Industry began in 1937

After seeing Old Man Han off and laying out warm, thick new bedding, the warmth brought by human kindness in Chen Yuan's heart slightly offset the coldness and fatigue in his body.

But he did not lie down to rest immediately.

Energy level: 1.05%. 0.45% short of the 1.5% required to initiate the gear drive upgrade.

With the optimized flywheel assist, this 0.45% gap no longer seems so unattainable.

He sat down in front of the machine and pressed the pedal again.

The heavy flywheel spun around with great momentum, and the pedaling rhythm was indeed much smoother and less strenuous than before.

Although it still requires physical effort, the subtle improvements that allow him to achieve twice the results with half the effort give him clear hope.

The mountain wind was exceptionally biting in the dead of night, sending chills down his sweat-soaked back, but he gritted his teeth, his eyes fixed on the slowly fluctuating energy numbers.

1.08%...1.12%...1.16%...

Each tiny jump in the numbers was accompanied by his heavy breathing and the protest of his aching muscles.

He alternated between stomping and taking short breaks, then cooked a pot of porridge, which served as both a meal and a source of hydration.

When he was so exhausted, he hid under the newly made bedding and slept for a long time.

He was still woken up by the cold in the early morning.

Having blankets made it much warmer, mainly because the coal fire in the hearth was about to go out.

It was also the coldest time of day. He saw that the power level of the flint platform had reached 1.42%, so he had no choice but to get up and continue his efforts.

Over the past few days, he has noticed that his beer belly has shrunk.

I've been able to hold on for a while now thanks to all this fat.

He felt that he probably wouldn't gain weight easily in the future, which would save him the trouble of losing weight.

As the first hint of gray appeared on the eastern horizon, the numbers on the platform's light screen finally jumped with difficulty to 1.52%.

Become!

Chen Yuan practically slid off the pedal and collapsed to the ground, his chest heaving violently, but his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.

Ignoring the aches and pains that felt like his body was falling apart, he immediately placed his palms on the platform.

"Flint! Optimize Plan 1: Manufacture a standard gear set and replace the transmission system! Use 2 kg of designated steel and 0.1 kg of copper, with an energy consumption limit of 1.5%!" His voice was hoarse but resolute.

[Command confirmed. Standard gear set manufacturing initiated. Estimated time: 2 hours 15 minutes.]

This time, the manufacturing process was clearly more "laborious" than any of the previous ones.

The humming sound coming from inside the platform was deeper and more persistent, and the subtle sounds unique to precision cutting and metal processing could be faintly heard.

Chen Yuan leaned against the rock, wrapped himself tightly in the quilt, and, in his extreme exhaustion, drifted off to sleep again.

He was awakened by the notification sound indicating that the production was complete.

The morning light had already illuminated half of the valley.

He suddenly stood up and saw a set of steel gears with a cold metallic luster and precisely meshed teeth, along with matching shafts, keys, bearing caps and other parts, neatly arranged at the discharge port.

There was also a simple disassembly and assembly diagram engraved on an iron plate.

He took a deep breath of the cold air, picked up the accompanying tools, and began to disassemble the original belt drive system by referring to the diagrams.

This task is much more complicated than installing flywheel counterweights, and requires a certain amount of care and strength.

He removed the pulley and belt, exposing the spindle end.

Then, carefully install the new drive gear onto the spindle, secure it with a key, and cover it with the bearing.

Next, the driven gear that meshes with it is installed onto the original input shaft of the generator.

The whole process took nearly an hour. When he finally tightened the last fixing bolt, his fingers were a little stiff from the cold, but he was very excited.

This must be the joy of assembling machinery with your own hands!

Installation complete.

The original belt drive position has been replaced by two sets of tightly meshed steel gears.

He tried turning the flywheel by hand, and through the gears, the generator shaft at the other end rotated smoothly, making a soft and smooth "buzzing" sound, which was completely different from the "rustling" sound of the belt before, and was lower and more direct.

He sat back down, took a deep breath, and pressed the pedal.

"Buzz—"

A completely new sensation, deep, smooth, and with even resistance, instantly comes from the soles of your feet!

The flywheel retains its inertia, but the transmission of power becomes incredibly direct and efficient through the gears, with almost no "slippage" or "lag".

He only needs to use about 70-80% of the previous force to make the flywheel reach or even exceed the previous speed!

The pedaling rhythm became exceptionally easy, greatly reducing the burden on the leg muscles.

Most noticeably, the previous feeling of constantly "finding" the rhythm and maintaining the speed has disappeared, replaced by a smooth feeling of stable and continuous output.

He immediately checked the real-time status of the power generation unit on the light screen.

A new line of data appears: [Estimated conversion efficiency of current human-powered power generation unit: ≈ 11.2%].

It improved! From 9.7% to 11.2%!

Although the absolute value is still very low, this increase of nearly 1.5 percentage points means that for every unit of physical strength he consumes, he can gain more than 15% more electrical energy!

This is quite a leap forward!

"Great! This 1.5% energy is totally worth it!" Chen Yuan exclaimed with mixed feelings of surprise and delight.

He tried pedaling continuously for about fifteen minutes at a less strenuous but more stable rhythm, and felt much more relaxed than before.

The improvement in efficiency is real and tangible.

He glanced at the total energy, and because of this production, it had plummeted to a low of 0.02%.

But he was not discouraged.

With the new gear transmission and 11.2% conversion efficiency, the speed of energy regeneration will be far greater than before.

While charging his phone, he pondered what goods he needed to prepare for his trip to the next village.

He took inventory of the remaining steel materials.

There are approximately 12 kilograms of iron remaining.

Mr. Han said that he was going to the market in Dacun today, and the variety and quantity of ironware had to be attractive enough.

The market has strong purchasing power, which is his best opportunity to quickly increase his iron ore and exchange it for large amounts of food and key supplies. He must bring as much "hard goods" as possible.

"Flint, using the remaining iron, produced a batch of ironware suitable for rural market trading, daily household use, and agricultural work."

The requirements are for variety, quantity, and practicality. Calculate the maximum feasible production list and energy consumption. He issued the order, hoping to maximize output.

The light screen performs rapid calculations and generates a list:

[Rural Market Ironware Manufacturing Solution]

List: Household scissors: 8 pairs.

Large/medium sewing needles: 80 pieces.

Iron thimbles: 15.

Kitchen knives: 4.

Small iron locks: 5.

4 machete heads.

Sickle heads: 4.

Hand ax: 3.

Large nails: 60 pieces; Medium nails: 80 pieces.

Iron required: approximately 8.5 kg.

Estimated energy consumption: 0.18%, due to the variety of items, including more precision small parts and medium-sized agricultural implements.

Post-execution estimate: Approximately 3.5 kg of iron will remain, and the energy will be exhausted.

Seeing the energy consumption of 0.18%, Chen Yuan's heart sank.

He only has 0.02% of his energy left, which is far from enough.

To manufacture this batch of goods, we must first charge it.

At its current efficiency of 11.2%, it would take him nearly two hours of full-force pedaling to charge the battery to 0.18%.

However, the platform itself has a small standby power consumption. It cannot completely use up the power and must leave a buffer of at least 0.05%, which means that it actually needs to charge about 0.21% of the power.

This would take at least three hours, by which time it would probably be close to noon, the market would have long since closed, and Old Man Han would surely be getting impatient.

"There's no time..." Chen Yuan glanced anxiously at the sky, where the morning light was gradually breaking.

He must produce enough goods before setting off, but he cannot delay for too long.

He had to make a choice.

"Flint, recalculate. Assuming charging can be completed and manufacturing can begin within one hour, what is the maximum energy that can be charged at the current efficiency? Based on this energy, revise the manufacturing list, requiring no more than 8 kilograms of iron." He quickly adjusted the strategy, with time as the primary constraint.

The light screen flickers:

[Charging and Manufacturing Time Optimization Solution]

Energy gain: At the current rate of continuous pedaling for 1 hour, it is estimated that approximately 0.08% energy can be gained.

Total available energy: 0.02% (existing) + 0.08% (newly charged) = 0.10%.

Optimize the manufacturing list (energy consumption ≤ 0.10%):

Household scissors: 6 pairs.

Large/medium sewing needles: 60 pieces.

Iron thimbles: 12.

Kitchen knives: 3.

Small iron locks: 4.

3 machete heads.

Large nails: 50 pieces; Medium nails: 60 pieces.

Iron required: approximately 5.8 kg.

Estimated energy consumption: 0.095%.

Post-execution estimates: approximately 6.2 kg of iron and approximately 0.005% of energy (for maintenance only).

"This is the only way!" Chen Yuan gritted his teeth. Although it lacked the sickle head and hand axe compared to the maximum plan, and the quantity was slightly reduced, the core scissors, needle and thread, kitchen knife, lock, machete and nails were still there, and the variety was complete, which should be enough as start-up capital.

Although the remaining 0.005% of energy is negligible, it can at least ensure that the platform does not fall into deeper danger due to a complete power outage.

Without further hesitation, he began a race against time, stamping for an hour.

The flywheel rotates efficiently under the drive of the gears, and sweat quickly seeps out again.

He mentally calculated the time, forcing himself to maintain a steady pace.

Fortunately, the charger has been modified twice, making it much more labor-saving.

If you get really tired, you can sit down and rest for a bit before continuing to pedal.

An hour later, exhausted, he stopped and looked at the light screen: Energy 0.10%. Success!

"Flint, proceed according to the optimized manufacturing list! Energy consumption limit 0.095%!" he ordered, panting.

[Command confirmed. Manufacturing initiated. Estimated time: 50 minutes.]

While waiting for the product to be manufactured, Chen Yuan quickly treated his foot injury, which was stinging from being soaked in sweat again, ate a few bites of cold, hard mixed grain porridge, and began packing his belongings.

He carefully wrapped up the remaining nails and the heavy-duty machete that had been used as a "sample" separately.

He still had time, so he charged the battery for a while longer, letting it rise to 0.02% before he felt relieved.

He now suffers from low battery phobia; he gets anxious when the battery is too low.

Manufacturing was completed on time.

Looking at the piles of gleaming ironware being pushed out of the discharge port, Chen Yuan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He quickly counted the items, confirmed they were correct, and then began to pack them carefully.

Small items such as scissors, needles, and thimbles were separated with soft cloths; kitchen knives, machete heads, and locks were tied with ropes; and nails were packed in cloth bags.

Everything was stuffed into a large basket, which was heavy and probably weighed more than 30 kilograms.

After finishing the packaging, he glanced at the platform's energy: 0.02%. Almost zero, but that glimmer of light was still there.

He dared not delay and quickly used nearby dead branches, vines and stones to carefully disguise and cover the "Flint" platform and the human-powered generator, ensuring that no obvious abnormalities could be seen from a distance.

After doing all this, he shouldered the heavy basket, leaned on his wooden spear, and, enduring the pain in his feet, hurried towards Gouzi Village.