205: Chapter 205 Major Shortage of Spring Steel Bars! Lu Chen Quickly Deploys Supplies

2:00 PM sharp.

Greenhouse.

Old Du was sixty-one this year. He had worked in mechanical precision calibration in the City-State Industrial Zone for thirty-two years; the precision in his hands was more reliable than a ruler.

He led his apprentice, Xiao Zhao, into the Greenhouse and came to a halt.

The old man craned his neck, staring at the simulated sunlight overhead for a long while.

"This dome..." Old Du squinted. "An artifact left behind by the pre-civilization?"

"No." Lin Wan stood nearby. "It was system-generated."

Old Du didn't pry further. He wasn't prone to fussing like Han Zhengqing; he simply nodded, pulled a tape measure from his work uniform pocket, and walked straight toward the first row of Hydroponic Racks.

"Start from here?"

"Yes." Lin Wan flipped open her notebook. "One hundred sets of Hydroponic Racks, eight support points per set. Measure the inner diameter of the card slots and the cross-sectional dimensions of the base beams."

She tapped the paper with the tip of her pen.

"Once the dimensions are out, I'll cut the rubber pads, Old Han will be responsible for coiling the springs, and you just make sure the installation positions are locked in."

Old Du crouched down, hooked the tip of the tape measure into the inner side of the slot, and pulled out half a length with a clatter. He glanced at the scale.

"Forty-two millimeters."

"Close to my estimate." Lin Wan quickly noted it down. "Cut the rubber pads to forty millimeters wide, leaving a two-millimeter compression margin."

"What about the thickness?" Old Du asked without looking up.

"Eight millimeters," Lin Wan reported. "An eight-millimeter pad with two springs, with total compression locked at around twelve millimeters. If things really start moving, it can absorb thirty percent of the vibration."

Old Du reached out to touch the base beam, gesturing the cross-section with his thumb and index finger.

"Sixty wide, forty high, and hollow inside." He tapped the metal tube wall with his knuckles. "If we're compressing springs, the top has to press against the bottom of the beam. The spring diameter absolutely cannot exceed thirty-eight millimeters, or it won't fit into the slot."

Lin Wan's pen paused, and she looked up at him.

"You have a plan in mind?"

"One look is all it takes." Old Du braced his knees and stood straight. "Set the spring diameter to thirty-two millimeters, use six-millimeter steel rods, and wind them six to eight times. Natural length of thirty, twenty when compressed. With your eight-millimeter pad, the total height will be exactly twenty-eight millimeters."

Lin Wan recorded the entire string of numbers on her paper.

"Can Old Han coil these specifications?"

"He can." Old Du brushed the dust off his hands. "With that bundle of six-millimeter steel rods he has, one spring will take ninety centimeters of material at this size. For sixteen hundred springs, that calculates to fourteen hundred and forty meters."

The old man looked up at Lin Wan.

"That bundle of steel rods you have is only forty meters at most."

Lin Wan's hand holding the pen froze in mid-air.

"That's such a huge gap..."

"It's a world of difference." Old Du recited the numbers as if weighing scrap metal. "Fourteen hundred meters against forty meters—that's a thirty-five-fold difference."

The only sound left in the Greenhouse was the faint trickling of the nutrient solution within the Hydroponic Racks.

Lin Wan bit her lip.

"Forty meters... how many can that produce?"

"Forty-five springs, tops."

Lin Wan pressed down hard with her pen, heavily crossing out the '1600' on her paper. Forty-five springs, two per support point—that would cover twenty-two points at most. One hundred sets of racks meant eight hundred points. It wouldn't even cover a fraction of it.

She clipped her pen to the notebook and pressed the communicator at her waist.

"City Lord."

"Speak."

"The shock absorption plan is stuck." Lin Wan gripped the pen tightly. "The spring calculation was off. Old Han only has forty meters of steel rod, which can produce forty-five springs at most. My deficit is sixteen hundred springs."

Only the faint static of an electrical current came through the communicator.

"How much material is missing?" Lu Chen's voice remained as steady as ever.

"Fourteen hundred meters of six-millimeter spring steel rods."

"Does The City-State warehouse have any?"

"Unclear, I'll need to check the records with Lin Xiao."

"I'll go ask," Lu Chen said decisively. "Have Old Du continue measuring; the plan won't change. I'll handle the materials."

"Understood."

The communication ended.

Lin Wan pulled out her pen again and jerked her chin at Old Du.

"Keep measuring. Let's finalize all the dimensions first."

Without a word, Old Du moved to the second set of Hydroponic Racks with his tape measure.

"Alright."

His apprentice, Xiao Zhao, leaned in to record the numbers.

Lin Wan stood in place, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the edge of the communicator.

In less than two minutes, the communicator vibrated.

"Lin Wan."

"I'm here."

"Lin Xiao checked the ledger; the warehouse in The City-State's Second Level Industrial Zone has stock." Lu Chen reported the numbers directly. "Seven bundles of six-millimeter rods, two hundred fifty to three hundred meters per bundle. Total is seventeen hundred to twenty-one hundred."

Lin Wan quickly ran the numbers in her head. Fourteen hundred meters. It was covered.

"When can they be brought over?"

"They'll be loaded onto trucks this afternoon and will come in tomorrow with the Relocation Team's convoy."

"Good."

"Once the material arrives, have Han Zhengqing start coiling through the night. Can they be installed tomorrow morning?"

Lin Wan stared at the numbers on the paper. Sixteen hundred springs. With two people coiling, estimating a minute and a half per spring, it would take forty hours of non-stop work. It wasn't realistic at all.

"The bottleneck is manpower," Lin Wan said truthfully. "Sixteen hundred springs will take two people forty hours. If they start tonight, the earliest we'll see a finished set of springs is the morning after tomorrow."

"Add more hands," Lu Chen decided immediately.

"How many under Old Han actually know how to coil?" Lin Wan raised her concern. "The number of turns and the diameter have to be exact. An inexperienced hand will ruin them instantly. If the tension isn't uniform after installation, the shock absorption will fail completely."

"I'll ask him."

From the other end of the communicator came the sound of knuckles tapping on a console. Ten seconds passed.

"Old Han says there are four skilled workers. Counting his two, that's six in total." Lu Chen's voice cut back in. "With six people working in shifts, the time can be compressed to thirteen or fourteen hours."

"If they start at seven tonight, they can finish by eight or nine tomorrow morning. Installation starts in the morning and wraps up in the afternoon." Lin Wan quickly mapped out a timeline on the paper. "If installation finishes tomorrow afternoon, this shock absorption system can be operational by the sixty-third day."

"Fine, you monitor the progress."

"Understood."

The communication ended.

Lin Wan looked up.

Old Du had already reached the third set of racks.

"Old Du, go through all one hundred sets today. You'll need to come back to the Greenhouse tomorrow morning to oversee the installation."

Old Du didn't look up; the tip of his tape measure was firmly hooked into the slot of the fourth set.

"Alright."