Wasteland Border Inspector-Chapter 281 - 125: Infrastructure Meeting—Let Fists Do the Talking!
The conference venue that has stood here since the founding of Happiness City has a history of over thirty years.
Ding Yishan walked inside, the sound of his leather shoes echoing on the terrazzo floor, silently calculating the number of times he had attended conferences here.
Perhaps a hundred times, or maybe two hundred times?
He couldn’t remember clearly.
All he remembered was during the "Great Expansion Period" years ago, meetings were as frequent as daily meals.
At that time, both the chief and deputy were present at the meetings; he was the deputy, while Regan Karl was the chief.
The two almost ran here daily, the ashtrays in the conference room were perpetually filled, the maps were dotted with little red flags representing new bases, and everyone seemed to have hoarse throats in his memory.
As he took charge of the checkpoint, the Wasteland happened to enter a "Recuperation Period," the knives sheathed, and the frequency of meetings slowly decreased.
Especially in the past two years, he only needed to attend the monthly routine meeting personally, while commands were otherwise transmitted directly via Defense Communication.
Yesterday’s first migration meeting was a rare big stance lately, with heads of each department required to attend for over four hours of debate.
The agenda was like an unfolded fishing net, trying to catch everything.
By the first meeting at nine today, the focus started to pull together, mainly around infrastructure.
Material allocation, area division, production plans... Ideas shifting from impractical notions to tough bones that need to be grounded.
Originally, Ding Yishan hadn’t planned to come.
Liu Kun’s secretive out-of-town business was one reason; more importantly, the checkpoint always played an edge-listening role, never directly involved in infrastructure affairs.
He had intended to hold his ground until the second plenary meeting at four in the afternoon to present his proposals decisively.
But now, his mindset changed.
Determined to seize leadership over the Outer City construction, he wouldn’t miss any discussion meetings.
The wall clock already pointed to 9:07, the meeting well underway.
Pushing open the heavy conference room door, inside fell silent for half a second.
Many people looked up at the sound, and upon seeing only Ding Yishan enter, their eyes showed evident surprise.
Over the years, Ding Yishan and Liu Kun almost always appeared together.
But today, Ding Yishan was alone, the hem of his trench coat still stained with mud from outside the city, clearly rushed in.
He did not stop to greet as usual, directly walking to the checkpoint seat.
Raising his head, he calmly met the gaze of the attendees one by one.
Most maintained expressionless faces; no extra emotion in their eyes, including the usual opposing big bald head from the Extraordinary Faction, Carl Dickinson, who, engrossed in flipping through documents, merely glanced at him indifferently when looking up.
The Extraordinary Faction targeted Liu Kun, the Extraordinary beyond their control, not the checkpoint.
As long as Liu Kun wasn’t present, Ding Yishan represented the rule-abiding, less troubling checkpoint, not fundamentally conflicting with them.
Though, a few from the Idealist Faction reacted noticeably different from usual.
Especially Yu Hong, showed a flicker of surprise when he lifted his head, nodding slightly when meeting Ding Yishan’s gaze.
"Alright, continue to the next topic, the choice of housing form."
The Deputy City Lord Yuan Gang did not attend the first infrastructure meeting.
Hou Rui, chairing the meeting, adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, sweeping his gaze over the room.
As the faction with the most influence in Happiness City, even within the Technology Faction, debates often erupted over the technological direction:
Some advocated prioritizing the restoration of various production technologies from the old era to stabilize the foundation.
Others proposed learning from Super Shelter Cities like Firewood and Natural, focusing on Source Rail technology.
And some suggested attempting Source Attraction technology because Happiness City had the Extraordinary and a chance to capture the mother source for experimentation.
Yet, these differences never appeared in the meeting room; stepping into this room, the Technology Faction spoke with one voice:
All decisions must base on scientific theory, any "experience talk" lacking data support had no place on the agenda!
This was an essential consensus.
Even the new age didn’t sever all ties with humanity’s old technological system.
Still, a significant number of shelters, even cities, had already veered off course.
Even today, some still promoted theology, Extraordinary studies, magic potion, sacrificial studies, and other incomprehensible things.
Someone once tried promoting magic potion in Happiness City, adding Mutated Crystal, using living humans for experiments.
Since the Technology Faction took charge, such instances weren’t heard of anymore.
Happiness City only then truly started progressing toward an industrial shelter city, securing its foundation.
The projector flickered, a chart displayed.
Hou Rui opened the folder in front of him, his fingertip brushing past the pages, speaking in a deep voice, "Currently, there are three options to choose from: Option A utilizes traditional brick-mortar construction, its advantage being local sourcing, existing cement and bricks in warehouses are sufficient to build housing for two hundred thousand people. But the downside is obvious: continuous rainfall sharply decreases concrete strength; as long as it rains unceasingly, construction struggles to carry on."
"Option B uses lightweight steel frames and waterproof board coverings, enabling fast setup, capable of creating a residential area within three days, very suitable for current rainy weather. However, the downside lies in materials; completely emptying warehouse inventory can only meet demands for a hundred thousand. Even if factories were to produce at full capacity, weekly supply only accommodates fifty to a hundred thousand people; for all migrants to be housed, it would take at least two to three months. Crucially, these temporary buildings can’t withstand winter cold; at that time, re-building with concrete structure or continuing with insulation cover would entail rising costs, ultimately akin to tossing materials and manpower into water."
