The clock was ticking. 68 Hours remaining.
Inside the Shattered Jaw Cave, the air was thick with the smell of ozone and melting rock. The Matter Deconstructor was running hot, chewing through the mythril swords and the mountain stone, spitting out stacks of grey concrete blocks and steel beams.
But Jiang Chen had a problem.
He stood on a catwalk overlooking the Spirit Vein. Ten mining spiders were harvesting crystals. Two Fabricators were printing walls. But who would place them? Who would dig the foundations? Who would load the ammo belts?
He looked down at his "army." Seventeen men. They were exhausted, their hands blistered, hauling steel beams that weighed two hundred pounds. Even with better food, they were breaking.
"System," Jiang Chen thought. "Efficiency analysis."
[Labor Bottleneck Detected.][Construction Speed: -40% due to manpower shortage.][Recommendation: Automate logistics OR increase workforce.]
"I can't print robots fast enough," Jiang Chen muttered. "I need biological units. Cheap ones."
He turned to Old Wu, who was bandaging a bandit's crushed finger.
"Old Wu."
"Yes, Master?"
"Take the sleds. Take the horses. Take five men and all the gold we found in the bandit treasury."
Old Wu blinked. "Where are we going?"
"Back to Beiluo City," Jiang Chen said. "I want you to buy it."
Beiluo City - The Slums
The wind howled through the ruined streets of Beiluo. It was a city of ghosts. The Mayor had fled years ago. The nobles had left when the Spirit Vein dried up. All that remained were the "Dust"—the mortals too poor to leave, slowly freezing to death.
In the central square, a crowd of emaciated villagers gathered around a single pot of watery gruel being distributed by a local gang.
"Please," a woman with a baby begged. "Just a little more. My son..."
"Get back!" the gang leader shouted, kicking her away. "No coin, no food!"
RUMBLE.
The ground shook. The gang leader stopped. The villagers looked up.
Thundering down the main road came a convoy. Not a royal carriage, but three massive wooden sleds, reinforced with steel runners that sparked against the frozen cobblestones. They were pulled by warhorses breathing steam.
Sitting on the lead sled was Old Wu. He wore a pristine Thermal Coat (black, synthetic, and strange) and held a megaphone—a device Jiang Chen had printed for him.
Behind him stood five men holding black metal tubes (AK-47s). They looked healthy. Fed. Strong.
Old Wu raised the megaphone.
"ATTENTION, CITIZENS OF BEILUO."
The voice boomed, amplified to a deafening volume. The gang leader dropped his ladle. The villagers covered their ears.
"THE IMPERIAL HEAVY INDUSTRIES IS HIRING."
Old Wu signaled to Li. The young bandit kicked a lever on the side of the sled. The side panel dropped open.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Sacks of grain tumbled out. Dried meat. Blocks of salt.
The smell of food hit the crowd like a physical blow.
"We require 500 laborers," Old Wu announced, his voice trembling slightly with the power he now held. "Masons. Carpenters. Cooks. Even children who can carry a basket."
"It's a trick!" the gang leader shouted, drawing a rusty knife. "They are slavers! That's bandit Li! I recognize him!"
Li didn't shout back. He didn't argue. He raised his rifle and fired a single shot into the air.
CRACK!
The sound silenced the square instantly.
"The wage," Old Wu continued, ignoring the interruption, "is three meals a day. A warm bed. And protection."
He reached into a chest and pulled out a handful of silver coins. He threw them into the snow.
"And silver for your pockets."
For a second, nobody moved. Then, the woman with the baby stepped forward. She looked at the grain, then at the black-clad soldiers.
"Will... will my son eat?" she whispered.
"The Industries feeds its own," Old Wu promised.
She climbed onto the sled.
That broke the dam. The crowd surged. The gang leader was trampled in the rush. Men, women, the elderly—they climbed over each other to get to the sleds. They didn't care if it was a demon or a prince. They just wanted to live.
Shattered Jaw Canyon - 12 Hours Later
Jiang Chen stood at the cave entrance.
The convoy had returned. But it wasn't just three sleds. It was a trail of humanity stretching a mile long. People walking, carrying their meager possessions on their backs, following the tracks of the sleds in the snow.
Five hundred people.
They looked terrified as they entered the canyon. They saw the massive blast doors being erected. They saw the glowing blue light of the Spirit Vein pulsing from the deep. They saw the mechanical spiders skittering across the rocks.
But then they saw the steaming cauldrons of soup that Jiang Chen had ordered prepared.
"System," Jiang Chen watched the population flood into his base. "Update parameters."
[New Population Detected.][Citizen Count: 523.][Loyalty: Low (Desperation).][Workforce Potential: High.][Kingdom Management Module: UNLOCKED.]
A new tab appeared in his vision. It wasn't just a list of blueprints anymore. It was a grid of the cave.
Housing District: (Unbuilt)
Sanitation: (Critical Need)
Indoctrination/Education: (Pending)
Jiang Chen turned to the bewildered crowd. He didn't give a speech about hope. He pointed to the pile of shovels and pickaxes he had printed.
"Eat," Jiang Chen commanded. "Then dig."
[Construction Speed Update: +500%.]
The anthill was alive.