147: Chapter 147 The veterinarian was stunned! The ewe was pregnant, bringing double joy.

Ten in the morning.

Lu Chen returned to the cockpit from the greenhouse.

He sat down in the pilot's seat.

The Truth Points balance in the top right corner of the panel glowed blue.

Six thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.

One hundred and sixty-five short.

The communicator buzzed.

"City Lord Lu Chen." Zhou Yuan's voice came through.

"What is it?"

"Liao Dacheng has arrived."

"Who brought him?"

"City Lord Lin Xiao originally scheduled it for the afternoon, but Liao Dacheng came early on his own. He said he couldn't sit still in The City-State. When he heard there were live cattle on the Polaris, he ran over without even eating breakfast."

"Where is he?"

"Outside the first-layer airlock. Zhao Tiezhu's men are holding him there, waiting for your approval to register him."

"Let him in. Register him first."

"Alright."

Lu Chen opened the registration interface on the city management panel, waiting for the new resident's information to pop up.

Three minutes later.

A registration confirmation popped up on the panel.

Liao Dacheng, fifty-three years old, former technician at the Black Rock City-State's sixth-layer livestock experimental zone. Health status: good.

The total number of registered residents flickered.

Six thousand and thirteen.

The communicator buzzed again.

This time, it was Lin Wan's voice.

"City Lord, Liao Dacheng has entered the livestock farm."

"You took him there?"

"I ran into him on the first layer. He asked where the livestock farm was, so I showed him the way."

"What was his reaction?"

"He stood at the entrance for half a minute without moving."

"Without moving?"

"Yes. Then he squatted down to look at the nearest sow, felt the skin behind its ear, and said one thing."

"What did he say?"

"He said he hadn't seen such a fat pig in fifty years."

Lu Chen didn't respond.

"Then he started walking around the pigpen, looking at each one, muttering as he recorded each pig's coat color and body shape."

"Did he bring any tools?"

"He brought an old cloth bag. Inside was a pair of curved scissors, a coil of hemp rope, and a handwritten livestock manual with a worn-out cover."

"Let him familiarize himself with the environment first. I'll go see him this afternoon."

"Alright."

"Lin Wan."

"Here."

"How long are the ears of the fast-growing wheat?"

"Measured this morning. The ear length has reached four centimeters, one and a half centimeters more than yesterday."

"At this rate, the judgment for harvesting on the sixth day hasn't changed?"

"Unchanged. It might even be half a day earlier."

"What's the specific date?"

"Day forty-seven, which is five days from now."

"And the harvest volume?"

"Based on the current Poaceae sowing area at forty percent, the estimated dry weight yield for the first crop of fast-growing wheat is six to seven tons."

"How many people can six to seven tons feed?"

"Calculated at four hundred grams of staple food per person per day, seven tons can feed seventeen thousand five hundred people for one day."

"Or feed three thousand people for six days."

"Correct. But after the first harvest, we'll immediately replant. The sowing area for the second crop will expand to over seventy percent."

"And the second crop yield?"

"Double. Twelve to fourteen tons."

"From the third crop onward, it will be full production capacity."

"Correct."

Lu Chen tapped his fingers on the armrest twice.

"What about the strawberries?"

"Three point five centimeters."

Lin Wan's tone carried the excitement of reporting a private piece of good news.

"Another half-centimeter longer than yesterday. The fruit shape is starting to change, turning red at the bottom."

"Turning red?"

"A characteristic of the Grade A cream strawberry variety. The coloring starts from the bottom during ripening, first red then white, ultimately presenting a creamy pink."

"At this rate, it will be ready soon enough."

"The lighting and temperature control precision in the dome greenhouse are much higher than I expected. The potential of the Grade A seeds is being fully unleashed."

"What about the Watermelon?"

"The Watermelon vines have started to branch. They will mature on day seventy-eight."

Lu Chen did not respond.

He leaned back into the pilot's seat.

The communicator was quiet for three seconds.

"City Lord."

"What?"

"Are you looking forward to the strawberries or the Watermelon more?"

"Both."

"Then I'll keep a close eye on both."

"Alright."

The communicator disconnected.

Lu Chen closed his eyes.

His mind was prioritizing tasks.

The Iron Hoof Legion's scout signal.

Zhou Yuan's diplomatic mission in three days.

The Phalanx Close-In Weapon System was one hundred and sixty-five points short.

Han Zhengqing's ventilation duct renovation plan hadn't been approved yet.

Liao Dacheng's handover of the livestock farm.

The migration of thirty thousand people was still progressing.

He opened his eyes.

Pressed the communicator.

"Han Zhengqing."

Ten seconds later.

A hoarse voice connected.

"City Lord Lu Chen."

"Bring the ventilation duct renovation plan up here."

"Now?"

"Now."

"I'll be there in five minutes."

The communicator disconnected.

Lu Chen rummaged through the drawer below the panel, pulled out an iron pen and a blank logbook, and flipped to a new page.

Five minutes later.

The elevator door opened.

Han Zhengqing walked into the cockpit.

He was holding two hand-drawn blueprints.

The paper was covered with intricate schematic diagrams of ductwork and data annotations.

"Sit."

Lu Chen pointed to the folding chair.

Han Zhengqing did not sit.

He spread the blueprints on the console.

"City Lord, look here."

His index finger pointed to the center of the second-layer residential area plan on the blueprint.

"The existing main ventilation duct draws fresh air from the intake in the first-layer engine room. After filtration, it delivers air downwards through the grilles in the second-layer ceiling."

"What's the problem?"

"The problem is this duct system was designed for a standard Lv.3 fortress residential density. The standard density is zero point five people per square meter."

"Our actual density?"

"If all three thousand beds are filled, it's one point two people per square meter."

"Exceeding by one point four times."

"Correct. The air supply can't keep up with the number of people. Carbon dioxide concentration will exceed standards during the nighttime sleep peak hours."

"By how much?"

"I've calculated. At full capacity during the eight nighttime hours, carbon dioxide concentration will rise from the normal zero point zero four to zero point one two."

"Zero point one two."

Lu Chen looked at the numbers on the blueprint.

"The standard in the pre-civilization era was that dizziness and drowsiness start above zero point one."

"Correct. It won't kill people, but sleep quality will severely decline. Long-term exposure will affect physical recovery."

"How to fix it?"

Han Zhengqing's finger moved to the right side of the blueprint.

"Install an auxiliary ventilation unit at each of the four corners of the second layer. Pipe diameter twenty centimeters. Directly introduce filtered external air through openings in the outer hull."

"Won't opening the outer hull compromise armor integrity?"

"No. The locations I chose are at the seams between armor plates. The opening diameter is smaller than the seam width, so it doesn't affect structural strength."

"Intake air temperature? Won't air at minus forty degrees Celsius outside just pour in directly?"

"Can't pour it in directly."

Han Zhengqing flipped to the second blueprint.

"Install a coiled tube heat exchanger inside each ventilation unit. Use waste heat from the engine cooling water to preheat the incoming air. After passing through the heat exchanger, the air temperature can be raised to above ten degrees Celsius. Then, it mixes with the indoor air through the mixing grilles of the existing duct system."

"Material for the heat exchangers?"

"Bent thin-walled copper pipes. The recycled scrap copper pipes from The City-State are sufficient. Among the scrap Zhao Tiezhu's men brought back, there's a batch of old condenser copper pipes. I've already picked them out. Total length eighty meters."

"Is eighty meters enough for four heat exchangers?"

"Yes. Twenty meters of bent pipe per unit."

"Construction time?"

"Four ventilation units with heat exchangers. I'll take ten men. Three days to complete."

"Three days."

Lu Chen looked at the annotations on the blueprint.

"Won't it affect the bed welding progress?"

"No. The ventilation renovation is work for pipefitters and electricians. The welders continue welding beds. Two lines work in parallel."

"How far along is the bed welding progress?"

"As of this morning, three hundred and sixty beds total."

"Target is three thousand. Still short by two thousand six hundred and forty."

"At the speed of all teams working in three shifts, eight days to finish."

"Eight days. Day fifty."

"Correct."

Lu Chen picked up the iron pen.

He wrote a line in the logbook.

Ventilation duct renovation plan approved. Commence work today.

"Han Zhengqing."

"Here."

"Plan approved. Start construction this afternoon."

"Alright."

"If materials are insufficient, coordinate with Zhou Yuan to recover them from The City-State."

"Materials are sufficient. No need for further coordination."

Han Zhengqing rolled up the blueprints.

He turned towards the elevator, pausing for a moment at the doorway.

"City Lord."

"What?"

"I heard there are live cattle in the livestock farm?"

"Yes."

"Liao Dacheng ran over first thing in the morning?"

"Mhm."

"That old man kept muttering every day back in The City-State. Said his biggest regret in life was not keeping those three pigs alive."

"Now there are thirty."

Han Zhengqing chuckled.

He didn't say anything more.

Turned and walked into the elevator.

The cockpit fell quiet.

Lu Chen leaned back into the pilot's seat.

His gaze swept over the data on the panel.

Registered residents: six thousand and thirteen.

Fast-growing wheat on the second day of heading.

Livestock farm operating fully automated.

Ventilation duct renovation commencing today.

Balance: six thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.

One hundred and sixty-five short.

His gaze shifted to the radar panel.

No moving targets within an eight-kilometer radius.

But last night's record of that zero-point-three-second encrypted signal was still glowing a dark red in the log bar.

Fifteen degrees west of due north.

He stared in that direction for five seconds.

Withdrew his gaze.

The communicator buzzed.

"City Lord." Lin Wan's voice.

"What is it?"

"Liao Dacheng has finished inspecting all the breeding stock. He told me three things."

"What three things?"

"First, he said the breed of these pigs is the pre-civilization standardized Yorkshire Large White, with top-tier growth speed and meat yield."

"And the second?"

"Second, the mammary gland development of the four adult cows is good. He judges that they could start lactating as early as tomorrow night, half a day earlier than the system's estimate of the day after tomorrow."

"And the third?"

"Third, he's squatting in the sheep pen and refuses to leave."

"Why?"

"He says the abdominal feel of one ewe is abnormal. He suspects it's already pregnant."

Lu Chen's fingers paused on the armrest.

"Pregnant?"

"He says he's not sure, needs to observe for two days. If pregnancy is confirmed, it will give birth to one or two lambs in thirty to forty days."

"The breeding stock generated by the system's ecological sample library was already pregnant?"

"Liao Dacheng is also surprised. He says this indicates the system directly simulated the natural state of a mature population when generating the breeding stock."

Lu Chen closed his eyes and thought for two seconds.

"Have Liao Dacheng write a breeding stock health assessment report. Submit it to me by noon tomorrow."

"Alright."

"The daily management of the livestock farm is officially handed over to him starting today. You focus on the greenhouse."

"Understood."

The communicator disconnected.

Lu Chen wrote another line in the logbook.

Liao Dacheng on duty. Livestock farm handed over. Ewe suspected to be pregnant.

He closed the logbook and put it back in the drawer.

The time on the panel showed ten forty-five in the morning.

The radar scan line continued its steady rotation.

The northern horizon was empty and desolate.

But Lu Chen knew that somewhere beyond the view, something was moving.