Chapter 510, Electricity for 220,000 People
Wu Heng felt his head spinning.
A pirate whose wife was taken, wishing the couple happiness?
How could something like that happen to a pirate?
"Where is he now?"
"Sheila Grey locked him up in prison. I wanted to ask you if you could spare him. He's not a bad person; he even saved me," Philipa said, clinging to his arm. "Please, Dad!"
For Sheila Grey to imprison someone, it meant his name was on the wanted list.
Once someone was on the wanted list, unless a record was filed, it was nearly impossible to remove.
Releasing him outright was clearly not an option.
If he were caught again, it would likely cause trouble for the Gold-Silver Island Guild.
But, the man had indeed saved Philipa. Without him, Philipa would've died out there.
"I'll talk to Sheila Grey and see if we can give him a chance to atone for his crimes," Wu Heng said.
"What does 'atone for his crimes' mean?"
"It means earning merit to make up for past wrongs."
"Ohhh, you mages sure are cultured."
They returned to the room together.
The catgirl and lop-eared rabbit girl were enjoying the cool breeze on the sofa.
"Let's go! I'll take you to pick your rooms. You can choose from the second or third floor," Minnie called out to them.
Philipa chimed in, "I want to pick one too!"
"What do you need a room for? You don't even live here."
"There are so many rooms—it doesn't hurt for me to have one," Philipa said, quickly following them upstairs.
They all headed upstairs together.
...
Wu Heng returned to his bedroom and changed clothes.
He went to the radio room, picked up the microphone, and said, "Wen Mansa, I'm back on Gold-Silver Island. Don't worry."
He initially just wanted to say hello.
Wen Mansa's voice immediately came through the radio, "Master, did you have a smooth journey?"
"It went well. Nothing unusual on your end these past few days, right?"
"Nothing much. The municipal office has started recruiting new personnel, and the defensive skeletons have been reorganized," Wen Mansa reported.
Before leaving, Wu Heng had left nearly 20,000 skeletons behind.
They were all brought over from the Zombie World.
For Rentam City, that was a significant force.
If they launched a direct assault on Ekow Kingdom's eastern border city, they could likely take it.
He had also left behind some ammunition and off-road vehicles mounted with machine guns.
Conquering it wouldn't be easy for anyone else either.
Wu Heng reminded her, "Take care of yourself and don't overwork."
"Got it! Once the baby's born, I'll bring him to see you."
"Alright."
After ending the radio call, Wu Heng left the room.
He entered the alchemy laboratory across the hall.
...
The skeleton alchemists hadn't made much progress.
On the product shelves nearby, there were many finished potions and first-tier corpse core potions.
Wu Heng collected all of them.
He then went to the room of the mechanists.
Inside, the mechanists were still organizing their materials.
Wu Heng walked over to take a look.
He saw that the blueprint for the composite bow had been completed, with all the parts' materials and dimensions clearly marked.
During his absence, the skeletons hadn't fallen behind in their work.
He also collected the finished blueprints.
Heading back downstairs, he casually chatted with Minnie and the others.
...
Near dusk, Andviel returned from the municipal office.
At dinner,
Wu Heng listened to Andviel talk about the island's progress.
The construction team was still expanding facilities. The addition of engineering vehicles had accelerated the project by several times.
Workers were now on-site, starting to build houses.
Regarding procurement, the municipal office had signed agreements with six trade caravans. Two of them were for purchasing copper plates, not raw copper ore.
The other four were for purchasing white gunpowder and lead.
If the quality and delivery speed met the standards, further purchases would follow.
Minnie asked, "Why didn't you wait for Sister Shanella to handle the procurement? She could've saved us a lot of money."
Philipa added, "She and Wu Heng are lovers. But even here, we can't rely on one source for everything—it's like splitting sales to prevent competition."
"Previously, food and weapons were all bought together. What you're saying never happened," Minnie retorted.
Philipa scratched her head. "Then I don't know. Maybe there was an argument."
"Shanella isn't here. If she were, we'd have gone to her. Stop making wild guesses," Wu Heng said, then asked, "Has Shanella sent any messages recently?"
"No. Could she be in danger?" Minnie asked, looking up.
Wu Heng frowned, deep in thought. "She shouldn't be. She's back with her clan—no one should trouble her there."
"Yeah, that's true. Sister Shanella is so rich; everyone probably wants to please her."
They ate and chatted, while the new arrivals, Robe and Annette, quietly ate and listened to the conversation.
After dinner…
They trained for a while in the training room again.
Philipa returned to the tavern.
Wu Heng called all the maids into the living room.
Looking at Robe and Annette, he said, "I need to sign a slave contract with you. Minnie should have mentioned it to you."
The two exchanged glances and nodded. "Master, we're willing."
"Alright then, who wants to go first?"
The catgirl Robe stepped forward with a determined look, her head held slightly high. "I'll go first."
She had the air of someone boldly facing their fate.
Robe was from the feline branch of beastfolk, with ash-brown hair and matching cat ears and tail.
She was about 1.4 to 1.5 meters tall, a petite beastfolk girl.
Wu Heng smiled and said, "It's okay, don't be nervous. This won't affect your future life at all."
"I'm not nervous," Robe insisted stubbornly.
Wu Heng unrolled the contract scroll. "Just drop a bit of blood."
Robe extended the claw of her pinky finger, lightly pricking her fingertip to let a drop of blood fall onto the scroll.
The scroll absorbed the bloodstain, pulling Wu Heng's spiritual energy into Robe's forehead.
A mark formed briefly before quickly vanishing.
The contract was complete.
Robe swayed slightly as their souls became linked.
"Sit down and rest for now."
Robe bowed and then returned to her seat.
Next, Annette stepped forward voluntarily. "Do I also need to drop blood?"
"Yes," Wu Heng said, opening another slave contract scroll.
Annette, like Minnie, was from the rabbitfolk. She had an oval face, long brown hair, and white floppy rabbit ears.
Carefully, she pricked her finger with a dagger and let a drop of blood fall onto the scroll.
The contract was completed in the same manner.
Wu Heng said, "Alright, welcome aboard."
The two stood up and said, "Thank you, Master."
"If you're missing any daily necessities, just let Minnie know. When there's time, have her take you to the city or the beach. But if you don't know how to swim, don't go in the water—it's not a joke." Wu Heng gave them instructions.
"Yes, Master."
"That's it for today. Enjoy yourselves, but don't stay up too late—rest early," Wu Heng said before heading upstairs.
Minnie and Andviel led the new arrivals around the lord's manor.
They explained the purpose of different areas.
Some rooms were for experiments conducted by skeletons, and it was best not to disturb them without reason.
After going upstairs, Wu Heng checked Shanella's radio station in the radio room. Seeing no messages,
he returned to his room to rest.
...
The next day, in the Zombie World.
Wu Heng stepped outside the building and saw a convoy driving in through the main gate.
The vehicles stopped at the warehouse entrance in the distance, and survivors began unloading supplies.
He stood nearby, watching for a while.
Qi Hancai and Wang Haibing walked over from a distance.
"How's it going?"
Qi Hancai said, "The ruins from the fire have been cleared. The wiring repairs are ongoing, and it should be mostly done in a day or two."
"What about the central station?"
"The central station agreed to the terms. They'll provide 200-megawatt power schematics, enough to meet the annual electricity needs of 220,000 households."
Hearing this, Wu Heng felt that 220,000 households' worth of power was more than sufficient.
Not to mention, in the Zombie World, each settlement had only a few hundred people, and Gold-Silver Island had only tens of thousands.
Although it was still expanding, the population wouldn't increase that quickly.
It was more than enough for his needs.
"Sounds good," Wu Heng said, then asked, "What's the cost?"
"After some bargaining, it's 30 bags of grain, each weighing 100 kilograms."
The amount was significant but acceptable.
"How will it be transported?"
Qi Hancai replied, "They said we need to secure the airport, and they'll arrange for planes to deliver it."
The provincial capital did have an airport.
"Alright, have them send over the blueprints. Make sure they're detailed."
"Understood!"
Wu Heng then turned to Wang Haibing. "Engineer Wang, how's your progress?"
"I'm finished as well. Chief Qi Hancai took me to see the Flame Furnace. It can definitely meet the heat requirements. Here are the schematics I drew based on the original power plant. Replacing the old boiler should suffice."
As he spoke, he handed over a schematic.