Chapter Thirty-Three: The Construction Begins

The efficiency of Daxia had always been second to none.

That very afternoon, the entire Ludong coastline had already burst into full-scale activity!

Countless videos flooded the internet; engineering vehicles lined every inch of the beaches, stretching as far as the eye could see, an endless procession. More trucks poured in from the rear, forming a mighty steel river that surged forward without end.

The eighty million tons of steel urgently dispatched from the national treasury in the capital had arrived; every hundred miles, there stood a mountainous heap of steel, towering high. Along with it came concrete, sand, and other building materials.

Every highway had become a torrent; privately owned engineering vehicles from every corner of the nation streamed along these arteries, all converging on Ludong. Trains of trucks laden with construction supplies formed a roaring, unbroken chain of steel.

The thunder of these steel dragons surging toward Ludong shook the very earth!

Along the entire two-thousand-kilometer Ludong coastline, whether atop cliffs or on sandy shores, every inch was now occupied by this iron wall.

Amidst it all, tiny human figures scurried to and fro, so small and insignificant against the vastness of the sea that they resembled ants.

Yet it was these very "ants" who would stand against the ocean!

Machinery roared; excavators tore into the earth, drills bored through rock. Every construction crew, whether private or state-owned, was united in purpose—determined to wrestle with the immensity of nature.

Beneath the scorching sun, this steel dragon born of Daxia advanced with a will harder than steel itself, erecting a wall to hold back the sea!

“Everyone listen up! Follow the plan—no cutting corners!” Foreman Wang, sweat streaming down his brow, shouted orders. “This isn’t about profit; if we cut corners, we’ll be the ones to suffer in the end!”

“Leave it to us, don’t worry!”

“We’ll finish the job, guaranteed!”

“We’re not fools—this is for ourselves. How could we cut corners?”

“Cutting corners on this would be digging our own graves!”

“We can’t slack off—don’t let the other crews look down on us!”

One resolute voice after another echoed across the site.

Behind them, red flags fluttered in the wind.

At that moment, the shouts of these humans—so small upon the edge of the ocean—brought even the waves to silence!

This was Daxia’s resistance!

A struggle against gods, against heaven and earth themselves!

The deities had brought the forces of nature to invade Daxia; but the people of Daxia would meet them with the power of steel, to show the gods what it meant to enter a forbidden zone!

Machinery bellowed.

Daxia roared.

At that time—

Foreman Wang, who had been stopped by Lin Fan on the highway before reluctantly being let through, was now in charge of a five-hundred-meter stretch of the steel wall, thanks to his skill at reading blueprints and his strict discipline.

Five hundred meters—just a drop in the ocean compared to the two thousand kilometers of the preliminary wall. Insignificant, it would seem.

But to Wang, these five hundred meters were more important than anything.

Within just a few hours, the shoes he’d changed into especially for the job were worn through. Yet he continued to stride up and down his five-hundred-meter stretch, blueprint in hand, sweat pouring down his face, as if possessed. Sometimes he barked orders, sometimes he bent over to drive stakes into the sand according to the plans, marking out boundaries with red string, muttering all the while.

“Er Zhuzi, pay attention—dig a hundred meters deep here. The sand’s loose—reinforce it immediately after you dig.”

“Lao Wu, here we need a watchtower—one hundred ten meters high, ten by twenty meters. Not a meter more or less! Double-reinforce the foundation!”

The workers he supervised wrote each instruction down carefully, not daring to make the slightest mistake.

Scenes like this played out at every construction site—everyone had forgotten who they were, working tirelessly. Even foremen who usually quarreled set aside their differences and cooperated.

They all knew—they were working for Daxia, for the safety of every citizen.

The distances under their charge, whether a hundred meters or mere dozens, might seem trivial.

But the mightiest dike collapses for want of an ant’s nest!

One person’s carelessness could waste everyone’s efforts; the two-thousand-kilometer steel wall along Ludong’s shore could be wiped away in an instant.

It was an immense pressure.

Enough to break anyone.

But Daxia had never lacked for resilience and unyielding will!

“The allocations are set. Now we can really get to work.” Wang, after countless circuits of his section, finally let out a long breath. The five-hundred-meter-long, hundred-meter-wide stretch felt so vast he nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

Yet, stifling his dizziness, Wang continued, “There’s still a problem—we need to report up the chain.”

“Not enough hands… At this rate, forget three months—it’ll take at least five to finish…”

Just then—

A thunderous rumble sounded.

Military-green trucks roared to a halt along the coast.

Under everyone’s astonished gaze, waves of young men and women in uniform—faces still bearing the innocence of youth—leapt from the trucks and quickly formed ranks!

The sea of military green rolled in, numbering four or five million strong.

Looking out, the sand itself was hidden beneath that endless field of emerald uniforms.

Without a word, these fresh-faced soldiers rushed straight to the construction zones. In Wang’s five-hundred-meter section alone, over a thousand sprinted over.

“You…” The sudden turn of events left Wang stunned.

“Reporting, Foreman Wang!” The leading officer, a little older than the rest, saluted crisply. “These are new recruits gathered from all over. The overall commander has ordered that we conduct military training at the construction sites. Each recruit will work eight hours a day on the wall as physical training—to support the building of the steel wall!”

“This…” Wang was taken aback. “But Daxia’s conscription only started yesterday… How have you already recruited four or five million?”

“We’re already at eight million,” the officer said, a note of pride in his voice. “There are more new recruits from farther provinces still en route.”

Wang couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath.

And then—pride surged within him.

Pride in being from Daxia.

When Daxia first announced it would conscript twenty million in a week, the world scoffed—plenty of “elites” at home waited for a spectacle as well.

But who could have imagined—

In just one day, eight million recruits!

At this rate, not only would they exceed the expansion goal, they’d double it!

“When a nation rises or falls, every citizen bears responsibility,” the officer said, as if reading Wang’s thoughts, his own voice full of respect. “You and your brothers here are volunteer civilian contractors, aren’t you?”

“You’re even fiercer than us—twenty million civilians arrived in just one day. With the state crews, that’s thirty million people!”

Wang couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re right.”

“When a nation rises or falls, every citizen bears responsibility!”

“Now, please assign us our tasks,” the officer said, pointing to the young recruits behind him with a grin. “These rookies are full of energy—they could use some toughening up.”

“Don’t worry about working them too hard.”

“The enemies they’ll face in the future are far more daunting than moving bricks.”