Although Alex interrupting his thoughts caused him a little displeasure, 32 quickly got into character, pulling Alex to the ship's bridge and introducing him to the massive holographic projector.
"Currently, we have completed the three-utilities-and-one-leveling for a circular area with a diameter of four thousand kilometers, and we are now reinforcing the continental shelf," 32 explained to Alex, pointing at the huge circular area projected before them.
This was a massive circle, unimaginably large in the 3k era, so vast that it could even encompass the entire country of Seres.
After all, the straight-line distance from the northernmost to the southernmost point of Seres is only a little over three thousand seven hundred kilometers, so it would fit into this circle with plenty of room to spare.
Yet, in the Warhammer World, this was merely the foundation for a run-of-the-mill intercontinental factory.
"Has the core of this planet already cooled?" Alex glanced at the various planetary data displayed next to the projector and asked 32.
32 nodded, saying with some regret, "Yes, we had previously hoped that the planet's core hadn't fully cooled, as that would save the factory some energy, and the molten rock inside the planet could be extracted to provide minerals…
But unfortunately, this planet cooled down about seventy million years ago, and now if we dig into it, there will only be rock.
While some minerals can be refined, if we want to build an intercontinental factory, we cannot hollow out the ground beneath it! Instead, we need to reinforce it with various materials.
The first batch of mineral resources formally extracted from Rostov I were basically all used for this."
32 was a bit reluctant about using precious minerals to lay the foundation, as saving even a little of those minerals would have been enough for her to build a framework for her ring.
"Don't be stingy with these resources; Rostov I will continuously provide us with various mineral resources," Alex naturally comforted 32, and then skillfully painted another picture for her: "And once this factory is operational, we can then develop the other twelve star systems in the Sub-Sector!
By then, mineral resources will come from seven resource-rich mineral planets across the entire Sub-Sector, not just from Rostov I alone."
Alex's skill at painting a picture was quite proficient, but 32 only said helplessly, "That's true, but the construction period for an intercontinental factory is too long! And such a large factory requires a massive number of workers just to keep it running!
Factories in 40K are not like the automated production lines of the 3k era. While the Adeptus Mechanicus can indeed use automation in many places, more often, it still requires Servitors and Low-ranking Priests to manually complete production.
This ship does come with a batch of Priests, and they can handle some of the work, but there still aren't enough people!"
A Forge World ship would have at least tens of thousands of crew members, and while a significant portion of them were low-ranking lower-deck sailors, the number of Low-ranking Priests and even High-ranking Priests on an Adeptus Mechanicus Forge World ship was still quite considerable.
Simply put, this was an entire, complete technical team, the kind of top-tier technical team capable of taking over the management of an entire intercontinental factory, albeit with a slight shortage in numbers.
After all, a Forge World ship possesses a complete production line and is itself equivalent to a large factory.
However, due to limited personnel, without affecting the operation of the Forge World ship itself, 32 could only spare about two thousand crew members and fewer than a hundred Low-ranking Priests, and then send them to carry out the construction.
To meet the construction requirements, 32 also manufactured a large batch of engineering vehicles, much larger than Mastodon tanks and Warhound-class Titans, for construction needs.
Otherwise, relying solely on manpower, it would likely take a thousand years to complete the first phase of construction.
"So what is the current manpower shortage?" Alex was particularly concerned about this issue, as without enough workers, construction could not be completed on schedule, which would have a significant impact.
"Currently… I probably need two hundred thousand skilled workers! Note, skilled workers, at least capable of tightening screws and wrenches. Ordinary Lower Hive dwellers who can't even read are unusable! Besides that, a large number of Low-ranking Priests are needed, at least ten thousand!" 32 stated her requirements to Alex, and then added, "As for ordinary Lower Hive dwellers, to fill this factory, at least one hundred million people are needed, and those are actually the easiest to acquire."
After 32 finished speaking, she shook her head slightly. Although manpower was cheap in the Imperium, two hundred thousand Mid-Hive skilled workers and ten thousand Low-ranking Priests were genuinely difficult to obtain.
As for one hundred million Lower Hive dwellers, that was simply a matter of finding a Rogue Trader to buy them.
As abstract as the Imperium was, if it was a Mid-Hive area within a Hive City, both public security and living standards were still above the average baseline.
This also provided a foundation for Mid-Hive residents to potentially receive better education and advancement; they had at least received basic literacy education, understood simple mathematics, and possessed the necessary skills for their respective jobs.
For Mid-Hive residents, as long as they studied hard, it was not difficult to find a relatively stable job in the Mid-Hive after graduation that could support a family.
A Mid-Hive resident, as long as they were diligent and striving, could live a good life, and even maintain a relatively prosperous one was not particularly difficult.
If they were lucky or exceptionally talented, they could even try their luck to see if they had a chance to ascend to the Upper Nest.
It was precisely because of this that if Alex were to extract only skilled workers from a Hive City, he would most likely be drawing from these pillars of the Mid-Hive.
They often worked in various large factories on the planet, supporting the factories' operations and maintaining the stability of the local Imperial World.
It was also for this reason that the Mid-Hive population usually did not flow easily in large numbers.
Although the Imperium did not prohibit human trafficking, such relatively essential populations were still the darlings of various Governors, important pillars for maintaining the economic prosperity, industrial production, and social stability of the local Imperial World.
Unless Alex used some darker methods, such as hiring pirates to raid for people, it would be very difficult to obtain so many Mid-Hive skilled workers.
Relatively speaking, the only ones who could provide such a large number of skilled personnel were the various Forge Worlds of the Imperium and planets influenced or controlled by the Adeptus Mechanicus.
And in Mariupol, this nascent Sector, only the workers from the Sector's Forge World could meet this population demand.
"Two hundred thousand skilled workers? Alright, I'll figure out a way to get them for you," Alex nodded and agreed.
Although recruiting two hundred thousand skilled workers was not easy, these were necessary conditions for the intercontinental factory to be successfully completed and put into use, and Alex had no choice but to find a way to meet them.
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