Chapter 480: Awakening Knight, The Unknown Craftsman's Decision |
"Heh... heh..."
Accompanied by heavy, rasping breaths, the experimental subjects within the power plant's turbine wheels stood up one by one, their postures twisted and bizarre.
They could no longer be recognized from their previous forms.
Emaciated bodies, heads twitching erratically, yellowish-brown eyes staring vacantly into the surroundings, devoid of any hint of sanity.
"Activate the electric shock!"
The head of the Power Plant Research Department, standing inside the power plant's monitoring room, issued the command.
Even though his legs had already gone somewhat weak...
With his command given, the staff pressed the shock button, and the pre-charged batteries began releasing electrical pulses.
Crackle—
The sudden assault sent the Swiftstriders into a state of instinctive panic.
With savage roars, they began sprinting at breakneck speed.
Whoosh—
Under the Swiftstriders' frantic running, the turbine wheels started accelerating from slow to fast.
Soon, the wheels were spinning at high velocity.
As the wheels rotated at high speed, currents of electricity were generated through the turbine generators, then gathered and channeled.
The research team members, who had been bracing themselves, watched the electrical data appearing on the monitoring room's instrument panel.
They erupted in joyful cheers.
"We did it! We succeeded!"
Hearing the triumphant cries, the head of the Research Department, who had been trembling slightly from the Swiftstrider Infected's presence, let out a long, relieved sigh of stale air.
Then a radiant smile broke across his face.
"We did it! Our design is a success!"
Behind him, the others had already started celebrating.
Yu Yuan walked over.
"How is it? What's the power output?"
"Leader..." The department head stared at the data, his voice brimming with excitement. "With a base of one hundred turbine units, the power generation is almost exactly what we predicted. The hourly output is around two hundred eighty-five kilowatts, and daily production is approximately sixty-eight hundred kilowatt-hours."
Hearing the numbers, Yu Yuan smiled.
He looked at the generator research team.
"Excellent. But this is only the beginning. This place will become the logistical hub of our civilization, and this amount of power is far from sufficient. We need to start expanding step by step."
"Yes, Leader! We already have a complete expansion plan. As long as the supply of Swiftstrider Infected is guaranteed, we will absolutely fulfill the mission."
"Good! I trust you!"
With the official operation of the Swiftstrider Power Plant, now that electricity was available in Giant Tree Valley, various buildings and facilities began to function one after another.
The production line in the food processing area also buzzed with activity. All the processed beasts became raw materials for canned meat.
From this moment on, the development of the Giant Tree World had entered the right track.
Yu Yuan looked at the busy research team members in Giant Tree Valley, as well as the Pioneering Group members patrolling in the distance.
He frowned slightly.
"There are still too few people!"
He actually had quite a number of people, but after being distributed across several worlds, the population felt strained.
There were too few members for production, too few experimental subjects to transform into Swiftstriders, and too few warriors.
Yu Yuan opened the Shelter Leaderboard, his eyes flickering with thought.
It was time to launch an invasion war.
After a moment of contemplation, Yu Yuan sent a message to Carmen.
[Wolf Den · King: Solicit opinions from those soldiers who cannot complete 'Basic Infantry' training. Anyone willing to transfer to production positions may have priority...]
[Lone Wolf: Roger that!]
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Aurora Animal Assistance Association.
Knight slowly awoke, his mind still hazy.
"Hmm? Am I... alive?"
Looking at the bright lights before him, as well as the alloy walls and reinforced glass windows surrounding him, he began to wonder where he was.
He struggled to sit up, only to realize that the molten lava energy inside his body was incredibly sluggish, clearly suppressed by some kind of restriction.
This made Knight frown slightly.
His Silver-tier life force could be restrained like this? This faction was definitely no ordinary group.
"Hey! You're awake?"
A somewhat rough voice sounded from within the room.
Only then did Knight notice that there was actually someone sitting in the corner.
"Who are you... Where is this?"
Knight asked.
But the man showed no intention of answering. Instead, he began counting down slowly.
"Five... four... three... two... one..."
"You—" Knight grew impatient, but before he could finish his sentence, he saw a team of researchers wearing protective suits appear outside the glass observation window.
Finally, a man walked out. He had a lazy expression, wore a loose robe, and was clearly someone in a position of authority.
He turned his gaze toward Knight, a sinister smirk curling on his lips.
He spoke slowly:
"Knight, formerly serving as a Bishop in the Orthodox Church. Your body is fused with Molten Demon bloodline, Silver-tier strength. Two days ago, you were attacked in the Greenwood Sea, severely wounded, and on the brink of death."
"Is the information correct?"
Knight's eyes narrowed upon hearing this. It wasn't surprising that they knew about his injuries, given he had appeared here.
But the fact that they knew his name and his position in the Orthodox Church... That was a serious problem.
Jiu Feng paid no further attention to Knight's expression.
"I'll give you a chance. Tell us, what was it that nearly killed you?"
Knight looked around the room again, a suspicion forming in his mind.
"This is the Aurora Animal Assistance Association? The cult?"
A smirk played at the corner of Jiu Feng's lips.
"Oh~ Pretty clever, aren't you? Seems like you know a lot about us!"
A look of realization flickered in Knight's eyes, but his mouth said:
"The cult, the existence behind you is already having trouble saving itself. I didn't expect any of you to still be alive. Impressive, really."
"The cult has no future. You've probably lost contact with headquarters by now, haven't you? If you ask me, why don't you just join the Orthodox Church? Given your current strength, I'm sure our Lord would be very happy to accept you."
Knight looked at Jiu Feng with a flash of confidence in his eyes.
He was certain that the man before him had no idea about the existence behind the cult.
But the fall of the cult's headquarters was something he had witnessed with his own eyes.
Therefore, he was quite confident in the olive branch he had just extended.
He completely failed to notice the man behind him.
The burly man crouching on the ground, also imprisoned, had a faint, barely perceptible sneer on his lips.
Nor did he catch the glint of pleasant surprise in Jiu Feng's eyes.
"You're saying you know exactly what happened to our cult?"
"That's right. The cult is finished. Joining the Orthodox Church is the most correct choice."
Jiu Feng gave Knight a long, hard look, then a slight curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Maybe, after we finish discussing the question I asked earlier, we can talk more deeply about those issues. Consider it payment for us saving your life. How about that?"
Hearing this, Knight flashed a confident smile.
"Of course."
Then he stopped paying attention.
Jiu Feng turned his gaze toward the corner.
"Craftsman, have you made your decision? Our leader saved you because he values your abilities. It's time to decide."
The burly man in the corner of the detention cell, upon hearing this, slowly rose to his feet, much to Knight's astonishment.
"I am willing to join your civilization. But I need to speak with the leader personally."