Chapter 598

Chapter 598: Project Deployment

After deciding to launch the sewer project, Luo Ji naturally would not start construction directly in Mirror City.

The scale of Mirror City was simply too large.

If something went wrong during construction, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Therefore, it was better to first choose some small-scale cities and let the badgermen get some practice.

With this thought in mind, Luo Ji’s attention fell on Gear Town.

After all, Gear Town had Gawain, a modern man, stationed there.

Even if something went wrong midway, with a modern mind like Gawain’s, he should be able to salvage the situation.

Thus, Gawain, who had been serving as town lord for some time, was soon summoned to Mirror City by Luo Ji.

“Your Majesty, when exactly is that Kaifeng Fried Chicken branch of yours going to open in my town? I have to specially run to the neighboring city just to eat a hamburger, it’s such a hassle.”

“Is that the first thing you bring up?”

Looking at Gawain, who walked in full of complaints, Luo Ji showed a helpless expression.

Then, after sighing, he said:

“It’s already being expanded. The Myriad Worlds Civilization has dozens of cities of all sizes, and right now the construction teams are short on manpower. Opening branches takes time.”

In fact, after opening Kaifeng Fried Chicken and braised food branches in several major cities, Luo Ji had quickly transferred the extra manpower to more important water conservancy repairs and the Azure Water City project.

As for opening new branches, he had only left behind a 10-person team to work slowly.

This also conveniently gave the poultry industry of the Myriad Worlds Civilization some breathing room.

Otherwise, if branches were opened too quickly and poultry farming could not keep up, leading to shortages, then opening shops with nothing to sell would be meaningless.

As for why Gear Town had not been included yet.

How would he know?

He was the emperor, alright?

Handling countless affairs every day.

Did he really need to personally worry about the order of opening shop branches?

Once the shops were set up, he had basically handed everything else over to his subordinates.

That said, for something this small, it was still just a matter of a single sentence from him.

“Perfect timing. I have something for you to handle. If you do it well, I’ll let you jump the queue.”

As he spoke, Luo Ji pushed a simple proposal he had prepared in advance in front of Gawain.

Gawain flipped it open and was immediately surprised.

“Sewers? This is a massive project, Your Majesty. Didn’t you say earlier that the construction teams were short on manpower?”

Hearing this, Luo Ji spread his hands.

“The construction teams are indeed short on manpower. But some time ago, during my campaign, I absorbed several beastman tribes, and among them is a badgerman tribe that’s good at digging.”

“These badgermen don’t have anywhere suitable to be placed for now, I figured digging sewers is perfect for them, and with such a large project assigned, they probably won’t need to change jobs for several years.”

“As for several years later, they should have adapted to life in the Myriad Worlds Civilization by then. At that point, letting them find work on their own shouldn’t be a problem.”

It had to be said that when it came to arranging non-human races, Luo Ji had truly become skilled through experience.

Of course, the main reason was that the Myriad Worlds Civilization was developing far too quickly.

Projects were under construction everywhere, and manpower was lacking everywhere.

There were even several major projects sitting idle in the planning documents, unable to start.

Under such circumstances, what kind of manpower could he not arrange?

After briefly explaining the situation, Luo Ji then carefully discussed the details of the sewer project with Gawain.

“For the sewer route design, find a few capable engineers and have them determine it based on Gear Town’s scale and street layout.”

“First, roughly confirm what materials are needed. I’ll have the factories prepare in advance. Wood and stone are definitely required, and cement as well. The excavated sewers should be reinforced further.”

“Construction efficiency can be slower. Safety takes absolute priority.”

After confirming all matters.

Gawain left the Council Hall.

Then he rode his short horse around Mirror City and indulged in food and drink for another 2 days.

Only on the 3rd day did he finally set off to return to Gear Town.

In any case, the sewer project was now officially arranged.

Life went on.

Another half month passed.

During this period, Luo Ji casually dealt with an invading player, while the water conservancy projects of the Myriad Worlds Civilization were officially completed.

Abundant freshwater resources now passed through almost every city.

Although the sun overhead was still unbearably hot.

As long as there was water, life could still go on.

The only thing that left Luo Ji somewhat frustrated was that although he had stopped the previous locust disaster in time, the locusts had still damaged quite a number of crops.

Coupled with drought and extreme heat, the yield of this batch of summer crops was not very good.

Judging by the situation, even the autumn harvest season would likely be affected.

Tossing the report submitted by the Agriculture Department onto the desk, Luo Ji let out a long breath.

His expression carried a hint of headache.

Although, for now, the Myriad Worlds Civilization’s internal food supply could still sustain itself.

The problem was winter.

His Myriad Worlds Civilization was currently in a disaster-prone Little Ice Age period.

In other words, there was a very high chance of heavy snowfall again in winter.

If both summer and autumn harvests were poor, then stockpiling food for winter would become impossible.

No matter how he looked at it, this was a chain reaction.

Just as Luo Ji was considering whether to further expand farmland to increase food production.

A report was quickly delivered into the Council Hall.

“Your Majesty, a report just arrived from Yellow Sand City.”

“Yellow Sand City?”

As he had the report presented, Luo Ji subconsciously pondered what could have happened over there.

The projects currently underway in Yellow Sand City were nothing more than reinforcing the city walls and mining ore.

What else could there be?

However, the moment he opened the report, Luo Ji’s expression subtly changed.

“And the items sent together with this report?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty, they have been temporarily placed outside the hall.”

Receiving this reply, Luo Ji quickly walked outside.

The moment he reached the entrance, a large piece of burlap covering something immediately came into view.

He directly reached out and lifted the cloth.

Three wooden barrels, looking filthy, appeared before his eyes.

Opening the lids, the contents inside were revealed.

They were clumps of viscous material, thick like black mud or dough.

At this moment, Luo Ji’s breathing unconsciously became slightly rapid.

When he had gone offline earlier to check fuel-related information, he had casually confirmed something.

If he was not mistaken, this viscous, mud-like substance was crude oil.

And petroleum was refined from crude oil.