Chapter 374: The Punishment Ring
“At that time, arrange for a group to live here directly. Once finished, they can leave,” Lin Yimu pointed at the nearby empty rooms. “It’s not cold at night yet. This can serve as temporary dormitories. I can have a few soldiers from the military department come here to maintain order. We’ll hurry to finish everything before the cold season arrives.”
Zhuang Mingxu shook his head after hearing this. “No need.”
“Hm?”
“We’re not short of manpower in the short term. Save them for when the base’s ordinary people can’t go out in the cold season. They can then concentrate on the work, which can serve as a way to earn supplies and better utilize the labor force.” As a competent capitalist, Zhuang Mingxu would never waste productive capacity.
“The base is rushing toward a good harvest now. The ordinary people are very busy. There’s no need to waste manpower here,” he said, then turned to look at the bulky machines. “What are those?”
Lu Weiyi nodded.
Zhuang Mingxu strode over. On the way, he stepped on the stem and leaves of a mutated ivy. The mutated ivy whipped him lightly as if flicking a whip. Everyone around was shocked, but Zhuang Mingxu didn’t mind at all. When Lu Weiyi frowned, about to deal with it, Zhuang Mingxu stopped him, “It didn’t use much force.”
Then he lifted his gaze to the main root of the mutated ivy. Lu Weiyi followed his line of sight and saw a thick, thigh-sized main root with a metal ring around the fork — like a unique collar, only as thick as a thumb.
“That is a new device developed by Shen Xiuyin to control mutated creatures. It’s called the Punishment Ring. It carries a high-voltage current and can instantly release high voltage electricity. The current is strong enough that it won’t kill powerful mutated animals or plants but causes extreme pain.”
Zhuang Mingxu paused and repeated, “Extreme pain.”
Seeing Lu Weiyi’s calm expression, he continued, “There’s a difference in controlling mutated animals and mutated plants. When mutated plants go out of control, the controller can activate a built-in miniature energy converter in the Punishment Ring to convert the crystal core energy next to the ring into fire-type energy, causing it to instantly ignite and explode.”
Therefore, mutated plants without energy crystal cores will face certain death when exposed to fire energy explosions.
Lu Weiyi looked at the obedient mutated ivy nearby, which showed no intention to attack humans, and it was hard to imagine what it had been through to become like this.
But he had no right to say it was cruel. It was his selfishness that brought it back and his worry that its kind would be attacked that led him to suggest finding a way to control it.
Zhuang Mingxu was simply turning his ideas into reality.
“For mutated creatures, the Punishment Ring is worn around the neck. Besides the high-voltage electric current, it also has a mini supernatural ability jammer, and serrated steel teeth on the inside. The metal used is the same as that applied in the current crystal core guns, ensuring that one strike will definitely break the neck.”
“It also comes with corresponding monitoring settings to ensure that if anyone tries to forcibly remove it with anything other than the key, the punishment mechanism will be activated immediately.”
After Zhuang Mingxu finished speaking, Lu Weiyi was silent for a long moment. He realized Zhuang Mingxu was referring to mutated creatures, which included not only mutated animals and plants but also humans.
“Do you want to control those with supernatural abilities?” Lu Weiyi asked, unsure why the thought came to him, though he knew at that moment he was thinking of nothing else.
Zhuang Mingxu didn’t answer directly. He thought carefully and looked at Lu Weiyi calmly. “When Shen Xiuyin developed this, she did suggest that if it were applied to supernatural ability users, ordinary people could regain control.”
Lu Weiyi watched him quietly, his gaze steady.
Zhuang Mingxu pinched his cheek gently. “But I don’t think it’s necessary. From the beginning, we built the base to allow ordinary people and supernatural ability users to coexist peacefully. Applying this to either side would go against our original intention.”
“My initial purpose in having Shen Xiuyin develop this was to help our base survive better,” Zhuang Mingxu explained. When Shen Xiuyin first introduced the function to him, he already sensed that if this thing got out, it could be harmful to supernatural ability users in the future. But right now, their base needed it to control mutated plants.
“I will make sure that everything that passes through my hands has a clear destination.” That was the greatest assurance Zhuang Mingxu could give at the moment.
“I once heard a saying,” Lu Weiyi murmured, “It is often the kindest wishes that lead humanity into hell.”
He looked at the mutated ivy with its metallic ring and whispered.
Zhuang Mingxu unconsciously clenched his fingers until his nails dug into his flesh, causing sharp pain. In that moment, he doubted whether everything he had done for the base was worth it. He quietly asked, “Should we stop now?” Since it hadn’t been widely used yet, it was still possible to halt control completely.
But just because of the fear of possible future danger, should they extinguish the advantages of the present…
Especially when their base was at a disadvantage compared to surrounding bases…
“No,” Lu Weiyi’s expression was resolute. He looked toward the distant seaside where handmade fishing boats were catching fish, fishermen rowing back toward the island, and the evening fishing songs echoed along the peaceful shore.
This was not how the end of the world should look.
This was the pure land he had created with others.
He wanted this place to always look like this, to preserve every smiling face they met today.
Lu Weiyi turned to look at Zhuang Mingxu. There was not a trace of doubt in his eyes, just like when he had trusted him from the start to manage the entire base. “Because we foresee possible futures, we must be even more careful.”
“I want future generations, when they talk about the invention of this technology, to know that we fought for more survival chances for the base, not that it harmed more of our own kind.”
Zhuang Mingxu reached out and took his hand, nodding solemnly. “Agreed.”
**
The purpose of Lu Weiyi’s trip was to collect various machinery from major factories. The route Zhuang Mingxu set for them almost covered all the famous factory sites around Pingjin City.
Not every base had the foresight to store these things, so Lu Weiyi considered it a bargain.
“This is a complete set of weaving machinery, from cotton to fabric. I’ve had Li Dongsheng occasionally encourage some cotton production. With the recent harvest in the base, it’s enough to start production once. I want to produce a batch of fabric before the cold season arrives to make as many cotton clothes as possible, ensuring everyone has a set,” Zhuang Mingxu explained his recent plan.
“Last cold season, ordinary people barely had any chance to go out,” he said. He and Lin Yimu had spent most days hiding underground, only going out a few times to use the restroom on the surface, often freezing their ears and catching colds. Not to mention others struggling to survive due to insufficient food. “I want to make sure no one in our base freezes or starves this cold season.”
“Have you found people who know how to operate this machinery? Also, won’t it consume too much power?” Lu Weiyi looked at the large facility covering nearly a hundred meters, worried about their oil reserves for power generation.
“We are already counting manpower. We’ll only activate one set, not all, to control consumption,” Zhuang Mingxu sighed deeply. “We still have to figure out power generation.”
Lu Weiyi nodded in agreement but didn’t have any knowledge to offer suggestions.
“Next year, we’ll spend a year building a power station. I’ve already asked my uncle at the Capital base to help look out for talent to build hydroelectric and thermal power plants,” Zhuang Mingxu said ambitiously.
After leaving Lin Yimu to organize supplies and repair machines, Zhuang Mingxu and Lu Weiyi stopped by the weapons research institute to check on progress with crystal core weapons.
Zhao Changming, the chief weapon developer, had quickly optimized the crystal core energy converter that Lu Xi had previously researched, reducing energy conversion loss and improving energy utilization.
With Antonio’s metal expertise assisting, they also developed a harder alloy better suited for crystal core weapons.
“The biggest problem in producing more crystal core weapons now isn’t the crystal cores or technology, but producing this high-hardness alloy. Even with Antonio’s metal expertise constantly adjusting it daily using supernatural abilities, the quantity is still limited,” Zhao Changming said confidently with research results in hand.
Producing the alloy requires factories and equipment, and reaching temperatures over a thousand degrees requires fuel…
Every step is a challenge for their current base.
But Zhuang Mingxu showed no sign of hesitation and remained assertive: “Then let’s focus our productive capacity on the most critical areas. We need weapons—usable weapons. The most crucial part of crystal core weapons is energy conversion. Now that problem is solved, I believe crystal core rocket launchers and rocket artillery aren’t far off.” After all, the experts grasp the principles of these weapons easily.
Zhao Changming pursed his lips and said nothing.
Zhuang Mingxu patted Antonio on the shoulder. “You’ll have to work overtime for a while.”
Antonio leaned lazily against the white wall of the lab, raised an eyebrow, and said nothing.
“I found a few bumper cars, children’s electric cars, and a small three-wheeled electric scooter this time,” Lu Weiyi suddenly said. He casually took out a phone from his space and played a video. Dean’s voice shouting “Charge! Charge! Charge!” echoed energetically from the screen, full of spirit and joy.
“I don’t know if these little electric scooters are suitable for kids to play with,” Lu Weiyi said, turning the screen slightly so Zhuang Mingxu could see.
The video showed several children’s electric vehicles—some with four wheels, some with three—designed like mini sports cars and off-road vehicles. There was even a three-wheeled mini police car. Though a bit small, they looked very cool. Some were even functional miniature construction vehicles.
Zhuang Ai Yi pulled Taotao as they weaved among the little cars. Dean followed them, constantly exclaiming “Wow!”—clearly very interested.
“I love working overtime,” Zhuang Mingxu said nothing, but Antonio immediately shrugged and said, “Overtime makes me happy.”
Lu Xi couldn’t hold back and laughed first. When Antonio turned to look at him, he quickly composed himself and pretended to be serious. “Brother, Professor Zhong Qi and I made new progress.”
