The redesign took two days.
Austin removed the chisel from the main blue spire. He mounted it on a thick spring base and added rubber-and-copper dampers between the frame and bedrock. The bit now worked on short ore branches rather than the vein’s central spine.
Xiaoyao and Kang rebuilt the water route. A closed pipe carried the turbine discharge back upstream. Two simple float gauges watched the loop, and a hand pump provided backup if power failed.
Austin also slowed the conveyor. Fast output was useless if the controls could not keep up.
“New rule,” he said. “Any two water gauges disagree, the line stops. No arguing with a green screen.”
Kang signed the safety sheet. “I would like that rule in the contract.”
“Put it in. And paint a thirty-six-inch walkway around the belt. Nobody gets a sleeve caught in the rollers.”
They ran the first test for five minutes. Ore came off in smaller blocks. Output fell to less than half the old rate. The stream depth held, the lower outflow held, and both spring bottles stayed clear.
Then a gauge needle jumped.
Xiaoyao raised his hand. “Stop.”
Austin cut the power at once.
The jump turned out to be a trapped air bubble in a return pipe. They bled the line, reset the gauge, and started again. This time the readings stayed level for an hour.
Kang looked at the reduced production count. “Your old quota is gone for the week.”
Austin watched clear water move through the inspection tube. “Good.”
“Good?”
“A slow line that can run tomorrow beats a fast line that cannot.”
***
Their work was interrupted by a horn at the surface boundary. Tie Kuang had sent twelve armed surveyors ahead of his main force. They entered the old exploratory tunnel without waiting for Kang or Austin.
The leader announced that the Iron Pavilion was taking possession of the shaft.
Kang met them at the inner door. “You are under my command. This site is under inspection, not seizure.”
“The Grand Elder outranks your contract.”
Austin walked up with his pipe wrench resting on one shoulder. Pug followed, sniffing the surveyors’ muddy boots.
“Nobody is taking the shaft,” Austin said. “And nobody is drilling near the return line.”
The surveyor raised his drill pike. Pug’s three heads growled in perfect harmony. The man lowered it again.
Kang ordered the group back to the surface. Two went willingly. The rest hesitated until Austin pointed to the red emergency stop beside them.
“You can leave through the door, or you can explain to your boss why you broke a working safety system. Pick one.”
They left.
There was no heroic battle and no new hole in the wall. Xiaoyao recorded the event as an unauthorized entry and a near miss.
Kang read over his shoulder. “You write reports about everything?”
“Near misses are free lessons.”
“And when Tie arrives with five hundred men?”
Austin checked the new water readings again.
“Then he gets the same choice as everyone else. Follow site safety or stay outside.”