Ravenna sighed as she gazed out of the window, the golden desert stretching endlessly under the blazing sun. Life as Ravenna Solarius wasn’t particularly difficult for her. Her mories and the sense of familiarity she retained from the original character made the transition manageable. Yet, despite the relative comfort, her position ca with challenges she could not ignore. The most pressing of all was the responsibility of stabilizing Jola Island before the dwindling treasury ran dry.
Though she wasn’t currently struggling, she knew the peaceful days had an expiration date. The thought lood over her like the unforgiving desert heat.
“On Earth, I only had to worry about myself,” she muttered, a hint of exasperation in her voice. “But now...”
The weight of managing a city of 5,000 people wasn’t overwhelming, but it was undeniably taxing. It wasn’t just about ensuring survival; it was about building sustainability.
“Whatever,” she mumbled dismissively, flipping through the docunts scattered across her desk. A particular report caught her attention. It detailed how the island’s residents sourced their drinking water.
She had a vague understanding of the process before but had never delved into the specifics. Now, the docunt laid it out clearly:
Current Water-Sourcing thods on Jola Island
Boiling and Condensing:
Seawater is boiled in large clay pots, and the steam is funneled into separate containers where it condenses into freshwater. While effective, this thod is labor-intensive and limited in scale due to the size of the pots. It’s primarily used for small-scale water needs.
Solar Stills:
A pit is dug and lined with sand. Seawater is poured into the pit, which is then covered with a thin, translucent cloth that slopes downward toward a collection cup in the center. Sunlight evaporates the seawater, and the freshwater condenses on the cloth, dripping into the cup. This thod is more efficient than boiling, providing a consistent supply throughout the day, but it still falls short of eting the needs of all 5,000 residents.
Ravenna set the report down and leaned back in her chair, deep in thought. These thods were sufficient for now, but they wouldn’t be enough once the island began farming and growing crops in the coming weeks. The water demand would skyrocket, and they needed a more efficient system.
Her first instinct was to create an elevated large tank system that could use sunlight to heat water to get drinking water then distribute water through taps across the city using gravity. It seed like an obvious solution. However, the absence of modern technology posed a significant challenge.
Pumps were essential to move water into elevated tanks, but electricity didn’t exist here. If the steam engines were easy to make, the logistics of acquiring materials and assembling the necessary manpower problem resurfaced again here.
Frustrated, she turned to the Reputation System. She spent two hours combing through ideas, only to hit dead end after dead end.
Finally, inspiration struck. “Don’t waterwheels pump water?” Ravenna exclaid. The solution was so simple that she berated herself for not thinking of it sooner.
Waterwheels could pump seawater into elevated tanks, which could then serve two purposes:
Solar Desalination: Seawater in the tanks could undergo the solar desalination process on a larger scale, ensuring a steady supply of drinking water.Boiling and Condensing: If solar desalination proved impractical for larger quantities, they could use the boiling and condensing thod in these elevated tanks, fueled by the island’s abundant supply of dried kelp.
This system would allow every corner of the city to access fresh water through a network of taps, eliminating the need for residents to walk long distances to collect water manually.
However, this idea introduced a new set of challenges:
Tank Construction: How could the tanks be built quickly and effectively? Before they start farming?Pipe Durability: How would they prevent the pipes and taps from corroding and rusting in the salty air?
Ravenna leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples in frustration. She reopened the system and resud her research, desperately seeking answers to the growing list of problems.
After another hour of scrolling through fragnted solutions and vague ideas, she let out a long, exhausted sigh. Her thoughts had begun to crystallize, revealing a clear path forward. Two things stood out as imdiate priorities:
First, she needed an architect or structural engineer capable of designing the elevated water tanks and the waterwheel system. Without soone with expertise, her plan would remain nothing more than a sketch on paper.
Second, she needed cent. It was versatile, durable, and allowed for faster construction with fewer laborers. "Cent would make everything easier and quicker," she murmured to herself. "But even if I figure out how to make it, where would I find an architect in a place like this?"
She pressed her fingers to her temples, thinking hard. Suddenly, an idea struck her like a flash of lightning. Her eyes lit up as she opened the system and began scrolling through its nus. "It has to be here sowhere..." she muttered.
Her gaze landed on the familiar options under the Spend Reputation Points:
Access to the Internet: 100 Points per HourAccess to Magic Spell Library: 100 Points per HourGeographical Scans: 5 Points per Kiloter (0.6 Miles)Nullify Minor Poison Damage (Self): 250 PointsNullify Minor Poison Damage (Others): 350 Points per EntityMinor Heal: 1,000 Points per EntityMajor Heal: (Locked)Lie Detector: (Locked)
Her focus settled on the Geographical Scan option. It was expensive, but it might be her best chance. The scan could potentially locate listone deposits on the island, and listone was a key ingredient for cent production.
Ravenna leaned forward, a spark of hope reigniting her determination. "A desert near the ocean is one of the pri places to find listone deposits," she muttered, recalling her ti as a project manager for a construction company. One of her clients had been a contractor who often discussed the geological conditions needed for such resources.
However, her optimism dimd as reality set in. "These points won’t be enough to scan the whole island," she realized, frowning. Jola Island was enormous, as vast as a small kingdom. The southern coastline was ho to the only city, but the rest of the island remained an uncharted wilderness—a sprawling desert that could take months to cross on horseback. With scorching heat, limited water, and scarce food, such an expedition was perilous at best.
From the maps she had studied, Ravenna estimated the island's total area to be around 65,000 square kiloters (roughly 25,000 square miles). To scan the entire island using the system, she would need 13,000 reputation points—a far cry from the 9,000 she currently had.
She tapped her fingers against the desk, deep in thought. "How do I earn more points quickly?" she wondered aloud. Ideas flitted through her mind, most of them impractical, until one thought stood out.
Her eyes widened, and a slow grin spread across her face. "Of course! Why didn’t I think of this sooner?" She shot to her feet, brimming with newfound energy. "Hughes!" she called out, her voice echoing through the halls. "Get my carriage ready imdiately!"
As the sound of hurried footsteps approached, Ravenna’s mind raced with plans. She knew exactly how to rally the people and gain the points she needed.
Read 12 Advance Chapters by Becoming a Patron : 12. New Regulations
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