Chapter 30: Preparing the Factory

Su Ziye's golden flames, born from the sun's power, ranked among the most formidable in existence. His mastery of their precise manipulation was nearly unparalleled among his peers.

The sole puzzle was why such a mighty figure would pursue such tedious labors.

Hewing earth into bricks and stacking wood to fashion structures.

Although the academy construction crew numbered only a dozen or so, every member was a genuine superman. Su Ziye's blueprints were refreshingly blunt—efficiency above all, with quality and safety relegated to secondary status. The completed factory was simple and robust: brick walls topped with wooden roofs, dominated by one- and two-story buildings. By the evening of the sixth day, construction stood nearly finished, and Su Ziye had personally directed the team in raising two perfect rings of high-quality brick walls around the perimeter.

This arrangement effectively treated the dozen strongmen as beasts of burden.

Yet all of them—including the foreman—held Su Ziye in profound respect and admiration. For six days he had labored without rest, exerting his superhuman strength to bring every task to completion, rarely sleeping and drinking scarcely a drop of water.

For a being of his caliber, abstaining from food, drink, and sleep was not particularly taxing. But performing such acts at his level of power and standing left the foreman utterly baffled.

On the evening of the sixth day, when moonlight flooded the Starshattered Lake and turned its surface into a trembling veil of silver, the foreman drained the bottle of happiness water in one gulp and could not help but ask once more.

"Because I am doing something very interesting."

Su Ziye's answer was brief.

On the morning of the seventh day, the first light of dawn touched the earth, and every foundation—walls, roads, water-collection systems, and piping—stood complete. What remained undone were furnishings, decoration, factory machinery, and staffing.

Su Ziye offered the foreman and his crew his sincere thanks and took his leave.

Securing the academy's construction team owed more to Carlotus's favor than to any cost Su Ziye had paid; the crew belonged to the student union. Still, every observer expected great things from him next, and in doing so he had incurred a substantial debt to the academy.

Less than an hour after the team departed, Liu Ru returned, travel-worn and weary.

In construction matters her skill and experience were of little aid, so Su Ziye had asked her to handle another task instead.

"How did it go?" he asked before she reached him.

Liu Ru studied the youth before her, feeling a pang of sympathy. This was the first time she had seen him so haggard. Seven days of sleepless labor and extreme exertion were taxing even for one of his strength, and these were the most repetitive, grueling, and unremarkable tasks imaginable—far from the dramatic exploits of earth-moving heroes who might abandon everything after a single drink. Yet Su Ziye had plunged in without complaint.

"The raw materials have been secured," she said. "We bought a batch of available stock from the Jinshang Chamber of Commerce, but we also contacted surrounding villages and markets to negotiate long-term contracts. Our prices ran one-fifth above market rate, so there was almost no resistance. The only complication..."

She omitted the full list of difficulties she had faced along the way.

Securing from the Jinshang Chamber had been straightforward within seven days, but signing contracts with the villages would have been a formidable undertaking even with the academy's endorsement. Liu Ru's success in navigating such complexity commanded quiet admiration.

She had done exactly as she promised.

Though she could not, she was learning—learning quickly, astonishingly fast.

"Very good, well done," Su Ziye praised. "So what was the complication?"

"Difficulty finding workers," Liu Ru replied calmly. "The able-bodied young men nearby are tied to heavy farm labor. Leaving would risk their fields being abandoned. Moreover, they distrusted the wages and conditions I offered; grain trading is their yearly custom. This recruitment standard was unprecedented, and with such reservations, convincing them in seven days proved nearly impossible."

"You could recruit female workers instead," Su Ziye suggested. "Young women at home have limited labor capacity. Sufficient pay would attract many, but their safety would rest entirely on the academy's protection."

As he spoke, Su Ziye let out a wry chuckle.

Indeed, even with a solid foundation, building a genuine career here without the academy's backing would be almost impossible.

Liu Ru's eyes brightened, yet unease followed. "For female workers, many families would consent to send them. Most, however, lack strong male guardians. Without cultivation they could not match male workers' efficiency, and managing women would be far more intricate than managing men."

"These are not problems," Su Ziye said with quiet calm. "Try again."

"I'll rest when I return."

He had shown that he could grow weary.

In the Yeye Academy, the foreman who had just returned from the site stood before Carlotus.

"How do you feel?" Carlotus asked with a smile.

"A touch of your former self, Dean," the foreman sighed. "Strength sufficient, character steady and resolute..."

"Wait," Carlotus interrupted, "I do not contest steadiness and resolve, but you say I was..."

The foreman shook his head with a smile. "Though Dean, you are indeed quite unreliable, believe my judgment on this point—I have not finished yet."

"Then tell me."

"But what does he truly intend?"

"To build such a factory in so short a time?"

"Because he truly lacks time," Carlotus said quietly.

"Lacks time?" the foreman asked, incredulous.

"He's so young..."

Yes, Su Ziye was young—only sixteen.

Carlotus, though the academy's most illustrious student council president, was already twenty-two in years.

Su Ziye smiled and offered an explanation.

"I made a bet with him."