When disaster struck, I became a big shot surviving in the ocean.
Chapter 34: The Mechanical Assembly Line Starts Operation

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: The Mechanical Assembly Line Starts Operation

Chen Qing stayed in the studio, assembling the conveyor belt parts while pondering who had placed the surveillance device on her ship.

One-eyed and her crew continued to transport mechanical parts back and forth as if nothing had happened.

Chen Qing hadn’t even mentioned it to Daliya; she had already figured out how to deal with the surveillance creature.

Having acquired a valuable creature for nothing, Chen Qing should be thankful to the mastermind behind the scenes.

Since it was a "part," it should act like one.

Without any hesitation, Chen Qing added the creature known as "Stealth Ghost Device," a C-class being, into the assembly line she had designed and assembled by herself.

Adding one part wouldn’t make a difference.

However, whoever was responsible for monitoring her might start to question their life choices.

The suspects were few since the forces capable of employing such a precious surveillance creature were limited.

Chen Qing thought back carefully to everything that had happened since she met Daliya, and she was sure they hadn’t revealed any clues.

The problem could only be with the Moana Pirate Group or... the Black Blade Pirates!

Unless someone from Sapphire Island knew her and was aware of her family circumstances.

But this possibility was minimal; even if they knew about her, it was tough to link the little girl beside her to Daliya.

Chen Qing was confident there was no one that smart around her, and if there were, it was highly unlikely they’d be in her social circle.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t ignore this possibility.

Chen Qing felt the issue was most likely with the Black Blade Pirates; she needed to inquire more about them.

Moreover, the primary targets were Black Blade Demong and that fighter.

As for the ones to inquire... the group of former pirates led by One-eyed would definitely know some gossip.

No deep information was necessary; even superficial knowledge would suffice.

The excuse was ready-made, seeing as she had killed everyone from the Black Blade Pirates, hence wanted to know if they had any close allies.

Following this lead should suffice.

Now, the top few pirate groups on Sapphire Island that she had heard about on her way back were few.

You Gu, Jerome, Bai Xian Yuanfei, Gemstone, and one called the Night Star Pirates.

The other pirate groups had not yet reached Sapphire Island.

As for other forces like bounty hunters or merchant island nations, there were also a few suspects.

However, compared to them, Chen Qing was more suspicious of those other pirate groups.

After all, the Black Blade Pirates were notoriously infamous, having offended almost every power in the Deep Blue Sea.

Chen Qing didn’t rush to inquire with One-eyed and her crew but patiently completed the installation of the mini factory.

With the help of tools borrowed from Mechanical Ant and Grandma Taozi’s recycling factory, and Tang Qu’s repair shop, Chen Qing finished assembling and remodeling the entire factory on the ninth afternoon in the game.

The information about the ship had substantially changed.

[(Unnamed) (Captain Chen Qing)

Quality: Dark Green

Evaluation: D

Description: A single-masted sailing ship with 18 cabins, powered by...

Weapons: 32 medium-sized cannons

Special Cabin——

C-class Mini Mechanical Factory: A shipboard factory capable of assembly line operations, equipped with installation and repair functions for machinery below C-class.

The factory owns blueprints for the Automatic Fishing Net Machine, ...

——

Special Crew: Mini Factory Director·Repairing Mechanic Ant (C grade), Universal Housekeeper·Superpower Vine (C grade)

——

Evaluation: As a commoner whose home is the sea, this former pirate ship is absolutely qualified for you! Have you really not considered becoming a pirate?]

When Chen Qing had taken over the pirate ship, its quality was assessed as green.

After acquiring the mechanical factory and re-purchasing ammunition for the cannons, its quality had directly upgraded to dark green.

It seems the mechanical factory added quite a few points.

The mechanical factory could now manufacture only those three E-grade blueprints; Chen Qing had not yet fully grasped the other blueprints and was unable to feed the data into the factory’s production line.

Also, the materials were not yet fully gathered.

However, those three E-grade blueprints were enough.

Especially the Sea Water Purifier, as not all islands have abundant fresh water resources.

Even if she couldn’t sell them to the natives, survivors also needed a large number of Sea Water Purifiers; they were in reliable demand.

An E-grade Sea Water Purifier was priced by Chen Qing at eight Silver Crabs, affordable for ordinary native families.

The cost of materials for the purifier was around five Silver Crabs, and the factory’s mechanical cost was 700 copper coins.

For now, materials were temporarily purchased from the island, somewhat more expensive; Chen Qing was looking for suitable caravans to supply Power Cores in bulk.

If she had the blueprint for the Power Core, the cost could be reduced a lot, at least by half.

Chen Qing’s profit was roughly two Silver Crabs, and the remaining 300 copper coins didn’t disappear but went to other miscellaneous losses.

The profit might not seem very high, yet with the mechanical factory’s current efficiency, they could produce between 2000 and 5000 machines a day.

She was repairing and assembling simultaneously.

The scrap from Grandma Taozi’s recycling plant was essentially all supplied to Chen Qing.

This meant Chen Qing was at least earning four goldfish a day.

The profit margins for the fishing net machines and fishing rods were higher, though not as well-received in the natives’ market as the purifiers.

As soon as the factory was assembled, it immediately began production; Chen Qing watched the lines of conveyor belts feeling a subtle sense of accomplishment in her heart.

Now, she could finally free up her time to concentrate on resolving Daliya’s matter.

The selling was handed over to Superpower Vine, and Gao Yue and others had also wholesale purchased many purifiers and fishing net machines from Chen Qing to sell.

They were preparing to buy a ship at the shipyard on Sapphire Island and set sail, currently working hard for this by working for Chen Qing.

And once the mechanical factory was operational, the surveillance creature immediately joined in the work.

The person monitoring behind the scenes nearly exploded!

This was the surprise Chen Qing had specifically prepared for them; in terms of mechanical expertise, there were probably few on the island who could match her.

Chen Qing had this confidence.

The mastermind, Jerome, had not expected Chen Qing’s prowess in mechanics to be this strong; he originally thought that pile of machinery would remain on her ship for a long time.

But unexpectedly... the very next day Chen Qing had already begun production!

At first, Jerome thought Chen Qing had discovered the surveillance creature, but on second thought, he felt it was improbable; if not a Mechanical Master, one simply couldn’t distinguish their differences.

Furthermore, even for a Mechanical Master, it was unlikely to check every single component one by one.

It was only after the person Jerome had sent to spy on Chen Qing reported back that he realized he had underestimated her.