was not noticeably different from her usual tone, those who knew her well could feel the warmth in her voice – which was already a sign of joy and approval for her.

Although the praise I'm giving you today sounds a bit strange.

However, the other veteran operators, who were used to feeling that the battle wasn't over until they heard Dr. Kal'tsit's summary, all breathed a sigh of relief and felt relieved.

"The doctor has been successfully rescued without any casualties, which is the greatest victory of our mission."

"Besides that, the doctor's physical condition has initially stabilized. We don't yet have reliable methods to determine her memory status, so it's hard to say for sure. But thankfully, the doctor's lost memories do not hinder her past talents."

"Although it's a bit of a stretch, given our less-than-ideal financial situation and operational pressures, it's necessary for us to let Dr. understand the situation as soon as possible and get her back to the position she's familiar with—we need Dr.'s abilities."

"According to the plan, the contact with Chernobog has lost its value. I think the next step, contact with Lonza, should be put on the agenda as soon as possible."

Her voice was clear and logical, and it was also part of Rhodes Island's previous plan—from the initial planning to the present, most of the elite operators with decision-making power agreed with this.

However, after thinking for a while, Amiya raised her head with a serious expression and said, "I understand, Dr. Kal'tsit."

"But can we really just leave like this? The current situation in Chernobog is far more complex than what is described in the intelligence reports. Mr. ACE, Mr. Scout, Ms. Nearl, and the other operators who are working with us have all witnessed this firsthand."

She took a deep breath, pausing for a moment as if recalling the various emotions that had been echoing in her mind not long ago—she said earnestly, "The atrocities committed by Reunion are wrong, but the suffering of the victims is real, and this includes not only the infected... Why did Reunion, as an organization of infected people, go to such lengths? And what further do they intend to go?"

"Is it really Rhodes Island's choice to just leave it like this, without making any effort at all?"

A brief silence fell over the meeting room—Scout rubbed his chin, and ACE tilted his head back; an elite operator sighed and said in a gentle but realistic tone, "Amiya, we understand how you feel."

"But now Chernobog is the center of Reunion's activities. Considering that we are not fully manpower for the Lungmen plan we prepared beforehand... not to mention the difficulty of intervening in such a large-scale riot, there is also the strange situation in Chernobog and the ambiguity of the Ursus government."

"As you know, given the attitude of the Chernobog authorities—let alone whether we want to intervene legally, it's another matter whether they are even willing to give us a chance to try."

"We lack a legitimate reason, and acting rashly could drag Rhodes Island into the mess as well; besides, there's the natural disaster cloud overhead. No one can guarantee that once it becomes active, its range won't encompass our ship as well, can it?"

If it were the situation from the original game's storyline: the elite ship-guarding operators ACE and Scout, along with a large number of Rhodes Island's reliable core members, had sacrificed themselves, and a tyrannical Talulah, who was like a natural disaster, had just dealt a heavy blow, plus the aftershocks of a true natural disaster threatening the ship at any time—no matter how kind Amiya was, she wouldn't have given much thought in that situation.

But in this situation where nothing has happened yet, and it seems like there is still "the ability to try to do something"—Amiya is unwilling to give up: she knows that what Kal'tsit and the other elite operators said is true, and it is the safest plan after careful consideration, but the kindness and ideals deep in her heart are struggling fiercely.

Just when the two considerations seemed unable to reach a stalemate, and Kal'tsit was about to end the discussion, Amiya seemed to suddenly grasp something, and her eyes lit up.

"Dr. Kal'tsit! Wait a minute!"

"If the reason we're not taking action is because the intelligence is unclear... well, aren't there people on this ship who know about Chernobog and the Reunion Movement right now?"

Chapter 109: This is what our Minecraft is like (14/80)

—My little darling, can you please not mention that living father right now?

Kal'tsit pressed her knuckles against her brow, feeling a long-lost fatigue stemming from cognitive overload: To be fair, Amiya's idea was within her expectations. Rhodes Island's mission was to address the issue of infected individuals and extend a helping hand to those suffering, not just the infected.

If Amiya doesn't speak, the elite operators don't hesitate at all—Rhodes Island wouldn't be Rhodes Island.

But Amiya's idea was to be expected. Her suggestion—well, actually, it was also anticipated, even insightful—was by no means the outcome she wanted.

Carrying out this proposal meant she had to take the initiative again and reach out to the person who had just exhausted her.

Under Amiya's sparkling eyes and the curious gazes of several elite operators, Kal'tsit pulled out her communication terminal.

Looking at Milan's name in her contacts, her finger hovered for a moment—but finally swiped down and tapped Cleopatra's number.

Some buffer is always necessary.

Kal'tsit said this to herself.

The communication was connected almost instantly, with the background sound being the rhythmic knocking of some kind of machine working steadily.

And then there was Kroos, whose voice, so loud it instantly overturned her previous decision and made her instinctively droop her ears, was incredibly high-pitched! Her excited and agitated voice was clearly incoherent!

"Hello? Hello! Kal'tsit! You have no idea what I've seen here!"

Kal'tsit: "...Explain the situation, Kroos."

"This is outrageous! This is outrageous!"

A voice, so overly energetic it bordered on neurotic, conjuring images of a Blood Demon Engineer girl wide-eyed and gesticulating wildly on the other end of the communication line, rang out: "Hey Kal'tsit, I'm telling you, don't be afraid!"

"Didn't you tell me to try my best to meet his needs for supplies? Who? Milan!"

"I sent him some of my stockpile of crude ore, just to test what he was up to... and guess what the yield was? Guess?"

Kroos said this, but she didn't even wait for Kal'tsit to speak before quickly saying to herself:

"That's outrageous!"

"Let me tell you, Kal'tsit, the crudely mined Originium cores are directly and unconditionally smelted and combined into usable whole Originium ingots, and the sintering is just like it was a whole piece from the beginning—the loss rate is almost zero!"

"I've tested it with Originium Arts! The output flux from the sensor feedback is complete! It's just like a large, natural Originium crystal core!"

Kelsey: “…”

"As for metal ore, gold ore, stuffed into that melting furnace he mentioned... guess what happened?"

"One-third! The quality of the gold ingots produced is almost 30 percent higher than the theoretical output of raw ore! Rhodes Island's metallurgical technology is already above the average level of Terra, with a production rate of 81% to 84%."

"But here it's 130%! Negative losses, you understand?! Kal'tsit! What kind of consultant are you anyway?! Is this really a god-like figure who can only be fooled by a consultant?"

"This isn't just outrageous, it's absurd! Where did this extra metal come from? Did it just spring out of thin air?!"

Kroos was almost shouting with excitement.

Even Kal'tsit paused for a moment when she heard the number—she genuinely wanted to ask, "Kroos, are you awake?" but then she thought that Kroos wouldn't need to conspire with someone she had just met to fool her with something so stupid. Besides, although Kroos was a shrewd businesswoman, she wasn't an untrustworthy person.

So, what she said is true?

Even though she fully realized the bizarre and grotesque nature of the term "Old Deng from the Former Civilization," Kal'tsit couldn't help but think: Isn't this thing a bit too outrageous?

Is this the kind of work that "materials scientists" should be doing?

“...Record the data, but don’t study the underlying principles.”

A sense of powerlessness welled up inside her, but Kal'tsit suppressed the turmoil in her heart and said in as calm a tone as possible, "Kroos, remember, he is special."

"Accept this, and then focus on the collaboration itself, rather than getting bogged down in the technical details."

"I want to too, Kal'tsit."

After a brief silence, Kroos's voice rang out again, even with a hint of a sob.

"But there are even worse things!"

—Are there still experts?

Kal'tsit was taken aback.

Then Kroos said, as if her worldview had been forcibly taken over, "He just built a structure out of stone, and then somehow managed to create something he called a powered rail by tinkering with gold, wood, and some kind of processed Originium powder on a block."

As if to emphasize her credibility, Kal'tsit even heard the sound of Kroos walking during the brief silence, and as she got closer to something, a "thump-thump" piston-like sound grew louder.

“That machine… I’m sorry, it’s really hard for me to call it a machine—but that machine, it’s there, it’s there…”

Kroos struggled to organize her thoughts before managing to say, with barely a semblance of rationality, "It's creating rails out of thin air!"

Kal'tsit: What does "creating out of thin air" mean?

"He first placed the rails with visible gold components under the piston, and then as he pulled a lever, the piston kept popping the rails out directly; then he stuffed the rails into a glass furnace, and the one-meter-long rails turned into palm-sized icons."

At this point, Kroos could be clearly heard swallowing, which made Kal'tsit instinctively move her throat.

"...Then, he directly stuffed a wooden board under the glass stove—yes! I'm absolutely sure! It was definitely a wooden board!"

"Then these intricately structured items that appeared out of thin air were directly burned into pure gold! Alchemy by burning wood, Kal'tsit!"

Kroos could hear the soft, sweet voice, as if she were saying, "Honey, please think of something, honey," and she said with a hint of grievance, "I've been watching from the sidelines, and right now I feel like all the engineering, materials science, and half-baked metallurgical knowledge I've learned are crying out in despair!"

"This is completely unreasonable! Are you really sure this is just a materials scientist you poached?"

—Even in a pre-civilization era that was already absurd, this situation should be considered an especially absurd one, right?

Kal'tsit could deeply understand how shattered Kroos's worldview was. She held her breath for a long time, but in the end, she could only sigh.

Come on, at least this ancestor wasn't making an antimatter bomb by hand, right?

"Calm down, Kroos... Treat his work as Originium Arts, or even as sorcery. Don't think about it, don't delve into it."

With a hint of weariness in her voice, Kal'tsit continued, "Now, hand the communicator to Mr. Milan; we need to speak with him."