Rich, Rhine Metal; poor, Rhine Steel. 11

Chapter 11: Worse Than I Remembered! (Second Update!)

These people emerged from every corner of the residential area, then dawdled, coming before Lin Yu.

Reluctantly, they put down the bags they were carrying.

Lin Yu opened each bag one by one, inspecting them. He found that the most common item was various bearings.

The 567 Base’s production lines needed bearings, but the base didn’t produce them; all bearings were procured from outside.

In other words, just the bearings in their bags represented an extra, unexpected equipment maintenance cost.

The rest consisted mainly of scraps from various steel processing.

After looking around, Lin Yu nodded with great satisfaction. Very good. These people hadn’t stolen ammonium nitrate used for making explosives; that was something.

He lined these people up separately, checked the time, and continued to wait.

Seeing that these people weren’t being harassed, more people came out from the residential area.

However, they weren’t carrying anything.

As they approached, Lin Yu saw clearly that they were each holding a piece of paper.

The first person came before Lin Yu and handed over the paper – rough grid-lined paper, likely torn from a primary school student’s exercise book.

Taking the paper, Lin Yu glanced at it. At first glance, he saw the words on the first line.

Ammonium Nitrate, 100 kilograms.

The date of the transaction was six months ago.

Holding the slip, he took a deep breath and shouted, “Luo Ping, come here.”

Hearing his shout, Luo Ping, who had been strolling nearby, arrived like a gust of wind, asking, “What’s up?”

Lin Yu didn’t speak, but clamped the slip with his fingernail and showed it to Luo Ping.

Seeing “100 kilograms of ammonium nitrate” on the first line, Luo Ping’s eyes bulged, and he cursed, “F***.”

Then, with a murderous glare, he stared at the person who had handed over the slip, gritting his teeth, “You’re in for it.”

Putting that person aside, Lin Yu continued to collect the slips from the others.

After about ten minutes, he had collected all the slips.

Separating the slips related to the ammonium nitrate theft, Lin Yu turned around to face the people lined up before him.

Meeting his gaze, one by one, they lowered their heads.

After a while, Lin Yu casually stuffed the slips related to the stolen parts into a sack, kicked it with his foot, and then said loudly:

“Some of you might ask why I didn’t cause trouble for you earlier, yet made you do this.”

“Well, I’ll explain it now.”

“From now on, you are employees of the Rhine Steel Group, not people of the 567 Base.”

“I can ignore the petty theft in the past.”

“But from now on, whoever steals anything again, I will make an example of them.”

“All will be treated as Level 1 leaks.”

“You know better than I do what happens in a Level 1 leak.”

He raised the six slips he’d separated, adding loudly:

“You steal parts, I can assume you’re short of money and need to sell them for a bit of cash.”

“But you steal raw materials for explosives, I’ll assume you need a lot more than a bit of cash.”

“Luo Ping.”

Hearing his name, Luo Ping stood ramrod straight, took a large step forward, and stood firmly beside Lin Yu.

“Yes.”

“Have the deputy section chief lead a team to investigate the whereabouts of this ammonium nitrate.”

“If they cooperate, and the whereabouts of the ammonium nitrate are found, and no problems arise, then they continue working.”

“If problems arise, the whole family goes to jail.”

“Understood.” Luo Ping replied, turning to look at the culprits, and patted a burly man beside him.

“Go.”

Watching the few leave, Lin Yu waved a hand: “Let’s go. Let’s go to the factory building and see what state our equipment is in, ruined by your thievery.”

The 567 Base consisted of seven workshops: steel, tractor, cement, chemical, explosive preparation, shell, and bullet workshops.

The residential area was at the front gate; the further you went in, the higher the security level.

After passing the residential area was the steel workshop.

Looking at the steel factory, vastly different from his memory, Lin Yu’s eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

In his memory, this steel factory was a full-process facility, with complete equipment capable of processing ore from its most basic state into the final steel products.

But now…

“Where are the ore crusher and the screening machine?”

“Sold to the Langling Steel Factory in 2000.”

“Where’s the rolling equipment?”

“Langling Steel Factory.”

“Then where did the steel for making shells come from?”

“Bought from Langling Steel Factory. The shell workshop has a small furnace for small-batch processing.”

Jiang Song interjected at this moment, then looked somewhat triumphantly at Bai Ming, the workshop director of the steel workshop.

Lin Yu noticed his actions, his eyelids twitching again. He chose to go to the next workshop.

The chemical workshop.

Before getting close, a strong pungent odor wafted over.

The ground was covered in wastewater.

Emitting a faint cyan color.

In the area where raw materials were stored…

A rusty tanker, its contents unclear, stood there.

A pipe extended from the tanker, connected to a pressure tank.

Several people were busy around the pipe.

Seemingly repairing it.

And the pipe they were repairing was already rusty, and hadn’t even been painted with basic rust-proof paint.

Qin Tian, in charge of the chemical workshop, was about to speak when the pipe they were repairing burst.

A colorless, transparent liquid gushed from the break, and a strong smell of ammonia instantly filled the air.

The pungent smell made people want to close their eyes.

Recognizing the smell, Lin Yu cursed:

“Didn’t close the valve during the repair?”

“Are you trying to die?”

After his scolding…

Qin Tian immediately pointed out several people from the crowd to help.

These people skillfully closed the tanker valve and several other valves.

The leak stopped. A mountain breeze blew away the escaping ammonia, carrying it down the valley and spreading it everywhere.

“Shut down the chemical workshop, and have the maintenance team thoroughly inspect everything.”

With a helpless wave, Lin Yu turned towards the explosive preparation workshop.

Called the explosive preparation workshop, it produced both gunpowder and explosives.

Looking at the rusty gate, Lin Yu could only hope that the people in this workshop wouldn’t surprise him.

However, as the group reached the door, the workshop, which had been lit, suddenly…

Went dark.

Stunned for a few seconds, Lin Yu slowly turned his head, his gaze falling on Qian Jianguo.

Under Lin Yu’s gaze, Qian Jianguo scratched his head awkwardly, chuckling, “The power company probably cut the power again.”

“It’s alright, you continue looking, I’ll make a call.”

“I’ll be right back.”

He was about to slip away when Lin Yu grabbed him.

Holding Qian Jianguo down, Lin Yu scanned the surrounding people and said coldly: “Now, check your equipment and clean up.”

“I’m going out for a bit, and I hope when I come back, I’ll see a more normal workshop.”

(End of Chapter)

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