Chapter 282: Go Kill Some Beasts

"It's done! I've completed it!"

Dr. Yi stared at the messy modification diagrams spread across the desk, his hands, red from the cold, trembling. With exhilaration, he scooped up all the blueprints. Beneath his disheveled hair, his eyes were bloodshot.

He glanced at the time display on the corner of the desk.

"Thirteen minutes and forty-five seconds... I did it!"

He burst out laughing, clutching all the diagrams as he rushed towards Tan Xin's office. He completely disregarded the other enforcers hurrying through the corridor, pushing and bumping his way through the crowd like a madman in a white lab coat.

"Move! All of you, move aside!"

"Damn it! Are you all blind? Get out of my way!"

"I'm going to save humanity! I've waited so many years! This day has finally come... Get out of my way, all of you!"

*Bang!*

Dr. Yi kicked open the door to Tan Xin's office.

Inside, Tan Xin sat with a grave expression. Standing opposite him was Han Meng, whom Dr. Yi had met only a short while ago.

Han Meng was slightly taken aback by Dr. Yi's dramatic entrance, a look of confusion appearing in his eyes.

But Dr. Yi didn't even glance at him. He rushed straight to Tan Xin, slammed all the modification diagrams onto the desk with a slap, and spoke, panting heavily:

"All the modification diagrams for the current heating system pump models are here! No major changes are needed; just remove the original motors and reinstall the steam-driven units!"

Tan Xin looked at the diagrams covering the desk and was about to speak when Dr. Yi continued:

"I know what you're going to say! Time! We don't have time to build so many small-scale steam-driven devices on site, so my solution uses small steam-driven units from the car factories as replacements! No production needed! Just dismantle those units from the factories and install them onto the pumps! The only thing needed is an adaptive power conversion device... I've already designed it, and it's very simple to manufacture. With Aurora City's industrial speed, everything can be completed in at most three hours!

I've calculated it! Pumps driven by these devices won't have significantly less power than the original electric ones! At least enough to cover ninety percent of Aurora City's area! This is just an emergency solution; once this cold disaster passes, I can make further improvements to ensure its pressure is sufficient to cover the entire Aurora City!"

After finishing his last sentence, Dr. Yi slammed both hands down hard on the diagrams covering the desk again, producing a dull thud.

He took a deep breath.

"Fifteen minutes... I delivered!"

The office fell silent.

Tan Xin looked at the bloodshot-eyed Dr. Yi, a hint of guilt appearing in his own eyes. After a long silence, he finally spoke:

"Dr. Yi... this plan, it's no longer useful."

Dr. Yi froze. "...Why is it no longer useful? Did... did someone already design it beforehand? Have you started manufacturing it then? Or have all the pumps been restored, so no modifications are needed?"

"No." Tan Xin shook his head. "Dr. Yi... the temperature outside is now minus forty-one degrees Celsius. Without the pumps running, all the water that wasn't fully circulated has already frozen solid. As early as eight minutes ago, most of the heating pipes had already burst from the cold and are unusable..."

Dr. Yi's pupils contracted slightly. He stood there stunned, still in the posture from slamming the table, and spoke hoarsely,

"Are you saying..."

"Even if all the pumps were restored, the heating couldn't be restored..." Tan Xin said reassuringly. "Regardless, thank you for your contributions to Aurora City."

Dr. Yi's breathing immediately grew heavy. Though he hadn't been drinking, he seemed drunk, his face and neck flushed crimson as he stumbled backward.

"...Contribution?" Dr. Yi laughed miserably. "Contribution? What contribution have I made...? Whether at the Aurora Base or here... I've achieved nothing... I still haven't been able to change a damn thing! Shit!!!"

Dr. Yi roared furiously, like a cornered beast. He wasn't roaring at Tan Xin or Han Meng, but at his own helplessness in the face of despair.

He turned and rushed out of the office, slamming the door shut with a heavy thud, his destination unknown.

Seeing this, Tan Xin let out a long sigh.

At the same time, another figure pushed the door open and entered.

"Master, things have changed," Chu Shiduo said, walking in hurriedly.

"In what way?"

"Coal!" Chu Shiduo's face was extremely grim.

"Coal?" Tan Xin frowned slightly. "Didn't we calculate just now that with Aurora City's current coal reserves, there's enough for ten days of continuous supply, even if distributed to the public? Haven't you ordered the supply to be opened?"

"It was opened!" Chu Shiduo said through clenched teeth. "But when we opened the supply, the three major merchant guilds made no move, not selling a single piece of coal. So everyone in the city came to us, scrambling to buy it. While we do have coal reserves, they're usually for internal use and not very large; they were all snatched up in just over an hour. After our coal ran out, the Starfall Merchant Guild, in conjunction with the Silvermoon and Coldspring Merchant Guilds, started price gouging. They inflated the price of coal by five hundred thousand times! Now, one kilogram of coal costs five hundred thousand copper coins!"

Hearing this, Tan Xin's gaze instantly turned cold, and a surge of killing intent poured out from within him.

"Five hundred thousand copper coins??" Han Meng frowned tightly. "Have they gone mad with greed? This is simply profiting from human lives by monopolizing coal!"

"They've inflated the prices so high, and you haven't sent anyone to stop them?" Tan Xin said coldly.

"Two groups of people have already gone to negotiate with them, but nothing has come of it. I even sent a Rank Six expert, but I don't know what benefits they offered; to this day, they are still safely selling coal at five hundred thousand per kilogram. I was just about to report to you and then go there myself."

Tan Xin sat behind his desk, his eyes growing even colder. He sneered:

"What a Starfall Merchant Guild. Considering their previous contributions, I had intended to give them a way out... But now they're openly defying me. Does he really think I won't dare to kill him?"

"But Master, most of our personnel are currently searching for the Aurora Lord... And Yan Xiang is guarded by several hired individuals from other domains. To kill him, we'd have to temporarily reassign people."

Before Chu Shiduo finished speaking, Han Meng, standing nearby, silently walked towards the door.

Seeing this, Tan Xin already guessed Han Meng's intention, but still asked, "Where are you going?"

Han Meng's black trench coat flapped fiercely in the cold wind. He drew a cold firearm from his waist with one hand and spoke calmly:

"...To kill some beasts."