63: Which company has the best excavator technology?

"Damn it, I can operate this thing too! Why do you get to? Why?"

"Exactly, exactly! I'm putting it out there today, this excavator must be operated by me!"

Inside the work shed, several men were arguing fiercely.

Shen Yi's excavator had been assembled and driven to the construction site.

Mr. Yuan was recruiting excavator operators on site, and after some back and forth, the salary of 2500 grams of food tickets immediately caused a frenzy.

Anyone with a brain knew that this job was worth it, and 2500 grams of food tickets meant they could eat meat every meal in the cafeteria.

Was there anything more appealing than eating meat in the Shelter?

These men were red-faced from arguing, and it looked like a fight was about to break out.

"What are you doing? What's all the noise about?" Dog walked over with a few people.

"Brother Dog, for one excavator, there are 10 people who want to be the operator.

They all tried it out, and the operation isn't difficult.

Everyone can do it, so they're at a standstill."

Dog glanced at the small excavator and said, "What's there to argue about? The boss duplicated a dozen of them, one for each person.

Shen Yi is debugging them now, and he'll give them to you when they're ready."

"A dozen?" Everyone exclaimed, and from Brother Dog's tone, it didn't seem like a joke.

"That's right, a dozen.

If you keep arguing, I'll send all of you to the isolation room."

Dog waved his hand and left with those people, leaving the others looking at each other in dismay.

Meanwhile, in the work sheds on the east side of the Shelter, brand new excavators were being duplicated one after another.

With the ability to precisely control matter, Tian Ming found it easier to duplicate large equipment.

A lot of things had been duplicated during this period, and most of the steel in the Shelter was about to be used up by Tian Ming.

"Boss, since we have these devices, I think we should build an energy point.

Gasoline, diesel, liquid hydrogen, natural gas—we need to store some, otherwise it's troublesome to come to you for replenishment every time we run out," Shen Yi suggested.

Tian Ming nodded slightly and said, "Hmm, that makes sense, but so much energy piled together is also very dangerous, like a time bomb!

How about this, when they dig the foundation pit, they can make a bunker, and I'll centralize the fuel storage inside."

"Hmm, good idea.

I'll discuss it with Grandpa Yuan and have him start planning the Underground City while excavating the earthwork," Shen Yi said.

Tian Ming raised an eyebrow and asked, "Underground City?"

Shen Yi nodded and said, "It's a concept.

If the celestial ring continues to exist, it will definitely be very cold in the next ten or twenty years.

Although there's a heating system, it's not a long-term solution.

First, we'll open up some small Shelters underground, mainly for storing supplies, weapons, and ammunition, and also to serve as temporary refuge."

Shen Yi had this idea because of the mutated Metal Zombie.

Such evolved zombies would become more and more common in the future.

Although there were walls outside the Shelter, no one could guarantee that they would hold.

Opening up Shelters underground made defense simpler; as long as the entrances were guarded, they could basically rest easy.

"Alright, as expected, you are my right-hand man.

Your sense of crisis is very strong," Tian Ming praised.

Shen Yi smiled and said seriously, "Actually, all of this is built upon your abilities, Boss.

Without you, none of our ideas would be possible."

Tian Ming smiled slightly and said, "It's good that you understand.

Now the progress of the city wall has greatly accelerated, thanks to your excavators."

Shen Yi said, "Boss, next, it's time to upgrade the energy system.

More and more places are using electricity now, and our energy storage station's load is already close to full capacity."

From the initial small energy storage station, more and more places had been electrified, and the electricity stored in the battery pack was no longer sufficient.

Moreover, the Shelter's power generation capacity was worrying.

Tian Ming was considering replacing human-powered generation with Shen Yi's hydrogen fuel generation.

In addition, the batteries in the energy storage station also needed to be tripled, as the power generation batteries played a crucial role in regulating the entire Shelter's power grid and stabilizing voltage.

Once Shen Yi had an idea, he would design and plan it thoroughly before officially implementing it.

......

"Boss, you must do me justice..."

A woman burst in from outside the work shed, and upon seeing Tian Ming, she immediately fell to her knees at his feet.

The woman's face was extremely pale, her lips were purple from the cold, and her whole body was trembling.

Tian Ming frowned and said, "What's this about doing justice? Get up and speak."

The woman was clearly very weak; she struggled to get up.

Her voice trembled as she said, "I want to file a complaint, Boss.

I want to complain about my boyfriend, Liu Yu."

Tian Ming couldn't be bothered with such matters.

He told the woman, "For this, find Dog! Don't come to me, I don't have time for such trivial matters."

With a thud, the woman knelt down, tears streaming down her face.

"Boss, my name is Yang Qian.

You can check how many food tickets I've earned.

That beast, he ate my food, drank my drinks.

These days, he even let other men into my bed."

Tian Ming's brows furrowed upon hearing this.

Yang Qian continued, "Boss, when I refused, he hit me and threatened me, saying he would kill me if I went to complain.

Look."

As Yang Qian spoke excitedly, she pulled open her cold-weather jacket; the clothes underneath were tattered, but horrifying wounds could be seen.

Shen Yi, standing nearby, glanced at Tian Ming and said, "Boss, I think you should intervene."

Tian Ming picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "Dog, call Liu Yu over!"

Dog was visibly stunned.

Normally, he would have agreed without a second thought.

But this time, Dog asked, "Boss, why call Liu Yu?"

Tian Ming immediately understood why Yang Qian hadn't gone to Dog but had come directly to him.

"Go call him over.

I'm in the biggest factory building in the northeast!"

Only then did Dog say, "Okay, okay, Boss!"

Ten-odd minutes later, Liu Yu stood before Tian Ming.

The young man was 1.8 meters tall, well-proportioned and sturdy, with sword-like eyebrows, large eyes, and a high nose bridge, looking very handsome.

When Yang Qian saw her boyfriend, she immediately pounced on him, scratching wildly.

"Beast, letting other men play with your woman, you're worse than an animal!

I'll fight you to the death!" Yang Qian roared hysterically, like an enraged lioness.

Liu Yu stood there and did not retaliate.

He wouldn't dare to act rashly in front of the boss.

Tian Ming waved his hand, and a chair appeared behind him.

He sat down, crossed his legs, and told Yang Qian, "Alright, stop hitting him!"

Yang Qian didn't stop at all, seemingly not hearing him.

Tian Ming frowned, and Yang Qian immediately froze.

Tian Ming directly confined the air around Yang Qian, which was equivalent to directly confining Yang Qian herself.

Yang Qian's chest heaved violently; she bit her teeth, glaring fiercely at Liu Yu, as if she wanted to tear him to shreds.

After a moment, she finally calmed herself down.

Tian Ming glanced at Liu Yu and slowly said, "Confess yourself.

What did you do, and what's going on between you and her?"