Monster Factory

Chapter 158: Final assembly (1 of 2)

Translated by me, edited by drpetro.

Thank you Frieder, Jacob, Wangchen, and Endry for sponsoring this chapter.

Monster Heavy Industry?

For most people, upon hearing that name, all they felt was the unfamiliarity associated with it.

Because normally, any business that used Heavy Industry to end their name with was worth billions and had at least created some popular and commonly used machines.

Monster Heavy Industry sounded intimidating, and it had that giant steel beast associated with it. However, although it was a heavy industry business, it still wasn't like Liugong, XCMG, Zhenhua, or Sany, which everyone was familiar with.

There were some who had heard the name before, but they just couldn't remember exactly where from.

The good thing was that this was the information age, all that was needed was to connect to the internet and anything unknown could be found.

With this search, they found the M.E.C.s. [ED: Mechanically Engineered Chairs]

It had a price tag of 88,000 each, which to most people was enough to buy a brand new domestic car, yet its sales were still ever increasing.

Most of the people on the excavator forum were all labourers, which was why most of them didn't really care that much about these kinds of luxury items.

But this still didn't stop them from searching up just how ridiculously crazy the abilities of this chair was.

And soon enough, many people on the forum switched over to watching videos of this revolutionary chair. Discussions quickly followed between this bunch of ragtag, but mechanically proficient, net friends.

They all concluded that the control technique for this Mechanical Colossus was basically the same as the one used in the chairs. Moreover, it even included the automated tool switcher, a very practical and useful functionality.

"If this series of construction equipment can be mass marketed, then excavators are bound to retire. In comparison, the excavators lag behind way way way too much, no matter if it's in efficiency or functionality."

"I feel like this won't happen for now. Just think of how big the M.E.C. is, yet it costs 88,000. Then according to proportions, isn't the Mechanical Colossus going to cost at least 5 million?"

"Even if it's 5 million, people will still buy it. Just convert its effectiveness a bit and people will understand whether or not it's worth getting. Personally, I believe this machine far exceeds 5 million in construction efficiency."

"Compared to its efficiency, I'm more interested in its control system."

"Yes yes ~ There's definitely an all new kind of control system."

…………………………

While the discussions continued on endlessly on the forum, Ye Qing on the other hand was comfortably watching TV at Dragon Creek Beach.

In the past several days, as long as it was the Zhongyun Station, then there would always be something on the screen about all the activities Xu Ninggong was attending. After she became Zhongyun's cultural ambassador, most poster signs on the streets swapped in pictures of her.

Ye Qing wasn't really watching it just to see her.

In the past year or so, the level of Zhongyun station's broadcasting had been on the continuous rise. Even their daily news had some interesting points in it.

For example, there was the newly released [Civilized 5 minutes], where a reporter went out on the streets in search of uncivilized behavior, then rushed over to surprise interview them for their embarrassing reactions.

After this short clip, an advertisement for a brand new show appeared.

These were the highlights of first episode of [The Great Escape], which stars Xu Ninggong and would begin airing Sunday night. Of course, she would only attend for this very episode, which had finished filming days ago, so right now the show was most likely busy stockpiling footage for the rest of the season.

Having finished watching the highlights, Ye Qing once again delved back into tightly scheduled manufacturing.

Right now the Monster Factory ranked 12th, just two more ranks and it would be time to ascend to rank four. Yet the Mechanical Colossus here would play a key role.

Currently there are two versions of Mechanical Colossuses, the 30 ton version, and the 150 ton version.

Ye Qing here had named the 30 ton version the M.C. I series, whereas the 150 version was the M.C. X series.

From all the testing at the construction site, the peon operated Colossus performed almost perfectly, only the movement system needed some minor touch ups.

As to cover off road and muddy conditions, all excavators and bulldozers used belt tracks as their method of movement.

There were many advantages in using belt tacks off road and in muddy conditions, but its downsides were also clear as day. For example, slow speeds, high resistance, low mileage, and being unable to traverse on regular roads.

Here's a simple example. If an excavator was excavating on the right side of the road, and wanted to do some work on the left, then it had to be towed over on a trailer bed before it could start working.

Otherwise you would be sued by both the road maintenance department as well as the Department of Transportation, for compensation equivalent to a multitude of exactly how many track marks were made by you on this stretch of the road.

Don't mention excavators, even tanks couldn't drive on roads according to the Department of Transportation. Tank drivers wanting to save time by stealthly driving over the road and their entire company getting sued by the Department as a result had already happened a countless number of times.

Many people wondered why rubber couldn't be installed on the tracks. Well, that was due to the degree of wear the rubber would suffer, which sky rockets the maintenance costs.

The Mechanical Colossus was designed with wheels in mind, which had many upsides, but there was a major downside to it.

Regular movement and hill climbing abilities under muddy conditions.

Hence, Ye Qing was prepared to produce two different kinds, one with wheels and one with tracks.

The wheeled ones were meant for urban constructions, plus it was more economical this way. Of course, even if the Colossus was wheeled, its transport abilities were still amazing. As for when it got stuck in the mud, there were always the two arms that could help out.

As for the belt tracked ones, their movements from now on were unhindered under any situation. Workers who were constantly out in dangerous or off road situations would definitely love them.

The small scaled version of the Mechanical Colossus had now been finally finalized. The related patent and manufacturing license for them had already been filed and were just waiting for approval, and with the hundreds of employees in the company, even Ye Qing wouldn't need to go over the paperwork.

The X series, the 150 ton version, would mainly be used to rush for rank four and the Factory's later expansions.

Right now the master artisans and peons had already created the giant tools necessary for the 150 ton version to use.

The 30 ton version also had a wheeled version constructed, as for the belt tracks, that required an overhaul of the entire base design.

When the first 150 ton version was complete, the Monster Factory would reach rank 11, and with three more it would be able to surpass them.

For this long awaited rank four, Ye Qing was really putting in his all. Out of the 300 million floating cash he had on hand right now, Ye Qing put 150 million of that into raw materials. Just the copper wires needed for the motors alone amounted to 500 tons.

Ye Qing scheduled out every possible hand he had, even the schedule for the 4 raging miners were completely packed

A giant set of purely steel final assembly station was slowly brought to existence within the underground base.

Ye Qing, while standing below the final assembly station, looked up and immediately experienced the dizziness associated with doing so.

Above the final assembly station was a workbench where peons were welding bare handed with several meter long welding guns.

The spark and weld scapes resulting from the weld snowed down like snowflakes from the workbench at the top.

At the very top of the final assembly station was a 50 ton gantry crane, which showed no signs of stopping as it continued to move giant pieces of cast steel ingots like Lego blocks.

Even Ye Qing here wasn't left with nothing to do, as he controlled the M.P.C.V. to go below the constructing Mechanical Colossus X for a even more precise welding of the drive system.

The construct in front of him, was the biggest one that Ye Qing had ever personally participated in.

Accompanied by some seriously thick pride, Ye Qing had even more admiration for the other heavy industries in the world.

Creating a single 150 ton Mechanical Colossus X was already this problematic.

Then what about those tens of thousands tonnage giant cruisers?

Then what about Krupp's world biggest mining machine?

Just what degree of troublesome problems was associated with creating those mechanical monsters?

Chapter 158: The Extraterrestrial Her (2 of 2)

Translated by me, edited by drpetro.

Thank you Michael for the sponsoring this chapter.

There is a saying that goes like this: the more successful a person was, the more packed their schedule.

Ye Qing was like this, and Xu Ninggong was also like this.

She had just finished filming the first episode of [The Great Escape] in Zhongyun last night, and now she must attend the opening filming ceremony for her new film.

The director, Ding Yin, was famous within the country for just how daring he was.

He was the first one to ever adopt Hollywood special effects within the nation, and even succeed in directing the first ever blockbuster tier domestic movie.

He was also the first director to use CG effects for a ghost theme movie.

At the same time, he was well known for being part of a husband and wife pair. Ever since the first film he had directed, his wife had always followed the cast and been a part of the editing team.

To be honest, if it was any other famous director in the country looking for Xue Ninggong to star in the movie, then she would've rejected the offer on the spot.

Purely because of the name of this brand new movie; «The Extraterrestrial Her»!

Just this name alone was enough to scare away a big crowd of viewers.

The content of this film was even more bizarre. It was about a pretty extraterrestrial girl, who after inheriting her dead grandfather's possessions, found the deeds to a green colored planet.

After having searched through many records, she found that this planet was a reward to her grandfather for his actions during a war, but because he wasn't able to purchase a propulsion powered spaceship, her grandfather wasn't able to reach the planet in his lifetime.

Coincidentally, this girl had the heart of an explorer, and it was fate that gave her a planet to inherit.

The naturally adventurous her, immediately sold all of her possession and properties, bought a second hand spaceship and a bunch of other stuff, and headed off towards the green planet unlicensed.

This green planet had a suitable for living meaning behind it. Obviously, without question, this planet was Earth.

For this kind of work, there was only Ding Yin who had to guts to film within the entire country, and there was only him who was able to film it properly, because he was the most proclaimed CG director within the entire country.

Xue Ninggong took on the role of playing the female lead Chen Xi.

Moreover due to the lack of funding for this film, she personally invested 80 million for filming purposes. One reason was that she believed in Ding Yin's skills, while on the other reason was that she really liked the plot and the characters in it.

Ding Yin was an international student in his early years, and having been in Hollywood for a bit, he was naturally affected by the culture. His ceremony never had stuff like cutting a pig's head or burning incense, rather it was the unveiling of cameras hidden underneath crimson silk satins and the smashing champagne bottles.

Having wasted an entire morning on the ceremony, the entire film crew and cast all hurriedly left the Sheraton Hotel and headed for the township of Sicheng.

Within the township of Sicheng was a circular lake. Of course, this lake had dried up a long time ago, which was why it was covered in sweet potato plants.

The entire plot of sweet potatoes was completely bought out by Ding Yin a month early. Additionally, he even spent close to 10 million just to set up the film props.

This was to become one of the most important locations for the entire movie, as this was where Chen Xi was going to land her ship, and it was also where close to a third of the film was to be filmed.

Ding Yin could really be called resourceful. He knew just how lacking the domestic special effects were, as they wouldn't be able to bring out the true feelings of the protagonist's outer space homeworld. Which was why as soon as the movie started, it was the scene of where the spaceship was entering the atmosphere and landing down here.

One, the protagonist wasn't licensed, and two, she only had a secondhand spaceship, so naturally after landing the propulsion engine was completely busted leaving her with no way to get home.

In the afternoon, after everyone had arrived, they immediately began to film the first scene.

The entire film had many scenes that involved the spaceship, but because it didn't exist, the camera needed to be held up high and be able to nimbly change angles, such that a wide, expansive view could be achieved for the viewers.

Hence, Ding Yin specifically ordered two 80 meter long, custom designed film arms from a domestically famous manufacturer a month earlier.

The longest film arms on the market were only 20 meters, and the regularly used film arms for wedding photography were only several meters long.

This customer order, although it was extremely big, the manufacturer believed that there was no real technical challenge, which was why they were ready 20 days after payment.

After every team was ready, the filming of the first scene began.

This was one of the most important scenes of the entire film. The camera from high up, circled around the location of the non existent spaceship, and then dove down like a bird. This kind of scene that needed tons of special effects to complete must be finished first and handed over to the special effects companies to complete.

All teams had confirmed their readiness, yet the film crew remained silent.

The nervousness of the cameramen immediately attracted the attention of Ding Yin, who after finding out, went over already pissed.

Directors have always been known for their bad attitudes. If any team screwed up, then it delayed the completion of the film. These screw ups all cost money, so how could they have a good attitude?

The cameramen were responsible for the specially made, 80 meter long, electrically powered, rotatable film arm.

At the very forefront of this film arm was a film camera. The arm itself was supported by six steel cables, and the base needed to be anchored into the ground. But right now the cameramen were still unwilling to connect the pictures to the director's monitoring system.

"Why haven't you connected the feeds?" Ding Yin asked in full seriousness.

"Director……" The cameraman anxiously explained: "The picture is visibly shaking hard, I…… I don't dare to."

"Shaking hard?" Ding Yin's face immediately turned black. What they were filming here was a major blockbuster urban fantasy movie, intended to compete for film awards.

They weren't streaming this on Douyu at all. So if any of the pictures were shaking, then they must start all over again.

"Yes, yes, this film arm was fine during manufacturing testing, but after arriving here, who knows why it's shaking?"

"I reckon it's high winds, but there was no forecast of high winds today here at all."

Although the film arms were custom orders, the experienced Ding Yin immediately understood why the camera was shaking.

Shaking prevention had always been a difficult task for the film industry, however, with the advances in technology, cameras came with shake prevention and three axis driven stabilizers, so the shaking problem had been pretty much solved.

But this shake prevention had a limit, which was surpassed on the 80 meter long film arm under today's wind.

This was an unsolvable situation. Even if firetrucks were used here, it would still be affected by the wind. The longer the size, the more dramatic the effect.

Additionally, no matter if it was the fire trucks or other lifters, there would be visible traces of mechanical lag in the film, which obviously wasn't able to produce film that met Ding Yin's standards.

The more specialized the profession, the more demanding the profession, the more serious the categorization of its equipment.

If you wanted to film a perfectly stable scene, then the film arm that was the most stable while moving must be used. As for using other equipment, that was just like putting sugar into mapo tofu.

It was the first time they use this 80 meter long film arm, and it was also the first time it was ever made.

Even if wind speeds were accounted for during manufacturing, there was still no way to fix the problem in such a short time. Hence, the only solution was to wait for the wind to slow down.

Ding Yin ordered steel faced: "Change, change the scene. We'll film the scene where Chen Xi is escaping from the spaceship."

This scene was pretty easy to film. All that was needed was to place a green screen construct where the exit of the spaceship was, and film it with a camera on wheels.

Xue Ninggong, after changing into a model fantasy like spacesuit and touching up, finished filming the scene in an hour.

Ding Yin then had people tie a piece of cloth strip onto the two film arms, and waited with everyone else for the wind to die down.

They waited left and right for two hours, during which two other scenes were completed, yet the wind still hadn't died down.

"Director, I've just looked at the weather report. There's no problem with the wind today whatsoever. As a wild guess, might this have something to do with the geography here?" A cameraman finally manned up and speculated.