Just after finishing the order, a prompt appeared on the page:
[Daily unlock factory limit reached. New factories will be unlocked in two days.]
Jiang Ye closed the military factory section and then opened the commercial factory.
As expected, several new joint venture commercial factories with the military had appeared. These factories were very special, with a limit of 1 slot, meaning only one could be built.
[Factory Type: Intercity Bus Manufacturing Plant]
[Factory Description: Occupies an area of 8,000 square meters, includes 1 intercity bus assembly line, requires 120 workers. Operation is simple, and workers can be on the job after basic training. Can produce 3 intercity buses per day, with a profit of 100,000 yuan per bus.]
[Product Description: Double-decker intercity bus, can carry 80 passengers or transport 30 tons of goods. Features an intelligent anti-collision system, a sturdy body, and four-wheel drive. Suitable for both city roads and most wilderness terrains.]
[Construction Cost: 20 million yuan]
[Remaining Buildable Factories: 1]
Jiang Ye hadn't seen factories with such low construction costs in a long time, so he placed an order. Intercity buses were highly practical, capable of transporting people and goods within cities and between them. Crucially, their cost was low. Producing three a day meant a transport fleet could be built quickly.
This was much more efficient than using spiders to transport goods.
The remaining few factories were for manufacturing smaller items, such as raincoat and umbrella manufacturing plants, night vision goggle manufacturing plants, and tactical vest manufacturing plants, all costing around ten million yuan.
Jiang Ye placed orders for all of them, clearing out his account balance.
Private messages had already arrived.
Xu Yan: "Whoa, building so many factories at once, did you clear out your shopping cart?"
Jiang Ye: "Build all the new factories in the Chalk Land. Just find an open space. Handle the road planning and feng shui. I won't bother with it."
Xu Yan: "Understood. You can count on me."
With all the necessary tasks completed, Jiang Ye took off his clothes and climbed into bed.
His work had become incredibly simple; with a few taps on the screen, various factories could spring up. His daily life was much like playing a game. Times had indeed changed, making things more convenient.
Not long after he lay down, his phone rang.
Jiang Ye answered and held it to his ear. A piercing wind noise flooded his ears, followed by Che Zhen's shout.
"Commander, we've arrived at a rat-infested area! There are so many big rats here!"
Jiang Ye paused, "What did you say?"
Che Zhen opened his mouth to speak again, but immediately, a barrage of gunfire erupted, so intense it drowned out his words.
Jiang Ye turned his phone volume to maximum. "What did you just say?"
Che Zhen: "Commander, we..."
Another burst of gunfire, more lively than firecrackers, more exciting than the Russo-Japanese War. From the sound alone, Jiang Ye could imagine hundreds of spider mechs concentrating fire, shells flying across the snowy plains, kicking up clouds of snow dust.
Jiang Ye hung up the phone and sent a text message instead.
"I can't hear anything you're saying, send me a message."
Che Zhen: "Reporting, Commander. I'm leading a team to explore the border and have just arrived at a rat-infested area. There are many large rats, bigger than cats, with a vibrant green color, hopping around in the snow. We are currently engaging them."
Jiang Ye: "Are these large rats you mentioned strong attackers? Can you handle them? Let me know if you need reinforcements."
Che Zhen: "Their attack power isn't that strong. We're all inside the mechs, so they can't harm us. But these big green rats are quite agile. They've dug many holes in the snow. When we chase them, they dive into the holes and make faces at us. When we don't chase them, they jump out and harass us."
Jiang Ye: "Do you have specific data? Have you analyzed them?"
Che Zhen: "Oh, Commander, I forgot about that. Wait a moment, I'll catch one and put it in the trading bay for scanning."
Jiang Ye sat up in bed, yawning as he waited.
Five minutes later, detailed data was sent over, which was quite surprising.
[Species: Electric Rat]
[Species Description: A sparsely distributed rodent species. Adults can weigh over 30 jin, while juveniles weigh around 60 grams. They possess two energy absorption systems: one is their fur, which is rich in chlorophyll and performs efficient photosynthesis. The other is their digestive system, being omnivorous.]
[Danger Level: Electric Rats have electrogenic muscles and can release strong electrical currents from their mouths, causing some damage to humans, but the electrical output is not lethal. Electric Rats with fully charged batteries exhibit dazzling electrical sparks on their fur, used for courtship.]
[Note: Research on Electric Rats is currently superficial, with limited information available. If you encounter a large population of Electric Rats, please contact the military to establish a dedicated research laboratory. Significant subsidies will be provided.]
Che Zhen: "Commander, we've run out of ammunition and are withdrawing. There are really too many Electric Rats. We can see tens of thousands of rat holes, it's endless."
Jiang Ye: "Withdraw to replenish ammunition. I'll go with you to the rat-infested area tonight."
Rats that could generate their own electricity and photosynthesize were something Jiang Ye had never heard of before.
His intuition told him these rats had great potential.
The most immediate use, as the scan data suggested, was to build a laboratory and secure some military funding.
Perhaps they could even build an "Electric Rat Power Plant."
With his mind racing, an "Electric Rat street lamp" wasn't out of the question either.
The sky quickly darkened. The secretary brought dinner. While Jiang Ye was eating, he heard rumbling sounds outside the window – the spider units were returning.
He silently estimated the time. It would take about two hours to reach the rat-infested area. It was 7:30 PM now, so the earliest they could depart was 8:30 PM, arriving at the rat-infested area by 10:30 PM. They would return late at night.
Jiang Ye got up and bought a stamina enhancer from the trading bay in the corner of his office, then expertly injected himself.
He immediately felt more energetic and wouldn't feel tired until after midnight.
After wolfing down a few more bites of food, he changed into his military uniform and went downstairs.
Jiang Ye's spider mech was already prepared and parked at the entrance. The number "1" was painted on its body in white. In case of danger, all spiders would prioritize covering "1" during its retreat, even shielding "1" from attacks. The "1" essentially signified "King."
Jiang Ye climbed inside, closed the cabin door, and the air conditioning automatically activated, raising the freezing air to a comfortable temperature.
Soon, hundreds of spider mechs ascended from the underground hangar, each reloaded with ammunition and even cleaned of snow and mud, making them shine again.
Jiang Ye tapped the screen, connecting all the spiders into a combat sequence.
The screen displayed the equipment integrity of the combat sequence, a uniform 100%, which was very satisfying.
"Is everyone ready?" Jiang Ye said over the voice channel. "Che Zhen, lead the way. Let's go and come back early."