Chapter 1442 — Big Projects, All of Them
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 5
From afar, Gao Yang kept watch over the "orbital elevator" in the southwestern seas of the Loren Continent and the waters around it. Through the countless sensors and optical devices mounted on the elevator's exterior, he could clearly see every move of that vast "joint engineering corps," and could at any moment control the operation of the elevator itself and monitor the state of the entire "heaven-and-earth transit system."
Originally he could never have achieved such comprehensive perception and control. All of this was the harvest reaped from that accidental "restart" by Cassandra and Asharena last time.
The corresponding compartments aboard Skyvault Station had already been prepared for the follow-up repair work; all accessible areas had had their restrictions lifted, and the orbital elevator had been designated a temporary high-priority unit. Meanwhile, on the "steel island" upon the planet's surface, iron soldiers, sea sirens, and dragons were busily at work. A ground supply depot was gradually taking shape, and a small advance team had entered the orbital elevator's assembly hall.
Leading this team was a familiar face... a familiar figure... a familiar sphere.
The restoration of Skyvault Station would be a project of vital importance. Although Gao Yang believed that the sea sirens, the giant dragons, and the ironfolk would all do their utmost to complete this task, they were, after all, three utterly distinct races, each employing vastly different technologies. These "differences" might well play an unexpected role when they confronted the complex and unknown conditions aboard Skyvault Station, but they also turned the coordination and command of the entire project into an enormous problem.
There had to be a trustworthy "old acquaintance" to coordinate this engineering team composed of three different races—someone who knew the full picture inside and out, who possessed outstanding engineering expertise, who had the experience and ability to lead such a complex team through technical challenges, and most importantly—someone who could pass the orbital elevator's "qualification certification" and possessed the capability to enter space.
Saint Nikoshi Eggsworth—the "sphere" Gao Yang could think of as most suited to the role. Back when the decision to launch the restoration project was first made, he had already resolved that this "alien friend," exceedingly skilled in dealing with machines and metal, would serve as commander-in-chief.
Of course, Eggsworth had important work of his own. As the Cecil Empire's most senior "grand artisan," he remained to this day the chief engineer on many of the Empire's most advanced projects. His convenient metal-manipulation and machine-fabrication abilities were always useful, but Cecil's engineering technology had developed to the point where it no longer depended entirely on his abilities as it once had.
Under Gao Yang's deliberate guidance and the efforts of the technical staff, the latest industrial machine tools could now accomplish most of the production processes that once could only be realized by Eggsworth's personal operation. Efficiency might not match his, but against a vast and ever-expandable scale of production, that slight loss of efficiency was entirely compensable—and now, the focus of Eggsworth's work had shifted from frontline production to design, overall planning, and specialized fabrication, all of which could basically be handed over temporarily to his deputies.
Now, this grand artisan of the Empire had completed his handover of duties and joined the restoration team for Skyvault Station in the capacity of "engineering commander."
At the base level of the orbital elevator, in the brightly lit assembly hall, the first "advance team"—ninety strong in total, composed of technical personnel from all three parties—was already prepared.