Phone novel Chapter 231 231: Energy Shortage
Chapter 231 231: Energy Shortage
Looking at the bright lights in the distance, Jason felt a surge of excitement. This immersive experience was something no photograph could ever capture.
"It's so dark!" That was his first impression of Nyx, a sentiment shared by almost every pioneer who set foot on the planet.
But things were much better now. The lights from the industrial sector in the distance managed to pierce the gloom, emitting a faint yet resilient glow that put everyone at ease.
Jason had a bit of a martyr complex; he always wanted to shoulder every burden himself. He had been like that back in his military days, and he hadn't changed now that he was the Leader of the Federation. This inherent personality trait was practically hardwired into him.
It was precisely this approachable nature that earned him the genuine respect and deep affection of his people. After all, everyone appreciated a leader who was reasonable and tolerant.
The massive scientific community, in particular, often "bullied" him—speaking bluntly, making outrageous demands, and exploiting his good nature in various ways. Jason always took it in stride, responding with an easygoing smile.
Of course, this boundless patience was strictly reserved for his own people. When dealing with true enemies, he was utterly ruthless and merciless.
Given Jason's temperament, sitting safely aboard the mothership while his subordinates struggled on the harsh surface of Nyx left him with a gnawing sense of guilt. He knew he couldn't stay up there forever.
Truthfully, he was just as eager and impatient as the scientists to get down to the surface and see the new world for himself. This urgency stemmed from a deep-seated human desire for exploration and innate curiosity.
However, over the years, he had learned to keep his emotions in check, never showing his impatience outwardly.
Now that the mothership was stable, morale was high, and Head of Security Austin was holding down the fort, Jason finally seized the opportunity to visit the front lines.
When a few council members raised objections, he firmly overruled them, officially framing the trip as an "inspection of project progress", especially since the first phase of construction was nearing completion!
Accompanying him were over thirty Special Forces operatives and more than sixty scientists and engineers. Upon disembarking from the spacecraft, the civilian staff immediately bid Jason farewell and boarded a high-speed mag-lev train heading toward their respective outposts.
"Incredible," Jason murmured, snapping a few photos as he gazed at the sprawling industrial factories before him.
He was wearing a custom-built suit of power armor, meticulously modified by Lily. Many of its components were hand-crafted from cutting-edge materials, granting him enhanced neural reflex speeds and vastly superior mobility. Additionally, the chassis was heavily reinforced with expensive Superalloy Z, making it arguably the most formidable piece of hardware in their entire arsenal.
The man in charge of welcoming Jason was a key director at the mining colony named William.
Spotting him from a distance, Jason walked over, and the two men exchanged warm greetings.
Although the power armor was fully enclosed, the helmet visors were forged from a highly transparent, advanced polymer glass. Under the floodlights, they could easily see each other's faces and communicate via the built-in comms.
With his military escort in tow, Jason followed William on a walking tour of the facility. As they strolled, William provided brief overviews of the various structures around them.
"That's the primary water purification plant," William explained, pointing to a massive facility. "Right now, some of the glacial ice we've harvested is being shuttled back up to the mothership via cargo airships to alleviate the water rationing up there."
"However, all industrial materials like steel, copper, and aluminum are currently being funneled right back into local production. We can't afford to export them to the mothership just yet. Our manufacturing capacity is doubling every two months. We estimate that in another two to three months, we'll have a massive surplus of mineral resources ready for orbital transport."
William was a renowned engineer who had previously managed the heavy mining teams back on Mars. He had extensive experience in frontier logistics. He was also the chief architect of the Nyx planetary base, intimately familiar with every single nut and bolt of the operation.
Jason nodded in agreement. There was no rush for resources in orbit; waiting a few more months was perfectly fine. Humanity might remain in this star system for a very long time perhaps several generations, until they achieved the necessary breakthroughs to become a true Interstellar Civilization!
"Commander, look over there. That massive concrete expanse is our primary transportation hub. It covers 10.3 square kilometers," William said, gesturing outward. "The cargo airships from the mothership dock there. Once they unload their heavy machinery, we use the high-speed rail network to distribute the equipment to the various mining sectors."
Jason nodded again. He could see dozens of massive airships offloading cargo while countless automated drones buzzed around the plaza. It was chaotic, yet perfectly synchronized.
Shortly after, the group boarded a high-speed train. Because the various outposts were spread so far apart, riding the rail network was the only way to inspect the sprawling colony efficiently.
"This is Central Command, located 12 kilometers from the transportation hub. It is currently our most critical installation, housing our most advanced laboratory equipment. The vast majority of our civilian personnel are stationed here..."
"...This is our stainless steel rail manufacturing plant, capable of producing one thousand metric tons a day. The atmosphere on Nyx contains high concentrations of oxygen and highly corrosive gases, so all our railway tracks must be heavily oxidation-resistant..."
"That small glacial lake over there is currently under development. It will serve as a primary reservoir for our water supply."
Riding the high-speed train, Jason spent the next three hours traveling a 400-kilometer round trip, giving him a comprehensive overview of the entire industrial grid.
Driven by the natural distribution of mineral veins, the eleven outposts were scattered across different sectors, but they were all seamlessly connected by the high-speed rail network. Several of the bases were entirely devoid of human personnel, operating via fully automated AI systems. If any issues arose, they could be troubleshot remotely from Central Command.
As the chief director of planetary reclamation, William knew the ins and outs of every single project.
With every stop on the tour, Jason found himself nodding in constant approval. There was absolutely nothing to criticize!
"Is there anything specific we can assist with?" Jason asked after a moment of thought. "Director William, do you see any bottlenecks or shortcomings in the current industrial setup? If there's a problem, don't sugarcoat it. Be straight with me."
As someone who wasn't a specialized engineer, Jason couldn't spot any flaws himself; he was already beyond satisfied with the progress.
William pondered the question carefully before nodding. "Currently, there are no immediate issues, and everything is proceeding smoothly. However, if we plan to scale our industrial grid up by several magnitudes, the energy reserves we brought down from the mothership simply won't be enough."
"Right now, our primary power generation relies on modular nuclear reactors. But strangely enough, our scouting drones haven't located a single uranium deposit in this entire region. Even after expanding the search radius significantly, we still haven't found any viable uranium veins."
"Nuclear fuel is a precious, finite resource. Many of our spacecraft thrusters and heavy excavators rely on it. Burning through it just to synthesize steel and cement is incredibly wasteful. If we want to keep expanding at this rate, energy scarcity will become our biggest bottleneck. We desperately need to secure a cheaper, localized power source."