Chapter 317: Chalk-colored Calcite
North District 4, Zihuai Mining Area.
The winter sun was hanging obliquely in the sky, the gray-white earth was endless, the wind was blowing, and there was nothing else except this sound.
The sun gradually came to noon, and on the gray-white and brown-brown land, a small black strip came, moving slowly on the ground. If you don't pay attention, it will be submerged in this chaotic canvas of the earth.
When the line of sight gradually approached the strip, a humming and rhythmic collision sound came, and people realized that this was a long steel train.
There were four raised patterns of prismatic wings on the front of the train. At first glance, they were made during casting and could not be erased. However, now the pattern is full of scraping grooves, and there are also many dents on the edges and corners. Some of them are polished to be particularly smooth, as if they were scratched by something.
The train kept moving forward. Despite all kinds of noises and sounds, the train was very quiet. There were only 16 passengers on this steel train that was more than 600 meters long. The steel carriages were also open to the open air, revealing the steel inner walls that were corroded and rusted.
"The weather is good today."
Sitting in the rest cabin at the front of the train, a conductor looked at the sky outside. The sun in the distance shone into the train, illuminating the metal baffle table in front of him. On the shaking baffle, there were cans of fish mixed in the oily liquid.
"It's a rare good weather. We can open the carriages and let them dry. In another month or two, it will start to rain again." Another conductor leaned back in his chair, his hands on his pillow, his eyes half open and half closed.
"The most poisonous thing is the rain in February. I hope the company will have the money to give this train a good coat of paint next year." The conductor in a dark blue uniform complained as he poked the fish with a fork.
"Forget it, I think the company doesn't want to pay for it. Do you remember the last time you painted the train? I wasn't married at that time." As he said that, the conductor who was sleeping next to him reached out and scratched his eyes with his hat, so that he could take a more comfortable nap.
"It has to be painted. If this train is caught in a few more heavy rains, it will probably be scrapped."
"The company's performance is getting worse year by year. If this train is also stopped, it is estimated that the subsequent liquidation of assets will be ready to give up." As old employees, they know the current situation of the company better than anyone else.
"At our age, it's hard to find a job outside~" As he said that, he pressed his knee with his left hand, which seemed to be rheumatism left by years of work, and it was a little itchy.
"It's hard to find a job. My nephew also graduated from high school this year, but no one wanted him no matter how many resumes he sent out. He also spent a lot of money on renting an apartment in the big city. As a result, his father, my cousin, asked him to come back."
"What can he do after coming back? In my opinion, it's better to stay in a big city first. Even doing odd jobs as a waiter is better than abandoning a small city." As he said this, the conductor who was about to take a nap turned over again.
"Four-leaf crystals are not good. It's better to live in more prosperous star regions. I heard that my distant aunt married an old man in the Red Birch Star Region just to leave here. Although she had a hard time in the past few years, she has finally made it and has a son, two daughters and several grandchildren."
"Some time ago, their family came back to visit and saw where we live. Several young grandchildren said that where we live is not as good as the fugitives from the Fifth Age in the movie."
"It was really embarrassing at the time, but fortunately their parents were sensible. They beat the little guys up and taught them a lesson, so they stopped talking."
"What happened later? Did I tell you how to immigrate there?" After eating the fish fillet, the conductor threw the box out. The iron box flipped in the air, and the remaining oil and water spilled out. Then the iron box quickly fell behind him and hit the car body with a clanging sound.
"It's very difficult. Now, immigration between star regions is not as easy as it used to be. Residents of some prosperous star regions are also very hostile to foreign immigrants. They said that any congressman who dares to support such a proposal should be removed from office immediately."
"Wow, where is the Federation? It turns out that I am more important." The conductor complained in a familiar way, shaking the hot water in his hand to rinse his mouth.
"But it's not completely hopeless." Perhaps because he couldn't sleep, the conductor next to him turned over.
"As long as you get into a good school, many big companies will be eager to hire you. If you are a college student from a prestigious university, you can also use the talent introduction channel."
"College students, I can't afford to support them. The salary I have earned in 20 years of work is probably not enough to cover the tuition for two years of college."
"When they said that, I knew it was useless. I also tried hard back then, but I could only barely get into a medium-sized high school in the region. It took a lot of effort to get into this company."
"My son is 10 years old this year. I think he is more playful than I was back then. He is not motivated at all and his academic performance is a mess.
I can't count on him." "If the company is doing well and I can save some money, I will probably think about getting him a good cram school, but now, I just hope the company can last a few more years."
"Ah, it's not easy."
After saying that, the two continued to sit in the lounge and look at the land outside illuminated by the white sun. The bare gray-white ground has no plants, only white sand and broken stones.
This is the Four-Leaf Crystal Star Region, the north of the Emerald Skirt, which was once called the Purple Sophora Tree Sea National Park.
——————
A few days later, North Fourth District, Qianliu City.
The originally barren land now has many buildings, and the outline of a small city can be roughly seen. Apart from here, the outside world is still barren, with only sporadic tracks passing through the land, connecting this gathering place.
Occasionally, a train passes through the empty land and comes to this small town, bringing a little excitement like blood that transports nutrients.
"Woo-woo--" With the sound of brakes and whistles, the train slowly stops in the station, and then several mechanical hooks are lowered from the keel in the station to grab the carriage, and then the chalk stones transported in it are dumped on the open space beside.
While loading and unloading, the accompanying staff on the train also jumped off, one of them had a cigarette in his mouth, and another looked around with a little curiosity, as if he was here for the first time.
"Why, are you curious?" asked the companion.
"Yes, it seems like they are building a city here?"
"That's right."
"Tsk tsk, that's rare. Which company is investing in building a large-scale factory in Feicui Skirt now?"
"It's not a company, they built it themselves. Anyway, the land here is worthless and almost no one wants it." Another employee shook his head, handed him a cigarette, and then the two walked out.
While smoking, the two squatted on the steps outside the station, watching the workers and some old self-disciplined mechanical units on the street, and continued the previous topic.
"Where are they from, and why do they want to settle here?"
"They seem to be Orientals. You should have seen movies and TV dramas. Orientals believe in the Five Phoenixes, which is different from our living culture."
"I know this, but I feel that they are a bit stupid to do this. There are so many abandoned cities in the north of the Jade Skirt now. They can just find one to settle down. Why do
they have to do it themselves?" "I don't understand it either, but I have talked to an Oriental person I know before. They have a strong sense of local sentiment and don't want to be scattered and displaced anymore. The place where they are with their relatives is home. That's what they told me."
"Okay, but this is probably quite expensive. Where do they get the funds?"
"Part of it is that they sold their original assets, part of it is government support, and there are low-interest loans provided by banks."
"The government probably also thinks that if they want to build a city, they should buy various materials and hire workers. It can at least boost economic indicators and increase employment opportunities, so they support it."
"Look, isn't this where we are? The company's only remaining calcite mine is now almost unsalable, and it's only needed here to make construction materials."
As the two were talking, the chalk calcite brought in from the station was gradually unloaded, and then trucks transported it to a nearby gravel plant, where it was used to make cement and concrete.
Looking at the dusty construction site, the two were silent for a long time.
"I always feel like I'm dreaming." The tall conductor pressed his cigarette butt to the ground and extinguished it.
"What dream?"
"I dreamed that I was still living in the late Third Age thousands of years ago."
"Why do you think so?"
"Because what I see now has not changed much from then. The prosperous scenes on the Internet, the beautiful starry sky, the majestic and powerful starships, the brilliant and extraordinary people, are too far away from my life. It feels so fake, like a liar."
"Don't be like that. Do you remember three years ago? A criminal hid on our train in order to escape the police." "
As a result, when he was about to reach the mining area, he was caught up by a shuttle driven by special military police." The short young conductor waved his arms and gestured.
"At that time, military police wearing light gray exoskeleton armor descended directly from the shuttle and landed on the carriage. With their stealth technology, even the monitoring radar on the train could not detect them. It was not until these military police landed and stepped on the carriage, causing a change in gravity that the alarm was sounded."
"At that time, I thought we were encountering some wild beasts or creatures, or the carriage had overturned or something."
"In the end, I saw those fully armed military police fighting with the fugitives, bullets were firing everywhere, and later there was a close combat, which split one of the carriages in two and overturned it, causing the next five carriages to derail."
"That was the first time I saw the advanced weapons used by the federal military police up close. If they were cannons, then the guns used by the underground gangs were the same as small water guns."
"The difference is too big. I estimate that a full set of equipment for those military police would cost hundreds of thousands."
"It's estimated to be more than that. Such fully armed military police are generally above Sequence 4." The tall conductor shook his head.
"I've heard people say that during a raid on a gang deep in the mountains of District 5 North, a team of only 12 people was dispatched, and more than 600 gang members were killed, including many Sequence 4 masters." "
A Sequence 4 Transcendental class that focuses on combat, with a full set of weapons, is an overwhelming advantage even when facing multiple Transcendentals of the same level in the gang."
"The military power of the Federation is still extremely powerful, and it's beyond the imagination of ordinary people."
"Forget it, let's not talk about this. The goods on the train have been unloaded, and it's time for us to return." The two stood up and looked at the gathering place in front of them again.
"I hope it will be built next time I come, and maybe I can resell some small specialties." The two whispered and walked into the station.
————
District 4 North, Zihuai Mining Area.
In the black night, the cold wind blew across the land covered with sand and gravel, and occasionally a searchlight swayed, illuminating the night sky in the distance.
In this dark land, this mining area is like an elliptical vortex with layers of indentations. Between each layer are high and angular rock walls. The traces of artificial excavation are particularly obvious. Occasionally, a large truck spirals down along the giant circle that continues to progress. The two cones reflected by the headlights are particularly obvious in the night.
After arriving at the bottom of the mine, the excavator puts the excavated ore in the truck, and then the truck spirals upward again and pours the ore into the parked train compartment.
In this way, it takes about two days and two nights to load a batch, and then the train will take the ore away to complete an order.
In the underground mining area, workers wearing helmets drive the mechanical arm to continuously cut off pieces of white crystals. During this period, dust is everywhere. It is only by spraying water mist from the small water pipe next to the mechanical arm that it can be stopped.
Even so, the environment here is still bad, and long-term inhalation of dust can cause various occupational diseases.
Another large piece of whitish crystal was cut off, and then the worker adjusted the position, set the parameters, and jumped down from the driver's seat.
In the next twenty minutes or so, the robotic arm will continue to work under the control of AI until it encounters a complex ore deposit or arrives at the scheduled time.
Arriving at a small isolated iron house not far away, the worker wiped the dust off his hands, took off his helmet, and leaned on a reclining chair beside him.
"I'm so tired. It's so stuffy wearing this helmet." In addition to him, there was another safety officer in the room, but at this time the safety officer was just leaning on the chair bored, watching the robotic arms digging automatically outside the window.
"You'd better wear it. You know that you will get sick if you inhale too much dust."
"The money for a new lung is not enough even if I sell you."
"Forget it, I'm over 60 years old and I won't live much longer." He lay down and drank ice water drawn from the side to quench his thirst.
"The average life expectancy in the federation is 85 years old, which is enough anyway." The safety officer glanced at him.
"We are the average party. Don't compare yourself with the people in the Central Star Region. It's not surprising that they live to 150 years old."
"While we can still move in the next few years, we should live happily. Otherwise, when we get old, we won't be able to be free."
The two continued to chat intermittently until later, the worker said.
"Why do people feel so tired? It's obviously not the slave society of the past."
After saying that, he stared at the mechanical excavator arm that was still tireless.
"Sometimes I feel like that machine, without a soul, without thinking, just repeating the actions."
"No one whips me, no one points a gun at me, but I still can't rest."
"Maybe I'm being exploited?" The safety officer smiled.
"Maybe, but it doesn't feel right."
"Some companies make money but don't share it with their employees, but here, you and I know that companies don't make any money at all, so who would want such stones?"
"Companies that can't make a profit should be eliminated. I loved to say this when I was young, but now I don't dare to say it because I'm really afraid that the company will be gone."
"At least I can still get a salary now, but if I lose my job at my age, I basically can't find a job."
"Lying at home, letting my children make money for me and help me with my medical treatment, I feel like this is dragging him down for life, carrying a burden at the age when he can fight the most."
"It's so hard, this life."
He murmured, and through the glass, he seemed to see the passionate, youthful and lively self running by many years ago.
'I'm going to the central star field to study at university. '
The girl he once liked waved goodbye to him like this, then boarded the superluminal plane and never came back.
He still has her communication method, but he never sent a message again.
Because he knew that from then on, the two of them were in two different worlds, and with the heavy labor, his cheeks lost their luster, becoming ugly and greasy, and there was even a time when he dared not look in the mirror.
Why on earth did it happen? The self who was once full of ideas and ideals, flexible and energetic, slowly died in time, and what was left now was just a soulless body.
Was it his own fault? Was he not working hard enough? But he was really tired and tried his best.
Was it because of society? What caused the current situation? His poor mind could not distinguish the increasingly complex economic environment, and the countless dazzling industries and occupations.
"Alas..."
With a sigh, white mist condensed on the glass, blocking his sight. Then he picked up the helmet at hand, put it on himself, pushed open the door, and walked out.
I have to keep working. I can't let the mechanical arm stop.
It can't stop. It is a machine. Its value must be maximized. This is his value here.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
