244: Chapter 244 Welding the Last Four Diagonal Braces Secured! The City-State Prepares for Dismantling

Day 72, 1:40 PM.

Inside the Black Rock City-State, horizontal framework group nine.

Master Wu Bingde squatted at the base of the framework, clutching a stubby, blunt pencil, and drew heavy marking lines on the surface of the steel beam. The old man's breathing was heavy and ragged.

Four Welders stood behind him, their torches connected to gas lines, with deep blue flames flickering at the nozzles.

Han Zhengqing stood in the corridor, hands tucked into his sleeves, his gaze sweeping back and forth across the four three-meter-long angle irons.

The angle irons leaned against the wall, their surfaces covered in a thin layer of rust, but their cross-sections were clean and free of cracks.

"The positions are marked." Master Wu Bingde stood up, bracing himself on his knees, and pointed the pencil tip at the four marks at the base. "Position one, bottom left; position two, top left; position three, bottom right; position four, top right. The four diagonal braces will be driven in at a forty-five-degree angle from here, with the ends welded solid directly onto the foundation layer of the Group 8 Frame ahead."

Han Zhengqing leaned in and bent down to examine the marks.

"Forty-five degrees..." He used his hand to gesture the slope. "With three-meter angle irons driven across like that, the end point should land roughly two point one meters ahead."

"Spot on." Master Wu Bingde nodded. "Two point one meters, landing perfectly on the reinforcement ribs of the eighth group's foundation layer. Welding them there will ensure the force is distributed most evenly."

"What kind of weld?"

"Full welding," Master Wu Bingde insisted firmly. "I want Full weldings on both ends of the angle irons; there can't be a single weak connection. The weld width must be at least eight millimeters, and it must penetrate through."

Han Zhengqing turned his head and glanced at the four Welders.

"Did you all understand?"

"Understood." The lead Welder was a sturdy man in his thirties named Liu. He wasn't the same one who had welded the Farrowing Room; he was a new promotion within the Engineering Team.

"Position one goes first." Master Wu Bingde squatted back down, slapping his palm against the bottom-left corner of the framework. "Bring the angle iron over; I'll personally supervise the alignment."

Two Welders grunted as they lifted the first angle iron and fed it diagonally toward the base.

One end was pressed against the mark while the other remained suspended, pointing directly at the Group 8 Frame ahead.

"It's off, it's off. Two centimeters too far to the left." He squinted his aged eyes and pointed his finger. "Move it a bit to the right."

The angle iron scraped against the metal plating as it was adjusted.

"Stop." Master Wu Bingde scrambled up, walked around to the end of the angle iron, and squatted down again to check the landing point. "The end has caught the reinforcement rib. Bind it tight with iron wire so it doesn't slip."

A Welder nimbly used thick iron wire to temporarily lash the angle iron to the framework.

"Fire it up."

As the welding torch was pressed, a blinding blue-white arc jumped to life in the dim compartment.

The sizzling sound of melting metal echoed sharply through the empty corridor.

Master Wu Bingde stepped back two paces, shielding his eyes from the intense light while staring intently at the progress of the weld seam.

"Keep your hand steady, move slowly," he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Cut the speed by half and let the molten pool fully penetrate the iron!"

The Welder lowered his wrist and slowed down, and the weld seam became visibly thicker and more robust.

Han Zhengqing stood nearby, clutching an old pocket watch.

"How long will this one at position one take?"

"Full weldings on both ends; one end takes twelve minutes." Master Wu Bingde didn't even look back. "Twenty-four minutes for both ends. Four angle irons, that's ninety-six minutes total. Factor in alignment and cooling time, and it'll be just over two hours."

"Can you finish before four?"

"Definitely."

Han Zhengqing tucked the pocket watch back into his pocket and clicked on the communicator at his waist.

"City Lord."

"Speak." Lu Chen's voice on the other end was flat, with the hum of a ventilation fan in the background.

"The diagonal braces are being welded. Position one is underway, and progress is smooth. I expect all four to be completed before 4:00 PM."

"Who's overseeing the quality?"

"Old Wu is personally supervising it."

"Good. Once the work is done, have Master Wu Bingde perform a visual inspection. There must be no weak welds or cracks. Report the results directly to me."

"Understood."

The communication cut off.

Han Zhengqing clipped the communicator back to his belt and strolled over to Master Wu Bingde's side.

"Old Wu."

"Yeah?" Master Wu Bingde didn't even blink, his eyes fixed on the ball of fire.

"The City Lord spoke. You need to personally inspect everything once it's finished."

"Does he even need to say that?" His withered lips twitched. "I drew the lines, and I'm supervising the work. If I don't give it a final look myself, I won't even be able to sleep tonight."

The first end of position one was finished.

The Welder turned off the torch and stepped back half a pace.

Master Wu Bingde immediately leaned in, pulled a small flashlight with peeling paint from his pocket, and switched it on, scanning the weld inch by inch.

"Nine millimeters wide, uniform. No air holes, no slag inclusion." He straightened up and thumped his lower back. "Pass. Flip it over and do the other end."

Two Welders grunted as they flipped the angle iron over, revealing the other end.

The end was pressed tight against the reinforcement rib of the Group 8 Frame, fitting perfectly.

"Keep going."

The blinding arc light flared up again.

Master Wu Bingde stepped back to the middle of the corridor, leaning against the cold iron wall, fiddling with that stubby pencil between his rough fingers.

He tilted his head back and looked at the dim ceiling above.

The floor of the The City-State's fourth Residential Area was only about three meters above his head.

Out of the thirty thousand people, twenty thousand were currently packed onto that floor in a massive crowd.

He withdrew his gaze and refocused on the blue-white flame spitting from the welding torch.

Four angle irons.

Two hours.

Once this work was done, this framework would finally have some backbone, capable of withstanding the tearing forces caused by the hollowed-out rear section.

The safety factor would rise from 1.38 to 1.6.

It would go from 'might collapse' to 'stable as a mountain.'

"Old Wu," Han Zhengqing spoke up suddenly.

"Huh?"

"How many years have you been holed up in this The City-State?"

The pencil spinning in Master Wu Bingde's hand stopped.

"Twenty-three years." His throat felt dry. "I climbed onto this ship when I was thirty-eight. In the blink of an eye, here I am today."

"Twenty-three years..." Han Zhengqing watched the dancing arc light. "You know this iron shell better than anyone."

"I can count every beam and every wall thickness with my eyes closed." He tucked the pencil behind his ear. "Back when the fourth Residential Area underwent its major renovation, I crawled under these iron plates for three whole months, measuring the spacing of the load-bearing pillars one by one with a ruler."

"And now, it's going to be dismantled."

Master Wu Bingde's lips moved, but he didn't respond.

After a long pause.

"It's better to dismantle it." He finally spoke, his voice hoarse and rough. "Just sitting there, it's nothing but a broken iron shell. Dismantled, it becomes Truth Points. Points can be traded for cannons, and cannons can save lives. The lives of thirty thousand people are always worth more than a pile of scrap metal."

Han Zhengqing didn't say anything more.

The arc light from the welding torch flickered in the dim compartment, and the sizzling of melting metal scraped against their eardrums again and again.

Position one was finished.

Position two was next.

Time dragged on bit by bit.

3:47 PM.

The final weld at position four was finally finished.

The Welder turned off the torch, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and stepped aside.

Master Wu Bingde pulled out his small flashlight and started from position one, sifting through them one by one.

He scrutinized every detail—width, air holes, slag inclusion, and cracks.

After a full eight minutes, he straightened up, thumping his waist, and tucked the flashlight back into his pocket.

"All four passed." He turned and nodded to Han Zhengqing. "The welds are uniform, no weak connections, no issues. The Full weldings have penetrated thoroughly."

Han Zhengqing nodded and clicked on his communicator.

"City Lord."

"Speak."

"All four diagonal braces are welded. Old Wu just finished the visual inspection. All four are qualified; no weak welds or cracks."

"How long did it take?"

"Two hours and seven minutes."

"Good." The sound of a pen scratching on paper came from Lu Chen's side. "Let Master Wu Bingde go back and rest. I'll need him for one final confirmation before the Degradation tomorrow night."

"Understood."

Communication cut off.

Master Wu Bingde pulled the pencil from behind his ear and squeezed it in his rough palm.

He took one last look at the four diagonal braces.

The three-meter angle irons, set at forty-five-degree angles, were wedged between the framework and the foundation layer. They were like four iron bones driven in to support this spine that was on the verge of snapping.

"Let's go." Han Zhengqing patted him on the shoulder.

Master Wu Bingde turned and followed Han Zhengqing out.

After walking a dozen steps, he couldn't resist and looked back once more.

The Welders were packing up their lines; the arc light had long since been extinguished, and the compartment had returned to darkness.

The silhouette of framework group nine loomed in the shadows—a metal mass 1.2 meters wide and 800 millimeters thick, silently bearing the weight of tens of thousands of tons overhead.

By tomorrow night, the half of the The City-State behind it would be completely gone.

He withdrew his gaze, didn't look back again, and strode out.