Big G, Coffee Machine and Goblin

Chapter 42 The Steel Beast in the Mist
While the absence of the internet may indeed diminish the enjoyment of life, it also reduces distractions and temptations, making it easier to concentrate.

Especially considering that the common language of the continent of Revatres is not easy to learn, Mali does need to be more focused.

It's somewhat like Latin, or more specifically, an Indo-European language, highly inflectional and grammatically complex.

There are six tenses alone, and four conjugations for verbs. Changes in the person and number of the subject also affect the word ending. At least in the introductory stage, the difficulty is extremely high.

However, this complex grammar isn't entirely without its advantages; it does offer greater precision in expression. Furthermore, since my vocabulary is still relatively small, once I get through the toughest part of the first semester and master the rules of declension, I'll experience a significant leap forward.

Of course, Mario's favorite subject was still Levi's alchemy class.

Alchemy is an important branch of magic. In the beginning, spellcasters who had just awakened their magic could only manipulate this mysterious power by chanting incantations.

Even today, many mages still insist on casting spells with their physical bodies (the staff is merely a medium they use to communicate with magical elements). They dedicate themselves day and night to learning and researching spells, honing their skills in the hope of mastering more and stronger magic.

The best among these individuals are often known for their destructive power comparable to that of a dragon, representing the pinnacle of combat strength on the continent of Revatres.

However, in the development of magic, some people grew tired of the endless pursuit of individual power and turned their interest to the study of objects, hoping to use magic to benefit ordinary people, or perhaps they were simply short of money.

In short, these people then embarked on the path of crafting magical items, which is what we now call alchemists.

Due to the flourishing development of alchemy, they even separated from the Mage Guild to form a separate Alchemist Guild.

However, it should be noted that there is no very clear line between mages and alchemists. Mages can concoct potions and draw rune arrays, while alchemists usually learn some useful minor spells as well.

However, human energy is ultimately limited, and few people can achieve success in different directions. In particular, the more in-depth the research, the more necessary it is to make choices.

As a modern person, Ma Li understands this very well. Just look at the various Nobel laureates and you'll find that their research fields are often very specialized. Moreover, even alchemists themselves are divided into different schools of thought, aren't they?
However, to Ma Li's surprise, the Fusion School seems to have actually existed in history. When he first heard this idea, he thought it was just a distorted delusion of some crazy alchemists about modern technology.

Just like Levi's ridiculous bicycle.

After listening to the old alchemist's detailed explanation of the history of the Fusion School and the basic principles of Fusion Alchemy, Ma Li had to admit that although the idea was crazy, its feasibility seemed to be quite feasible in this world where magic existed.

In fact, there are still alchemists on the continent of Revatres who have mastered the art of fusion alchemy, but their numbers are very small, and can be counted on two hands.

According to a record in a tattered ancient book in the Turtleback Library, the Fusion School once had more than 10,000 alchemists at its peak, a number far exceeding the total number of all alchemy schools on the continent of Revatres today.

They joined hands about six thousand years ago to create a golden age of alchemy.

However, for some unknown reason, that civilization was almost completely destroyed overnight, causing the Fusion School to suffer a severe blow and its lineage to be almost interrupted.

The most critical issue is the lack of a clear "principle".

The "Principles" are the foundation of the Fusion School. Only when alchemists understand the "Principles" can they extract the "Concepts" from one item and integrate them into another.

Otherwise, purification would become extremely difficult and uncontrollable. At first, Ma Li thought that the vanished alchemical civilization was the modern world he once lived in, but now he's wavering.

Moreover, while six thousand years may sound like a long time, it is clearly not enough for the Earth to undergo such significant changes.

He compared the map he bought at the market with a map of Henan and found that even the locations of the mountains and rivers were different.

This gave him a glimmer of hope that perhaps one day he might actually find the other missing people.

However, for now, he has decided to focus on making money, working hard to repair roads while learning languages ​​and alchemy, in preparation for his next trip.

Three months have passed in the blink of an eye. Thanks to Ma Li’s timely reduction of standards in response to the difficulties, his road construction project is progressing smoothly and is nearing completion.

And that's not the only good news; he's also found a suitable car to get.

Since he plans to use the vehicle for trading, Ma Li naturally hopes that the new vehicle will have a higher load capacity than the G300p, and at the same time, it would be best if it also has good off-road capabilities.

After all, there are no highways for him to drive on, and he will encounter extreme weather such as rain, wind, mudslides, and snow. The vehicle's passability and reliability must be tested.

Finally, it would be even better if the fuel consumption could be lower, but this is somewhat contradictory to off-road capability, and horsepower is not a major concern either.

Given the above points, he naturally focused his attention on trucks, especially heavy trucks.

However, the civilian trucks you see on the road are mostly those that prioritize economy.

Most companies and individuals who buy trucks do so for profit. Cheapness, fuel efficiency, and durability are their core requirements, and the usage scenarios revolve around intercity transportation. Therefore, these trucks almost never have off-road capabilities and cannot adapt to the harsh environment of the Vatres continent.

In contrast, construction trucks, which are used for tasks such as earthmoving and mining, have higher requirements for body strength and off-road performance.

Ma Li's first thought was a fire truck. He found a heavy-duty water tanker foam fire truck at the city fire brigade. It used a 6×4 chassis from MAN in Germany and had a maximum horsepower of 430.

However, the night before Ma Li was about to drive it back to the auto repair shop, he found another big guy next to a detached villa by the river.

It was a motorhome, but unlike ordinary motorhomes, it had a full eight wheels, more than a fire truck, and was over ten meters long, nearly two and a half meters wide, and an astonishing four meters high.

Compared to it, the G300p looks like a kitten.

Especially in the low-visibility red fog, when Ma Li saw its faint outline, he did indeed feel like he was facing a steel behemoth.

This RV is also based on a chassis from the MAN Group, but it is an 8x8 TGA chassis. This is a classic military chassis that was once the main military truck of the West German Federal Armed Forces, used to transport missile supplies.

The 8×8 designation means that all eight of its wheels are drive wheels, giving it a stronger off-road and obstacle-avoidance capability compared to ordinary trucks.

(End of this chapter)