Doomsday Pillars

Chapter 164 - The Wall

The last division to report was the construction division led by Tony, Alex's civil engineering manager who faithfully followed him from Jakarta. Tony was the last manager who was still with him.

Suddenly, Alex remembered the other managers he had brought to Bali. Nina, his financial manager and Rina, his HR manager, both of whom did not make it through the plague. Tony was actually just an ordinary civilian and Alex understood Tony's limited capabilities in leading this division. Alex trusted Tony's expertise. Moreover, at this time, the headquarters did note lack talents.

Tony first introduced the people who had been helping him. Physicists, mathematicians, mechanics and architects. Professors and scientists in their fields that had been included in magazines. But outside of these experts, Tony, who was still a field person, placed his hopes on the foreman, who was used to taking care of hundreds to thousands of people.

After Tony finished building the 1,000 hangars, fortress walls and roads, the next thing focused was meeting the city's electricity supply.. For two months, the Starbase relied on fire torches to light up the most of the areas inside the fortress and hangars. The electricity generator and solar panel generators that Alex prepared before the end of time have generated enough energy for the areas that needed it the most such as hospitals, food storage and the command center. The more people the more the need for electricity.

To meet the need for electricity consumption, the good search teams were asked to collect solar panels on the roofs of people's homes in Bali. Indonesian residents were people who used hot water for bathing. Almost one in ten homes in Indonesia had solar water heaters installed on the roof of their homes. All of the collected solar water heaters were then modified into additional solar panel power. At the moment, hundreds of solar panels were assembled and distributed to headquarters and other vital locations.

For the headquarters of the Starbase, it was a fortune that they have a location to collect more solar panels. About 5 kilometers from the Starbase, almost close to Bali's north coast, there's an area called Karangasem which could generate 1 megawatt just from solar power. this was one of the first solar power plants built in 2013. However, due to a corrupted government, the power plant was rarely used which meant it was still in almost new condition. This solar power complex had been secured 2 months ago, but they just succeeded reviving it only a few days ago.

The entire group was standing in the corner of the headquarters when Tony gave a signal to one of his personnel. "Turn it on!"

At the same time, all the lights that had been installed inside the star headquarters simultaneously lit up. The 1MW power plant was strong enough to produce electricity for 600 homes. This 1MW of power generated enough power to provide lighting for around one-third of the Starbase. 

In Alex's previous life, the people in Bali only realized the presence of this power plant a few years after the Doomsday, but that time, the destruction was already widespread and electricity was not a priority for them.

With the success of the solar panel project and turning on electricity at the Starbase headquarters, the next thing they needed to do was to develop the drainage and sanitation. The Starbase homed hundreds of thousands of people, so the importance of clean water and sewerage was a top priority. During rainstorms, in the areas where drainage and sanitation were poor, water flows above the ground causing feces, trash, etc. to pollute the water sources. This contributed significantly to the spread of diseases such as typhus and cholera. The newly made solar panel was able to turn on the water pump that could launch this channel and avoid this problem.

"Tony, now that the main problems have been resolved, we now have a lot of residents who still didn't have assignments. It is time to raise a second wall around this base."

Tony understood Alex's intentions. Additional walls outside of the first wall. The second row of walls would be built with the same height and with a circumference of 13 kilometers. This project would be more difficult than making the first wall because Tony had to make it without the supply of prefabricated concrete like the first wall. A more difficult job. But this time Tony had a workforce of 10 times more than the first project. Given the importance of making this base a true fortress in the Doomsday, Tony could only say yes.

"2 weeks. Finish the project in 2 weeks"

"..."

"I believe in you can do it, Tony! By the way, there is one more project that is also crucial, but I'll tell you about it tomorrow. Make sure to bring your team."

Finally, the night had arrived. But before dispersing, Alex invited everyone in his group for dinner. Many of them have just met, so a dinner is a good way to get them to know one another.

A dining room for 100 people had been prepared. In addition to the division leaders and the war council, Alex invited several other people such as the grand master Indra, martial arts masters, battalion leaders, and of course his family and closest friends.

Before the dinner began, Erik came into the room with several people. Admiral Gerard, Kenny, Nathanael and two high-ranking soldiers were brought before them, but they didn't have cuffs on their arms.

Alex, sitting at the host's chair, welcomed and invited the Admiral and his entourage to sit. "Please, Admiral, eat first and then we'll talk."

Even though this American soldier had threatened them, Alex's warm attitude and welcome made the 100 people understood Alex's intentions. None of them are concerned about the threat made by the admiral anymore. But with Alex's lead, some people even approached and attempted a conversation. Rama was most interested in talking to Nathanael about martial arts. As for James and some of his bodyguards, they asked Kenny and the others about the current situation in America.

After the dinner was over, Alex invited the Admiral and his entourage to one of the meeting rooms along with James and Farrell.

"Unfortunately, I cannot help you complete your mission, Admiral."

The Admiral was silent, not knowing how to comment on this matter, he instead asked, "Mr. Alex, what will you do?"

"Admiral, I am going to release you and your army."

"What are the conditions?"

"There's no condition Admiral, you all are free"

"..."

"Tomorrow you and all 4,000 of your soldiers will be released, your weapons will be returned as well. Of course, we will take some of them because of our bet."

"I-I cannot return empty-handed."

"Regarding that… Kenny, you received this mission directly from the President, right?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Admiral, I'm sure the President doesn't need me personally. What you need is the information I have."

Kenny thought for a moment. Although he wasn't sure what President McCord needed from Alex, Kenny could say that Alex's assumption seemed to be correct.

"I can't follow you to America, but I can give you the next best thing."

Alex glanced at James and James Randall nodded back.

"You all know each other, this is James Randall, one of the richest people in Indonesia and my best friend. He will be accompanying you people to America."

James had talked to Alex about this before. At first, Alex had planned to entrust the Bali headquarters to James, but James's answer easily countered Alex's argument by saying, "Your wife is talented at managing people, you don't need me here. I have many connections in America, I can help you from there."

One of the reasons for James's decisions was to establish a healthy relationship with one of the strongest nations of humankind, another reason was that James planned to find a solution for his laser cannon technology. Since America was one of the countries with the best technological facilities, James placed his hopes in finding a solution for his laser cannon weapons, if he can't the solution in this country, then he has to give up developing these weapons.

James intended to bring all of his bodyguards, Winter included, which would be quite a burden for Alex. But Alex could not prevent it. James's personal bodyguards were of course also concerned about the condition of their country and their relatives.

"Relax, Admiral. James has all the information you need. With him, you will not be returning home empty-handed."

Alex had planned to leave Bali to James for one year once Alex left for Australia. And because of that, for the past three months, Alex had been providing detailed information to James. Locations where the Doomsday Pillar will descend, as well as other locations and how to get the most out of them. 

Admiral Gerard thought this would be acceptable. It should be enough to complete their mission. Alex also provided Admiral Gerard additional information on how to use the potential of aircraft carriers during these end times, but the Admiral seemed to find it incomprehensible.

"Follow my instructions, Admiral. In time, you will understand."

Lastly, Alex returned the artifact ax to Nathanael and gave some tips on how to use it to its full potential.

"If you need food or anything else before you leave for America, please don't hesitate to ask."

After their conversation, the Admiral saluted to Alex and Alex responded with the same military salute. The Admiral would be leaving within the next day or two.