Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 498 Blueprint on Paper
As for the short-legged tiger brothers and the half-ogre brothers…

Before the bicycle could be completely destroyed by them, the monk scolded them and drove them off.

The former couldn't reach the pedals with his feet, so he wiggled his big butt on the seat, trying to rub forward with the power of his buttocks. The latter dragged his two big, thick legs on the ground, and his feet slapped the ground like ducks paddling in the water to propel himself forward.

After the farce ended, the group of people who were initially somewhat doubtful immediately changed their attitude towards the bicycle, praising it and asking for it from the pole.

According to Lawrence, even agile professionals, unless they are proficient in swift movement, would find it difficult to match the speed of this iron horse. After all, when a professional's leg strength and endurance are enhanced by equipment, they naturally far surpass their barefoot counterparts.

The physical exertion alone is disproportionate.

Nancy's words were even more direct:

"Even setting aside all practicality, the novelty of the thing alone is enough to attract those guys' attention, let alone something they can personally show off in front of others?"

"This design is still a bit too rudimentary. Paint it gold, add more fancy carvings and patterns, and give it some glowing effects. If you advertise it as a magical vehicle, you'll definitely make a fortune!"

The female thief became more and more excited as she spoke, seemingly awakening to her identity and mission as a follower of Vol'jin. Surprisingly, her suggestions were quite insightful.

This young man is teachable and has a bright future ahead of him!

Seeing that Nancy had effortlessly discovered the tricks of spending money on skins that were popular in her previous life, the mage was pleased and readily agreed, casually setting up a magic trick on the car.

This zero-ring enchantment has no other effects; it simply adds some magical lighting and shadows, incidentally serving as headlights, but~
I've already created the particle effects, so what reason do you have not to buy them?
After promising everyone a bicycle and designing special models for a few dwarves and big guys, the group dispersed satisfied, grabbing a bar of soap to try out. The dwarf and ogre brothers were also forced to take a bar and ordered to take a bath.

"Either you wash them yourself, or I'll have the minotaurs wash them for you with big brushes!"

Upon hearing this, several unhygienic old slobs felt a chill run down their spines. The thought of the miserable state the gray dwarves looked under the large brushes they used to scrub livestock made their livers and gallbladders tremble.

At the next day's meeting, aside from a few idiots who looked pale and were nervously muttering about my natural armor, everyone gave it unanimous praise.

Several women, in particular, surrounded the store as if they were about to scramble to buy everything, seemingly intending to use their internal purchase privileges to snatch up the first batch of stock.

After finally calming down the excited girls, the mage felt much more confident. Even elves and drow couldn't resist this personal hygiene tool, so there was no need to worry about poor sales.

After reiterating yesterday's arrangements, the attendees, now much more confident, nodded in agreement without any further doubt. Then came another troublesome matter.

"Let's not talk about it. The manufacture of the iron horses requires a supply of steel, and according to our estimates, our iron ore inventory probably won't be enough for future needs."

"Duke Iltan previously allocated a batch of iron ore as a reward. Apart from a small portion being used for manufacturing and repairing farm tools, there should be a lot left, right?" As soon as the mage finished speaking, Lawrence, who was in charge of the territory's accounts and inventory matters, pulled out the ledger at hand and gave the precise data on the current iron ore inventory—21 tons.

The figure sounds alright; most of the thirty tons of ore donated by the Grand Duke are still intact. However, when you really look at it, it's quite meager, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it's barely enough to make ends meet.

The iron ore produced in the Bode region is not particularly high grade, and coupled with the limited smelting level, on average, one ton of ore can only produce less than three hundred kilograms of pig iron.

This production ratio is thanks to the fact that the ironworks in the leading ironworks workshop fully adopted the dwarven iron-making technology and technicians. If it were an ordinary ironworks, they would be lucky to get an iron output ratio of 20%.

Therefore, after completing the supply of agricultural implements such as plows, sickles, and waterwheel parts, the mage decisively halted the subsequent forging plan and postponed the preparation of the territory's guards' weapons and equipment.

The original plan was to introduce the metallurgical techniques of the Keene craftsmen to improve the existing system, but then the Rune Factory appeared...

That's good. There's no need to come up with anything new. The dwarven blacksmith shop will remain as it is. As for the tinker and clockwork who are providing off-site technical support, they have been staying with the master and apprentice in the rune alchemy workshop to familiarize themselves with the equipment. Once the technical compatibility and standardization issues are resolved, they will start to expand the scale of the factory.

Simply copying the rune furnace and forging workshop is not something that can be done in a short time. The alchemical system contained therein is not something that laymen in the field of arcane magic can fully understand. It is likely that only after Master Zhang's own expertise and research have reached a certain depth can he attempt to do so.

However, it is still possible to modify and adapt the equipment and machinery that the Keen craftsmen already possess and use the energy supply from the element pool to support its operation.

On the desk in the monk's private study, a stack of research reports on the expansion of the alchemy factory still had fresh ink on them.

In the report, several Keen craftsmen abandoned the idea of ​​integrating the new facility into the rune equipment and coordinating it with a control console. Instead, they took a pragmatic approach and set up a second workshop outside the rune alchemy system.

Ore crushers, flaming crystal steelmaking furnaces, rolling mills, multi-axis lathes, automated assembly lines, and the core product of Keyne Technologies: the Crystal Power Research Lab—these high-tech devices form the main part of the second workshop on paper.

According to the master craftsmen's ideas, the energy extracted from the element pool is continuously converted by the crystal rectifier to power the aforementioned equipment. Although the workshop equipment, which has a certain level of automation, cannot be separated from the operation and maintenance of technicians, the required manpower can be reduced to a very low level under the personal operation of the master craftsmen.

The second workshop, once completed, is no less capable than the latter in terms of precision and efficiency in metal casting and component processing, except that it lacks the function of rune enchanting. In fact, it surpasses it in scale and processing volume.

Furthermore, in the envisioned second workshop, in addition to undertaking some metal processing tasks, the implementation of Crystal Magic Technology is also a crucial step.

So there's only one problem left: the workshop shown in the sketch doesn't seem capable of producing even a single screw...

The technical problems have been nearly solved thanks to the hard work of the master craftsmen, but the shortage of materials and manpower remains two major hurdles.

Twenty tons of ore sounds good, but with the grade of this iron ore, even with the efficiency of the rune furnace, it can't refine more than ten tons of steel to meet demand. There's still a shortfall of at least half of the budgeted cost.

(End of this chapter)