Chapter 340: The Oil Field of Glimmering Plain (Patreon)

Chapter 340: The Oil Field of Glimmering Plain

The lifting of restrictions on civilian electricity usage and the reduction in prices.

It is estimated that this will result in an additional annual consumption of approximately 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.

Furthermore, considering the future population explosion and the increased demand from the widespread adoption of ordinary residential areas, the final annual electricity consumption could exceed one trillion kilowatt-hours.

This figure means that if relying solely on thermal power generation, it would require the consumption of over 300 million tons of coal fuel annually, depleting reserves equivalent to two or three Zhenhai Cities.

Even with nuclear power plants, it would still require more than 100 tons of nuclear fuel.

"Fortunately, we’ve already built nuclear power plants in advance."

"Otherwise, relying solely on conventional thermal power generation would never be able to sustain the current Farmhouse Compound."

The staggering electricity demand naturally drew Su Wu’s gaze toward the large nuclear power plant on the 13th underground level of the Shelter.

That facility was the foundation supporting the Shelter’s normal operations.

Without it, Su Wu would have found it nearly impossible to develop the Shelter to its current scale, let alone calmly plan to accommodate the entire population of the Eastern Continent.

However, even with nuclear power plants, providing over a trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually would still be somewhat challenging.

Further expansion was necessary.

Stretching out his hand, Su Wu enlarged the structural diagram of the large nuclear power plant on the holographic projection.

After a moment of thought, he expanded the plant’s scale by another 1.5 times.

This centralized construction approach could reduce certain residential risks and management costs.

The drawback was that if an accident occurred and the entire facility was wiped out, the entire Shelter would be affected.

However, since Su Wu possessed the Ball Lightning Control Chamber capable of storing unlimited electricity, this drawback was essentially negligible.

Even if the nuclear power plant were completely destroyed in an accident at some point in the future, the electricity stored in the Ball Lightning Control Chamber would be enough to maintain the Shelter’s normal operations until a new nuclear power plant could be built.

"And the reserves of uranium ore for nuclear fuel."

"We’ll have to find a way to increase those as well."

This issue was relatively more troublesome.

On the Eastern Continent, ordinary civilian factions—even lower-ranked supercities—lacked the capability to build standard nuclear power plants.

Only the Eastern Continent’s capital and a handful of top-ranked supercities truly relied on nuclear power plants.

For them, uranium ore was practically a lifeline.

If Su Wu’s actions in this regard even slightly overstepped, it could easily trigger a full-scale conflict with them.

Thus, considering the costs, there was only one option available to Su Wu if he wanted to increase nuclear fuel production and reserves:

Boosting the output of the sole uranium mine currently under his control.

"Currently, the uranium mine is located in the Mairak Gorge."

"The western environment there is even more unstable than around Jianghe City."

"We could consider increasing investment and resorting to destructive mining at the cost of sacrificing some storage resources."

About three to four hundred kilometers west of the Mairak Gorge lay the location where Su Wu had once obtained the Golden Balance.

Back then, the area had already been swallowed by endless magma.

Now, the sea of magma had expanded nearly twofold in size.

The region’s average seismic activity remained above magnitude four year-round, almost rivaling the fallen districts of Zhenhai City.

According to the artificial intelligence’s projections...

At the latest within the next 2 to 3 months,

the flowing lava there may spread to the Mairak Grand Canyon.

The time left for Su Wu to mine is already extremely limited.

After brief consideration,

Su Wu decided to first use explosives to blast open part of the mountain above the uranium deposits.

Then, he would add several new mining sites.

Multiple operations would be conducted simultaneously at the mining field.

As for the extracted raw ore,

if it couldn’t be processed near the mining site, he would simply skip processing for now.

He would transport it directly back to the Farmhouse Compound first.

After finalizing the plan,

Su Wu’s gaze naturally shifted westward toward the Grand Canyon.

Over a hundred kilometers away lay the area he had once passed through—the Glimmering Plain.

Although soon enough,

that plain would be swallowed by magma surging from deep underground

even before the Mairak Grand Canyon.

Before that happened, it remained a bountiful land.

"The Glimmering Plain is rich in oil and various precious metal deposits."

"It can provide the Shelter with much-needed chemical raw materials and rare resources."

"The average mining difficulty is also relatively lower compared to other places."

"Even if we can only mine for two or three months,"

"it’s worth investing some resources to try."

At this stage,

conquering various Shelters and taking over their stored finished resources

might seem easier and more convenient.

But in reality,

due to the abrupt arrival of the apocalypse,

most Shelters had less than a year to prepare.

The resources they stored were barely enough to sustain their own minimal survival needs.

They could hardly support the operation of a modern industrial system.

Even the mighty Zhenhai City Shelter—

once the second-largest economic city in the Eastern Continent—

had only stockpiled just over 100 million tons of fuel.

That wasn’t even enough to meet the Farmhouse Shelter’s industrial production needs for a single month.

As Su Wu’s Farmhouse Compound continued to develop,

it would eventually have to rely on independent mining to obtain sufficient resources for growth.

"Next,"

"we can first dispatch Sixth-Generation Fighter Jets to airlift some equipment over."

"Try to establish oil and precious metal mining sites as early as possible."

"Then, deploy some Ice Lake-class Transport Ships to transport the mined resources."

Given the limited time,

the mining operation on the Glimmering Plain would prioritize efficiency above all else.

There was no need to worry about environmental damage or waste.

Under these conditions, combined with unlimited mining equipment investment,

the output of the mining sites could be increased dozens or even hundreds of times compared to normal circumstances.

At the same time, transportation wouldn’t need to cover the entire 2,000-kilometer distance from Jianghe City to the Glimmering Plain in one go.

Instead, they could temporarily use several Shelters in the safe zone east of the Mairak Grand Canyon—areas not yet threatened by lava—as transit warehouses.

The overall approach was essentially the same as when they relocated resources from Zhenhai City.

First, concentrate all efforts to salvage as many resources as possible.

The rest could be gradually transported later once safety was ensured.

Su Wu meticulously drafted the mining plan for the Glimmering Plain,

his mind envisioning oil rigs rising from the ground, continuously extracting oil from deep beneath the earth.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances,

the resources from the Glimmering Plain

would become the critical foundation for the Farmhouse Shelter’s transition from mere survival to prosperity.

Surface level.

With Su Wu's new plans in motion,

one after another, the newly produced Ice Lake-class Transport Ships began carrying the engineering equipment needed to pave the way.

They headed west, following the route Su Wu had once taken, toward the Mairak Gorge.

Under the cover of low-hanging clouds,

the surface world appeared dim and gray.

The artificial lights from the Ice Lake-class Transport Ships

resembled candle flames flickering on paper boats drifting down a river, quietly fading into the distance.

Over the long months to come,

they would traverse a journey of 2,000 kilometers,

slowly transporting resources from the far-flung edges of the Eastern Continent back home.

Meanwhile,

farther away,

in other provinces across the Eastern Continent,

more and more Ice Lake-class Transport Ships began to appear.

The Ice Lake-class Transport Ships

moved at a mere 10 kilometers per hour,

but their ten-thousand-ton carrying capacity was sufficient, when necessary, to serve as a land-based aircraft carrier or a comprehensive logistical base.

Supporting one another, they formed a network,

gradually encroaching upon the scattered Shelters along their path.

Behind them, even more empty Morning Light-Class Transport Ships and Ice Lake-class Transport Ships

began gathering all the populations and supplies from the occupied Shelters,

packing them up and hauling them away—

back to the Farmhouse Compound.

There, the ever-growing megastructure grew even more imposing.

In this silent migration,

the bulk of the Eastern Continent’s population

gradually shifted to the Farmhouse Compound.