Before, they lurked and watched from the shadows. But now, they ran out freely, playing with the children on the streets, sunbathing on the rooftops, frequenting the shops with their new human Comrades…

Oh yes. Remian recognized Comrades when he saw them. Lynxmice sitting on people's shoulders or helping them fix things in places hard fo humans to reach… somehow, over the past week or so, Tim had managed to introduce Comrades to Fal'Herim, even though most of them were Field Lynxmice or Desert Lynxmice.

"We've taken over everything." Tim a.s.sured Remian. "Underground and above ground alike."

"Yeah, you've even taken over the royalty." Mindy shot Asda a dark look.

"Pretty much." Tim shrugged.

The industrial district likewise had undergone huge changes. Tim had brought them underground to protect them during the Beast Tide, and afterward, they decided to stay there. The underground of Fal'Herim was incredibly vast and filled with Draconian ruins. Looking at the walls engraved with draconian art, Remian suspected that Khar'al-dras had stayed there for a while and had a mult.i.tude of servants with him. The whole underground labyrinth was riddled with dragon-sized tunnels. Tim merely occupied it and set to work opening pathways that made everything much more accessible and less of a maze. On top of that, they had cleared out several buildings above ground and put in lenses and mirrors to direct sunlight all across the underground.

"It's not good enough." Remian shook his head. "Tim, we have to put in light bulbs. We'll have to see about putting up wind and solar generators as soon as possible."

"Or, we could stick a hundred lynxmice on dynamo wheels." Tim suggested. "We'll make it a compet.i.tion. The top ten get double cheese."

"That might be enough if it's just for lighting, but sooner or later, you'll want to use electricity for machinery and everything else." Remian warned him. "At that time, a thousand Lynxmice wouldn't be enough. No, I think… hmm. I think you can go straight for a hydrogen power plant. That means, you're going to need a lot of fuel cells."

It took some time to explain fuel cells to Tim, but at the end of it, Tim nodded. "We can turn some of the factories toward building these. We'll have less weapons to sell, but it won't be a problem. The question is where this hydrogen of yours is coming from."

"I'm going to have to set that up as soon as I get back." Remian admitted. "Basically, I'm going to have to ask Deepsilver for help. Also we can turn all excess power production in Craggy Falls toward making hydrogen. That's the simplest way to do it right now, at least, until the bacta is ready."

"What's bacta?"

"Uh… it's bacteria and algae. It's for algae bioreactors. We'll be using biotech to produce hydrogen. It just takes time for algae and bacta to grow, so it's not ready yet." Remian grimaced. That was a secret project at Craggy Falls. The adventurers who cared for the algae and bacta probably had no idea what they were doing, only that they earned guild points for doing it.

In a matter of weeks, algae bioreactors could start hydrogen production in full swing, but weeks felt too long for Tim's case. Remian wanted to put in light bulbs and start up a power plant right now.

"What's the rush?" Tim asked, when he heard about it.

"There's no rush, exactly. But if we had power, this entire place could be utilized." Remian said. "We could quintuple the production. If we built up on top of this, we could have a ma.s.sive arcology. On top of that, if we bury the arcology we could keep it all cool from the desert sun and warm in the desert nights. It'll look sort of like KarGoth."

"A town-in-hill…" Tim mused.

"Exactly. With some clay and stone, it could look like a rocky hill from afar."

"Let me think about that a little more. Tell me about this solar and wind power. And why the sudden urge to expand our industrial capacity?"

"It's because I'm worried about KarGoth." Remian sighed. "I don't think it's going to last."

"What's not going to last?" Both Tim and Mindy were stunned.

"George is trying to build up heavy industries in a land ruled by a wolfcat. Shadowflash and his kin are not happy with all the pollution and the noise." Remian explained. "Sooner or later, things are going to get rough."

"You want to move all of KarGoth's industries here." Tim understood. "Because the lynxmice here don't seem to have a problem with heavy industries."

"I think they would if things get too noisy and the pollution gets too heavy, but there are ways to reduce that. We don't need to cover the desert with black smoke and chemical waste. We can set it up right this time, or at least avoid the worst of it. But that's going to take time, and a lot of work on my part…" Remian frowned. "I might need you to take a cla.s.s for me for a while."

Tim flatly rejected. "Nope! Can't do it! Too busy, sorry!"

"Mindy, then?" Remian turned to her hopefully.

"But… but the airs.h.i.+ps… the s.h.i.+pyard…" Mindy protested.

Remian sighed. "Looks like all three of us are going to be busy here at Fal'Herim for a while. I guess I have no choice then."

"What… what are you going to do? Ask George?" Mindy queried.

"Not George." Remian answered. "Darian."

***

Darian was very, very far to the south at the time. He was on an Order of Light airs.h.i.+p loading Sky Tree seedlings while two squads of knights fought low-tier Spectres at different corners of their perimeter.

"You want me to take a cla.s.s?" Darian stared at the communications crystal in his hand. "Is this a joke? I'm in the middle of a pitched battle here!"

"Not right now. The cla.s.s has a field trip this weekend, so we're talking about next week." Remian explained. "Also, I strongly suspect they are going to fail the trip's objective, but that's okay. The main point of the trip was to get them to want to learn more. Even failure can be a good teacher. But they would likely be frothing at the mouth to grow stronger."

"You want me to teach them martial arts?" Darian guessed.

"And psionics, if you could." Remian requested. "Put them to some light work if you like, it's all part of training. Just don't lose them. We're going to need a lot from them in the future."

"That's great and all, but why would I get myself into this?" Darian had to ask.

"I'll make you an advanced airs.h.i.+p." Remian offered. "A Strike Frigate which would make the Red Fang look like a toy. Something that won't use mana."

Actually, he just wanted Darian to have a vehicle that could bring the whole cla.s.s around safely and quickly. But don't tell Darian that.

***

Turning an entire city into a super electric-adaptation center was no mean feat. Only an autocratic government like Fal'Herim's monarchy could even think about doing it in a short time frame. There were some political obstacles involved, but with Underground King calling the shots, the obstacles didn't even dare show their faces.

It mainly took the form of ten ma.s.sive drydocks. Teams of men and lynxmice would dash in, replace key components, add in electrical wiring protected by metal pipes, and seal up all the holes and gaps they made in the process.

"We can just leave the unused mana channels in the walls and place the wiring externally. It won't look pretty, but it'll work." Remian suggested. "If it looks too bad, we can just use wall paneling to cover it up. There's no need to tear open all the walls unless some VIP buyer wants a specially customized craft."

Along with the drydocks were the factories and a.s.sembly lines producing those parts. Propellers, motors, control systems, wiring, wall panels, fuel cells… all of it. The odd thing was Remian insisted on building these factories to last. This included solid structures, all the facilities, easy repair accessways and wastewater treatment.

"But what happens after we're done adapting airs.h.i.+ps? Sooner or later, demand will drop." Tim pointed out.

Remian shrugged. "Keep the drydocks for airs.h.i.+p maintenance… or turn them into s.h.i.+pyards."

"How much will all these cost?" Mindy had to ask.

"Including materials cost and starting salaries… at least five hundred million to begin with, with over thirty million in salaries alone every month following. And the first month or so is for training, we shouldn't expect profit of any sort until later."

"Is that really okay with you?" Mindy eyed Asda. "Since you're the one paying."

"Oh, yes." Asda said, hurriedly. "This will all be great for the economy. Unemployment rates will nosedive! I've always been wanting to do something good for the country, to really make a difference and be a well-loved queen. But until now, nothing worked. Half the time n.o.body even listened to me. It's only because of Tim that anything gets done. If not for Tim, I wouldn't even be able to walk out of the palace safely!"

Mindy let out an involuntary shudder. "Asda going 'Tim this' and 'Tim that'… This feels so wrong…"

"Only to you!" Asda shot back, suddenly getting defensive. "I see nothing wrong with any of it!"

Remian let out a long, long sigh. In the end, despite all their capabilities and experiences, both Mindy and Asda were still teenage girls. Asda was simply a year or so ahead of Mindy, and apparently a good bit more appreciative of being able to rely on a guy around her age.

Mindy, on her part, half-glared at Remian. "And you! You're willing to just forget everything she's done? Just like that?"

"Let it go, Mindy. Things are different, now."

"How could you just forgive her for betraying us like that! How could you forget the past so easily?" Mindy fumed.

"n.o.body said anything about forgiving, but the past is the past and right now, she's helpful. For the sake of the future, for the sake of what we need, we can toss out old grudges and work together to survive and prosper." Remian said. "Otherwise, there's a good chance that everyone is going to die."

Mindy blinked. "How does Asda being helpful prevent everyone dying?"

"It's because of time." Remian said shortly. "Using Fal'Herim as an industrial base and conversion center rather than building everything from scratch ourselves will save us years, maybe decades. Every year we save early on will be worth several times as many down the line."