Chapter 332: Citing Development Projects
Rubedo stared at the cascading text with a wide grin. He had just ripped centuries of industrial revolution straight from a corporate memory scrape.
’So it was more like a personalized automated event?’ he wondered.
The technological leap handed his faction the exact tools needed to modernize the entire continent. He tapped the execution key on the terminal to permanently integrate the schematics into his dominion interface.
"We are taking the foundries to the next tier," Rubedo ordered through the neural tether. "Krug. Mobilize the engineers. We have a new catalog to build."
Rubedo swiped his fingers across the console to project a cascading wall of digitized schematics.
The blueprints extracted from the corporate executive flooded the central monitor. Diagrams of internal combustion engines, rifled ballistics, and mechanized transport lines illuminated the dark sanctuary.
Brass Construct rotated its ocular lenses to scan the scrolling geometry. The mechanical deity processed the advanced structural data with audible clicks of its internal gears.
"I am transferring the complete archive to your terminal." Rubedo tapped the execution key to initiate the download. "You possess the required engineering proficiency to decipher these designs. Begin manufacturing the assembly conveyors and the concrete refiners immediately."
"The schematics indicate an unprecedented technological leap." Brass Construct extended a metallic appendage to manipulate its own localized interface. "Implementing these production lines requires a massive geographical footprint. We need a vast expanse of completely leveled terrain to establish the initial factory grid."
Rubedo brought up the digital map of the Fourth Continent. He highlighted the southeastern quadrant previously governed by the crimson-robed kings.
"We start in the Morval Dynasty." Rubedo enlarged the ruined borders. "The Vanguard already reduced their capital to rubble and the local population is almost non-existent. We possess a complete blank slate. Pave over the ash and lay the foundation for the primary manufacturing hubs."
Gorr leaned her elbows onto her stone table within her separate video feed. She studied the highlighted sectors with a critical gaze.
"My Molekin can excavate the necessary quarries in Morval within a week." Gorr rubbed a thumb over her chin. "We pull the iron and ship it directly to the new assembly lines."
Rubedo shifted the digital projection westward. He expanded the glowing parameters to cover the vast golden dunes of the Third Continent.
"Once the Morval factories reach full operational capacity, we break ground in the desert." Rubedo marked the shifting sands surrounding Ignisar’s domain. "We build the secondary industrial sector right over the Sea of Glass."
Gorr crossed her arms and glared at the monitor. "You intend to build a mechanized city in a desert. Sand shifts and swallows stone. You cannot establish concrete foundations in a terrain that actively rejects permanent architecture."
A smirk stretched across Rubedo’s face. He leaned back against his obsidian throne and steepled his fingers.
"A man from my world had friends who told him the exact same thing." Rubedo tilted his head. "They claimed building an empire in a barren wasteland was impossible. He ignored them and built a massive, thriving country directly out of sand and water."
Sylara adjusted the white silk-moth fabric draped over her shoulders. Her bioluminescent spores cast a pale blue glow across her video feed.
"Are you referring to the United Arab Emirates?" Sylara peered into her camera.
Rubedo nodded. "I am."
Sylara traced a pale finger across her wooden armrest. "That nation completely collapsed into ruins near the end of 2050. Rising sea levels and economic destabilization buried the cities. Nothing survives there now except scavengers."
Rubedo froze. The smirk vanished from his face instantly. His hands remained steepled over his chest, and his knuckles turned completely white.
Gorr looked between the two on her monitors and scratched her rocky cheek. Brass Construct continued processing the downloaded schematics in the background.
While Rubedo stared blindly at the glowing holographic map in absolute silence.
Rubedo stared at the glowing projections of his vassal gods. The fifty year gap required immediate clarification.
"Give me a complete debriefing on Earth’s history from 2024 to 2077." Rubedo leaned forward on his throne. "Detail the technological shifts and corporate conflicts."
Sylara adjusted her white silk hood and recounted the timeline. She detailed massive resource wars over everything, including artificial intelligence, the collapse of global supply chains, and the eventual rise of mega corporations dominating the remaining habitable zones.
Gorr corroborated the events with descriptions of automated labor forces and orbital resource extraction.
Rubedo processed the information while tapping his fingers against the obsidian armrest. His foundational knowledge of internal combustion engines and basic ballistics fell entirely behind the current era.
Rubedo looked directly at Brass Construct through the video feed. "Focus entirely on the topography of the Third and Fourth Continents. We need volatile fuel sources to power the new assembly conveyors."
Brass Construct manipulated its interface with multiple appendages. "The organic matter from the bio-reactor runoff possesses high combustibility. Mixing the runoff with the acidic swamp ooze creates an optimal industrial propellant."
Sylara leaned closer to her screen. "The hive-minds can channel the swamp ooze directly through the subterranean root network. We pump the acid straight into the Morval sectors."
Gorr scratched her chin. "My miners will dig the holding vats in the Morval bedrock. We combine the ooze and the runoff there to feed the foundry engines."
The holographic map shifted to display the Morval Dynasty. Rubedo routed the newly synthesized fuel lines through the ruined kingdom. The architectural overlay replaced the shattered palaces with massive automated smelting facilities.
"Standard fuel only operates the conveyor belts." Rubedo pointed at the screen. "We require a superior catalyst for the primary blast furnaces. Harvest the remaining monster cores from the ongoing dungeon breaks and spatial rifts. Let them serve as an advantage for us."
Iron-Scale stepped into the visual frame from the Tarnstead perimeter. "The Vanguard secured thousands of cores from the labyrinth. We will ship the catalysts to the Morval borders by morning."
The Morval Dynasty officially transformed into a sprawling grid of foundries fueled entirely by mutated biology and harvested monsters.
The new industrial engine of the Fourth Continent was fully mapped.