Time passed, and three months flew by, turning to March of the new year—warm month.
This is the first month of spring, the time of renewal, symbolizing a new beginning for everything.
This period has been quite favorable for Richard, with everything proceeding smoothly, as planned.
Among all, the transformation of the Shambhala Uranium Mine is the most remarkable. After three months of development, it has truly become a giant.
After multiple tests, the railway is fully implemented, with the mainline laid from the mountain top to the valley below, spanning from one side of the mining site to the other, densely packed like the veins of a giant.
This has obviously greatly accelerated the speed of ore extraction, making the efficiency more than double.
Moreover, more branch rails are being laid, continuously improving the transportation network and further increasing efficiency. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel⸺fire.net
The workforce in the mining site has already approached ten thousand people, almost all skilled miners from Shambhala Town have been employed by Richard, and even miners from distant places have come upon hearing the news to seek employment.
This close-to-ten-thousand workforce lives in a mining site with almost complete facilities, gradually giving the mine the semblance of an industrial city.
The mine now resembles a massive ancient beast, devouring large amounts of ore daily, consuming small mountains at a visible pace.
Afterward, these ores undergo a series of processing and are transported to various parts of the Southern Free Federation, while a small, unseen portion flows into Richard’s Eden.
Over the span of three months, it’s undergone significant changes too, with Richard using the ore powder to create more Yellow Cake.
Thus, a new functional sector was constructed, equipped with numerous reaction tanks, pipelines, and operating levers, specifically for further purification of Uranium Element.
In Eden, after adjusting the lighting system, it’s at midday lighting intensity, aligning with the external environment.
Within the Uranium Element purification sector, a series of chemical apparatus emit a faint hum, indicating their normal operation.
Richard strides along, checking the gauges of different devices, verifying their statuses. He walks to the end of a long row of equipment, nods, and speaks, "Mr. Ah Fu, it’s about time; you can pull the sixth operating lever and let the solution flow into the separation tank."
At the other end of the long row of equipment, Witch Demon Elder Ah Fu lies on a sun bed. Under the simulated noon lighting, his eyes half-closed, seemingly basking in the sun.
Hearing Richard’s words, Witch Demon Elder Ah Fu opens his eyes lazily, responding with a sound. He gently raises his hand, waving to the side, and commands, "Go, pull down that black operating lever."
Immediately, a rough friction sound occurs, like a bunch of rusty gears turning. Beside the Witch Demon Elder, a thin figure stirs, slowly moving towards the operating lever a few meters away.
Upon closer inspection, the thin figure is clearly a White Bone Skeleton.
Yes, a White Bone Skeleton.
Its entire body is devoid of any flesh, consisting only of icy white bones. Yet it doesn’t appear terrifying, somewhat even humorous.
The humor stems from its odd pair of legs.
Clearly, its right leg is over ten centimeters longer than the left, causing it to hop as it moves, like transitioning from a skeleton to a zombie.
This situation arose because its skeleton was incomplete. Earlier, when Witch Demon Elder Ah Fu secretly dug up an abandoned grave and cast a resurrection spell, both of its legs were missing.
Helplessly, Witch Demon Elder Ah Fu had to secretly dig up another abandoned grave, finding only one leg bone.
After excavating a third grave, there was only a leg bone again, significantly shorter.
Witch Demon Elder Ah Fu was utterly exasperated, and while covering his forehead, he attached two legs, resulting in the current limp skeleton.
This skeleton violates the Witch Demon Elder’s aesthetic, but considering it could assist him with some chores, he reluctantly left it intact.
The Witch Demon Elder lounges in the sun bed, squinting at the limping skeleton gradually nearing the black operating lever, reaching with two bony arms to press down.
Once, twice, thrice...
The White Bone Skeleton strives hard but due to insufficient strength, the operating lever doesn’t budge.
The Witch Demon Elder grumbles, "Put some strength into it!"
The elder’s words seem to ignite a sense of humiliation in the White Bone Skeleton, its whole structure vibrates, resonating sounds as it pressures the lever.
With a sound, under the Witch Demon Elder’s surprised expression, the White Bone Skeleton exceeds its physical limit, abruptly shattering into pieces of white bone.
The Witch Demon Elder opens his mouth, at a loss for words.
And it wasn’t over, his real breakdown was yet to come.
"Hoo-huff, hoo-huff..."
A panting sound swiftly draws near, followed by a yellow figure appearing, snatching up the largest bone shard and making a dash—it’s the Golden Yellow Dog.
The Witch Demon Elder shouts in anger.
Heeding the Witch Demon Elder’s words, sensing his emotion, the Golden Yellow Dog quickly skids to a halt, turning cautiously.
The Witch Demon Elder reprimands the Golden Yellow Dog sternly.
The big yellow dog whines aggrievedly but out of fear, it reluctantly carries the bone back to its original spot.
"Honestly." The Witch Demon Elder couldn’t help but criticize the golden dog, "That’s not for you to eat; it’s the raw material for my magic puppet! Understand, silly dog?"
"Forget it, talking to you is pointless." The Witch Demon Elder waves it off, begrudgingly rising from the sun bed and approaching the heap of white bones, ready to recast the resurrection spell on the puppet.
By this time, Richard couldn’t bear watching anymore, stepping over himself and "bocked" pulling down the black operating lever.
After doing so, he turns to the Witch Demon Elder, "Honestly, compared to resurrecting a magic puppet, isn’t it easier to just use your hand? After all, even if you revive that magic puppet, it’s not very useful, too weak, not even competitive against a dog."
Listening, the Witch Demon Elder snorts, speaking, "It’s not my fault as the casting material is too inferior, what could I do? I really didn’t expect that in this era, even decent white bone material is scarce, forcing me to create skeletons that are practically useless. Otherwise, I could easily produce Skeleton Captain, Skeleton Centurion, Skull Centurion styled powerful magic puppets that would effortlessly handle operations here."