PCJ – Chapter 700 Internal and External Cooperation

Zhang Jiaohua hurried to the scene and saw the situation at the tunnel entrance: the tunnel was completely blocked by huge boulders from the landslide collapse.

“How’s the situation?” Zhang asked.

“Mayor Zhang, according to the workers who witnessed the accident, a sudden landslide caused a large amount of soil and rocks to tumble down, blocking the tunnel entrance. Inside are more than a dozen muck trucks, several tunneling machines, and excavators. Each machine has at least one worker, plus dozens of construction workers on site. A total of 48 workers are trapped,” reported Jiang Xingfu, director of the safety supervision bureau, who was commanding the rescue on site.

Zhang nodded. “Why hasn’t the rescue started? Organize the rescue immediately — every second counts!”

“Mayor Zhang, some of the fallen rocks weigh over a hundred tons. Given the situation on site, blasting can’t be used to remove the stones. For now, there’s no way to move them,” Jiang replied grimly, pointing to where the tunnel was blocked.

Zhang glanced over and indeed saw several huge boulders among the rubble. But when he used his “heavenly eye” to look inside the tunnel, he breathed a sigh of relief. Although the outside collapse was severe, the tunnel interior appeared mostly unaffected. He could even see people sitting calmly inside their vehicles; they didn’t seem overly panicked. The tunnel was very sturdy.

Several excavators from Meishan Heavy Equipment Company had been sent inside the tunnel; none were outside. Ordinary excavators couldn’t move those giant boulders.

Zhang immediately made a call, ordering Meishan Heavy Equipment Company to dispatch several excavators to the site for emergency rescue.

Before the excavators arrived, however, there was activity inside. The muck was neatly piled to one side to make a path for the tunneling machines, which moved to the exit and started clearing the soil and rocks blocking the tunnel entrance.

One excavator operator was a middle-aged man with a beard named Xiong Zhonghua, from Daihua County. He hadn’t been driving excavators for many years; when Daihua County began large-scale construction, they trained a batch of locals to operate excavators, and Xiong was one of them. He was from Wanshushui Village and quickly mastered the skill, later joining Meishan Group as an excavator operator.

The excavator Xiong was driving was a new model developed by Meishan Heavy Industry.

“Old Wang, this time we’re really comrades in hardship. Let’s see who clears the tunnel first!” Xiong laughed heartily at the excavator driver beside him.

The other driver, Wang Tingguang, also from Daihua County (Guyang Town, Shierwan Village), was also trained by Meishan Group and highly skilled.

“Old Xiong, who’s afraid? Let’s see who wins,” Wang replied, excited rather than fearful.

“Be careful, Old Wang. The mountainside above slid; we must watch out for a secondary collapse. We must only work within the tunnel’s support structure,” Xiong warned.

“Yeah, this is the tunnel our company built. Such a serious landslide, yet it didn’t damage the inside. Otherwise, we’d be flattened in here. We’re lucky, all forty-plus of us,” Wang smiled.

“Have you seen excavators as awesome as ours? They dig those stones like cutting tofu,” Xiong said loudly.

Though powerful, these excavators were surprisingly quiet. Otherwise, the two wouldn’t be able to shout to each other from inside their machines. Controlling them was easy, and they moved the muck from the entrance into the tunnel repeatedly. They knew outside rescue teams were working, but they didn’t want to wait passively. The tunnel was narrow, so trucks couldn’t help; only excavators could shuttle the muck inside bit by bit.

At first, their working area was limited to where the tunnel’s support could protect them. Over time, they cleared all reachable muck, and no more debris was falling. The blockage was mainly caused by a few huge boulders wedged at the entrance.

Seeing those massive rocks, Xiong and Wang both gasped.

“Goodness! So big! No wonder there’s no noise outside. Regular excavators can’t handle these rocks, and blasting isn’t allowed. They’re probably waiting for our excavators,” Wang said.

“Definitely. No other brand, even imported, can move these. Let’s work hard and clear these boulders, or we’ll lose face when the company’s guys arrive,” Xiong said.

Xiong’s excavator bucket struck a giant rock, scooping into it with ease. After several passes, the boulder was broken into pieces, which were then moved away bucket by bucket. But when the boulder fully crumbled, a loud rumble sounded as a large amount of mud and stones fell.

Xiong didn’t retreat in time and was buried beneath the mud.

“Old Xiong! Are you okay?” Wang’s face changed.

“I’m fine. Our machine’s sturdy; no damage at all. I just can’t move now. Hurry and clear this mud away,” Xiong laughed from under the rubble, clearly unharmed.

Wang was shocked but quickly moved the mud away with the excavator.

The loud noise startled Zhang Jiaohua, who was directing the rescue outside. He feared a secondary collapse but was relieved when the noise subsided.

“There’s movement inside! Movement inside!” Chang Guoqing, near the collapse site, shouted excitedly, hearing the clear honking of vehicle horns.

Zhang looked inside with his heavenly eye and found the excavator and Xiong trapped under the earth.

“Don’t worry about the big rocks now. Clear all the soil on top first!” Zhang shouted.

Besides several huge boulders, the collapsed mud and rocks included plenty of soil and smaller stones, which ordinary excavators could handle.

Once cleared, the excavators inside could safely remove the giant rocks.

Several excavators from Meishan Machinery had arrived on site. Working together, the landslide was cleared quickly.

The collapsed area’s reopening was a challenge, but everyone was thrilled that all trapped workers emerged unscathed. The already constructed parts of the tunnel had not suffered any damage.

However, Zhang harshly scolded the construction team: the severe collapse showed they had relied too much on machinery and neglected thorough geological surveys, nearly causing disaster. All involved faced strict punishments—some were reassigned, some fired.

Meanwhile, Meishan Heavy Machinery’s impressive performance was recorded by onsite TV crews and spread widely across various media, effectively serving as free nationwide advertising far more impactful than typical ads.

Many businesses and individuals interested in these excavators flocked to Meishan, but the company’s production capacity couldn’t keep up even with local demand, causing chaos. Expanding production wasn’t easy because the excavators required specialized “secret steel” and engines treated with intricate forging techniques. Every part was a potential bottleneck, making each machine a product of advanced forging craftsmanship.

“Fortunately, some simple forging methods can be done by Qi-stage cultivators operating our forging devices, so with preparation, capacity can increase. Still, we’ll need more personnel,” Kong Fangzhou said as he recruited large numbers of Qi-stage cultivators skilled in array operation to the Forging Hall, relaxing previous talent requirements to meet demand.

“Figure out personnel yourself. I won’t limit your quota. Fresh blood recruitment will be handled,” Zhang said confidently. “Our industry will grow, and more people will share our interests, gradually integrating into our sect. It won’t be hard to absorb more into Meishan in the future.”

The pharmaceutical plant’s scale had already expanded multiple times in a short period, and the machinery company could do the same.

Pfizer’s attempts to reverse-engineer the drug repeatedly seemed close to success but always failed.

Madden and Barnes, once estranged but now cooperating, had thought their complementary talents could crack the drug formula. But upon receiving samples, they found the mysterious crystal impossible to analyze or identify.

“Why is this happening?” Madden sat despondent, staring at the latest analysis.

Barnes sighed, “It’s baffling. When did Mainland China produce such formidable figures?”

“Huang Zhongfang’s genetic engineering lab keeps producing increasingly impressive experts. They’ve mastered technologies we can’t yet reach,” Madden said, suddenly sitting up.

Barnes lamented, “I should’ve visited Huang Zhongfang’s lab when invited. Maybe I could’ve seen their experiments.”

“Maybe we should go now,” Madden suggested.

Barnes shook his head, “I went once. Nothing gained.”

“I need another sample to continue,” Madden insisted.

But all samples were used, and obtaining more was extremely difficult.

El, Pfizer’s head, was fed up and annoyed, saying, “I’ll try to get you another sample, but after this, no more chances. If no results, we end it.”

A month later, no breakthroughs came, and Madden and Barnes were dismissed. They left Pfizer’s building grim-faced, looking back wistfully at the tall structure.

Meanwhile, Meishan Pharmaceutical Plant grew larger, becoming Meishan Group’s cash cow, attracting massive investment.

With ample funds, construction at Yingpan Mountain accelerated. Giant Sword Peak became a cultivation pagoda with ninety-nine floors and caves. Shrouded in mist and rich in spiritual energy, it became the best training site for Meishan sect cultivators.

Beneath Giant Sword Peak, buildings were arranged neatly on a smooth surface—not ordinary cement but a special material from the Forging Hall, cleaner and more pleasant than cement.