Industrial Cthulhu? It's Cthulhu Industrial!!

Chapter 52 The Magical Library (Seeking monthly votes!)
Following a referendum, their subsequent activities became noticeably more coordinated.

Because there is no currency or trade within the Silver Gate, and everyone takes only what they have, and everyone does what they need to do, there are no issues of resource shortages or mismanagement. Theoretically, this is probably what an ideal world where everyone performs their duties should be like.

Moreover, as their energy and physical strength gradually increased, even their sleep time began to decrease. Often, only three to four hours of sleep were enough to ensure they had plenty of energy for the entire day's work. If there was no high-intensity physical labor, their physical strength could last even longer. This made Li Ang appreciate these people's nightlife and their continuous self-evolution and self-renewal.

Because there was no electricity at night, they often used the ever-burning fire of the Lianshan kiln to illuminate the island through reflection and refraction. Combined with the clear visibility of the Great Lighthouse at night, the members of the Silver Gate began their daily work under this dim yet stable light. Aside from the eight hours of mandatory labor under Li Ang's mind control, the lack of entertainment, coupled with their individual cultures and concepts, and their fondness for large-scale projects, naturally drew them into the construction of the Magical Great Library.

The Grand Library of Magic is envisioned as a vast area, a grand library capable of containing the knowledge of the entire empire, a building that can endure forever within the classical empire, clearly needs to be both large and magnificent. And that is precisely what they are focused on achieving.

The light of the great lighthouse can not only transmit the resources it produces, but also fill the ocean with the waste it excavates.

Countless beams of light crisscrossed in the sky. To the uninformed, they might have mistaken it for a magical battle taking place overhead. But in reality, the inhabitants of Silver Gate Island were manipulating the light of the Great Lighthouse to drop the ceramic steel forged inside the Lianshan Kiln from the sky. Using the force of free fall, they were gradually hammering the foundation down, while also collecting the ceramic steel plates and placing them nearby for use in the base decoration.

The shattered ceramic steel plates are considered completely substandard products and will be collected and delivered to the Great Lighthouse, which will then transport them to Mirror Island. There, a team of about a thousand engineers is continuously testing the materials and strength needed to fill the seawall.

Although a very grand and ambitious blueprint was indeed proposed, there are still many difficulties in actually carrying it out.

The corrosiveness of seawater goes without saying, but beneath the ocean, although there may not seem to be anything there, there are still depths of tens of meters. What exactly is deposited in the ocean, and what has been carried there by ocean currents, is completely unknown. Even during their first exploration and salvage operation, they found a relatively well-preserved component of a seventy-year-old demon cannon.

Since no one knows the demon's true name or has any knowledge of demonology, the massive cannon assembly was simply transported to the cliff fortress and placed inside. However, the Misty Islands ocean does indeed hold many treasures that should be explored.

Three ships of the Britannian Navy once perished here, and many ancient sailing fleets have gazed upon the Storm Walls in despair.

Even earlier, this area might have been the outermost border region ruled by that nameless, great nation. Otherwise, the Nameless Cult wouldn't have arrived here so inexplicably and decided to settle here permanently. Even during the foundation work for the Magic Library, strange artifacts and architectural remains that clearly did not belong to the Nameless Cult were unearthed from beneath the ground.

However, at present, the Silver Gate lacks archaeological capabilities and has no intention of utilizing these resources. For the Silver Gate, constructing its own wonders is the most important thing. It wants both the grand blueprint and the wonders, and it wants both to be truly impressive.

The current wonders have all brought about a qualitative change to the Silver Gate, and even the great lighthouse has destined the island for glory.

The Silver Gate members were also filled with confidence that they could build such a huge structure. They put their hearts and souls into building it, which was completely different from the helpless attempts to build it by hand or with small tools at the beginning.

This time, they clearly utilized their ingenuity in the construction of the Grand Library. One after another, terracotta-steel composite scaffolding was erected, and mortise and tenon joints were applied time and again. The researchers at Silver Gate also discovered the integrated and wondrous overall malleability of terracotta-steel and utilized this property to construct a brand-new mortise and tenon joint terracotta-steel structure, greatly enhancing the overall structural strength.

A mortise and tenon joint, and a structure cast using soulstone clay through firing, often results in joints that are even stronger than the surrounding materials. These architectural inventions have allowed buildings to change almost daily.

A brick and stone building covering tens of thousands of square meters was quickly and simply erected from the inside out, even under Li Ang's watchful eye, using only terracotta steel and earthen pouring. The massive terracotta steel panels weren't used as the main walls, but rather as core support points. An outer layer of terracotta steel structural blocks was then placed on top, followed by the pouring of earthenware and gravel. After inserting soul stones and firing the entire structure in the Lianshan kiln for a period of time, a massive outer wall was formed. And with just a few of these wall panels, fitted with pre-drilled mortise and tenon joints, and then blessed and fired again by the wizards, an entire wall was completed.

To prevent potential structural cracks and production problems, after each section of the wall was completed, the royal guard and mages would beat and bombard the completed section with all their might. If no displacement or cracking occurred, it proved that the entire wall had no quality problems and could be used as the outer wall of the Great Library.

The large stone pillars inside are even simpler to construct. The ceramic steel interlocks with each other, like stacking building blocks, layer by layer, interlocking and sticking together, and then fitting together. By repeating this forging process, the entire building can be constructed easily and effortlessly.

Their language and modalities necessitated a highly modular structure, making it extremely difficult for any component to exhibit errors in the conventional architectural sense. Even if errors did occur, the Silver Gate members would detect them using simple methods like pendants and levels, then correct them with concise language and logical reasoning. This efficient communication and modular construction allowed the entire Magic Library to be built at an almost superhuman pace.

This powerful construction method seemed like a fairy tale to others, as if countless people had formed a unified whole. Golden light flashed in mid-air as the necessary components fell, and heavy terracotta panels fell freely, driving the massive foundation deeper into the ground. These panels were quickly disassembled into individual outer wall sections using specialized soulstone cutting technology. Then, they were filled with various gravel and stones by golden light, stuffed with soulstones, and sent into the Lianshan Kiln for a second firing. Afterward, the smooth white walls fell from the sky again, undergoing forging and testing, and successfully erected on the outside.

The most troublesome part of the entire operation was figuring out how to erect the entire terracotta and steel structure and walls. Only then would dozens of people use ropes or crowbars to hoist those massive blocks up, and then smashing or inspecting them wouldn't be of much concern to them. The Great Lighthouse and Lianshan Kiln could handle all of this.

Li Ang crouched behind the Silver Gate, watching these hardworking people constantly update their construction techniques and offer their ideas. It's no exaggeration to say that the numbers multiplied out of thin air; each of them had excellent ideas and approaches, and each breakthrough gradually accelerated the progress of construction. In the beginning, they were just ordinary workers, busy with hammers and ropes, no different from anyone else. Now, everyone could operate the Great Lighthouse using the simplest language, and after several heavy objects were dropped from the sky, they gradually divided the work and cooperated.

Of course, it wasn't all fun and games. Some people were completely oblivious to safety, ending up inside the teleportation circle during the Great Lighthouse's teleportation and being quickly obliterated by the falling terracotta panels. Others struggled with the force applied when erecting the terracotta panels, frequently causing tools to break and ropes to snap. Although the entire exterior wall was constructed with mortise and tenon joints and reinforced with point-to-point welding using Soul Stone and clay, several people still suffered dislocations and fractures. However, such incidents are often unavoidable in large-scale projects.

After a brief moment of mourning, they summarized the architectural differences of the great lighthouse and their experience in shaping the terracotta steel exterior, and then continued construction. The construction speed increased, and the techniques became more and more sophisticated. It wasn't until two weeks later, when the final sky-blue ceramic panels were placed on the ceiling, that people cheered.

Li Ang emerged from the shadows at just the right moment and stood in front of the large library, looking up at the integrated building that was at least twenty meters high.

Compared to the dilapidated buildings before the establishment of the Great Lighthouse, which were crooked and required correction by the Li Ang System, what lies before Li Ang now is a mass-producible, integrated, and complete building. From the outside, they have covered the exterior walls with white porcelain sun-diffused bricks, and the interior decoration style is incredibly exquisite, all made using Lianshan kiln porcelain made from Soul Stones, a construction completed after careful consideration.

Without a doubt, this is a magnificent building. Even without Leon's divine power, it would be considered the core building of a small country, or even a colossal structure. A people possessing two wonders ultimately used their own power to forge a completely new wonder.

But compared to the world wonders that can distort reality, they still need a final, small bit of help.

Stepping onto the pure white terracotta floor, Li Ang looked intently at the large library before him and snapped his fingers.

The once magnificent and towering building crumbled and melted away like snowflakes meeting the sun, only to be instantly reshaped by some unseen force into an even more magnificent form. Stained windows and meticulously designed magical fountains, which never existed on the islands, shimmered in the sky, and the Grand Library, bathed in magical light, silently took on an even more perfect form, standing before everyone in a way incomprehensible to mortals.

It appeared to be just a building, yet it made everyone realize that the interior space was likely infinite. Just looking at the views inside the buildings behind the stained-glass windows reminded them of their original birthplace, the radiant Silver Gate.

“You’ve done very well, extremely well. Since you’ve all worked so hard, as your leader, I certainly won’t be stingy with my praise.”

Looking at the newly remodeled, even taller and more sacred library, Li Ang stroked his chin, glanced at the stunned crowd behind him, and smiled.

"This belongs to you. Show your brilliance, humans."

System notification: Your Wonder Library has been completed!

System notification: Because you have completed all the technological accumulation of the primitive era, your technological breakthrough will be converted into a permanent +5% research progress bonus!

'Magic Library Characteristics:'
The Great Library: Provides a 20% boost to the thinking abilities of all personnel; this boost is independent.
Endless Library: This library can store an unlimited number of knowledge-related items. It possesses infinitely large folding space, capable of holding all knowledge-related products. However, please note that it lacks an automatic search function; categorization and inspection still rely on human intervention.

Magical Radiance: Members studying within this library will receive a certain level of magical enhancement and will have access to a magical meditation area. This feature is limited to wizards only and does not include other members.

System notification: Your Great Library of Wonders can now undergo mythological enhancement thanks to your mastery of mysticism!

Please select your mythological traits!

'Urgent system notification: The Spirit of Nature has left you a message.'

"...?"

Looking at the final hint, Li Ang raised an eyebrow slightly.

(End of this chapter)