195: Chapter 195 Flour is Fresh from the Baking Powder and Distributed! Lu Chen Complains the Relocation is Too Slow

11:45 AM.

The Cockpit.

The communicator rang.

"City Lord, the first batch of three hundred kilograms of flour is out. Fifteen bags have been packed at twenty kilograms each, stacked in the open space on the south side of the Greenhouse."

Lu Chen looked at the clock on the panel.

"Quality?"

"The same as the first trial run; uniform particles and low moisture content. I tasted it, it has a wheat aroma."

"Good."

Lu Chen picked up the logbook and flipped to the page for the distribution plan.

"Lin Wan, the distribution plan."

"Speak."

"The first batch of three hundred kilograms will be distributed this afternoon. The recipients are Han Zhengqing's Engineering Team of 147 people, Zhao Tiezhu's unit of 300 people, and the 532 people who relocated in today."

"979 people in total."

"Yes. At a standard of three bowls per person, three hundred kilograms is enough for 979 people's daily intake with some left over."

"How will the surplus be handled?"

"Store it. When the second batch of nine hundred kilograms comes out tomorrow, combine them for distribution to cover the remaining registered residents."

"When will the second batch of nine hundred kilograms be ready?"

"Grinding will continue tomorrow morning, following the same pace as today."

"Good."

Lu Chen's speaking pace was very steady.

"Distribution process. Distribution starts at 3:00 PM today at the kitchen in the second-floor Residential Area. Chen Li is responsible for registration, and Song Ya is responsible for weighing. The amount for three bowls of dry noodles per person is one hundred and fifty grams of flour. Those who receive the flour can rehydrate it with hot water or cook it on an induction stove themselves."

"One hundred and fifty grams for three bowls."

"Correct."

"City Lord, this standard is the same as the first harvest."

"The same."

"Good."

Lin Wan paused for a beat.

"One more thing."

"Speak."

"The Engineering Team and Zhao Tiezhu's men have already been assigned work today, so collecting the flour won't delay progress. The Relocation Team members just arrived today and are still adjusting to the environment. Have them wait in the hallway; Chen Li will arrange for people to guide them."

"Has the Relocation Team eaten anything?"

"They ate Nutrient Bars in The City-State this morning. It's been five hours since then."

"Then they will definitely be hungry when the flour is distributed at three."

"So the Relocation Team gets priority during the 3:00 PM distribution."

"Good."

The communicator hung up.

Lu Chen wrote a line in the logbook.

Day 60, 3:00 PM: First batch of 300kg flour distributed, covering the Engineering Team, Zhao Tiezhu's unit, and the Relocation Team, totaling 979 people.

He put down his pen and looked at the panel.

The signal log column.

Four dark red records.

No fifth record.

The clock showed 11:51 AM.

He pressed the communicator.

"Chen Li."

"City Lord."

"Moving the midday briefing forward."

"Understood. Item one: All 532 members of the Relocation Team have completed registration. 312 have been assigned to empty beds in the second-floor Residential Area, and the remaining 220 are in temporary accommodations at the north side of the Storage Area."

"How many have registered?"

"Three terminals have been running since 7:30 AM. As of 11:30 AM, 371 people have registered today. Adding to the previous 8,095, the total is now 8,466."

"How many of the 532 people in the Relocation Team have registered?"

"129 people. The rest are in line."

"Good, continue."

"Item two: Storage Area partitioning progress. Han Zhengqing's Engineering Team completed square tube cutting and the welding of four load-bearing pillars this morning. This afternoon, they will weld the first partition frame. Progress is normal."

"Item three."

"Item three: Iron Hoof Legion signals. As of 12:00 PM, a total of 72 signal scans have been completed today, all normal. There is no fifth signal."

"72 times."

"Once every ten minutes starting from midnight. 72 times in twelve hours."

"Continue."

"Item four: The auxiliary engine coolant level dropped by 1.8% this morning, basically the same as yesterday."

"Item five."

"Item five: The first batch of 300kg of flour is ready and will be distributed at 3:00 PM. I've received the distribution plan, and the registration forms are ready."

Chen Li paused for a moment.

"Anything else?"

"One more item. There have been no new communication replies from the Dawn Legion this morning. The message received last night after Zhou Yuan sent the Ice Rift Zone depth request was the last one."

"What does Zhou Yuan say?"

"Zhou Yuan says it's normal. The Dawn Legion's communication habit is to reply upon receipt; they don't proactively send follow-up messages. The next reply depends on when we send a new signal to them."

"Good, midday briefing concluded."

"City Lord, there's one more thing not in the briefing."

"Speak."

"The elderly man who had bloating from eating noodles yesterday went to the Medical Pod. Sun Ke saw him and prescribed three days of digestive tablets, instructing him to eat half a bowl of noodles for the next few days to adjust slowly, rather than eating three bowls all at once."

"Good."

The communicator hung up.

Lu Chen leaned back in his chair.

8,466 people.

There were still over 21,500 people in Black Rock City-State.

At a pace of 500 to 600 people relocated per day, the physical relocation would take 35 to 43 days.

Too slow.

But the Registration Terminal was the bottleneck.

With 750 to 800 people registering per day, it would take over 21 days to register everyone.

Those who moved in first would not have the System Shield.

If the Iron Hoof Legion arrived on the 71st day, there were only eleven days left from now.

How many people could be moved in eleven days?

5,500 to 6,600 people.

Adding the existing 8,400-plus people, the total would be 14,000 to 15,000 people.

There would still be 15,000 people left in The City-State.

Lu Chen wrote down this set of numbers in his logbook.

He stared at the numbers for three seconds, then crossed them out.

Not enough.

It needs to be faster.