Hong Dali excitedly pulled Lin Chuyin to a little house that was meant to shelter people from the weather. “Haha, it’s good that you’re here, good.” The engineer, Teacher Wang, and Tang Muxin all followed them in. While waiting for Lin Chuyin to start up her computer, Hong Dali rubbed his chin. He thought about it and said, “Right, that’s what I want. Something that looks like a futuristic world, a huge fortress. What do you think?”
Tang Muxin face-palmed. “Dali, are you building a military fort?”
Hong Dali mumbled, “How can that be? I was thinking more along the lines of a high-tech city fort…” At this point, he suddenly thought of Iron Man’s research facility. He also remembered that there was a technology branch off in the Great Prodigal System. He should fix one up now. Otherwise, when the time came for him to dabble in technology, he would be without research facilities. That would really hurt him bad.
“Oh, that’s possible.” Lin Chuyin tapped in her notebook computer and soon came up with 3D building plans. She then asked, “Do you have any general requisites?”
Hong Dali pointed to the surrounding area. “Yes! Surround the entire area with metal walls! Right, and make the main gate with a hologram—like those in Stargate!”
The engineer’s mouth gaped so widely that he could have stuffed his fist inside. “Young Master Dali, just a hologram for the main gates?”
“That’s necessary.” Hong Dali curiously asked, “Wouldn’t it be a waste if we didn’t make full use of it?”
Lin Chuyin, on the other hand, had no issues with that. She immediately added a border wall into her 3D model.
“Right.” Hong Dali peered at the border wall and asked the engineer, “Well, sir, do you think we should add a fortified tower outside the school gates?”
Engineer: “…”
Tang Muxin: “Are you thinking of starting a rebellion?”
When this engineer was studying civil engineering, he loved researching on ancient heavenly construction. When he heard Hong Dali’s request, he smacked his thigh vigorously. Since Hong Dali was crazy enough, he might as well join in the fun and be crazy with him. “Definitely! It’s a must.” Then, he pointed at the surrounding wall. “This wall is too narrow. Young Master Dali, it needs to be wider. Let’s make it wide enough to race cars on, and have watch towers on all the corners!”
This time, it was Hong Dali’s turn to smack his thigh. “This is good!”
Tang Muxin: “…”
Li Nianwei: “…”
Ling Xiaoyi: “…”
Lin Zixuan: “…”
The others: “…”
Teacher Wang sat down heavily on the floor. “Finished, this time it’s finished. You’re building a country within a country, starting a rebellion. Why did I come here to find a job as night watchman… In time, I will be tried as a traitor…”
Lin Chuyin did not care so much. She immediately started editing the building model.
Firstly, make the border wall into an artistic octagon, increase its height and width, make sure the top is wide enough for the width of two race cars. Then, make the outside of the gate into a huge gateway, with 10-centimeter thick metal gates inside.
This…
Hong Dali really wanted to say yes! The problem was that, with that, people would say that he was staging a rebellion… so he quickly shook his head. “No need for that. It will be inconvenient to install anyway, so let’s just make do first.”
“Oh.” When Lin Chuyin finished with the border wall, everyone looked at it. If they changed the building material to stone, it would look like they built a part of the Great Wall of China here. It was of that magnitude.
No one was thinking about the capital cost at this point. It was a waste of effort to think so much. Tang Muxin started throwing ideas out from the side. “Dali, what about Big Sister Chuyin’s research laboratory? That cave?”
Hong Dali asked, “Ah, Engineer, what about the cave?”
The engineer pointed at the upper left corner of the city walls. “On the left over here. The entrance should be right here.”
“Right.” Hong Dali waved his hand. “Chuyin, join this to this. Right, what else can be done?” He thought about it and said decisively, “What about, we cut straight down at the foot of the mountain here, and join it to the border wall? By the way, Engineer, is this mountain solid?”
The engineer nodded. “Yes. Definitely rock formation, very solid. Even if you hollow out the whole mountain, there will be no problem.”
Hong Dali was really thrilled. “That’s great!” There was a technology branch in the Great Prodigal System, and there might be some good stuff in there. Maybe there was an Iron Man or Gundam somewhere. This mountain would be a great launch point for it. He slapped the board decisively. “Hollow it out! It can be a rocket launching area in the future!”
Tang Muxin: “…”
Li Nianwei: “…”
Ling Xiaoyi: “…”
Lin Zixuan: “…”
The others: “…”
Teacher Wang: “Are you building a missile guiding system to bomb someone’s windows?”
Everyone was shocked by Hong Dali’s largess. It was obvious, however, that this was still not enough.
“Oh.” When Lin Chuyin finished surrounding the city with walls, as the super technological geek, she couldn’t end off that simply. “Dali, we should build some turrets on the corners of the walls. Oh, super electromagnetic gun turrets should do.”
Tang Muxin: “…”
Li Nianwei: “…”
Ling Xiaoyi: “…”
Lin Zixuan: “…”
The others: “…”
Super… Super electromagnetic gun?!
“Are you for real?!” Hong Dali’s eyes lit up with shiny little golden stars, almost drooling. “You can build super electromagnetic guns?!”
“Oh, super electromagnetic guns are easy,” Lin Chuyin replied matter-of-factly. “All you need is two rods which are electrical conductors to act as rails, place the shell in the middle, and direct electricity into the three to create a loop. Put this installation within a magnetic field and charge the shell. It will accelerate and project outwards. If the setup is sturdy enough, it can accelerate a shell with an average weight of three hundred grams to a speed of four thousand meters per second. In a vacuum, this speed can be increased to eight thousand meters per second.”
Tang Muxin: “…”
Li Nianwei: “…”
Ling Xiaoyi: “…”
Lin Zixuan: “…”
The others: “…”
My god, are you building a fortress? This is a school! A school! No one has ever heard of a school with turrets on its outer walls!
“That can be done.” Hong Dali had no reservations about building gun turrets on the top of the school walls, the problem was elsewhere. “I don’t think the country would allow us to place gun turrets on our border wall… Weapons like this have a lot of destructive power. It’s a weapon of destruction.”
Tang Muxin: “Can the two of you not experiment with military weapons? If you continue, you will be imprisoned!”
Hong Dali rubbed his chin. “That’s exactly what I am worried about…” Then, his eyes suddenly lit up and he laughingly said, “I’ve got it!” Hong Dali instructed a lackey. “You, go outside and shout loudly for Brother Turn Back. Use the loudspeaker. Say I am looking for him.”
Humpft. How could he have forgotten about Brother Turn Back from the National Security Bureau? This was the perfect time to have him help!
The male lackey went outside immediately.
As per Hong Dali’s expectations, Mu Huishou, wearing his trademark dark shades, appeared in front of him within ten minutes. “Young Master Dali, you’re looking for me?”
Hong Dali chuckled. “Right, hehe. I knew you were nearby. Come quickly, come quickly, I’m designing a school.” As he spoke, he pointed at Lin Chuyin’s notebook screen. “Look, this is the border wall of our school. Right, it’s about ten meters high and six meters wide. Two cars can drive on the top side by side.”
Mu Huishou’s mouth gaped so widely he could shove a fist into it. His face was filled with horror as he asked, “Young Master Dali, are you… building a school or a fortress? I’ve never heard of any school built on such a massive scale. Even our Tianjing West City Prison is not so scary!”
The engineer said in a small voice from aside, “That’s nothing. There’s even a barbican 1.”
Mu Huishou: “Young Master Dali, do you perhaps think that the government is not treating us well and are intending to rebel?”
“What are you talking about?” Hong Dali was so angry he pounded on the table. “This is a school! A school! You can also call it New Lanxiang City or something. No matter what, it must be magnificent, it must be opulent. It has to be cool to the max. It has to be first class and elite! It should be understated luxurious with connotations, it has to be wild, unrestrained and deep. In short, simplistic yet fashionable on a national scale. Teemo must die 1. Err… Teemo is not counted!”
He said a whole lot in a rush. The rush of words made Mu Huishou dizzy. Finally, he understood. “Young Master Dali, you intend to bankrupt your family using this school? But this… surely it’s not necessary to do it on such a scary scale? Just the city walls will cost… a few hundred million?”
“You’re exaggerating. Let’s go through the items one by one slowly.” Hong Dali sniffled and brought Mu Huishou’s thoughts back on track. “Magnificence. What we want is magnificence! This will be made by me. I’ve not played with this before. I’ve always had a wish. That is, to build a city according to my wishes. I will build it whichever way I want to!”
Mu Huishou finally came to a realization. “Oh… Young Master Dali is planning to play ‘I Am The Mayor’? You get to design your own city. That’s not a bad idea. Right, tell me about it.”
Then, he realized he underestimated Hong Dali.
Hong Dali said, “Chuyin intends to install a few super electromagnetic guns on the top of the city walls. You see what you can do about that.”
“Wow, super electromagnetic gun…” Mu Huishou repeated it quietly to himself twice and quickly realized that something was wrong. He shouted, “What did you say? Install super electromagnetic guns on the top of the city walls?! Oh my god!” He almost bit his tongue off. “Are you really thinking of rebelling? Super electromagnetic guns! Anyway, where would you buy those from? As far as I know, even the Merika has not started making usable prototypes!”
Hong Dali shrugged his shoulders helplessly. “Chuyin suggested it… That was not my idea.”
“So it’s Miss Chuyin…” Mu Huishou pondered and said, “No, this has too many implications. I need to go back and ask for advice. You see, Young Master Dali, if you want to build a city or a school, there is no problem. However, anything that has to do with weapons, I’m unable to make the decision. Why don’t you wait for a while, Young Master Dali? I will go back and ask for advice now. Ten minutes—no, I will give you a reply in five minutes!”
Footnotes:
outer defense of a castle or walled city, especially a double tower above a gate or drawbridge.
Reference from League of Legends game. Teemo is a character from the game who is much hated by most players.
