Vol 3. Chapter 17: Oil Port
The new oil-loading outpost had been given a name—plain and functional: Oil Port.
There was a chance it might turn into a permanent installation depending on the size of the reserves, but the plan was to withdraw in the short term. No need to waste time coming up with anything elaborate.
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"Speaking of names, I think it's about time we gave Fortress No. 2 an official designation, don’t you think?"
"Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. Do you have anything in mind?"
"Nothing springs to mind yet, honestly."
Then again, it wasn’t urgent. This was still a covert installation, hidden from foreign eyes—for now.
At present, Oil Port was in the middle of pier construction and subsea excavation. The pier itself was made of steel, and the spider drones were busily piecing it together, crawling all over it.
The seafloor excavation had begun immediately after the arrival of the construction ship yesterday. It had already dropped its equipment and gone to work, blasting through the seabed with high-pressure water jets, then sucking up the slurry—sediment and seawater together—and separating it using a multistage filter system.
The sediment was then stuffed into cellulose-fabric bags, which were tossed into the water one after another to help fill and reclaim space.
"It's incredible how fast it can dig."
"Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. These construction methods were all refined during the Fortress No. 2 project. We've selected the most efficient ones. Excavation should be completed in about three days. With the pier in place, we’ll be able to load and unload directly from the heavy cargo ships—and then we can push straight for the oil field."