bookbashuk Chapter 62 Free Solid Fuel
Chapter 62 Free Solid Fuel
Chapter 62 Free Solid Fuel
With the airtight door closed, the suffocating heat was kept out.
Luo Wei took the sealed box but did not open it immediately.
Instead, one observes the sample inside through an observation window.
A dark red solid grease, mixed with fibrous impurities.
"Alfa, conduct a combustion test."
The priest extended his robotic arm, took a small sample from the box, and placed it into the combustion chamber of the vehicle-mounted laboratory.
"call!"
The sample, about the size of a fingernail, burst into flames the moment it was ignited.
The orange-red flame was very stable, while releasing an astonishing amount of heat.
On the screen of the vehicle-mounted analyzer, the numbers were fluctuating wildly.
"High-density lipid polymers, with a very high carbon content, have a calorific value equivalent to 65% of standard titanium fuel!" Father Alpha exclaimed.
It was rare for Luo Wei to show a smile.
The Ninth Agricultural War Zone was once the largest corpse disposal center in the Fertility II area.
Millions of corpses transported from other hive cities were crushed and exploited here.
Those high-calorie fats that cannot be converted into starch have not disappeared.
Conversely, under the influence of the filth-absorbing force, it combines with underground fungi, settles, aggregates, and finally forms this "carpet" that covers the entire hall.
Of course, this is not unique.
In the depths of certain hives in Holy Terra, this substance is known as "corpse wax coal".
Loewy prefers to call it "free solid fuel."
Although this fuel has too many impurities to be added to the sophisticated chimera engine or fed to those delicate generator sets.
However, the Seventh Grain Depot still has more than a dozen old-fashioned crematoriums and steam boilers.
These iron lumps are also things that eat everything.
If we could transport these "carpets" all over the ground back, it would be enough to replace at least 30% of the huge amount of energy consumed.
It can be used not only to boil water and provide heating, but also perhaps to power primary power generation equipment.
"I've struck it rich."
Luo Wei silently recited a sentence in his mind.
"Lower the engineering bucket at the front of the truck and open the cargo hold cover."
Rowe gave the order via the car's public address system.
"Listen up, you death row inmates and the three members of the Rust Gang. I know you're scared and it's hot. Now that we're here, we can't go back empty-handed."
He pointed to the dark red substance scattered on the ground outside the window.
"That stuff is excellent fuel; it can give you hot showers in winter and make the canteen boiler boil hot soup."
"Scoop up these 'carpets' and fill all the empty space."
"After we finish this job, everyone will get an extra bottle of liquor and three cans of beef when we get back. I, Luo Wei, keep my word."
The condemned prisoners' eyes lit up.
Spirits and canned beef were scarce hard currencies.
The car door opened.
More than a dozen figures, dressed in bulky heat-insulating suits, rushed out.
They brandished shovels and picks, and began frantically digging up the "coal ash" from the ground.
However, just as the excavation work was in full swing...
Buck, who had been tilting his head to the side with his ear pressed against the car wall, nervously raised his hand.
"stop!"
He growled into the communication channel.
Because his mechanical cochlea detected an unusual frequency.
"What's wrong?"
Loewe immediately signaled for everyone to stop.
"Advisor, I heard a strange sound." Buck frowned.
"A monster's roar?"
Buck shook his head and said, "It's a clanging sound. Metal hitting metal. Very rhythmic. Clang, clang..."
when----"
He paused, trying to discern details mixed in with the background noise. "I also heard the sound of the pressure relief valve opening."
Luo Wei's expression darkened.
Rhythm means regularity.
Having a pattern means having wisdom and being organized.
Nurgle's demons are typically chaotic, bloated, and sluggish.
They can only make gurgling sounds and eating noises.
The sounds Buck heard indicated that even in this hellish depths, "workers were still at work."
"Fall back."
Luo Wei made a decisive decision.
"Load what you dug up into the truck. Everyone, get back in the truck immediately. Turn off the headlights and turn on low-light night vision mode. Let's go over and take a look."
Greedy as he may be, Lo Wei never gambles with his life.
The convoy started again.
This time, they slowly crept along the shadows at the edge of the hall toward the direction from which the sound came.
After advancing about 500 meters and rounding a collapsed transmission tower, the view suddenly opened up before us.
Even with Luo Wei's calm personality, he couldn't help but hold his breath when he saw this scene.
In the center of the hall, where the core crushing unit should have been, stands a "volcano".
In terms of construction, it is a giant structure that is thirty meters high.
It is formed by the fusion of flesh and metal.
The base was originally an industrial reactor, but now it is covered by countless proliferating fleshy tissues.
Dark red muscle fibers, like cables, tightly wrapped around the metal shell, writhe in response to changes in internal pressure.
The top of the "volcano" is an open vent.
Thick smoke billowed out from it.
It emitted a nauseating meaty smell and a high concentration of acidic gases.
Around the "volcano," several heavy cranes, not yet completely damaged, are operating slowly.
The crane was not operated by a human.
They were several humanoid creatures with bulky bodies and heights exceeding two meters.
They were wearing rotting hazmat suits that had grown into their flesh.
The gas mask on the face is integrated with the skin, and the breathing tube hangs down in front of the chest like a tendril.
Their movements were stiff, yet exceptionally precise.
On the crane's hook hung strings of corpses transported from a ground conveyor belt.
A swollen, fermented corpse that resembled a giant.
These "workers" skillfully manipulated the boom.
These corpses were precisely thrown into the crater of the "volcano" that emitted a temperature of 300 degrees Celsius, just like coal.
"Glug, glug."
A clear swallowing sound came from inside the "volcano," accompanied by the roar of the liquid churning on the surface.
"Are they in production?"
Susan covered her mouth, saying incredulously.
Luo Wei's gaze, however, was frighteningly calm.
These tireless Nurgle zombies.
They didn't roar, they didn't attack, they just repeated the work they did in life.
This is muscle memory etched into their decaying cerebral cortex.
For them now, whether the empire has fallen or not is completely irrelevant.
Importantly, the boiler must not be shut off, and the raw materials must be fed in.
"This is a giant autoclave, or you could describe it as a pressure cooker," Luo Wei said in a deep voice. "These workers are cooking a pot of high-energy broth for the Lord of Plague."
Lo Wei felt a sense of absurdity.
These monsters are more efficient than my own laborers who are always thinking about slacking off.
There were no complaints, no rest, and no need for wages.
What a twisted yet efficient industrial order this is!
"Advisor, look over there!"
Father Alpha's robotic arm is pointing towards the side of the "volcano".
At the edge of that giant meat reactor, several incongruous-looking silver devices were connected.
They were forcibly connected to the "volcano's" circulation system by several thick pipes.
The indicator lights on the top of several devices were still glowing an eerie green light.
"Industrial-grade centrifuges."
Luo Wei recognized the target at a glance.
"Model M36, Terra standard manufacturing. Three units in total, all operational." Father Alpha trembled. "Were they used as filters, or as spice jars?"
Then, the priest said somewhat angrily, "These monsters connected several sophisticated instruments to their broth boilers to separate impurities from the soup. They've defiled the machine spirit!"
Luo Wei quickly calculated the risks and benefits in his mind.
The goal is right in front of us.
distance:
Approximately 150 meters.
obstacle:
A boiling Nurgle reactor, and at least seven or eight massive Nurgle walkers known as "Workers".
Potential threat: What is being cooked in the "volcano" could give birth to a high-level demon at any time.
"We must remove the centrifuge."
Just as Rowe was preparing to order the formulation of a takeover plan.
"Click."
A slight, crisp sound.
It didn't come from the convoy, but from the control panel of that "volcano".
One of the Nurgle zombies that was operating the lever suddenly stopped what it was doing.
It incorporates the head of a gas mask, twisting it 180 degrees.
Two black glass goggles on the gas masks locked onto the shadows where the convoy was hiding.
Then, the second one, the third one—
All the "workers" who were working stopped at the same time.
The entire hall suddenly fell silent.
Only inside that "volcano" could one still hear the bubbling and boiling sounds.
The fragments of the Nurgle amulet on Rowe's body began to radiate scorching heat through the double-layered lead plates.
This is what it feels like to be watched.
To be precise, it was being watched by some kind of intelligent malice.
Lo Wei remained calm.
He closed the notebook in his hand expressionlessly, stuffed it back into his breast pocket, and then patted Father Alpha in the driver's seat, who looked somewhat bewildered.
"It seems we don't need to stealth anymore. Alpha, activate the active predation mode of 'Wall of Gluttony'."
"Buck, get the heavy weapons team ready and take down those cranes up ahead!"
Then he looked up and stared into the eyes of the grime walker through the bulletproof glass.
"Since the host has discovered it, there's no need to be polite."
"Remember, we want three centrifuges, assets of the Empire. Anyone who damages them will be stuffed into that boiler!"
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