117: The formation of the Huaxin faction in Sanctuary

After the power supply was fully secured, Shen Yuan's long-awaited server room also expanded. With various professional additions, Tian Ming's Shelter entered a period of rapid development.

Due to the surplus power and the transport helicopters provided by Hua Xin Group, a large amount of mechanical equipment was brought in from the city. Many of these devices were electrically powered, such as new energy transport vehicles and engineering vehicles, which allowed the progress of wall construction to be nearly completed within a month.

The increase in computing power also allowed the Shelter's automatic defense system to be rapidly set up, with automatic cannons and anti-aircraft machine guns deployed on the city walls.

Everything seemed to happen so naturally, yet it felt somewhat unreal.

In the conference room, Meng Xian stood at the podium with a draft in hand, while below, the main backbone of the Shelter sat. Tian Ming, with his legs crossed, sat at the front of the conference table, listening to Meng Xian's speech.

“In the past month, under the wise leadership of Boss Tian Ming, the Shelter's Laboratory expansion project, defense wall construction, and power supply have made significant progress. Currently, our next phase's goal is the greenhouse and the implementation of infrastructure material production. The Shelter will coordinate resources to support the construction in these two areas.”

As a Second-Class Ability User and an excellent manager, Meng Xian's prominence during this period had already surpassed that of the veteran housekeeper, Gouzi. As the leader of Hua Xin Group, Meng Xian's resource allocation ability was outstanding; he could quickly integrate existing resources and swiftly achieve the goals set by Tian Ming.

For the establishment of the Shelter's hospital, Meng Xian only took less than five days to complete the renovation of the old building, the layout planning of the hospital, and the relocation of equipment. Of course, he acted like a Commander, directing everything in an orderly manner, ensuring smooth cooperation among various departments.

It was also due to Meng Xian's management talent that Tian Ming gradually delegated power. In just over a month, he transformed from the outsider General Manager Meng to the Shelter's General Manager Meng, with his authority second only to Tian Ming.

After Meng Xian finished speaking, the applause below was not enthusiastic. People like Gouzi, Qiu Wuhui, Director Han, and Mr. Yuan clapped their hands, but their faces did not show much happiness.

Meng Xian was in his prime, and the entire management team of the Hua Xin Group base was essentially Meng Xian's people. In terms of infrastructure, Mr. Yuan's power seemed to have been hollowed out. They were clearly the Person in charge appointed by Tian Ming, but in specific matters, they had less and less say.

And there was the law enforcement team; Director Han was clearly the captain, but the newly arrived people did not really obey this captain. Tian Ming could also feel the strange atmosphere in the conference room. However, he did not react, nor would he openly defend those who felt wronged.

Sometimes, one had to play dumb. Since Meng Xian was so capable and useful, Tian Ming would not step on him when his enthusiasm was at its highest. After all, these people were all working for him.

As for the hollowing out of power and internal strife, Tian Ming did not care at all. What he wanted was a result: whoever was more capable, resources and power would lean towards them.

Tian Ming waved his hand with an old-fashioned air, like an old cadre, “General Manager Meng, no flattery. Since this is a mobilization meeting, quickly talk about the next phase's plan.”

Meng Xian nodded, then opened the folder in his hand.

“In the next phase, we must follow one principle: for things used in large quantities, we cannot rely on Boss Tian Ming; we need to produce them ourselves. Currently, what the Shelter urgently needs is cement and steel. There are two goals for the next phase: first is the production of cement and steel. These two have low technical barriers and are easy to manage. Moreover, we only need to meet our own needs.”

Sitting below, Shen Yi frowned. Producing steel not only required a large area but also had astonishingly high energy consumption. Although the Shelter had Tian Ming and did not need to worry about energy consumption, he did not quite agree with Meng Xian's proposal.

Shen Yi stood up and said, “General Manager Meng, I suggest we only need to build a cement factory. Cement raw materials are easy to find, but high-quality iron ore is more difficult. Both of these projects are high-energy-consuming industries. I suggest keeping only one. Currently, it seems cement is more urgent than rebar.”

As soon as these words came out, whispers spread throughout the conference room. Meng Xian glanced at Shen Yi. Although his expression did not change much, he was somewhat displeased in his heart.

Shen Yi's words clearly showed some disrespect to Meng Xian. However, Shen Yi's sister, Shen Yuan, and Tian Ming had an unusually good relationship. Although Meng Xian was unhappy, he very politely said, “The city has no shortage of steel. Isn't the entire city our iron ore?”

“General Manager Meng, my point is energy consumption. An induction furnace, even a small one, will consume one-third of the Shelter's power generation when operating. Personally, I feel that with such high energy consumption, it would be better to look for inventory in the city.”

Shen Yi did not care about saving face and bluntly retorted, leaving Meng Xian speechless. Meng Xian's old subordinates, whom he brought with him, were not happy and started to clamor.

“Finding inventory is easy, but this stuff is construction steel. How do you transport it once found? By helicopter? How high would the cost be?” someone in the conference room retorted.

Shen Yi retorted with a single sentence, saying, “Going to the city to get scrap steel for re-smelting, doesn't that also consume transportation capacity?”

As soon as these words came out, that person's words were abruptly swallowed back. Indeed, it seemed Shen Yi was in the right.

Tian Ming then spoke, “Let's build the cement factory first. Cement is used in more places and in larger quantities. The steel factory can be temporarily put aside and considered later when the Shelter has sufficient energy and needs to develop special steel.”

Tian Ming's words were final. Meng Xian was capable, that was true, but deep down, he was a bit eager to show off and overly ambitious. Tian Ming's stance was not overtly siding with anyone; he simply felt that Shen Yi's words made sense.

Since the Boss had spoken, Meng Xian could only nod. He continued, “Then there's the construction of the greenhouse. Hua Xin's old base has bioreactors that can produce starch. But this can only solve the problem of basic sustenance. The greenhouse is currently on the agenda and requires many things. Here, I hope the transport team and the Materials Group can cooperate.” Meng Xian glanced at Liu Chuan and Qiu Wuhui.

Liu Chuan was the captain of the transport team, while Qiu Wuhui was the captain of the Materials Group. However, they were only captains in name, especially Liu Chuan; the entire flight transport team was from Hua Xin Group. Qiu Wuhui's side was not much better, with more than half of his subordinates being Five-level Ability Users from Hua Xin Group.

One can imagine how difficult life must be for these two nominal leaders.