Free Web NovelChapter 245: Chapter 239: A Day of Upkeep, Ten Thousand Units of Power
Four fully-staffed Golem Legions. This was the capital Allen would rely on to establish himself in this brutal plane.
But before he could fully savor the lingering satisfaction of having his firepower anxiety cured, an alert from Jarvis shattered the tranquility of the control room.
[Warning! A persistent deficit has appeared in our power reserves. The primary Magic Power furnace of the initial workshop, plus the four existing volcanic Magic Power furnaces at the Lava Lake facility, are already operating at one hundred percent capacity.]
[Current deficit rate: 2.3% per day. In approximately forty-five days, power reserves are projected to fall below the critical threshold.]
The look of contentment on Allen’s face instantly vanished.
"Jarvis, what’s going on? Haven’t the four volcanic furnaces been providing a stable output?"
[Commander, following the completion of the Black Stone Gobi cleanup operation, six new mining sites have been brought online. In addition, the large-scale Pioneer tunnel-boring machines are excavating the underground transport network around the clock.]
Jarvis’s voice remained steady.
[Furthermore, now that the four Golem Legions are at full strength, their daily patrols, standby modes, maintenance, and overhauls all consume massive amounts of Magic Power.]
[In short, you have expanded too quickly. If we maintain the status quo, some non-combat Golems will have to enter hibernation and queue for recharging starting next month.]
"Bring up the system-wide power consumption curve."
The light screen switched, revealing a glaring red line climbing upward at an extreme angle, soaring right past the green baseline that marked the ceiling of their power supply.
Allen felt a headache coming on as he watched the red power consumption line continue its upward trajectory.
’An army costs a fortune to maintain, especially one that runs on power.’
Expanding the industrial complex was a bottomless pit; as soon as front-end production capacity increased, the back-end power supply immediately sounded the alarm.
If he didn’t solve this problem, his vast army of steel would have to queue up for rotating charges in forty-five days. Worse, large portions of it might have to shut down completely.
"Jarvis, project solutions."
[Simulation running.]
[Option One: Scale back mining operations in the Black Stone Gobi and shut down some production lines. This can reduce the power deficit to 0.5%.]
[Option Two: Construct three additional large-scale volcanic Magic Power furnaces in the Lava Lake region. This is projected to cover all current power consumption and leave a 5% power surplus.]
"Veto Option One. Once the wheels of industry start turning, they can’t be stopped," Allen said without hesitation. "We’re going with Option Two. But three furnaces won’t be enough."
Allen straightened up and typed a new command into the virtual keyboard.
"We’ll build five."
[Recalculating project scope. The construction of five new large-scale volcanic Magic Power furnaces will consume all of the Commander’s production capacity for the next two months.]
The Magic Power furnaces were highly sophisticated devices, and their construction required Allen to take the lead.
"A fully-manned Fourth Legion isn’t the finish line; there will be more wars to fight. Our power supply needs a significant surplus. Draw up the production plan," Allen commanded.
[Command registered. However, there is another obstacle to address.]
[The depths of the lava lake have extremely high temperatures and immense pressure. Standard Engineering Golems cannot descend to the required depth to anchor the foundations.]
Allen pulled up the real-time surveillance feed from the Lava Lake facility. Crimson magma churned, the intense heat distorting the air.
"What about our existing units, Inferno-1 and Inferno-2?"
[Inferno-1 and Inferno-2 must remain on guard against counterattacks from the Two-headed Lizard Lord and the surrounding Fire Elemental Creatures. If we were to reassign them to high-intensity infrastructure work, the defensive line would be at risk of collapse. Should a Lord-class creature destroy the completed Magic Power furnaces, the losses would be immeasurable.]
’They’re pure killing machines; expecting them to handle engineering tasks as well is a stretch,’ Allen thought, watching the two vast constructs patrolling the edge of the magma on the monitor.
Allen was well aware of the dangers lurking in the magma’s depths. The Fire Elemental Creatures and Molten Core Lizards, with average levels exceeding one thousand, would not stand idly by and watch him expand his territory.
"Then we’ll just have to build more Infernos." Allen pulled up the armaments production panel.
The latest armament retooling had just finished, leaving the main workshop’s production lines temporarily idle.
"Switch production to the PX-2 Inferno model."
[The PX-2 has a high unit cost, requiring large quantities of advanced heat-resistant materials and high-tier souls. Current inventory is insufficient for mass production.]
"Then buy them," Allen said, opening the fortress’s internal trading network. "I still have millions of Magic Stones in liquid assets. Dump it all into materials."
Allen quickly checked off items on the long list of supplies as vast sums of Magic Stones were drained from his account.
"I want three brand-new Infernos to roll off the production line within a month."
In the days that followed, Allen threw all his energy into building the three new Infernos and the volcanic Magic Power furnaces, even cutting back on his scheduled Meditation practice.
Time flew by amidst the tedious yet tense production cycle.
One day, while Allen was busy at his workbench wielding his Craftsman’s Hand to etch thousands of thermal-conduction Runes, a red-flagged reconnaissance report suddenly popped up on the main screen of the control room.
[Warning: High-altitude reconnaissance network has detected abnormal, high-frequency Magic Power fluctuations.]
"Location," Allen said, immediately dropping his work.
[The edge of Zone 19, in the southern volcanic range.]
An overhead view quickly filled the holographic screen.
It was a real-time feed from a Demon Eye Mk. III deployed at high altitude.
The camera feed pierced through a thick layer of dark red clouds, focusing on several massive craters that were spewing black smoke.
On the rim of the largest crater, swarms of mechanical units were hard at work.
Dozens of Engineering Golems were hauling heavy metal components, while several tall, crimson Golems stood guard nearby.
They were assembling metal plates inscribed with intricate Runes, constructing a massive polygonal base over thirty meters in diameter.
In the center of the base, thick black pipes were being lowered into the boiling magma.
"Those are Victor’s Golems." Allen recognized the model of the guards at a glance—they were Victor’s personally designed, modified Molten Champions.
"What’s he up to?" Allen stared intently at the metal components being lowered into the crater.
[Analyzing target’s behavioral model...]
Streams of data from Jarvis flew across the light screen.
[Conclusion: The target is constructing a large-scale geothermal Magic Power extraction device. Its operating principle is highly similar to our own volcanic Magic Power furnaces.]
Allen scoffed.
’So it’s true what they say about professional rivalry,’ he thought.
Allen watched the bustling construction site on the screen.
’That guy moves fast. He must have run into a power bottleneck from his own expansion, too.’ freeweɓnovel.cѳm
Allen called up the geological survey maps for Zone 18 and Zone 19. A 3D projection of the two regions’ subterranean structures materialized.
[Geological data deep-dive complete. The volcanic range on the edge of Zone 19 and the lava lake in the southern part of Zone 18 belong to the same subterranean magma system. The Fire Elemental Magic Power in the underlying leylines is completely interconnected.]
Allen stared at the map of the connected underground network. It was like two people trying to drink soup from the same pot.
Once Victor’s extraction facilities were running at full capacity, the concentration of Fire Elemental Magic Power in the entire underground magma network would inevitably drop. When that happened, the output of Allen’s own volcanic Magic Power furnaces would be unavoidably affected.
[Dispatch Storm Falcon squadrons for cross-zone tactical harassment?] Jarvis offered a tactical suggestion.
"Sigh, we can’t be doing that. We’re both students of the same mentor."
Allen stood and walked over to the strategy table. "Besides, this is purely a technical rivalry. Resorting to military force is too crude; it’s not like we’re mortal enemies."
Allen’s finger tapped firmly on the Lava Lake area of the table.
"Jarvis, calculate the potential impact his extraction rate will have on us."
[Generating Magic Power model...]
[Three construction sites have been observed so far.]
[We lack precise data on their Fire Elemental Magic Power extraction. Based on projections from the Magic Power disturbances, seven of their sites would cause a minor impact. At ten sites, our Magic Power production capacity would decrease by 12%.]
"Is that so... Looks like I’ll have to have a talk with Victor. He is a major munitions client of mine, after all. It wouldn’t do to make things too ugly."
