svetikya Chapter 86 1 Heading North
Chapter 86 1 Heading North
Chapter 86 Heading North
Immediately afterwards, the priest's mechanical tentacles pointed to the second curve, his tone becoming even more solemn.
"Secondly, there is a metabolic lag in the core toxicity."
"Advisor, your theory of bioaccumulation holds true on a macroscopic level, but at a microscopic level, the rate at which plants detoxify cannot keep up with their rapid growth."
"The latest destructive section analysis shows that although the epidermis has accumulated a large amount of heavy metals, high concentrations of neurotoxins still remain in the core of the wheat grain, which is the starch storage area."
"Even if we harvest it during the optimal window of 25 days, consuming this stuff will still plunge the Oglin apes into an irreversible berserk state, causing them to destroy the entire barracks."
The priest concluded, "As for the industrial hot air furnaces used by the child laborers, their power was too low. They could only perform preliminary surface baking and were completely incapable of penetrating the granite outer shell to decompose the core toxins."
Conclusion: The industrial capacity of the eastern granary is only sufficient for planting and primary harvesting.
"We lack large-scale equipment for deep biochemical detoxification and ultra-high pressure pulverization. If we are forced to deliver the goods, what we will deliver is not grain, but a batch of poison wrapped in stones."
"At that time, we will definitely have a place on the pyre in the courtroom."
Upon hearing this, Luo Wei frowned slightly.
If the existing outdated equipment in the eastern grain depot is forcibly used for processing, it is estimated that all the crushing equipment will be completely scrapped when one-tenth of the tithe target is met.
This is an obviously bad debt.
As an auditor, Luo Wei was well aware that when internal capacity could not cover production demand.
At the same time, when the marginal cost of technological upgrades becomes unbearably high, the only way out is:
Business outsourcing.
"We don't need to grind it ourselves."
Luo Wei pondered for a moment.
"The primary function of the eastern granary is cultivation. We are the source of raw materials, not the processing plant. Since our stomachs can't digest these stones, we'll find a good set of teeth to chew them up."
He got up and walked to the map hanging on the wall.
He picked up the black pointer and pointed it directly at the northern area.
The Seventh Agricultural War Zone, the northern granary.
"Butcher" Bill.
Luo Wei read out the name of the manager of the Northern Grain Depot.
"He possesses the most efficient and brutal corpse starch processing line in the entire Fertility II."
"Even the hard chitinous carapace of ordinary Tyranids will be turned into fine protein powder in front of his high-pressure crushing array."
"To him, processing our durum wheat was like crushing a biscuit with a hydraulic press."
Buck scratched his head and asked hesitantly, "But the supervisor, that Bill, he doesn't have a good reputation. I heard that anything that goes into his territory, whether it's a living person or a corpse, ends up as canned food. Will he really work for us honestly?"
"Of course he won't behave." Lowe turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.
"He will be greedy, he will try to drive down the price, and he will want to swallow up this batch of goods. However, in the face of absolute profit and survival pressure, greed can be leveraged."
Lowe stroked the black ring on his ring finger, a symbol of the governor's privilege.
"I want to go to the northern granary myself."
Eastern granary, abandoned transfer station in underground area B-3.
The sodium lamps flickered, casting shadows on the mottled concrete walls.
Alone, carrying a sealed lead bucket, Luo Wei walked toward the enormous creature that stood in the depths of darkness.
Chimera 1 transport vehicle.
This once cold, steel vehicle now seemed to possess strange signs of life.
The armor plate on the front of the vehicle is no longer smooth metal, but has an undulating texture similar to that of a crustacean, with a translucent keratinous membrane covering the surface.
As Loewe approached, the observation window at the front of the car, which had been closed and consisted of countless compound eyes, suddenly opened slowly.
"boom."
The engine did not start, but it emitted a low rumble.
A plume of warm white smoke billowed from the exhaust pipe, as if it were trying to curry favor with its owner.
Despite his seemingly docile demeanor, Lowe did not lower his guard.
What you see before you is a terrifying balance achieved after the decay of Nurgle and the evolution of Tyranitar fought each other at the microscopic level, and on this basis, a second evolution has taken place.
It is a monster that has been temporarily chained up.
If things get out of control, the first thing to be devoured will be the zookeeper.
"It's time to eat."
Lowe placed the lead bucket on the ground and opened the sealed lid.
A sour, foul odor immediately wafted through the air.
This is a high-concentration biomass slurry extracted by Father Alpha from the bodies of the twelve gene stealers who died in the underground reactor, mixed with some high-energy acid.
It is a "feed" specially formulated to maintain the ecological balance within the "Gluttony Wall".
A crack appeared in the armor plate at the front of the vehicle, revealing barbed metal tentacles inside.
The tentacles greedily reached into the lead bucket, producing a chilling sucking sound.
As the feeding continued, the cuticle layer on the car's surface became even shinier and harder.
The previously rusted track joints secreted a black, lubricating slurry, completing their self-maintenance.
Luo Wei watched this scene quietly.
I ticked a box on my mental "Fixed Asset Maintenance Log".
He brought the car with him not only for self-defense.
Based on a warning from Chief of the Guard Lilith, Bill, the manager of the northern granary, is one of the suspects targeted for infiltration by the "Children of the Stars" cult.
Human eyes can be deceived by aliens and chaos, and bird vision can be interfered with, but this vehicle, infused with Terran genes, will not.
It is the best biological radar.
If Bill or the people around him were truly aliens in human skin, then the car would definitely trigger a special "appetite" reaction when it approached them.
"Eat your fill, then get to work."
Rowe patted the car's hard armor.
The vibrations of the vehicle body become smooth and powerful, which is a signal that it is in optimal working condition.
Buck led in a squad of elite defense troops, who were fully armed and well-trained.
Buck stepped forward and loudly reported, "Supervisor, everything's ready. These kids, they're as excited as if they're going to a brothel when they hear we're going to the northern granary."
Luo Wei glanced at the crowd and said, "Tell them to watch their eyes and hands. The rules in the northern granary are different from ours. There, if someone accidentally falls into the shredder, no one will press the stop button."
The convoy drove out of the blast-proof gate of the eastern grain depot and onto the desolate connecting road.
After most of the day had passed.
As the convoy headed north at high speed, the scenery outside the window began to change.
The wasteland, which was originally the granary of the east and was filled with acid mist and sparse vegetation, is gradually disappearing.
It has become more industrialized and more oppressive.
Luo Wei looked out the car window into the distance.
On the horizon, a steel jungle appeared.
Instead of skyscrapers, there are countless, massive chimneys.
They resemble a black forest, ceaselessly spewing thick, brownish-yellow smoke into the atmosphere day and night.
The smoke contained only a small amount of coal ash; most of it consisted of atomized oil particles.
This is the northern granary.
The entire stomach of Fengrao No. 2 is also the largest slaughterhouse.
Buck, overwhelmed by the pungent, greasy, and burnt smell, covered his nose and grumbled, "It stinks like hell! It's worse than our septic tank back home. How can these people eat after smelling this all day?"
"This is the taste of wealth, Buck," Lowe said softly, gazing out the window at the dense network of massive conveyor pipes.
"Tens of thousands of tons of organic raw materials are processed here every day. Every wisp of smoke represents a standard ration of food produced."
"According to the Ministry of the Interior's ledgers, the air here smells sweet."
The convoy entered the checkpoint at the northern granary.
The defenses here are far more robust and brutal than those in the eastern granaries.
Luo Wei's gaze swept across the checkpoint, and he discovered that the guards stationed there were actually a group of heavily modified mech servants, rather than the ordinary defense forces he had expected.
Half of their heads were removed and replaced with bulky target lock devices, and their arms were welded directly to the triggers of heavy-explosive machine guns.
They don't need rest or pay; as long as they are given nutrient solution on time, they are the most loyal watchdogs.
On one side of the checkpoint, Rowe saw a scene that left a deep impression on him.
A giant raw material conveyor belt is roaring as it operates.
On the conveyor belt, there were not only clumps of corpse starch slurry, but also some waste materials deemed "non-recyclable":
For example, the remains of the Tyranids, or the skeleton of some mutated behemoth.
On both sides of the conveyor belt stood hundreds of ragged laborers.
Their job is simple:
Using the long hook in their hands, they pulled out the large pieces of bone that were stuck in the machine.
An old foreman with slow movements failed to hook out a stuck leg bone in time, causing the conveyor belt to stop for two seconds.
The next moment, the supervisor standing on the platform pulled the trigger without hesitation.
The laser beam pierced through the old foreman's chest.
His body fell onto the conveyor belt and was instantly pulled into the pre-crushing gear in front.
"Click."
The machine started running again.
There was no pause, no mourning, and no one even gave it a second glance.
That old foreman thus became part of the next batch of military rations.
Luo Wei withdrew his gaze, his face expressionless.
This is the management logic of the northern granary.
Here, human life is not an asset, but a real consumable.
This is a crude approach to asset management.
Luo Wei made his own assessment.
High levels of wear and tear mean extremely high human replacement costs.
While this model can maintain high efficiency in the short term, it represents an unsustainable downward curve in the long-term financial statements.
In contrast, Lowe's "sustainable crushing" in the eastern grain silos:
They provided medical treatment to the workers, offered them slightly better food, and established family units.
Although the initial investment is high, the depreciation rate of the asset is much lower.
At that moment, a report came through the communicator in the car in front.
"Supervisor, they've let us through."
"Bill's men said he's waiting for you in the banquet hall."
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