The tech tree went off the rails the moment we stepped out.
That was Lu Chen's understanding of the current situation.
With the support of the Azur Lane fleet, the living quarters had rapidly advanced to the pre-space age level.
To be precise, military technology had reached the pre-space age level. Scientific research hadn't begun yet, and agriculture and light industry were practically nonexistent.
This feeling intensified after he saw the inventory of the living quarters.
The next day.
Richelieu placed a thick stack of reports on Lu Chen's desk.
“Commander, I organized the shipgirls to conduct an inventory yesterday. This is a list of all our supplies. Please take a look.”
As the secretary ship, she would compile daily statistics on the living quarters.
This included things like resource reserves, personnel changes, material consumption and production levels, and so on. She would then report them to Lu Chen.
The handwriting on the reports was neat and elegant. Each indicator was meticulously listed. There was no doubt about Richelieu's work attitude and diligence.
“You've done a good job.”
Lu Chen opened the report.
As commander, he had the obligation to understand the reserves and consumption of various resources. He would then plan the future development path.
First, strategic resources.
Iron Ore: Reserves 10,000 tons, monthly production 450,000 tons...
Coal: Reserves 15,000 tons, monthly production 320,000 tons...
Tin: Reserves 2,000 tons, monthly production 120 tons...
In addition, there were various refined ores such as aluminum, magnesium, copper, and even uranium.
The expeditionary fleet led by Essex had already stationed itself in the rich mining areas of the Balkan peninsula. They had constructed mines and smelting plants there.
Although the number of Bri and Manju was limited, their production output was already approaching that of a medium-sized mining group.
Heavy industry was equally developed in the world of Azur Lane.
Every other week, the Bri fleet could be seen fully loaded with ore, traveling back and forth between Athens and Constantinople, providing resources for the construction of the capital city.
“Good. When we open the portal next time, ask the dock to send over more personnel.”
Lu Chen was very satisfied with the mining team's achievements.
Iron and coal were the cornerstones of modern industry. The higher the output, the faster the infrastructure construction would be.
Next, equipment.
“Currently, the dock has 1,612 usable carrier-based aircraft, 582 torpedo planes, fighters...”
“Torpedo reserves are 3,240, 610mm torpedoes 240, four-pack 533mm magnetic torpedoes 330...”
“155mm self-propelled artillery 160, aerial bombs 4,200...”
“Hydrogen bombs 26.”
“?”
When the Vanguard fleet set out, the dock had given them a huge pile of equipment. Even if the naval base here didn't produce anything, it would be enough for a long time.
But he felt he had stumbled upon something extraordinary.
“Where did you get the hydrogen bombs?!”
“Uh, Myoko made them using the captured Siren technology.”
Richelieu pondered.
“The dock was afraid we would encounter strong enemies, so they gave each carrier shipgirl in the Vanguard fleet a few.”
“...”
“So, Taihou, Kaga, Essex, Illustrious... they actually have nuclear strike capability?”
Thinking back to how Taihou and Richelieu had fought not long ago to compete for the secretary position, Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat.
Good thing the two of them didn't get carried away.
“Excellent! We not only have thousands of aircraft, hundreds of cannons big and small, but even nuclear weapons!”
He felt that the level of martial prowess here was unusually high.
If this was on Earth, they would definitely kick the representative of the Eagle Fortress out of the permanent five seats at the UN meeting and then take their seat.
He looked at the other materials.
“Agricultural products: Rice 20 kg, corn 10 kg, various grain seeds.”
“?”
Unlike the carrier-based aircraft, torpedoes, and artillery shells that were numbered in the hundreds or thousands and had a variety of types, the agricultural product inventory was so plain and simple.
Lu Chen confirmed multiple times that the unit was kilograms, not tons or even ten thousand tons.
“These were found in the house from your birthplace.”
Richelieu added.
“...”
Shipgirls didn't have a need to eat. They would only occasionally eat snacks, so they naturally didn't have agricultural technology.
There were more hydrogen bombs in the warehouse than rice.
“Commander, what do you think we should do next?”
After reviewing the statistical report, Richelieu awaited Lu Chen's plans for the future.
“...”
Lu Chen stroked his forehead, deep in thought.
In a situation where economic activity was practically nonexistent and weapons equipment was overflowing the warehouses.
He felt that there were only two directions for development.
“We have two options now.”
“First, do our best to develop agriculture and light industry technology here, preparing for the future.”
“Second, beat our neighbors into becoming tributary states and then exploit them sustainably.”
...
...
Lu Chen temporarily chose the first option.
The main reason was that the time travel skill was still on cooldown, so he couldn't magically descend and beat up the neighbors.
The secondary reason was that as a person from China, during the process of developing and rebuilding civilization, he wouldn't be able to avoid farming.
He felt the shipgirls crawling on him, his DNA was protesting wildly.
Even if shipgirls didn't need to eat, from a long-term perspective, he should still develop some agriculture for a rainy day.
If guests from other worlds arrived, he couldn't just give them fuel and coolant to drink.
While checking the extra-dimensional star chart, he found that there were millions of little girls waiting for him to rescue in a world far away.
“So, does anyone here know how to farm?”
He gathered the shipgirls of the Vanguard fleet.
“No.”
Everyone shook their heads like a rattle.
“Uh, I might know a little. Just a little...”
“Sometimes, I'll plant things in the garden at the dock.”
Ning Hai and Ping Hai raised their hands weakly.
“Oh?”
Lu Chen looked at the two sisters. As expected of Dong Huang shipgirls, they had some skill points that others didn't have.
“What do you know how to plant?”
“Wheat, rice, and things like cabbage, peppers, etc. I also know a bit about fruits. Apples, strawberries, watermelons... if we have seeds, we should be able to plant them...”
Ning Hai replied humbly.
“You basically know how to plant everything, don't you?!”
Lu Chen felt that they were too humble, like a top student who got a 98 and still acted like they had messed up, lamenting their performance.
He patted them both on the shoulders:
“Ning Hai, Ping Hai, I appoint you two as Acting Ministers of Agriculture. The agriculture here is now entrusted to you.”
“Just the two of us for the Ministry of Agriculture?”
Ping Hai blinked, feeling like she and her sister were commanders-in-chief without any soldiers.
“I'll assign 20 Manju to each of you.”
“Since the little yellow chickens can do simple tasks like carrying and mining, wouldn't it be fine to train them to farm?”
(Picture of Shuang Hai)