After a moment of silence, Alex reopened his eyes, a hint of determination flashing in their depths.
He sat up straight, lightly tapping the touch panel on the desk, activating the communication system.
With a crisp electronic sound, the call button was pressed.
In less than a few minutes, the office door slid open again, and Chamberlain Rachel strode in quickly, her military boots tapping a rapid rhythm on the floor.
Rachel's uniform was still crisp, but upon closer inspection, heavy shadows could be seen under her eyes, and her blonde hair was no longer meticulously tied up as usual, but rather loosely pulled back.
She held a data-slate in her arms, its screen constantly refreshing with dense reports, clearly indicating she had just been handling heavy official duties.
Ink stains still lingered on her fingertips, traces left from signing documents.
"What is the current labor shortage? Only counting critical departments," Alex asked his Chamberlain, his voice tired but still clear and organized.
Rachel immediately entered work mode, her voice a little dry, clearly having worked continuously for a long time: "The industrial production sector has the largest labor shortage."
She skillfully brought up a holographic report, suspended in the air between them, the glaring red numbers on the chart constantly fluctuating.
"Currently, approximately five million qualified laborers are needed." She paused, sliding her finger to switch to the next set of data, and the chart immediately transformed into a more complex multi-dimensional model: "The shortage in critical civilian departments is about four million."
Her fingers quickly swept across several key marked areas: "In total, the entire Sub-Sector still needs at least ten million qualified workers to maintain basic operations."
After speaking, she subconsciously moistened her dry lips, awaiting the Governor's instructions.
"Ten million…" Alex repeated the number softly, his knuckles unconsciously tapping a dull rhythm on the metal desk.
This astronomical figure echoed in his mind, 30% higher than his most pessimistic estimate.
He knew better than anyone that this was the result after Rachel, leading the Statistical Department and various production departments, had conducted three rounds of calculations and compressed non-essential needs to the extreme—for this number, they even had to temporarily sacrifice 30% of the operational efficiency of agricultural and light industrial zones.
His gaze involuntarily turned to the real-time monitoring screen on the east side of the office, where a 3D projection of 32 Life Womb Factories slowly rotated.
That colossal facility, covering twelve square kilometers, had been operating at full capacity for three months, tens of thousands of cultivation pods glowing with a faint blue light in the constant temperature environment, and embryos developing at a rate of one growth cycle per week.
But even so, a monthly output of one hundred thousand was still a drop in the bucket compared to a deficit of tens of millions.
32 had clearly told him that the Life Womb could at most meet 70% of the Rostov Sub-Sector's population demand; the remaining portion had to be found through other means.
Thinking of this, Alex took a deep breath, shifting his gaze from the holographic projection to Rachel, who stood silently beside him: "Rachel, please inform William."
His voice had returned to its usual reassuring steadiness, only those most familiar with him could detect the subtle tension within: "Tell him to speak to the Bishop; I will personally visit him later."
At the mention of William, Alex's lips relaxed almost imperceptibly. That underage apprentice sent by the Old Bishop ten years ago had now grown into a qualified scribe-attendant.
Ten years had honed him into a sharp-edged young man, and what was hidden behind those gold-rimmed glasses was no longer immaturity, but the composure tempered by hundreds of political and religious negotiations.
In Alex's increasingly complex game with the Ecclesiarchy, William had indeed become an indispensable buffer.
Rachel nodded slightly, her slender fingers quickly sliding across the data-slate, encoding the command into the highest priority red channel: "I will arrange it immediately."
Although the dark circles under her eyes showed she had been working continuously for over twenty hours, her voice was still as upright as her posture.
Alex nodded, redirecting his attention to the holographic star map suspended above the desk.
The ten-million labor deficit transformed into a glaring red area on the projection, like a burning branding iron pressed onto his retina.
He loosened his tightly buttoned collar, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed yet another cup of black coffee—but at this moment, it was not the time to stop and breathe.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"