Humans Shrunk 100 Times

Chapter 79: Longmen Hoist

During their break,

Dong Junwei talked to Chen Mu about organizing the shelves.

As Chen Mu wiped his sweat and thanked He Ying for handing him a glass of water, he looked up at the towering shelves.

"So, we need to clear the ground and create a passage to access the shelves? And the passage should be wider and sturdier to facilitate the movement of the large utensils."

"Exactly, and if it's designed like stairs, it might take some time."

"Sure, that shouldn't be a problem. But if we want a staircase-style structure, it may take a bit longer."

"Of course, sealing the door gaps is a priority, and we can start by disassembling the cardboard boxes, which will also take quite some time."

In fact,

Everyone wished to have something to do every day, so that it wouldn't be just Chen Mu working while others cheered him on.

Although everyone had their own responsibilities, many of them didn't have much to do. Even Du Jiajia, who was in charge of meals, had a lot of free time.

After depleting her mental energy almost every day, Dong Junwei found herself idle.

As the leader, this was obviously not a good thing.

That's why she cared so much about this task of organizing the room.

Sorting the room may not seem necessary at the moment, but it was a beneficial long-term project. If the Mingyue Organization wanted to grow and develop, it was something they would have to do sooner or later.

Suddenly, Chen Mu had a bright idea and asked, "Have you ever thought about using a hoist?"

"Hmm?" Dong Junwei was taken aback. "On the shelves?"

"Yes, it might not work for heights, but if we focus on the first level only and use some pulley systems, we might be able to create a simple hoisting device. This way, we could save a lot of labor. If we rely solely on manual labor, who knows how long it will take."

Dong Junwei's original plan was similar to what Tang Jing had suggested – to use the determination of ants moving their home to gradually move things onto the shelves.

Apart from Wei Dalei, although others might not have enough strength individually, when they worked together as a group, they had considerable power.

After testing it out,

Two people could easily lift a plastic chopstick without much effort.

Stainless steel tableware is a bit heavy, but two people can manage to push and pull it on the ground.

Anyway, everyone has plenty of time, so they do what they can.

However, after Chen Mu's reminder, they suddenly realized another issue.

Everyone instinctively looked at Tang Jing.

Tang Jing asked, "Are pulleys difficult for you?"

"There's definitely some difficulty, but after finishing the threads last time, I think I can gradually start trying things that require some precision."

"If that's the case, we can consider it. Let me think about it and come up with a plan."

"I'm actually concerned about the ropes," Chen Mu asked.

"We can extract cotton threads from towels and twist them into thicker ropes. Anyway, if it's only for some small tableware, it shouldn't be a problem."

"We need to consider the points of force."

"Yes, we can use the structure of the shelves themselves and create a gantry crane," Tang Jing nodded.

"I can try to set up a track and see if we can make a trolley."

"That might be a bit difficult. The directional wheel is not easy to make."

"We can give it a try. I'm more concerned about the weight-bearing capacity."

"Actually, the weight-bearing capacity shouldn't be the main problem..."

"For specific operation, we can refer to the container terminal at Shangshi Yang Island Deepwater Port."

"..."

Due to his experiences, Chen Mu had some superficial knowledge about engineering. Although he couldn't operate the lifting equipment, he understood the general principles. Coupled with Tang Jing, who seemed to know almost everything, they believed they could give it a try.

The two of them chatted about various details as if no one else was around, leaving others feeling awkward.

They couldn't leave since they couldn't understand what was being said.

Eventually, with Chen Mu's explanation, everyone got a better understanding.

In essence, they were planning to build a crane.

Even though they simplified the design, there were still many issues to be resolved, such as installing the pulley and figuring out how to operate it once it was built...

Of course,

These things were not urgent. They had many tasks to accomplish in the future and needed to take it step by step.

After the break,

Chen Mu hurriedly returned to the entrance and continued building the stairs.

The fresh air after the rain blew in through the crack under the door, filling their lungs as if purifying them.

"Meow..."

"Cluck, cluck, cluck..."

The little cat came again.

However, Chen Mu couldn't even be bothered to lift his eyelids at this point.

The others were also busy with their own tasks, no longer as nervous as they were in the beginning.

As time passed, everyone grew accustomed to the cat coming over to play for a while each day. If they didn't hear any movement from it, they even started to miss it a bit.

After all, the cat couldn't enter the room.

Moreover, what malicious intentions could a little cat have? It just wanted to play with you or maybe, by accident, eat a little bit of your food.

...

The progress of the observation tower was smooth, but it took two days longer than originally estimated in terms of time. Nevertheless, the overall completion of the project was still high.

The staircase was not anything innovative, but to prevent accidents, Chen Mu constructed a row of railings. After all, in the future, everyone would use these stairs, and not everyone possessed the abilities of Chen Mu or He Ying.

However, besides the staircase, Chen Mu put some thought into the room of the observation tower.

Firstly, the transparent plastic windows used for looking outside posed a problem.

Disposable tableware was mostly made of polyethylene, and after adding pigments, the transparency was not as good. Chen Mu couldn't change the material's properties or density, even at the chemical level.

At first, he tried using plastics with relatively less pigment and higher transparency, rolling them into thin sheets. However, if they were too thin, they would easily break. After several failed attempts, Chen Mu eventually gave up on this approach.

With no other options, he turned his attention to glass windows.

If he could get a small piece of glass, it should solve all the problems.

Thinking it through, he decided to act.

However, the windowsill was 1.2 meters above the ground, and the wall was just simply painted with no wood or metal for easy modifications. Chen Mu tried a few times haphazardly, but the crumbling white plaster made him look disheveled and dirty.

This plan had to be temporarily shelved as well.

However, after experiencing two bouts of bad luck, fortune finally smiled upon him.

While Dong Junwei and others were sorting through cardboard boxes, they found a stack of glass cups.

This was undoubtedly a timely help.

With the material problem solved, the rest was simple.

In the end, Chen Mu made a piece of glass measuring 1 centimeter square and 2 millimeters thick, embedding it into the outer wall of the observation tower.

This way, they could have an unobstructed view of the outside from inside the tower.

The storage room was located in the northern part of the entire campus, and a cement path led to its entrance. On either side of the path were grassy areas, and the farthest visible spot was the teaching building.

From this position, they could see the current state of the teaching building, exuding a lifeless and eerie atmosphere. In just over half a month, the place seemed suitable for filming a horror movie.

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