Chapter 215: Chapter 179: Geothermal Energy Exploration (Part 2)

"We’re gradually converting Building A into a comprehensive floor for offices and meetings," Dean Wu explained with a smile, pushing open an iron door on the right. "Residents will be slowly moved into other buildings."

His eyes fell upon a computer lab that took up more than half the floor, packed with all sorts of computer equipment.

The original dormitory walls had all been knocked down. The tiled floor was mopped until it was spotless, and over a dozen bright, energy-saving lamps hung from the ceiling. A dozen or so teachers and students sat behind the computers, intently working on something.

This was Han Ning’s first time in the new computer lab. He had heard that before he left for the Earth Flame Forbidden Land, the academy’s exploration teams had systematically moved computer equipment from the classroom buildings and stored it in the dormitory area.

"Han Ning, from now on, if you take any pictures related to Soul Beasts while you’re out, you can come here and use these computers to upload them all to the academy’s server."

Dean Wu waved his hand, leading the three of them over to an elderly man operating a computer.

The old man had graying hair and wore no glasses. He was currently pushing a simple, four-wheeled cart across his desk, making it glide slowly to the right.

At the same time, the trajectory of the small cart appeared on his computer screen.

As the cart moved back and forth across the desk, a three-dimensional topographical map simulating the desktop’s surface gradually took shape on the screen.

The group waited quietly for the old man to finish his experiment before Dean Wu spoke, smiling as he introduced him to Leon and his daughter.

"This is Professor Zeng Ling from our computer science department."

As a member of the academy, Han Ning recognized Professor Zeng. He’d heard that the professor specialized in computer graphics and system architecture, but he had been transported to this world before he ever had a chance to attend his lectures.

Professor Zeng was a bit older than Dean Wu and was naturally unable to go out and fight. He could only handle research and logistical matters.

"Mr. Leon, if you run into any computer-related issues while designing the power station in the future, please feel free to ask Professor Zeng for help."

"Of course. Professor Zeng, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I hope we’ll have a pleasant time working together," Leon said with a smile, extending his hand to the professor.

"Mr. Leon, hello." Professor Zeng didn’t seem very talkative. He reached out and shook Leon’s hand.

Seeing the small, terrain-mapping cart on the desk, Han Ning had a pretty good idea of why Dean Wu had called him over.

"Dean Wu, are you thinking...?" To confirm his suspicion, he glanced at the small cart in Professor Zeng’s hand.

"Doesn’t your All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm summon several Puppet Insects for scouting? I was thinking we could have those Puppet Insects carry the terrain Detectors made by Professor Zeng and send them underground."

"That way, the temperature, geological structure, and even the atmospheric composition of any route they travel will be recorded in the Detector’s internal storage. It will help us conduct a detailed study of the subterranean terrain and determine the most suitable environment to build the power station."

"Okay, we can do that."

Han Ning nodded without any hesitation.

Although he could observe the underground environment in real-time as the Rock-Breaking Ants burrowed, he couldn’t process all the detailed data. Even as a Tier One Beastmaster with relatively strong Spiritual Power, keeping track of so many variables was beyond his ability.

With this Detector, it would be a huge help in exploring the underground.

"If it’s possible, shall we give it a try right now?" Dean Wu asked, pointing to the ground in the distance.

Han Ning didn’t speak. With a flicker of his Spiritual Power, a dense mass of purple flesh burst from his body, and three purplish-red Rock-Breaking Ants slowly coalesced before him. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm could currently create eight Puppets. Four of them were needed to patrol the north, south, east, and west perimeters of the academy to detect any invading Insect Masters.

Another one, a Ghost Bee, was assigned to closely monitor Aketu.

These were arrangements critical to the academy’s safety and couldn’t be casually withdrawn.

Therefore, he could only spare three Rock-Breaking Ants for exploration.

Seeing this bizarre scene, Leon and his daughter couldn’t hide the deep astonishment on their faces.

Lisa couldn’t help but ask, "Th-this... Forgive me for asking, Mr. Han Ning, but is this also a Soul Beast’s ability?"

"Of course. What, did you think I was mutating?" Han Ning said with a slight smile. "Also, Lisa, we’re about the same age. You don’t have to keep calling me ’Mr.’ Just call me by my name."

"Oh... okay."

Han Ning didn’t explain further. Instead, he directed the three Rock-Breaking Ants to walk to Professor Zeng’s feet and said,

"Professor Zeng, could I trouble you to install the Detectors on the Rock-Breaking Ants?"

Professor Zeng nodded. He removed a small, GoPro-sized plastic box from the cart, then took a similar-looking box and two elastic bands from a drawer. He fastened them to the carapaces on the backs of two of the Rock-Breaking Ants.

"Time was tight, so I only managed to make two prototypes. Let’s see how well they work."

After securing the Detectors, Professor Zeng gave them a hard tug to make sure they were stable, then switched on the power and stood up straight.

"Do we need to go outside?" Dean Wu asked, looking out the window.

"No need, we can just wait here. Er... right. Dean Wu, Mr. Leon, which area should we explore first?"

Finding suitable terrain for exploration was a matter of geology, a field none of them were very familiar with.

Only Leon had an idea, pointing in the direction of the academy’s north gate. "The power station shouldn’t be too close to our living area. Let’s start from the north."

"Understood."

Under Han Ning’s command, the three Rock-Breaking Ants nimbly leaped from the windowsill. Braving the drizzling black rain outside, they burrowed into the ground below without any trouble.

"Mr. Leon, what kind of terrain generally meets the criteria for building a geothermal power station?"

"The geological structure needs to be relatively stable, with an underground temperature above 150°C. The higher the temperature, the faster the water will vaporize, and the higher the power generation efficiency will be. The shallower, the better—preferably around 500 meters deep."

"If an Earth Type Soul Beast can stabilize the terrain, then we can disregard the geological factors," Leon added.

"I see."

Hearing Leon’s explanation, Han Ning was reminded of their experience underground in the Mushroom Forest.

’Back in the underground ant nest, the ambient temperature was around 50-60°C. The nest was probably still within the mountain itself; drilling deeper would mean even higher temperatures.’

The Rock-Breaking Ants moved through the earth at incredible speed, comparable to cars racing down a highway. Before long, they had already reached the area outside the academy’s north gate.

Switching to the Rock-Breaking Ants’ perspective, his vision became a world of red, like a thermal image. In every direction, there was nothing but crimson earth.

The Rock-Breaking Ants didn’t burrow as Han Ning had imagined—by smashing through clumps of earth with their hard heads. Instead, it was more like swimming through water. Any sand or gravel they touched would ripple away like a wave, allowing the ants to pass through with ease.

It was as if they were moving through a separate layer of space.

Even for the Rock-Breaking Ants, exploring the underground wasn’t something that could be done in an instant.

Han Ning delegated the task of commanding the Rock-Breaking Ants to the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm, pulling his own consciousness back from the endless, crimson vision.

"It will take some time for the Rock-Breaking Ants to explore. Dean Wu, do you have anything else planned?"

Dean Wu didn’t answer him right away. Instead, he turned to Leon and his daughter. "Mr. Leon, would you prefer to stay in the computer lab for a while, or head back and rest?"

Leon pointed to a nearby computer that no one was using.

"We’ll sit here for a bit. I want to see if there’s anything in the database here I can use."

"Alright." Dean Wu nodded. After getting Leon and his daughter settled, he said a quick word to Professor Zeng, then led Han Ning out.

"Dean Wu, what’s going on? Why are you being so mysterious?" Han Ning could tell the dean wanted to talk to him about something in private.

"Besides exploring the underground, I was already planning to have you come see something today. The teachers in our biology department have made some new breakthroughs with their research recently."

"Oh?"

A few minutes later, they arrived at a simple, temporarily converted laboratory on the fourth floor.

At that moment, a teacher was sitting at a computer desk in the lab, operating the machine.

In the center of the lab were transparent water tanks of various sizes.

Inside the tanks, various organs and tissues from Insect-men were submerged.