Steel torrents pioneering a different world

Chapter 103 What's wrong with me treating my heroes to some food? (Please subscribe, two chapters combined)
To encourage future recommendations, I'll lower the average subscription rate and combine this chapter! There are still 6000 words left!
modern world.

Li Weiguo stood in front of the enormous portal, watching a new batch of workers line up and enter.

"Comrades, once we get there, safety comes first, production second!"

He gave his usual instructions, his voice loud and clear, but the weariness in his eyes was hard to hide.

These people are all elites drawn from major state-owned infrastructure groups in China. Once they are in there, they will be responsible for the most important basic work, such as quarrying rocks, building bridges and roads, in that wild land.

The task is as heavy as Mount Tai.

Watching the last person's figure disappear behind the shimmering door, Li Weiguo turned to look at the heavy equipment that had been disassembled into countless parts.

The five-meter-high time portal dictates that any large piece of equipment must first be separated and then reassembled.

From giant mining trucks to large cranes, and even complete chemical modules, everything must be disassembled at Dongda University, transported there, and then reassembled by workers like building blocks.

Fortunately, these challenges are no match for Tokyo University, which possesses a complete industrial system.

With resources poured in almost without regard to cost, geothermal generator sets and high-efficiency coal-fired generator sets are being continuously delivered to the other world.

As for nuclear power, we can forget about it for now.

The ubiquitous magical particles in this other world strongly interfere with nuclear fission, making stability impossible to guarantee. No one dares to risk moving a nuclear reactor there.

Li Weiguo yawned, rubbed his sore neck, and returned to his office.

The table was piled high with documents, all of them lists of supplies and applications from various departments on the front lines.

Oxygen cylinders, protective suits, laboratory supplies, weapons and ammunition... each item is backed by a long and staggering list of numbers.

It is no exaggeration to say that every extra day the advance team stayed there, they burned a fraction of a goal.

In a state of war, this number will increase exponentially.

Jingle Bell--!
The encrypted phone on the table rang without warning, the piercing ring instantly waking Li Weiguo, banishing all traces of sleepiness.

He grabbed the microphone, and a voice, trembling with excitement, came through the receiver.

"Xiao Li! It's me, Lao Yan! Yan Xuemin!"

He is Professor Yan from the Institute of Nuclear Engineering, a leading figure in China's nuclear physics field.

Li Weiguo's heart skipped a beat. Could something serious have happened to make this old expert lose his composure like this?
"Mr. Yan, please don't rush, tell me slowly."

"How can I not be anxious! I'm asking you, is the high-quality uranium deposit discovered by the advance team real?!"

“It’s true!” Li Weiguo nodded and said, word by word, “The preliminary exploration results show that it is a large-scale secondary uranium deposit, open-pit, high-grade! It is estimated to be eight percent.”

There was a dead silence on the other end of the line.

A few seconds later, a burst of suppressed laughter and the sound of slamming the table rang out.

"Hahaha! Great! Excellent! Open-air! High-class! Heaven has opened its eyes!"

Professor Yan's voice trembled with tears, "Our bunch of uranium refining guys were cursing every day, saying that the 'National Uranium-1' technology was like squeezing oil from a rock! But now, things are finally looking up! We can finally stand tall!"

"Hey, you have no idea how humiliated we've been these past few days! Xiao Li, when will your first batch of samples be sent back? I'll personally take some people over there to wait."

"The mineral deposit is located quite far from our gate, but we are already arranging to expedite road construction. Please rest assured and wait patiently."

"Xiao Li, hurry up! I'll send you a message, you'll see when you see it."

Li Weiguo initially said he was busy, but hearing that Professor Yan was in high spirits, he did not refuse.

He soon saw the file the other party had sent.

He frowned as soon as he glanced at the title.

The announcement was short, but every word carried immense weight.

Russia and Australia recently announced a 100% price increase for uranium ore exported to Southeast Asia, citing fluctuations in the international energy market.

The announcement concluded with the statement: "This is a unilateral price adjustment; there is no negotiation window."

"Heh," Li Weiguo put down the documents and let out a cryptic chuckle, "These guys raised prices in unison; they're definitely cooperating behind the scenes!"

"Yes, we were all in a real bind at the time. Prices suddenly doubled, and the costs of several nuclear power projects that were about to be built were about to get out of control. The subsequent fuel rod production plans also had to be completely reassessed."

"We were planning to increase investment in thorium-based lava reactors, and we were even prepared to accept the uranium issue, otherwise the losses from the shutdown would be even greater. But we didn't expect you to find high-quality uranium ore!! Hahaha..."

Hearing Professor Yan's laughter, Li Weiguo's lips also curled up.

Li Weiguo stroked the report on the discovery of uranium on the table with his fingers, an idea popped into his mind, and the corners of his mouth curved into a wider smile.

"Professor, you need to hurry up and send people to the uranium mining operation! Should we set them up?"

"Don't worry, the young men they transferred over are very professional. But what do you mean by 'setting up a scheme'?"

"Hehe, Professor, what do you think would be the interesting reactions of those guys if we suddenly announced at this critical juncture that we no longer needed to import their uranium ore?"

The professor on the other end of the phone was visibly taken aback, but immediately connected the two things together.

His eyes widened, and his breathing became rapid.

“Xiao Li… your mining operations will take time, so let’s just keep things casual for now. When the time comes, we’ll give them a real slap on the wrist! Hmm, we’ll say we discovered a super-large underground uranium vein in Bayan Obo! Oh, and we can also say those new elements were discovered in Bayan Obo.”

"That works!"

After hanging up the phone, Li Weiguo felt enveloped in excitement, and all his previous fatigue vanished.

His gaze changed completely as he looked at the transportation plan on the table.

Cinnabar mines and fishery resources all pale in comparison to it.

This thing is the absolute core of producing truth!
He pulled out a new approval form and wrote two words heavily in the project name column.

"Uranium ore!"

Then I drew a circle on the priority scale and maxed it out.

"Top Secret! High Priority!"

He muttered to himself, "I heard from Su Mingjin that those special forces guys are still eyeing the otherworldly fish... We need to strengthen our logistical support!"

After ending the call, Li Weiguo was still busy when he received messages from other people.

All of these require materials. The new materials from other worlds, infiltrated by magical particles, have incredible properties. Materials research and synthesis are essentially the same industry as tomb raiding. The emergence of new materials will represent countless possibilities for the future.

In just a few days, many of the results have been put into application and testing!

As the results emerged, many related, lower-level classified research institutions began inquiring about the new materials. "Production, and more production! If the production volume is sufficient, with thousands, even tens of thousands of materials synthesis researchers working together to analyze a single material, it will be absolutely easy to determine the optimal combination of materials!"

Thinking this, Li Weiguo took a deep breath, composed himself, and continued processing the large batch of documents.

Resource coordination and logistical support are extremely energy-consuming. Even though Li Weiguo has a professional team of more than 20 people responsible for their respective sub-fields, he still has to carefully read the proposals, distinguish the priority of various supplies, and ensure that there are no problems with the supplies.
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An alternate world, an experimental farm.

Li Donglai squatted in front of the nutrient planting box, his face beaming with an undisguised smile.

He carefully used calipers to measure the height of a winter wheat plant and recorded a series of data in his notebook.

"On the eighteenth day, the average plant height was twenty-seven centimeters..."

After working for who knows how long, I arrived at the Shanghai bok choy again. "In less than sixteen days, the plants have grown to 21 centimeters tall, with thick, bright green leaves and no signs of disease or pests...tsk tsk...these Shanghai bok choy taste absolutely delicious!"

He murmured to himself, as if admiring a perfect work of art.

Growing vegetables and grains in another world, so many incredible things happened!

Take the bok choy in front of us as an example.

On Earth, even the fastest-growing varieties of these small green vegetables take at least twenty days to mature.

Here, these ordinary seeds brought from Earth grew to harvestable size in just sixteen days.

This small experimental field is practically a holy land for agricultural science!

"Professor Li!"

A loud voice came from afar, and Wang, the platoon leader of the logistics cooks, rushed in.

"Keep your voice down!" Li Donglai didn't even look up, continuing to examine his precious vegetables. "If you scare my vegetables, can you take responsibility?"

"Huh? Food can scare you?" Wang, the platoon leader, strode over, his face beaming. "Professor, stop picking at your precious things, this is a piece of great news!"

Li Donglai finally looked up, adjusted his glasses, and asked, "What's making you so happy?"

"You remember Zhao Chong, right? The special forces captain! They've done a great job!" Old Wang's voice was high-pitched. "I heard they discovered a super uranium mine. Commander Su personally ordered a celebratory feast for the entire special forces team tonight! He specifically requested the vegetables you grew, and the otherworldly fish we caught before!"

Li Donglai's brows furrowed instantly: "Extra food? My food? This...this is a research sample!"

"You planted dozens of square meters of Shanghai bok choy, are all those samples for people to eat?"

Old Wang waved his hand dismissively.

"The soldiers have discovered high-quality uranium ore! Commander Su said this is a monumental achievement and we must reward them handsomely! Let the comrades eat some green food to reduce radiation and replenish their bodies!"

Li Donglai's heart skipped a beat.

Although he knew uranium ore was precious, the thought of his perfect research samples being cooked like ordinary vegetables made him feel as if a piece of his heart had been ripped out.

"How much...how much do you want?" he asked with difficulty.

"Not many, not many!" Old Wang held up five thick fingers and waved them generously. "Give us a hundred first, so the heroes can have a taste!"

"One hundred?!" Li Donglai almost jumped up. "That's one-fiftieth of my first harvest!"

"Oh dear, Professor Li, the heroes are practically starving, don't worry about them!" Old Wang said, already rolling up his sleeves and heading towards the vegetable garden. "Besides, these vegetables are growing really well, so tender and juicy, who else would we give them to if not the heroes?"

Li Donglai watched helplessly as Old Wang skillfully pulled out one, two, three radishes, like pulling them up from a radish. The crisp "snap" sounds were like needles piercing his heart.

That was the perfect sample he was preparing to use for analyzing trace elements!

That one has the most perfect curve of the leaves, it's incredibly beautiful, and it would be perfect for taking photos or for promotional purposes!

It's over, it's over!

He muttered silently to himself, "What a waste of resources... like a cow chewing on a peony..."

Old Wang worked quickly and soon filled a large basket to the brim. He patted the dirt off his hands and said cheerfully to Li Donglai, "Thanks, Professor Li! I'll come back when the next batch is ripe!"

After saying that, he carried a basket of vegetables, humming a little tune, and walked away contentedly.

Li Donglai was the only one left on the farm. He stared blankly at the obvious gap in the vegetable garden, as if someone had plucked his head bald. He was so heartbroken that he couldn't breathe.

He sighed, trying to console himself: "Oh well, compared to uranium ore, what are a few vegetables..."

The scientific laboratory is not far away!
"Amitabha! This humble Taoist priest is already running out of energy and blood, and cannot continue the experiment!"

Master Chen waved his hand, his face pale, and swayed slightly, like a candle flickering in the wind. He no longer wanted to pay attention to Professor Deng Dakang, who had a fanatical look in his eyes.

"Well then, Taoist priest, please get some rest!"

Deng Dakang was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, but he quickly put on a concerned expression.

"Don't worry, your health is our top priority!"

He changed the subject, moving even closer: "Master Chen, I forgot to tell you some good news. Your several esteemed disciples have passed the commander's review and will arrive soon. We'll take turns testing them then!"

"Ah?" Upon hearing this, Master Chen slowly opened his eyes, glanced at Deng Dakang, and his eyes showed a mixture of relief and helplessness.

As long as it's not about drawing his blood, it's fine.

He nodded: "Okay, that's fine."

In the past few days, ever since that stubborn old man Deng Dakang swallowed his pride and apologized to him, Master Chen has been cooperating with them to carry out so-called scientific verification.

There have indeed been some results.

The biggest discovery, and also the biggest bottleneck, was that only his and his junior brother's blood could activate those mysterious talismans.

To verify this, Deng Dakang went to extreme lengths.

He had his experimental assistant try it out, and had soldiers like Wang Hu draw blood to make talismans.

They even brought in several people who showed high sensitivity to magical elemental brainwaves in mental power tests to try it out.

Without exception, the yellow talisman paper turned out no different from ordinary scraps of paper in their hands; it didn't even emit light or heat, let alone make a sound.

This discovery once made Deng Dakang, an authority in the field of physics, feel that his worldview had collapsed.

Is metaphysics the end of science?

No! Absolutely not! This must be some kind of undiscovered bioenergetics!
The more confused he became, the more enthusiastic Deng Dakang became in his research. He practically shamelessly pestered the two Taoist priests 24 hours a day, wishing he could dig out all the talisman technology from their minds.

On the way to the canteen, Deng Dakang stayed by Chen's side, even personally running around serving him food.

His eagerness left many people in the cafeteria who knew him dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)