Chapter 158 Evolved Kind
The trading of injections was not a big issue for Su Han.
What restrained Su Han's side was primarily the speed of purifying and manufacturing the injections, not the raw materials.
According to Bai Qilan, the injections made from the blood of the offspring of the Mother Nest Ancient Tree were easier to handle than those from typical monsters, because their spiritual energy structure and genetic structure were more stable, lying between the evolved kind and the mutated kind.
The more stable the structure, the more useful it was for the efficacy of the drugs.
This could actually be corroborated with Bai Qiuwen and their deductions about degeneration and mutation.
As long as Su Han was determined, it was feasible to slightly increase the production by modifying the equipment in the laboratory.
However, there was a premise: friends are friends, but business is business.
Given the importance of the injections at the moment, even with a discount for allies, they were absolutely not cheap.
"We want 300 of the First Order Upper Grade injections, 1000 hand crossbows, and 10000 crossbow arrows."
Zhao Yaqian certainly understood this issue. She took out some blueprints and said, "These are the blueprints for the Crystal Energy Generator, along with the plans for a grain stripping machine, an improved hand crossbow, and in addition, we have two kinds of evolved species for trade, four of each, males and females paired, and finally, the supplies, including food and other living resources."
It was an obvious trade deficit; they needed more resources to exchange for Su Han's injections.
But Su Han was clearly more concerned about the first item on the list and curiously asked, "Crystal Energy Generator? What is that?"
Seeing Su Han's interest, Zhao Yaqian's eyes flickered slightly as she explained, "It's something Professor Tian designed. It uses Lamp Tree Crystals as an energy source, stimulating their energy to be converted into electrical energy, replacing current generators, with a higher efficiency in power generation."
Oil would run out, and if they continued to use oil for electricity generation, it would also compete with vehicles for resources, so alternatives were necessary.
Moreover, spiritual energy had already become integrated into the current environment. Developing a spiritual energy system based on the existing scientific foundation was an inevitable path to mutual transformation, and that was the very thing Tian Jiaxuan had devoted himself to researching.
Su Han was surprised as he looked at the blueprints in his hand. If he could somewhat understand the blueprints of the crossbow arrows, then the generator was completely beyond him.
Although he might be able to roughly replicate the structure using metal control according to the blueprints, there were definitely some areas he couldn't manage.
"This thing isn't as simple as just the blueprints, is it?"
Zhao Yaqian didn't deny it: "Yes, the Lamp Tree Crystals contain spiritual energy, but just the luminous level isn't enough to operate the generator, so it needs a kind of ignition liquid as an adjunct. Professor Tian has developed the ignition liquid, but the mechanical structure is currently unable to be completed due to craftsmanship and material issues."
Su Han's eyes flickered slightly as he said, "You mean to cooperate?"
Zhao Yaqian nodded, "Yes, to jointly build the Crystal Energy Generator. If successful, we could even eventually build a large one to supply the entire camp, gradually replicating our technological system. It's a win-win."
If successful, it would not only mean having alternatives in energy usage but also represent a first step in harnessing spiritual energy.
Although it was still being converted into electricity for use, who knew how further human evolution and ongoing research might push the usage of spiritual energy, possibly developing cutting-edge technologies?
"You must have brought some experts with you, call them over."
Su Han was clueless about this field, but were the two people before him in the know?
"Please wait a moment, Lord Su Han."
Cheng Zhenyong went out and soon returned with a person who was slender and wore glasses, looking to be in his early thirties.
"Li Bowen, a student of Elder Tian."
After greetings were exchanged, Su Han noticed the object behind them, an old-fashioned generator.
"Lord, Lord Su, this is a broken generator; we need your help to modify the combustion chamber."
Li Bowen was somewhat cautious, but when it came to his specialty, he quickly made his request, pointing to the location of the combustion chamber on the old generator.
The diesel generator operated by burning diesel to generate power, driving an air pump, which in turn drove the rotor and stator to generate electricity through electromagnetic cutting.
The replacement they needed was right there, switching diesel to drive the air pump with Lamp Tree Crystals.
Su Han didn't know much about this area, but under Li Bowen's constant guidance, the modification was quickly completed.
The chamber was modified, a Lamp Tree Crystal was placed inside, and then a bottle of red liquid was poured in before the chamber was rapidly sealed.
Su Han watched calmly as Li Bowen proceeded, noticing that the chamber vibrated slightly after the liquid was poured in, clearly releasing more energy.
"It worked."
Li Bowen watched the whole old generator nervously. When it started running and the connected socket along with the light turned on, he finally heaved a sigh of relief.
In the initial experiments, because the Lamp Tree Crystals released energy too quickly, they actually exploded several times.
If everyone hadn't been Contractors, a few researchers might truly have died.
Later, after fine-tuning the ratio, they finally managed to achieve a stable release of energy.
Li Bowen explained, "The energy contained in Lamp Tree Crystals is very high. Although only a thumb-sized Lamp Tree Crystal was used just now, it can continuously release energy for about ten days."
The generator before them was not a small one, but one sufficient to supply a medium-sized supermarket.
Su Han narrowed his eyes in thought, although an ignition agent was needed, he could sense that the substance was likely extracted from the bodies of monsters.
"Actually... if we use reinforced metals, we could improve efficiency. The same principle could be applied to engines as well; it's just that we need to alter the mechanical structure or block the reactions," Li Bowen said cautiously, showing his lack of ease with social interactions.
Su Han did not immediately respond but turned to Zhao Yaqian and said, "Tell me about the Evolved Kind."
Zhao Yaqian said, "The Evolved Kind includes Tough-skinned Rabbits and Four-horned Sheep; both are edible and omnivorous, suitable for breeding. We found them in a factory, already formed into a small group."
Both kinds of Evolved animals could become a source of meat for the camp.
However, for now, South City could not afford to raise livestock as lavishly as Su Han did, because it would consume a vast amount of food, so they had to proceed cautiously.
Zhao Yaqian watched Su Han's expression intently; the success or failure of the deal depended on him.
"It is possible,"
Su Han said, "The deal can proceed, but three hundred injections are more valuable than what you offer, so you need to provide Lamp Tree Crystals to make up the difference."
Zhao Yaqian's face slightly changed, seemingly troubled, and said, "We don't have many Lamp Tree Crystals either."
Theoretically, as long as Lamp Trees were continuously nourished, the Lamp Tree Crystals would continuously be produced.
Especially since Bai Qiuwen and his team had already figured out the growth mechanism of the Lamp Trees. Although they couldn't be cultivated, ensuring their output was not a problem.
However, with the expansion of South City's camp and the current development of the energy from Lamp Tree Crystals, their demand in this aspect was also significant.
If they were to allocate a portion of the crystals, it meant that some plans might have to be temporarily shelved.
Su Han calmly said, "If it's for lighting and cultivation, you may exchange them for Ancient Tree Crystals; I grant you that exchange privilege."
"Ancient Tree Crystals?"
Zhao Yaqian's eyes flickered; she certainly knew of this capability from the battle at Bei Qing Grain Warehouse where she had seen the Mother Nest Ancient Tree repelling the mist and setting up light sources.
Undoubtedly, the formidable Angel Envoy of Su Han also possessed similar traits to the Lamp Trees.
They had more than once envied Su Han for having such an Envoy, as its importance to a camp was immeasurable.
"What's the ratio?"
"One to three."
Su Han thought for a while, then stated the conversion rate: "The same volume of Lamp Tree Crystals could be exchanged for three times the volume of Ancient Tree Crystals."
This was a relatively reasonable ratio, as the Ancient Tree Crystals had an energy decay period. An unreasonable exchange rate could easily disrupt the production and exchange continuity between South City's Lamp Tree Crystals and the Ancient Tree Crystals.
Zhao Yaqian pondered for a long time before nodding and saying, "That works, but we can't use only Lamp Tree Crystals to offset the difference; we are willing to use more resources in exchange."
She certainly knew the downside, but if it was just for cultivation and dispersing mist, then Lamp Tree Crystals and Ancient Tree Crystals wouldn't differ much in the short term.
As long as the timing was managed properly, the Lamp Trees could continue producing Lamp Tree Crystals and wouldn't face a crisis due to the energy depletion of the Ancient Tree Crystals.
"For the specifics of the exchange, discuss it with Meiyu; Li Bowen, stay here. Later, you'll accompany me to build the generator."
"Bowen, coordinate well with Lord Su Han; I'll go find Meiyu."
"Alright, Captain Zhao."
After Zhao Yaqian left, Su Han took Li Bowen to where the metal cubes were stored, and activated his Metal Control to draw several metal cubes toward him.
"I'll control; if there's anything wrong, point it out immediately."
Su Han manipulated the metal to continuously morph and crafted each component following the blueprints.
In the beginning, there were many errors pointed out by Li Bowen, but as he became familiar with the process, all the metal parts needed for the generator could be easily crafted.
Li Bowen stood by, watching Su Han's control and inwardly chuckled bitterly: 'If he were taught advanced math and physics, he could likely handcraft numerous terrifying weapons.'
Of course, Li Bowen just thought about it; in the post-apocalyptic world, the environment was constantly changing daily.
While human weaponry like atomic bombs existed in the former society, with the interplay of rules, it was hard to predict their final efficacy.
Perhaps, the fundamental principles of physics could collapse overnight—after all, Spiritual Energy was inherently related to the Soul and Mind.
Instead of having Su Han craft modern weapons, focusing on enhancing the Angel Envoy and the application of Spiritual Energy was the correct path.
Lost in his thoughts, Su Han had already finished crafting, and said to Li Bowen, "Process what needs to be processed; bring the items over in two days."
Li Bowen jumped at the reminder, hurriedly replying, "Alright, the remaining assembly isn't difficult—it's just a matter of supplementing simple materials."
Insulation of the pipelines, adjustments to the electrical stability... As long as it didn't require massive industrial machines, they could still handle the adjustments themselves.
Li Bowen called someone to gather the items, and Su Han returned to the room they had just left.
The generator was still idling; Su Han opened the sealed combustion chamber, causing energy to leak out with considerable force.
Su Han thoughtfully moved the metal to separate the combustive agents from the Lamp Tree Crystals, gradually reducing the energy release before removing the crystals.
This chapter upload first at NovelBin.Com