Chapter 104: Power of Creation (3)
Chapter 104 – Power of Creation (3)
“Dimwit, start building the island!”
Boom… Rumble, rumble, rumble…
Along with Chen Yu’s command, the ma.s.sive machinery found on both sides of the deck started extending themselves, the sound of contracting hydraulic rods combining with the vibration of the hull to create a deafening roar that repeatedly echoed throughout the ship. The loudness of the roar thoroughly displayed the strength of the machines.
“King! Look here!” Little Peach said as she walked up to Chen Yu with the crystal ball. Amidst the machines’ roaring, she shouted, “You need to determine the general layout of the island!”
“General layout?” Turning around, Chen Yu received the crystal ball and gave it a careful look. After a moment, he showed the crystal ball to the camera and said, “Everyone, can you see it? This is a very simple map layout. The blue background represents the ocean. So long as you draw an island on the map, the ship will automatically begin construction. The selections available on the upper and lower sides of the projection are auxiliary options. There are preset island shapes, and also options to change surface area and height.
“As the first giant artificial island in human history, we definitely cannot settle for a preset. If we’re going to build an island, we have to build that looks awesome!”
After saying so, under the gaze of hundreds of thousands of viewers, Chen Yu stretched out his index figure and drew a circle on the holographic projection. He then proceeded to draw another circle directly beside the first circle, creating a double-circle structure.
Finally, licking his lips, Chen Yu drew a cylinder with a curved tip in-between the two circles, the shape resembling that of a raised middle-finger…
An example of the drawing was as followed:
…
.
…╭－－╮
….▏.▏
….▏.▏
….▏.▏
.（…）
..╰－╯╰－╯
…
[What…the h.e.l.l is that?]
[The host raised a middle finger at s.p.a.ce.]
[My eyes!]
[UP, you really are a G.o.dd.a.m.ned talent.]
[I can’t bear to look.]
[I can’t bear to look. +1]
[It’s actually an Italian cannon.]
[The muzzle’s direction… Does it hold any deeper meaning?]
[My scalp went numb from looking at it.]
[Stop showing off. I’ll watch your stream upside down, alright?]
[Mother Nature’s supernatural craftsmanship…]
[Amazing.]
[I truly admire you, UP.]
[One day, when humankind goes extinct, this island will definitely become an unsolved mystery for aliens.]
[Make it quickly! I’m dying from antic.i.p.ation!]
Amidst the barrage of bullet comments, Chen Yu took a step back and carefully examined the artwork he created. Nodding in satisfaction, he said, “Beautiful. It’s perfect. This raised middle finger is the representation of mankind’s unyielding resistance toward destiny. It fully represents our yearning and feelings for positive energy. The resilience, perseverance, intelligence, romance, and brilliance of our great civilization…all of it is shining at the top of the fingertip!
“Regardless of what life throws at us, regardless of how many thousand years go by, and regardless of whether human beings can still continue existing in the future, right now, I just wish to say that we have once been here in this universe.”
[…]
[I almost believed him!]
[Someone! Come kick his a.s.s!]
[Hurry up and make the island.]
[Host, I still can’t figure out how you managed to get your hands on such special effects.]
[There’s actually still someone stupid enough to believe that the host is faking things.]
After drawing the island’s shape, Chen Yu made some further adjustments to the island’s parameters. He then said, “Aside from being able to express individuality, this shape is also very practical. There are two well-defined circles and one cylinder. It will be very convenient to arrange and construct buildings on such an island.
“I’ll leave the island’s height as the default. As for its surface area… Everyone should know that I can’t livestream for too long, and the bigger the island, the longer the construction time will be. So, after some fine-tuning, I’ve decided to set the island at 40 square kilometers. With my superficial knowledge, this size should be equal to roughly four Tianjin Cities. Up till this date, human civilization had yet to build such a colossal island before.
“After today, I, too, will be included in history.”
After saying so, Chen Yu tapped his finger on the ‘Start Building’ icon.
Boom… Boom… Boom…
The ship’s hull started vibrating with even greater intensity.
Two thick carbon pillars protruded from the bottom of the ship, penetrated 120 meters of seawater, and plunged deep into the ocean floor. Immediately afterward, several sharp reamers started reaming and loosening the ground. And with the help of the ship’s 36 ultra-high pressure dredge pumps, silt started getting sucked into the vessel at a rate of 1,000 tons per second.
“According to the AI’s previous description, an island’s construction is separated into four steps. Currently, we are in the first step, which is the ‘cofferdam’ stage. Simply put, the silt is first sucked into the ship and compressed into solid cylinders with a 28-meter diameter. These cylinders will then be inserted into the ocean floor’s impervious bed. Afterward, sand will be injected into the cylinders for further stability. This process is called a cofferdam.
“Once we have formed the island’s outline using the compressed cylinders, the cofferdam process will be complete.”
“The second step is to fill the island. After we drain all the seawater from the cofferdam and fill it with sand, we will have completed a simple island. Of course, the island is far from being completed. The third and fourth steps are still of extreme importance. However, we’re not in a hurry right now. Let’s first watch the island-building ship complete the first two steps before we continue explaining.”
While Chen Yu said so, the huge “cannon barrel” at the ship’s stern gradually extended outward before angling downward to aim directly at the ocean.
Following this, a hollow cylinder with a 28-meter diameter rapidly extended out from the cannon and plunged into the seawater.
Boom!
Roughly three seconds later, the cylinder made out of compressed silt reached the bottom of the ocean.
Boom… Boom… Boom… Boom…
Afterward, the cannon started shaking violently as it utilized immense force to push the cylinder downward, plunging the cylinder straight into the ocean floor’s impervious bed.
This entire process lasted 15 seconds, the vibrations generated causing Chen Yu’s legs to go slightly numb.
By the time the cannon stopped shaking, the originally hollow cylinder was already thoroughly filled with sand.
Immediately afterward, the ship moved forward by roughly ten meters. The cannon then released the second cylinder. And half a minute later, the third cylinder was released…
[This is the power of creation…]
[The efficiency is through the roof.]
[This is too brutal!]
[I suspect this ship is capable of creating a new continent overnight…]
[This definitely cannot be an act.]
[That’s right. This is too real…]
[Our dream of enclosing the Yellow Sea to build a fishing ground can finally come true.]
[I have a big project in mind! UP, will you consider it? Build a highway across the Pacific Ocean that leads straight to America! We’ll split the toll 50-50.]
[That’s the 18th cylinder now, d.a.m.nit…]
[Nineteenth.]
[Is this how normal humans build islands as well?]
[Why does the term ‘normal humans’ sound so uncomfortable?]
[Host! Amazing!]
[This is what we call China Efficiency. (Tactical retreat)]
As the amount of silt sucked up from the ocean floor continuously increased, the cofferdam’s construction speed also continuously increased. In just a little more than 70 minutes, the 40-square kilometer island’s outline had taken shape.
“Next will be the second step–filling the island.”
As soon as Chen Yu said so, over 20 large pipes extended out of the tallest machine on the ship’s port side, the pipes looking like tentacles as they plunged into the enclosed seawater. The pipes then started pumping the seawater out of the cofferdam.
Brr…
The roar of the pumps was ear-splitting. The water level in the cofferdam also started decreasing at a rate visible to the naked eye. In the meantime, the cannon at the stern began to rise, eventually “looking up” at the sky at a 45-degree angle.
In the next moment…
Boom!
A water column with a 30-meter diameter shot into the sky, the water column reaching a distance outside of Chen Yu’s sight…
Chen Yu: “c.r.a.p…’
Audience: “c.r.a.p…’
Little Peach: “c.r.a.p…”