"To avoid unnecessary misunderstanding, please allow me to make a clarification first."

The Red Kestrel continued, "Chuneng City has certain requirements for raw material suppliers, the first being a credit rating of D or above; your company's rating of C fully complies."

"Furthermore, we have specific standards for the basic equipment and processes used in material collection to avoid purchasing substandard materials or those with too many impurities."

"Lastly, we will assess the production capacity of the selling party. It is overly costly for us, the transportation providers, if the sellers are only capable of short-term production and small quantities."

"I hope you can understand this."

Zhou Yi found this quite reasonable.

The sellers consider the acceptable price, while the buyers demand quality and quantity of goods; both parties are just getting what they need.

"Along the way, the Red Kestrel Captain already briefed me on the situation here."

The Red Kestrel continued, "Your company uses two small enhanced ships as platforms to manually collect Light Soot Sand from the sea surface. As long as there is sufficient labor, the production volume will also rise without the risk of resource exhaustion."

"Although it is more of a traditional manual labor, as long as the collection process is clear and the output is controllable, it meets the standards of Chuneng City."

A green light flickered on the wings of the Detective Machine: "My electronic eyes have observed that there is a ship collecting nearby in the Dead Sea, apparently your company's ongoing labor. By procedure, I need to closely examine the local production environment and provide feedback data for archiving; I hope to have your authorization to proceed."

"Please, go ahead."

With Zhou Yi's permission, the black V-shaped machine silently flew over the Dead Sea and began its field inspection.

The Red Kestrel then said, "I've looked at the data. For micro raw material suppliers like us, only 0.4% pass the Chuneng City's standards. Whether we can pass is still unknown."

Zhou Yi frowned upon hearing this, "What is the main reason?"

"Process standards."

The Red Kestrel elaborated without emotion, "Chuneng City's assessment of suppliers mainly revolves around safety standards, collection processes, and quality assessments."

"The majority of micro-suppliers cut costs and boost production to gain maximum benefits in a short time. Thus, they find it hard to meet these minimum standards."

"If they cannot reform to meet the minimum requirements of Chuneng City, they will be refused purchase. This could lead to a range of uncontrollable risks, potentially causing a butterfly effect. Stability is the core standard of the Mechanical City."

A coal mine-style small workshop; Chuneng City refuses to purchase from such.

Zhou Yi also observed the sea surface through the lens of the Red Kestrel.

The Hunter patrolled in the air.

On the Dead Sea, small enhanced ships were flanked by apprentices wielding nets and tied with straw ropes. They stirred the long poles in their hands, focused on catching the floating tiny particles through the mist.

Each person had a vessel filled with snow, a clay jar, or a wooden barrel. After fishing for a while, they would lift the net, scrape it with branches or boards, and dump the contents into containers, accumulating them into shape.

Yuan Tong was constantly patrolling on the ship, correcting the newcomers' operations.

It looked professional.

After a while, the Red Kestrel returned to the rooftops of Jade City.

The broad, flat Detective Machine, maintaining a hovering state, transmitted in stereo from its wings: "In terms of safety standards and collection procedures, your company is doing very well, with clear safety instructions and a clear collection process. These two points are without issues."

"Unfortunately, your company currently has a small labor force with just two ships as collection platforms. I've calculated that even if both ships worked at full capacity, the output is still below the minimum standard of Chuneng City. So, you won't meet the requirements in the quality assessment segment."

Zhou Yi felt a tinge of regret.

Not enough ships.

But that was not really an issue.

Zhou Yi pressed down: "If we buy more ships, we should be able to satisfy the minimum production standards, right? Could you calculate the minimum number of ships required?"

The Detective Machine instantly replied, "If all are the same type of small enhanced ships your company currently uses, a total of 10 ships are needed to meet the minimum standards."

Ten ships.

Zhou Yi began pondering where to purchase the ships.

Light Soot collection could provide numerous job opportunities, potentially revitalizing the entire social vitality of Jade City, which holds significant meaning. It's not just about doing it; it needs to be done on a large scale.

"However, I have a suggestion, and this suggestion is personal rather than from the Chuneng City Detective Team."

The Red Kestrel first made a disclaimer, then suggested, "Instead of using ships, it might be better to build a dam on the edges of the Dead Sea for collection."

"The dam's disadvantage is the long construction time needed, at least a year or two, but the advantages are many."

"Firstly, it has a longer lifespan than ships, with practically negligible wear and tear. Because the Dead Sea does not damage such structures, instead, a light film gradually forms on its contact surface, which is beneficial for its long-term stability."

The Detective Machine continued to explain, "Additionally, it is more cost-effective. The cost of ten enhanced ships, plus the ongoing monthly expenditure on Energy Packs, would be several times higher than employing workers to construct the dam."

"Lastly, there is extendability."

"The dam can be continuously expanded and elongated, boosting employable areas and thus the gathering of produce could foreseeably continue to increase," the speaker at the meeting explained.

Zhou Yi nodded repeatedly as he listened.

This was expertise in action!

Fortunately, the Red Kestrel had come to conduct on-the-spot surveys and evaluations, clarifying the future direction for the company's Light Soot industry.

"Though it requires a longer preparation period, perhaps waiting until next year or even the year after before it can be put to use, for long-term business operations, it's more advantageous to your company, so I ask for a little patience, to first start with preliminary infrastructure and personnel training."

The Red Kestrel concluded, "I believe within at most two years, we will certainly be able to commence our collaboration."

Zhou Yi then confirmed again, "As long as the dam is built along the Dead Sea, and allows people to stand on it and collect the Light Soot Sand, that would suffice, right?"

"Yes, the project itself is not complicated, but it requires plenty of manpower to construct. The proximity to the Dead Sea means the project needs to be accumulated bit by bit, first raising the terrain and then gradually filling and creating the dam..."

"Then, please help to consider that option."

This confused the Red Kestrel a bit, "What do you mean?"

Meanwhile, Jade City visibly began emitting a faint glow.

The dam project started!

Upon receiving orders from Zhou Yi, Jade City stretched out its rebar-twined giant hand, picking up several nearby houses used as ammunition. It stepped towards the edge of the Dead Sea and started stacking them...

Before long, a circular dam wall had been constructed between Jade City and the Dead Sea, allowing people to walk from the residential area straight into the Dead Sea.

Zzzzzzz—

A red glow flickered on the wings of the Red Kestrel, emitting a burst of electric buzz.

It's body surface burst into numerous light paths, seemingly experiencing a significant level of computational overload, "No, no... This is a Grade B Dead Sea Alien, a rare engineering type... You can control it??"

Zhou Yi corrected, "Jade City is an employee of our company; it's merely working. Look at this dam, is it suitable? If not, I can have it make adjustments."

"Oh, let me check."

The Red Kestrel flew over the dam, circling it once.

Then it provided feedback, "The main structure is very stable within the Dead Sea, and the supporting structure is sufficiently solid."

Zhou Yi immediately said, "So as for our now meeting the standards..."

"My part is fine, it meets the standards."

The Red Kestrel then turned its head towards the relatively small Red Kestrel, "Red Kestrel Captain, you never mentioned your company having an Alien member."

The unmanned drone responded succinctly, "This has no relevance to our Light Soot Sand collection operations, nor does it require any registration record."

"Captain, you misunderstood my point."

Lights flickered aboard the Red Kestrel, "With the support of the Dead Sea Alien at Wasteland Development Company, you will have strong competitiveness in this area, which will be greatly beneficial for our cooperation."

"Just a moment."

Thirty seconds later.

A series of beeping and tapping music emitted from the Red Kestrel, its body exuding a ring of colorful lights, "Audit approved."

"Wasteland Development Company's Light Soot Sand supply operation with Chuneng City is officially drafted, please confirm."

A partnership agreement appeared on the remote control screen.

Zhou Yi glanced over it, the proposed partnership duration was 5 years, with the option to renew or dissolve the contract upon its expiry based on mutual interest; the pricing was still set at five times the price of copper for Light Soot Sand.

As long as the company reached a cumulative 1000 kilograms of Light Soot Sand, contact could be made with Chuneng City's Mineral Department. They would be responsible for sending trucks or boats to collect it and would bear all transportation costs, completing the transaction in person.

Finding no issues, Zhou Yi clicked to confirm.

"Then our cooperation is established, wishing your company prosperous business."

The Red Kestrel said, "I have some public duties and need to leave temporarily, will visit again later and catch up with the Red Kestrel Captain. Goodbye."

It said and left immediately, disappearing into the horizon.

However, Zhou Yi noticed that the direction of the Red Kestrel's departure was not the same as when it arrived, instead heading deeper into the eastern part of the Dead Sea.

Could it have another assignment?

However, Zhou Yi decided not to dwell on it.

Now was the time to get the Guangtai Dam up and running!

Forget the distractions, solving the employment issues of the residents of Jade City was paramount!