Chapter 221: Chapter 217 Organizing Projects
By verifying the optimization design function of the Jade Record through the shelter’s design plans, Perfikot did not apply it to the shield tunneling machine’s design.
On one hand, the current shield tunneling machine design is still too simple to waste a precious optimization opportunity. On the other hand, Perfikot believes that the optimization of the shield tunneling machine can be entrusted to her alchemists and engineers to perfect, rather than having her directly use a cheat to solve the problem.
Sure, using a cheat is satisfying for a while, but constantly relying on cheats inevitably leads to path dependency.
To give a simple example, if someone can directly see the answers and solutions when doing homework, how many people would still be willing to seriously study and explore solutions themselves?
There might be good students who can resist such temptation, but most people would inevitably be lazy and take shortcuts when encountering difficult problems.
Doing it for one or two questions might be fine, but over time and repeated instances, one would become increasingly dependent on this shortcut.
For Perfikot, taking shortcuts herself doesn’t matter, as it ultimately affects only her.
The achievements she’s made are unattainable for most people in a lifetime, and even if she loses the ability to create new things now, she could still rest on her laurels without anyone criticizing her for it.
But for others, if they develop a dependency on Perfikot and rely on her for everything, humanity would be doomed.
After all, Perfikot is only one person, and how much can she do? Even if the Jade Record contains all alchemical knowledge in the world and can deduce new technologies as needed, it cannot replace all alchemists with just Perfikot.
And from a certain perspective, this is the most terrifying.
Losing innovation and progress is even more dangerous for humanity than the approaching apocalypse.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Perfikot decided to rely less on the Eye of Omniscience and to depend more on her own abilities to solve problems.
The optimization from the Eye of Omniscience could serve as a supplementary method for final enhancement and optimization after she has perfected and improved a design to the fullest possible extent.
This way, she could still gain the benefits from the Eye of Omniscience without becoming overly reliant on it.
Additionally, Perfikot could propose projects herself and then assign them to others for research and perfection, given that she is now the deputy director of the Royal Academy of Sciences.
With these thoughts in mind, Perfikot decided not to continue refining the shield tunneling machine’s design plans and instead planned to hand it over to others for improvement.
At the same time, she organized some of the projects at hand and split them into several new topics.
Before she urgently returned to Langton due to the three nations declaring war on Victory, she assigned projects mainly focusing on the stable production of nitroglycerin, the perfection of the new steam turbine, and coal mining in permafrost conditions to her subordinates.
These three projects were not particularly complex; when Perfikot handed them over, they were already at a preliminary completion stage. The remaining task was simply for them to continue in the direction she had indicated and delve deeper.
Before she left the Northern Territory, these three projects had made good progress and were just a step away from meeting her requirements.
According to Perfikot’s calculations, during her absence from the Northern Territory, they should be able to perfect these three projects to a satisfactory level.
Of course, even if they don’t reach her satisfaction, it wouldn’t be a significant issue.
With the arrival of spring, the maritime routes between the Northern Territory and the mainland would resume, and along with the development of the Flying Airship routes, the personnel she recruited in Langton and those provided by the Empire would gradually arrive in the Northern Territory.
With the addition of new research power, related project research would naturally no longer be a problem.
So after assessing the issues she currently needs to solve and the progress of existing projects, Perfikot carefully organized the problems she needed to address and outlined several brand-new projects.
First and foremost, of course, is the nitroglycerin issue. The stable mass production of this new explosive is crucial because it can be used not only for military purposes but more importantly for mining and engineering construction.
After all, the future we face involves a polar apocalypse with average temperatures tens of degrees below zero, where the land is frozen into permafrost. Explosive blasting is an essential construction method for mining coal and excavating underground shelters.
Before Perfikot left the Northern Territory, Al had already made good progress in this area, enabling stable use of nitroglycerin. The next problem to solve is the mass production issue.
The second project naturally involves the improvement and promotion of the new steam turbine. This project will also make considerable progress with the restoration of transportation between the Northern Territory, the New Continent colonies, and the Empire’s mainland. The application of new materials, performance improvements, structural optimization, and efficiency enhancement of the steam turbine will no longer be issues.
According to Perfikot’s calculations, as long as Professor Archibald, who is in charge of this project, has done some work over the winter, the improvements in the new steam turbine should have yielded good results.
Of course, even if he hasn’t made much progress, it’s acceptable to Perfikot.
After all, she has already figured out the application of this new steam turbine in the Steam Knight, achieving practical value. The remaining task is just how to promote its application.
According to Perfikot’s plan, it’s time to use it to drive large autonomous machines.
She had discussed this issue with people from the Royal Academy of Sciences in Langton earlier, and after the spring season, a related project team would come to the Northern Territory. Professor Archibald could then liaise with them, merging the two project teams.
Perfikot doesn’t have high demands on them for this matter; she just needs them to come up with a preliminary design proposal.
After all, autonomous machinery technology is her exclusive technology, and it’s impossible for others to make breakthroughs in this area without Perfikot herself.
Hence, for this project, she ultimately needs to be responsible for the most critical parts.
Of course, if Perfikot wanted to be a bit lazier, using the Eye of Omniscience as a quick solution would be an option.
Besides these issues, construction problems in permafrost and extreme cold environments are not difficult to resolve, especially with nitroglycerin explosives and large autonomous machinery, making this issue hardly a problem.
In comparison, Perfikot feels she should consider how to establish an administrative management system in the Northern Territory.