That morning, when Qin Lan, Li Xiangbin, and Pang Dahai were summoned to the research lab and saw this enormous blueprint, all three fell into a long, deathly silence.

They were utterly shocked.

If they could barely understand the principles behind the previous centrifugal pumps, then this behemoth before them, composed of hundreds of parts, dozens of gears, and countless transmission mechanisms, was completely beyond their comprehension.

They couldn't understand the complex transmission paths, nor could they imagine how those differently shaped parts would work together.

They could only vaguely sense that the blueprint before them contained a soul-stirring order and beauty belonging to industry.

“Sir…this…this…” Qin Lan stroked the complex gear assembly on the blueprint, realizing for the first time how inadequate her vocabulary was.

She murmured to herself, "This is no longer a tool... This is... a steel monster that can think and work on its own..."

Li Xiangbin was completely bewildered. He scratched his scalp vigorously, his honest face filled with awe and a hint of panic at his inability to do anything about it: "Big brother... this... this thing... I... I'm afraid I really can't make it... how many gears does this... if one tooth doesn't fit, will the whole thing be useless?"

Pang Dahai stared intently at the multi-stage reduction gear system, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, his eyes filled with fascination.

As a chef, he understood the art of "just right" better than anyone else. And this system before him had mastered the transformation and transfer of energy to an unparalleled degree, which filled him with heartfelt and soul-stirring admiration.

"It can be made."

Lin Feng's voice broke the silence. His tone was flat and even, yet it was filled with unquestionable and absolute confidence.

He walked up to the blueprint and pointed to one of the simplest gears.

"Take it apart and look. It's just a round iron disc with some evenly spaced notches on it. Li Xiangbin, can you forge it?"

“This…this is possible!” Li Xiangbin nodded immediately.

Lin Feng then pointed to a drive shaft: "This is just a polished iron rod. Can you make it?"

"able!"

Lin Feng then pointed to the base of a bearing: "This is just a piece of iron with a hole. Can you make it?"

"That's okay!"

“Then,” Lin Feng’s gaze swept over everyone present, “since every individual component is within our current technological capabilities, all we need is absolute precision, enough patience, and 100% execution.”

He paused, then his voice became loud and powerful.

"From today onwards, all other construction work at the shelter is suspended! All manpower and resources will be directed towards the 'Thundermill' project! We will use the time ahead to fight an unprecedented, the most difficult, and the greatest industrial battle in the history of the shelter!"

"I will personally serve as the chief engineer and be responsible for all technical aspects."

"Li Xiangbin, you and your forging workshop are responsible for the forging and casting of all heavy components! Especially these seventy-two gears of different sizes and with different numbers of teeth, each one must be made strictly according to the drawings I gave you, with an error of no more than one millimeter!"

"Pang Dahai, you and your precision manufacturing team are responsible for the machining and polishing of all small precision parts! Especially the ball bearings in the transmission system, and the installation of the animal teeth on the threshing drum!"

"Qin Lan, you are in charge of overall coordination, manpower allocation, and logistical support! Furthermore, you will lead the women to complete the most crucial and also the most tedious 'conveyor belt' production!"

Lin Feng's voice echoed in the room, filled with unquestionable authority.

The entire construction process lasted half a month.

Beside the shelter's plaza, a brand-new, enormous, and completely enclosed wooden and stone structure—"Thunder Mill"—rises up from the ground. It resembles a mysterious temple, guarding the steel behemoth that is about to awaken within.

When the last gear was installed, when the last conveyor belt was fitted onto the pulley, when all the bearings were lubricated with grease, when the massive motor and the complex transmission system were finally connected...

All those who participated in this battle gathered inside the mill.

Looking at the colossal machine before them, woven from countless parts, gears, and belts, and imbued with a violent aesthetic and industrial feel, everyone's faces were filled with exhaustion, excitement, and a kind of pilgrimage-like devotion.

They created a god with their own hands.

And now is the time to awaken this god.

On the day of the trial run, the entire shelter was immersed in a solemn yet tense atmosphere.

Everyone gathered around the Thundermill, surrounding the newly built, mysterious structure.

Unable to enter, they could only peer through the open doors at this enormous and complex steel behemoth lurking in the shadows.

Every face was filled with curiosity, anticipation, and a hint of instinctive awe for the unknown.

There were only a few core members inside the mill.

Lin Feng stood personally in front of the machine's "control panel".

It was a steampunk-style control device consisting of several huge wooden levers of varying lengths and a few rudimentary copper switches. Each lever, through a lever system, controlled the engagement and disengagement of a set of key gears.

Li Xiangbin and two other women stood nervously beside the machine's huge feed inlet, carrying a large bundle of golden foxtail millet, still with straw attached. Their muscles were tense, and their palms were sweaty.

Pang Dahai took a small wooden hammer and conducted a final inspection and tapping on various key parts of the machine, listening to the echoes to determine whether the internal structure was stable.

Qin Lan stood beside Lin Feng, holding a notebook. Her task was to record every piece of data from the machine's operation and any possible anomalies.

"All units, inspection complete!" Pang Dahai wiped the sweat from his brow and reported loudly.

"Feeding team, ready!" Li Xiangbin shouted as he turned around.

"Clear the area! All bystanders, step back fifty meters!"

Qin Lan shouted an order at the door, and her voice instantly silenced the noisy crowd outside.

Lin Feng took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping over the masterpiece before him—the culmination of two months of everyone's hard work—like the most precise scanner. Then, he looked at Li Xiangbin and nodded.

"start!"

With Lin Feng's command, he slammed the largest knife switch that controlled the main power supply shut!

"Buzz—Boom—"

The sleeping steel behemoth was instantly awakened!

The most powerful motor in the shelter's history, personally modified by Lin Feng, began to spin wildly with a deep and powerful roar!

This sound was different from any previous time the motor had started.

It is majestic, profound, and full of overwhelming power.

“Gala gala…gaala gala…”

Immediately following was the sound of the gears starting to mesh and rotate.

Dozens of gears of varying sizes began to drive each other according to a preset transmission ratio. The sound was initially somewhat rough and chaotic, but it quickly became smooth and rhythmic.

"Whoosh...whoosh..."

That was the sound of the centrifugal fan in the air separation channel starting to spin. Air was being drawn in at high speed, creating a powerful airflow that howled like a storm.

"Creak...creak..."

That was the transmission system of the "Titan Millstone," which, under immense torque, began to drive the heavy millstone, producing a reassuring, steady turning sound.

All sorts of powerful and rhythmic mechanical sounds intertwine, collide, and merge within the enormous mill, ultimately creating an unprecedented, magnificent, and industrial symphony!

The entire earth trembled slightly at the roar of the steel!

The survivors outside the door were so shocked by the powerful voice that their faces turned pale, and they involuntarily took a few steps back.

"Module One, clutch!" Lin Feng's expression was extremely calm as he abruptly pulled down a lever labeled "Threshing".

A loud "crack!"

The gears controlling the "storm threshing drum" mesh instantly.

The enormous cylinder, covered in animal teeth, immediately began to spin wildly at a terrifying speed, accompanied by a sharp, tearing shriek!

"Release!" Lin Feng ordered again.

Li Xiangbin swallowed hard, and together with the two women beside him, they used all their strength to forcefully and in one go stuff the large bundle of golden wheat, weighing nearly a hundred pounds, into the feeding port that was like a gaping maw of an abyss!

The next second, a breathtaking scene unfolded!

A large bundle of golden wheat was devoured in an instant, as if by an invisible, hungry beast!

Inside the machine, the sounds of "crackling and popping!" immediately filled the air as the wheat stalks were frantically torn and shredded by the high-speed rotating animal teeth!

The sound was violent and efficient, filled with destructive power!

Just seven or eight seconds later, on the other side of the machine, a specially designed cannon-like outlet, like a high-pressure jet, suddenly and continuously sprayed out a large amount of golden, dry straw shreds!

The chopped straw, like a golden downpour, piled up on the ground in just a dozen seconds, forming a fluffy little mountain more than a meter high!

In the middle of the machine, below the "Cyclone Wind Separation Channel," a miracle is unfolding in a huge wooden collection box!

Golden, clean, plump wheat grains, free of any impurities, cascaded down from a specially designed opening like a golden waterfall!

There was no bran! No straw! No dust.

Each grain of wheat seems to have been carefully selected one by one by God!

"Oh my god!"

"Wheat grains! It's wheat grains! All clean wheat grains!!"

Outside the door, those with sharp eyes had already spotted the golden waterfall and instantly burst into incredulous exclamations!

In less than half a minute, the work that used to require dozens of people to painstakingly hammer and sift through the wind for most of the day was completed.

This level of efficiency goes beyond just being described as "high".

This is the most ruthless and thorough crushing of the backward production methods of the past!

But this is not the end!

Everyone's gaze followed the golden waterfall of wheat grains to the next step in the process.

The perfectly separated grains of wheat, after falling into the collection box, were automatically and continuously fed into the central hole of the huge, self-rotating "Titan Millstone" next to it through the opening at the bottom, along a slowly rotating conveyor belt made of animal hide!

Under the gazes that made everyone's souls tremble, the two stone mills were now being driven by an unseen, enormous power derived from electricity, emitting a heavy yet incredibly steady "creak...creak..." sound as they turned on their own, round and round, neither fast nor slow!

As the golden wheat grains were continuously fed in, they were introduced.

Below the stone mill, from a specially designed, narrow outlet, a stream of pure white, delicate, warm water, carrying a rich wheat aroma, flows slowly and continuously.

That's... flour!

More white, finer, and purer flour than ever before, and by any means!

Everyone was stunned.

Their mouths were agape as they stared blankly at the incredible scene before them, their minds completely blank, devoid of any capacity for thought.

What did they see?

They saw bundles of golden wheat, complete with stalks and leaves, going into one end of the machine.

In less than a minute, it turned into three piles—a pile of crushed straw (which can be used as fuel or feed), a pile of light wheat bran (which can also be used as feed), and a pile of the purest, golden wheat grains.

The entire process was seamless and executed flawlessly. It was filled with revolutionary, soul-stirring, unparalleled, and absolute efficiency!

Lin Feng slowly pulled down all the levers and turned off the power.

The roaring steel behemoth gradually subsided, but the awe-inspiring sense of power was forever etched into the depths of everyone's soul.

The significance of the completion of the "Thunder Mill" goes far beyond the scope of simply being an efficient tool.

From that day on, the shelter's food processing capacity increased by more than a hundredfold!

It only takes two people half a day to operate this machine to produce enough fine flour to feed the dozen or so people in the shelter for a whole month.

This means that all people and all labor will be completely and utterly liberated from the meaningless, repetitive labor they perform day after day just to fill their stomachs!