Chapter 36: The Ten-Day Covenant, Building a Living Purifier!

The construction site of Longhai University was a scene of frantic activity. The roar of countless pieces of heavy machinery converged into a symphony of steel and earth, echoing and reverberating throughout the valley.

He Yu’s livestream had become the most closely watched "cloud supervisor" platform on the entire internet. Tens of millions of eyes witnessed, through the high-definition lenses of drones, how a desolate valley was growing the magnificent skeleton of a future university at a speed visible to the naked eye. Every hoisting of a steel beam and every pouring of concrete stirred a sense of unspeakable pride and resonance in the hearts of the donors who had generously contributed from behind their screens.

This was their university. They were witnessing the birth of a dream with their own eyes.

Trust flowed into the system’s reputation pool like rivers into the sea. Each flicker of the numbers represented a heavy weight of public support. Yet, beneath the fame, crises always quietly gestated in neglected corners.

As the infrastructure for the first phase of the project fully unfolded, large-scale earthwork excavation inevitably tore through the valley’s original surface vegetation. Yellow soil lay exposed, and heavy trucks churned up clouds of dust as they rolled over the ground. Even more fatal were the slurries mixed with cement, sand, gravel, and various construction additives. Carried away by rainwater and construction runoff, they formed turbid streams that snaked down the valley’s natural waterways. At first, the murkiness was faint, but as the scale of the construction surged, the muddy flow became increasingly turbulent and foul. Like a yellow venomous dragon, it eroded the once crystal-clear mountain springs, finally striking mercilessly into the depths of the valley—the last Eden of the Chinese Swallowtail butterfly, a sanctuary that many held dear.

Changes could not be hidden from millions of eyes. In the livestream, when the drone camera swept over the once-pristine stream, the chat paused for a split second. Then, a volcanic eruption of questioning followed.

"Wait! Pull the camera back! What happened to that river?!"
"Holy crap! Why has the water turned into yellow mud soup? Am I seeing things?"
"It’s over... it’s completely over! I knew something like this would happen! Butterfly larvae and pupae have extremely high requirements for water quality. With this water flowing through, can anything even survive?"
"Principal He, come out and explain! Is this what you call protective development? This is destructive development!"
"Refund! My donation wasn't meant to destroy the environment!"

Panic, anger, disappointment, and a sense of betrayal—all manner of negative emotions roared like a tsunami in the chat, instantly shattering the previously harmonious atmosphere. Each word scrolling across the screen was like a red-hot steel needle, piercing He Yu.

At that moment, he was standing before the massive screen in the temporary command center, his expression more solemn than ever before. On the screen, the turbid stream was a shocking sight, like an ugly scar carved into the blueprint of the "Valley of Hope."

He knew this was no minor issue. It was a fatal crisis capable of causing the entire project's foundation to collapse. The roots of Longhai University were not just rebar and concrete, but the trust of millions. Once that trust crumbled, what remained would be nothing more than a soulless empty shell.

To fall at the final hurdle and lose the trust of the people—these words weighed heavily upon his heart. Without a word, he turned and walked out of the command center, heading straight for the polluted stream. When his assistants and engineers tried to follow, he stopped them with a single gesture.

He stood alone by the muddy stream, the ground beneath his feet slick and swampy. He knelt, reached into the icy, muddy water, and felt its piercing chill and contamination. He looked up at the drone camera that had followed him, and through it, at the tens of millions of anxious eyes watching, his voice clear and firm.

"Please trust me."

His voice carried through the microphone across the entire network, instantly silencing the clamor.

"And please, trust Longhai University."

He straightened his back, staring directly into the lens as if making eye contact with every single person.

"Give me ten days."
"Within ten days, I will build a living ecological purifier here to completely resolve all pollution issues!"

There were no excessive explanations, no pale defenses. Only a resolute, ironclad promise. This was a military pledge made before the entire nation!

That night, deep in the silence, He Yu sat alone in his office, the noise of the outside world shut away. He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking deep into his mind. The pale blue system interface unfolded silently before him. The figure in the reputation column, having skyrocketed during the day, now appeared exceptionally abundant. He did not hesitate in the slightest.

With a flick of his intent, his reputation points began to deplete rapidly.

[Redeem: Grandmaster-level Hydraulic Engineer Skill. Reputation cost: 25,000 points.]

In an instant, a torrent of information, vast beyond imagination, flooded his brain. Principles of fluid mechanics, geological permeability, ecological cycles, and the molecular-level physics of purification and filtration—countless knowledge and experience were branded into the depths of his soul as if he had been born with them. He could even clearly "see" the trajectory of every suspended particle in the glass of water before him.

But that was not enough. His gaze fell upon a special item highlighted in the system store.

[Perfect Engineering Blueprint: Ecological Purification System (Heart of the Dragon)]

This was not just a set of drawings. It was a blueprint for a life-form. He Yu tapped his fingertip into the void.

[Redemption successful.]

Another massive amount of reputation was deducted. The next second, an incredibly complex, precise, and brilliant 3D blueprint exploded within his consciousness. It detailed the world’s most advanced ecological purification system, where every component and every link was perfected to the extreme. Even more terrifying was that it came with a construction process plan.

It was not a standard process. It was a piece of construction artistry that incorporated time, materials, labor, and procedures—every variable—into a calculation optimized to perfection. Each step was precise to the second. The transition between each trade achieved theoretical "zero" wait time.

Looking at this blueprint, which seemed beyond the capability of mortal creation, a blazing fire ignited in He Yu's eyes.

Ten days. In these ten days, he would personally forge an engineering myth in this valley.