Chapter 323: Uranium Mining (Patreon)

Chapter 323: Uranium Mining

In the underground control center of the farmhouse.

On the holographic projection map displaying the entire Eastern Continent.

A purple dot representing an ultra-high energy release flickered for a few seconds in the heart of the continent before gradually fading away.

Su Wu turned his gaze there, lingering for a long moment.

"It seems the blasting went smoothly."

"The passage was cleared in one go."

"This should shorten the round-trip distance for Ice Lake-class Transport Ships heading to Xiao Jiang Province by over a hundred kilometers."

At present, aside from the Miniature Mechs and a few Tactical Nuclear Weapons in his possession, Su Wu actually had no other nuclear arms.

But stacking enough Metallic Hydrogen Explosives could still unleash a force comparable to a nuclear explosion.

In other words, with the production capacity of the Super Factory and his vast stockpile of Metallic Hydrogen Explosives, Su Wu could selectively erase small areas on the Eastern Continent's map—not just feasibly, but as a routine measure.

Specifically, for the transport route between Jianghe City and Xiao Jiang Province, such drastic measures wouldn’t have been necessary if relying solely on Merchant Trains.

The tracked chassis of Merchant Trains granted them exceptional off-road capabilities, allowing them to traverse mountainous terrain as easily as flat ground.

But Ice Lake-class Transport Ships weren’t so versatile.

Unless there were already wide mountain roads, they couldn’t cross ranges on their own.

This was an inherent flaw, exacerbated by immature technology and low manufacturing costs.

Though they couldn’t pass through even slightly rugged terrain, Ice Lake-class Transport Ships were, after all, spacecraft.

As long as the ground was level, they could traverse it—regardless of its sturdiness.

The main cost of opening transport routes for them lay in the initial clearing work.

After that, barring earthquakes, little to no maintenance would be required.

"Unfortunately, earthquakes are still too frequent in the Eastern Continent."

"Any newly opened route would soon become unrecognizable."

"Otherwise, building roads across the entire Eastern Continent in advance would make subsequent transport a breeze."

Earthquakes were an unavoidable disaster in the post-apocalyptic world.

Though they rarely caused significant damage to shelters, their devastation to surface environments and mining sites was too massive to ignore.

For instance, Su Wu currently had to invest large amounts of Rapid-setting Cement to stabilize the structures of underground mines, preventing collapses during excavation due to seismic activity.

Even so, minor mining accidents still occurred from time to time, causing losses to the equipment.

Shaking off his thoughts, Su Wu refocused on the earlier location on the map—the northwestern region of the Eastern Continent.

It was a place he had once passed through while driving the base vehicle to complete the mission of obtaining the Golden Balance: the Marak Gorge.

Deep within that gorge, in a forbidden, uninhabited zone, lay one of the largest uranium deposits in the Eastern Continent.

It was Su Wu’s next major strategic target.

"Right now, the ordinary nuclear power plant near the farmhouse has been relying on nuclear fuel exchanged for gold and silver to generate electricity."

"Although this is the most cost-effective exchange using the Golden Balance,"

"Overall, it's still somewhat of a loss."

"After all, gold and silver can be freely exchanged for nuclear fuel at corresponding ratios."

"But nuclear fuel cannot be converted back."

"Additionally, the total global reserves of uranium ore far exceed those of gold."

"To maximize electricity production,"

"it would be more economical to mine uranium ore whenever possible."

Beyond power generation,

Su Wu also wanted to manufacture a batch of nuclear bombs to expand the arsenal's weapon categories.

Don’t underestimate metallic hydrogen explosives—once their quantity increases, their destructive power rivals that of nuclear bombs.

But the key issue is, if the quantity becomes too large, the cost will rise accordingly.

When it comes to high-yield weapons,

nuclear bombs ultimately offer the best cost-to-performance ratio.

At that moment,

the holographic map flickered slightly.

Another large-scale real-time data update occurred.

Su Wu opened the log to check.

He found that most of the updated data came from the Mairak Canyon.

Clearly, the reconnaissance drones airdropped by the sixth-generation fighter jet over a distance of more than 1,000 kilometers

had reached their destination and officially begun scanning the area.

Zooming in on the Mairak Canyon map,

a complex terrain of weathered rocks appeared before Su Wu.

Soon,

under repeated sweeps by several drones,

a massive semi-artificial, semi-natural cave gradually replaced the canyon

on the holographic projection map.

Inside the cave were various abandoned mining equipment,

along with dilapidated factory buildings and living quarters.

Even in the corners, two tanks with critical components removed remained parked.

"This must have been the original mining site."

"Judging by the traces left behind,"

"it seems mining continued for some time after the apocalypse."

"Then, for some reason, they hastily retreated."

Given the complex geological conditions of the Mairak Canyon, mining was extremely difficult.

Many uranium deposits were located deep underground in fault zones.

The slightest oversight could trigger devastating collapse accidents.

After the apocalypse,

frequent earthquakes increased this danger several times over.

As a result, even though the Eastern Continent's capital relied heavily on uranium for its nuclear power plants,

the exorbitant mining costs eventually forced them to abandon the site.

While carefully examining the remnants in the cave,

Su Wu cross-referenced them with intelligence obtained from the Eastern Continent's capital.

His decision to mine uranium first in the Mairak Canyon

was not arbitrary.

Because uranium was tied to energy security,

after the apocalypse began,

every uranium deposit, large or small, across the Eastern Continent

was heavily guarded by the capital's forces.

Attempting to seize uranium was practically equivalent to declaring war on the capital.

Only by targeting abandoned sites like the Mairak Canyon

could conflict be avoided.

After several minutes,

once the reconnaissance drones had thoroughly scanned the cave inside and out,

Su Wu realized that perhaps the harsh external environment

made it impractical to salvage the equipment.

Many of the mining machines here can be put back into operation with just a little repair work.

This significantly reduces the trouble for Su Wu in restarting this mine.

"The rails, mine carts, elevators, and generators are all ready to go."

"There's also plenty of fuel left for power generation."

"It's enough to maintain normal operations in the early stages."

"As for later—"

Su Wu did some quick calculations.

Based on the timeline, by then, mass production of seventh-generation fighter jets would likely have been achieved, along with transport aircraft capable of reaching near-Earth orbit.

They would have the full capability to establish a wireless power transmission network covering the entire Eastern Continent, composed of multiple near-Earth orbit satellites.

No longer would there be any need to worry about power shortages.

"For transportation—"

"Given the relatively high unit value of uranium ore and the distance from Jianghe City,"

"using Ice Lake-class transport ships for slow transportation isn’t the best option."

"It’s better to rely entirely on sixth-generation fighter jets for air transport."

"At most, we’ll build a permanent vertical takeoff and landing airfield near the mine."

"As for defense—"

"We can combine automated turrets with ordinary Spider Robots."

"The defensive pressure shouldn’t be too high."

As Su Wu meticulously outlined the steps to restart the uranium mine in the Mairak Gorge,

the Artificial Intelligence quickly calculated that the entire process—from initiation to the first batch of uranium ore production—would take approximately 27 hours.

This timeframe would have been astonishingly short even before the apocalypse.

But for the automated farmhouse, it was just standard efficiency.

"Next,"

"with the income from large quantities of nuclear fuel,"

"it’s time to consider expanding the ordinary nuclear power plant."

No matter how small the storage pressure of nuclear fuel is,

it’s still not as convenient or fast as converting it directly into electricity.

After all, with the technology Su Wu now possesses,

there are far too many areas that require massive amounts of power.

The most obvious example is the Electromagnetic Protection Array installed on the farmhouse’s outer walls.

Its defensive strength is directly tied to the amount of power it consumes.

As for how to expand the ordinary nuclear power plant,

Su Wu already had a plan.

His solution was to simply build a new, large-scale nuclear power plant on the soon-to-be-completed 13th underground level of the farmhouse.

When the ordinary nuclear power plant was first built,

Su Wu’s overall technological level wasn’t even considered top-tier in the Eastern Continent.

The nuclear reactor he designed was, at best, a first-generation product,

riddled with unstable safety hazards.

It was only because Artificial Intelligence was in control—free from human negligence or oversight—

that the ordinary nuclear power plant had been able to operate safely and steadily in the earthquake-prone post-apocalyptic world until now.

But the outdated technology was an undeniable fact.

Out of safety concerns, Su Wu had no choice but to place it outside the farmhouse.

Now, however,

Su Wu was capable of designing a new nuclear reactor that rivaled those used in the Eastern Continent’s capital.

Safety risks were minimal.

Thus, it was only natural to relocate it inside the farmhouse,

where it could be protected by the farmhouse’s formidable defenses.

Only then

would the farmhouse truly achieve a complete internal cycle,

eliminating any weaknesses left exposed to the outside world.

May 3rd.

The massive Farmhouse Shelter's above-ground second and third floors had completed their final topping-out work.

The city-grade thermal defense shield, which had been active for several days, concluded its mission and began gradually powering down. The extreme cold and blizzard that had been held at bay once again enveloped the now towering surface structures of the Farmhouse Shelter, giving them an almost plateau-like grandeur.

"Five thousand new large assembly workshops have officially commenced operations," Su Wu observed. "Starting today, Ice Lake-class Transport Ship production can reach one thousand vessels daily. What follows will be exponential growth."

Watching the newly completed third floor on his screen, Su Wu couldn't help but feel he'd fulfilled a historic mission. From his beginnings in Jianghe City, all the resources he'd gathered across multiple provinces—most had been consumed in constructing the Farmhouse Shelter. The rapid-setting cement and alloy-framed exterior walls, every internal facility from plantations to standard dormitories and recreation areas—each represented massive resource expenditures.

By comparison, manufacturing hundreds of merchant trains capable of relocating tens of millions, millions of robots, plus countless sixth-generation fighter jets and Azure Sky-Class Transport Drones—their combined material costs were mere fractions.

Producing a thousand Ice Lake-class transports daily filled Su Wu with unprecedented satisfaction. Ten million tons of additional transport capacity per day—at this terrifying growth rate, depopulating the entire Eastern Continent would cease to be hyperbole. If all progressed smoothly, perhaps within a year, Su Wu could harness the Eastern Continent's collective might to expand the Farmhouse Shelter into a megacity housing over a billion.

Switching camera feeds, Su Wu surveyed the third floor's interior. Vast sections remained incomplete, requiring another twenty hours of work from millions of laborers—details no longer demanding his attention. His task here was done.

Shifting focus underground, the shelter's eleventh and twelfth basement levels currently stood vacant. Together housing sixty million in standard dormitories, plus supporting light industrial facilities, standardized cafeterias, laundromats, and department stores—all lay dormant in darkness. Any unprepared surface dweller stumbling into this vast, uninhabited space might find their psyche shattered by overwhelming dread.

"With these two levels," Su Wu mused, "we can accommodate most of Xiao Jiang Province's population. No need for such rushed construction schedules anymore."

As for future plans—Basement 13 would become the aquarium, a miniature ocean environment housing a major nuclear power plant, with no permanent residents. Construction would commence from Basement 14 onward...

With the ability to significantly reduce the

number of plantations, more living space can be freed up.

Each level will be able to accommodate a population of 40 million.

Given the current scale of the Merchant Trains, and even with the projected doubling of their numbers in the future...

Even if they transported people around the clock...

It would still be impossible to fill all the completed Standard Dormitories.

(End of chapter)