CHAPTER 1858: CHAPTER 1851: TOP-TIER WORKHORSES

"Alright, let’s go." Tang Ye waved at Brother Wang behind him. Instead of searching for other zombies, he headed towards the huge "pit" at the center of the construction base.

On the way, Brother Wang explained the situation of the construction base to Tang Ye. To encourage the workers, Su Sigui specifically set up a diligence ranking, which is evaluated weekly. Every evaluation is personally overseen by Yan Xing, eliminating all favoritism!

This prevents those who merely coast along from receiving undeserved rewards.

In this diligence ranking, anyone who ranks in the top ten workers can earn an extra bonus, ranging from twenty to three hundred Yajin. Although this is barely enough to fill the teeth of Tang Ye and his subordinates, for the workers here, it’s a substantial amount of money!

Enough to drive the workers crazy!

The design of this ranking list yielded good results at first, but as time went by, people realized there were too many excellent workers in the construction base!

Even if they worked themselves to death, they found it hard to even make it to the top twenty, and gradually, the workers lay down their efforts, as it was always the same "people" appearing on the list, causing them to feel numb.

Tang Ye nodded with a smile. Most of the workers here were ordinary people. Among the most advanced new humans, Tang Ye had seen, apart from those Level 8 New Humans responsible for loosening soil, crushing rocks, and acting as human demolition machines underground, most new humans were only Level 3, with none exceeding Level 4!

Can they compete with those Level 7 zombies?

A zombie struggling is a deadly struggle!

"Are those people you mentioned really that capable?"

"Of course, you didn’t see it, sir. The four you saw earlier work dozens of times harder than others! While others are working, they’re working; while others are eating, they’re still working! They’re always the last to leave work every day. Anyway, I haven’t seen them rest. With people like that, who wouldn’t want to give them something extra?"

"That makes sense." Tang Ye did not deny it, nodding. However, his question seemed a bit strange, even though Brother Wang was not the brightest, he sensed something amiss. At the moment Tang Ye nodded, Brother Wang’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. He hesitantly asked in a low voice, "Sir, do those few have... any problems?"

Tang Ye looked at him with an inscrutable expression, smiling but shaking his head: "No problems. Those few people are worth cultivating. With them, the progress of building the sanctuary can speed up a bit."

Hearing Tang Ye say this, Brother Wang breathed a sigh of relief, nodding with a face glowing with agreement: "Yes, yes, yes."

As they conversed, they reached the edge of the large central pit, and Tang Ye remembered something and asked, "By the way, speaking of progress, how far along are you now?"

"We’ve completed seventy to eighty percent."

"That fast?" Tang Ye was a bit taken aback. From the start of the Dried Leaves Sanctuary construction plan to now, it had only been exactly two months, hadn’t it?

"Of course." Brother Wang proudly lifted his head. After all, the fast progress of the Dried Leaves Sanctuary was partly due to his own contributions.

He said, "Whether in terms of funds or manpower, we’re well-resourced. Various operations are underway simultaneously. Now, 17,322 meters below the ground, the basic shape of the sanctuary is taking form. The temperature regulation equipment is ready, and the simulated ecosystem is in progress. Once these are complete, the remaining tasks such as the elevator transportation platform, food reserves, and semi-hidden sealed valves will take about a month to finish."

"I thought by now you haven’t even reached 17,000 meters underground."

"Thanks to the help of those Level 8 New Humans below, or else we might not have dug so deep."

Tang Ye nodded, agreeing that using Level 8 New Humans for excavation is far more efficient than any excavator.

The strongest... no, the top-tier tool humans!

Only Su Sigui could use Level 8 New Humans like splitting machines on the spot.

"Anyway, achieving such progress in such a short time is remarkable," Tang Ye praised.

"Hahaha..." Brother Wang laughed, rubbing his head. After laughing, he quickly added to Tang Ye: "It’s not completely excavated; in reality, we’ve just dug down to 13,000 meters."

"Hmm?" Tang Ye was surprised and asked, "Then how are you building the sanctuary at 17,000 meters?"

"Starting from 13,000 meters, to speed up the progress, we’ve drilled simple holes, allowing workers to go down and work simultaneously from both sides. Material is processed on the surface before being sent below, where workers hollow out an area and then reinforce it."

"That indeed sounds much faster. I’ll go down and take a look."

"Alright."

Led by Brother Wang, Tang Ye proceeded towards the bottom of the pit along the muddy road.

Stepping onto a temporary lift platform, Brother Wang introduced everything Tang Ye saw.

"This is the first-level supply relay station. Materials transported from above will initially be transferred here before moving to the next level relay station."

"How many such relay stations are there?" Tang Ye asked, stepping off the lift platform and observing the surroundings. This relay station had no decoration, just bare cement. Stacks of living supplies and construction materials lay in a corner. Some workers were busy moving these, nodding respectfully to Tang Ye and Brother Wang before resuming work.

"A relay station is set up roughly every thousand meters. So far, there are eleven relay stations, which helps stabilize the elevator shaft and prevent collapses that could trap people inside."

"Makes sense." Tang Ye acknowledged with his hands behind his back, appearing authoritative.

With that, Tang Ye and Brother Wang moved through ten relay stations consecutively, finally reaching the eleventh-level supply relay station at the bottom.

Compared to the first to the tenth levels, the working environment at the eleventh-level relay station was much harsher. The huge drill machine rotated its spiral blades at thirty revolutions per second, pulverizing rocks and soil into dust, creating a dizzying noise. The dust made the entire eleventh-level relay station gray, with black puddles of mud on the cement floor. Each step produced a "splat" sound.

Moreover, more than twice as many workers were on the eleventh-level relay station than on other levels. Everyone wore masks to prevent dust in the air from entering their lungs and harming their bodies.

The original color of the masks was unrecognizable. Each worker wore the same uniform, with their upper bodies exposed and their lower halves clad in filthy, hard-to-look-at boxer shorts.

"Are you alright?" At this moment, Tang Ye glanced back at Brother Wang, asking with concern.