Once the test was finished, Ethan dismissed them. There was nothing more to discuss.
Officer Wei returned to Stella. The city continued to have internal order issues and required constant attention. Ethan informed him that he would head there soon. The next stages required direct supervision.
Officer Jian resumed his post at the black iron mine.
Ye Han and V-12 were ordered to support Captain Gao Renli with their squad in the hunt for demonic beasts—they were priority resources. Their capture could not be delayed.
The Hu brothers stayed on as his personal guard. Shen Bao continued training with the Vespers in Omega Zero. He was in charge of the general security of the base.
Everything was in motion. No one had free time.
In the underground workshop, Ethan approached the workbench. He already had the materials ready: copper, iron, magnetite, and precisely cut metal pieces.
Next to him, AION projected a functional schematic: rotor, stator, coils, magnets.
"Time to move forward. I've had enough of these oil lamps," he said, reviewing the blueprint.
He wasn't going to waste time rediscovering what humanity had already solved. The design was known. The only thing that mattered now was building it, and making it work.
The first step was to obtain permanent magnets.
Ethan had already accumulated fragments of magnetite. The trades and acquisition of rare minerals, managed by Zhao Ren, had not stopped. They had yielded results. In recent weeks, several nearby mines had been identified, many of them ownerless and with no official presence.
Under Ethan's instructions, Zhao Ren began negotiating with local villagers and hiring miners. Thanks to this, materials that were once scarce—like limestone—now had a stable extraction chain. In addition to limestone, useful veins of iron, copper, lead, tin, zinc, and antimony were found. All of them were essential: lead for projectiles, copper for wiring, tin and zinc for alloys like bronze or brass. Bituminous coal and sulfur deposits were also found, both key for gunpowder production.
The previously identified saltpeter deposit continued to be exploited constantly. Most of the hired workers were residents of nearby villages, satisfied with the economic benefits.
Ethan left no gaps. In his plans, the entire surrounding territory would come under control. To him, Astralis was like an industrial machine in constant expansion: each gear required resources, maintenance, and new operators. And the population was the foundation of everything. The more it grew, the more could be built.
Back to the magnetite. This mineral, present in iron mines, already had natural magnetic properties. But for its application in a dynamo, Ethan needed something more powerful.
Next to him, a group of technicians from the underground workshop worked following his instructions.
To obtain permanent magnets, controlled heat and calibrated strikes were applied. The goal was to align the magnetic domains of each magnetite fragment. Once the proper temperature was reached, they were slowly cooled, keeping each piece oriented along the same axis. This ensured stable polarity.
[Thermally treated magnets. Stable polarity. Acceptable magnetic field for a simple core], AION indicated.
Ethan nodded. With AION's assistance, the processes were more efficient. The AI allowed real-time verification of when the expected parameters were reached and detected any critical deviation before it affected production.
For the rotor, a cylindrical iron shaft was selected. Treated magnetite discs were mounted on it, alternating their north and south poles to maximize interaction with the stator coils.
The stator was built around a hollow cylinder. Copper coils were wound, each with a defined number of turns. The wire was coated with an insulator impregnated in thick oil.
With all components ready, Ethan used a steel support structure to fix the central shaft. The design allowed the rotor to spin freely within the stator frame without structural friction.
He checked the final adjustments. With the help of the technicians, they went to the hydraulic channel that had been previously opened to supply mechanical energy. Only minor details remained: adjusting the alignment of the iron shafts, checking the pulley tension, and securing the final coupling.
He connected the rotor shaft to the terminal gear of the water wheel.
Once the water flow was released, the wheel began to turn. The mechanical transmission came into operation. The rotor spun inside the stator.
The magnetic field of the magnetite discs cut through the copper coil flux lines. Within seconds, AION projected the first readings.
[Active generation: 42 V / 1.1 A – Stable direct current]
[Minimal thermal losses. Operating system.]
Ethan silently observed the simple light bulb connected to the test circuit.
The lamp turned on.
He nodded. A slight curve appeared on his face.
We just turned on a civilization.
But Ethan wasn't satisfied with a single unit.
After confirming the initial operation, he began building a second and third dynamo, replicating the design but enlarging the rotor and increasing the number of coils. He also adjusted the transmission with a scaled pulley system that multiplied the rotation speed of the main shaft.
Each generator operated independently, but connected in parallel to deliver a combined direct current.
[Synchronized system: 138 W – Stable current – Basic load covered.]
Now the lamp not only turned on. It shone.
With that, the workshop had its first source of electricity. Soon, they would stop relying on oil lamps. Then would come electric tools, ventilation systems, reactors, drills, automated security… and later, communications.
Astralis had just taken the first step toward electrification.
The next step was to scale up: build more units or design higher-capacity generators. In the long term, it had to be capable of powering an entire city.
He turned to the technicians, who were still watching the lit bulb, motionless, without speaking. Their faces reflected a mix of doubt and astonishment.
"Come with me. You'll be in charge of continuing the manufacturing," Ethan said, returning to the workshop. "I'll teach you the principle and guide you."