Yeong-bae Song, Pyeong-in Gu, and Beom-mu Kim sat gathered in Yeong-bae Song's office, lost in thought and saying nothing, as though each had been struck over the head.

After a long silence, Beom-mu Kim spoke first.

"Do you think it's… actually possible?"

Yeong-bae Song's and Pyeong-in Gu's eyes turned to him.

"…Director Gwak from production technology said he'd need to see it himself before he could judge for certain… which means he's saying it isn't impossible."

Yeong-bae Song recalled what had happened in the conference room.

At Seong-ho's declaration that he would build ships on land, the executives had been unable to say a word.

It was Director Gwak, the man responsible for production technology, who broke the silence.

"How exactly do you propose to build ships on land?"

Seong-ho looked at him and explained.

"We'll use the Goliath crane."

The executives, who had not expected the Goliath crane to enter into it, let out low groans.

"I intend to break the fixed assumption that ship assembly must be carried out in a dock."

"You mean you'd use the Goliath crane to lift and hold the vessel, and carry out the work without floating it on water?"

Director Gwak stared at him.

"Correct. The conventional method — dividing a vessel into sections, working on them, then assembling them in a dock — is slow and takes a long time. But if we can assemble it in one go on land, we can raise the speed of the work by exactly that much."

"Director Gwak… is that method genuinely possible?"

At Yeong-bae Song's question, Gwak thought for a moment.

"In theory it's possible, but… assembling a vessel while holding it suspended from a Goliath crane… Can the Goliath crane even bear the weight of a ship?"

"You needn't worry about that. Through modification, we'll make it capable of lifting up to 1,600 tons."

"Sixteen hundred tons… then yes, it would be possible. But… honestly, I don't know. I think it's something I'd need to see with my own eyes to be sure of."

Gwak was cautious, though he conceded it was…