458 Forging Workshop
Roy was unaware of the Floating Device the old Gray Dwarf miner had mentioned.
However, the Magic Furnace left in Padesto City will be transported by carriage hired by Leishande to the temporary camp at the foot of the Pagisto Plateau, and then Kaka will lead the Griffon Cavalry to transport it to the Southern Plateau.
After leaving four hundred Gray Dwarf prisoners of war for Qian Ning, Roy stayed only one night at the South Mithril Mine before setting off for the Gaxi Mountain Range.
After traveling north for three days across the Sudaso Mountain Range and along the edge of the wilderness, Roy led six hundred Gray Dwarf prisoners of war to the South Black Iron Mine in the Gaxi Mountain Range.
The Black Iron Mine here has resumed production, but the furnaces in the mine were smashed by the headhunters, Half-Elf miners can only dig out large amounts of Black Iron Mine from the mine every day.
Roy left two hundred Gray Dwarf prisoners of war at the South Black Iron Mine and sent another four hundred Gray Dwarf prisoners of war to the other two Black Iron Mine.
Of the three Black Iron Mine, only the furnace in the North Black Iron Mine was not destroyed, so Roy set up the Forging Workshop in this castle and also gathered all the Gray Dwarf craftsmen from the three Black Iron Mine.
When Roy arrived at the North Black Iron Mine, he could see a thick column of smoke rising into the sky from within the mine...
Walker was the manager of the North Black Iron Mine. He was one of the first half- Half-Elf miners rescued by Roy and later joined the Mine Guard. When Roy left the Pagisto Plateau, Walker became the manager of the North Black Iron Mine.
At Roy's request, Walker gathered nearly a hundred Gray Dwarf craftsmen at the North Black Iron Mine and also established a Forging Workshop.
In addition to smelting iron ingots day and night at this Black Iron Mine, Gray Dwarf craftsmen also work in shifts day and night at the twenty forging tables in the Forging Workshop.
After the iron ingots are smelted in the Magic Furnace, the Gray Dwarf craftsmen do not wait for them to cool completely before immediately sending them to the anvil at the forging station for repeated hammering.
The Gray Dwarf craftsmen are masters of the carburizing process in forging.
They would sprinkle some carbon powder while repeatedly hammering the iron ingots.
Finally, these Gray Dwarf craftsmen would, as Roy requested, hammer each iron ingot into a steel bar about four meters long and only Steel Bar thickness of a thumb.
Mine Owners Walker carried out the tasks assigned by Roy almost without fail.
Accompanied by Walker, Roy led the last two hundred Gray Dwarf prisoners of war into the North Black Iron Mine.
These two hundred Gray Dwarf prisoners of war were Gray Dwarf craftsmen with forging skills selected by Roy from among a thousand prisoners of war. They will work in the Forging Workshop at the North Black Iron Mine.
Of course, there may be liars among these two hundred Gray Dwarf prisoners of war, and whether they can stay in the Forging Workshop remains to be seen after some time.
Two hundred Gray Dwarf prisoners of war lined up to enter the Black Iron Mine behind the castle. As soon as they passed through the narrow passage and entered the mine courtyard, they saw a large group of Gray Dwarf miners standing behind a row of furnaces. They wore leather aprons and were bare-chested. They stood in front of the scorching anvils, constantly hammering iron ingots with square-headed hammers. The clanging and banging sounds continued throughout the Forging Workshop.
A group of Gray Dwarf prisoners of war stood there stunned, never expecting that the Forging Workshop here was full of the dwarfs' rugged style.
They thought life in the mine was just about mining day and night in the tunnels, never expecting there to be such a large Forging Workshop waiting for them.
Most of the courtyard was covered with rain shelters, and the stoves were located at the edge of the shelters. Next to each stove was a chopping board, and behind each stove was a water trough.
The shelves not far away were already piled high with Steel Bar. Roy hadn't expected Walker to manage things so well. During the time he was away from the Pagisto Plateau, the Forging Workshop had been producing these Steel Bar. The huge shelves were piled with bundles of Steel Bar, and it looked like there were at least several hundred bundles.
On the other side were mountains of Black Iron Mine, with huge hammers constantly pounding the Black Iron Mine, producing a rumbling sound.
After being screened, these Black Iron Mine are smashed into small pieces the size of a fingernail by a hammer before being poured into a furnace for calcination.
The Magic Furnace here is very old, with only three outlets.
Molten black iron flows out from the groove at the bottom of the furnace. The output is very rare, and only about ten Magic Black Iron ingots can be condensed each day.
The molten iron flowing from the groove in the middle of the furnace is of relatively large quantity. The molten iron ingots are immediately hooked away by the Gray Dwarf Gray Dwarf craftsmen and dragged to the anvil, where they wait to be forged. At least a hundred ordinary iron ingots can be produced every day.
The waste slag flowing out from the top of the furnace used to be directly dumped after cooling.
However, as Roy requested, an insulated flow channel was connected to the top discharge port, leading all the way to the open space on the left side of the furnace, where nearly a hundred square molds were placed.
The slag lava flowed into a square mold, and after cooling, it turned into square stones with oval hollows in the middle, instantly transforming these stones into solid Hollow Brick...
The large amount of slag and lava flowing out of the Magic Furnace every day turned into Hollow Brick. Over the course of nearly two months, the area around the entire Black Iron Mine was almost entirely filled with these dark gray Hollow Brick.
Walker even considered using these Hollow Brick to raise the surrounding walls.
Roy returned to the North Black Iron Mine and was quite satisfied with Walker's recent performance.
"Boss Roy, what do you plan to do with these waste ore materials? The mine yard is already overflowing, so I can only spend some time each day moving these stones outside the castle. If they are not of any use for the time being, I will raise the mine wall a bit more."
Walker followed Roy and said.
Roy paused for a moment before saying, "I'll be transporting all these supplies away in a few days. You just hang in there a little longer."
The two hundred Gray Dwarf prisoners of war I brought with me will be kept in the Forging Workshop for a few days for observation. Those Gray Dwarf who don't know how to forge will be picked out and then assigned to mining.
The Forging Workshop needs to be expanded as much as possible, and I will continue to apply to the Silver Pegasus Legion for Gray Dwarf prisoners of war..."
Walker followed behind Roy and quickly nodded in agreement.
Roy approached the Magic Furnace and, watching the molten metal flowing continuously from it, asked the old Gray Dwarf craftsman beside it:
"Can you understand Elven Language?"
The old Gray Dwarf nodded and said, "I understand!"
"Could you translate Elven Language into Dwarvish?" Roy asked again.
"Sentences that aren't too difficult should be fine..." the old Gray Dwarf craftsman said, though he sounded somewhat unsure of himself.
"Then you can translate for me from the side. I have something to say to all the Gray Dwarf craftsmen."
After Roy finished speaking to the old dwarf craftsman, he jumped onto a loading platform next to the furnace, and then said to Walker, "Walker, tell the Forging Workshop to stop for a moment, and all the Gray Dwarf craftsmen to come over here."
Walker quickly gathered all the Gray Dwarf craftsmen in the Forging Workshop, along with two hundred Gray Dwarf prisoners of war, instantly filling the open space in front of the Magic Furnace.
After the Forging Workshop and hammers stopped, the entire Black Iron Mine instantly became much quieter.
Roy stood alone on the unloading platform, looking at the more than three hundred Gray Dwarf in front of him. He took a deep breath and then said loudly:
"Everyone, you will be living here for a long time from now on."
This is a Black Iron Mine. Your work mainly involves three categories: mining, smelting, and forging.
Of course, what you actually do depends entirely on what you're good at...
Under normal circumstances, you can rest after working ten hours a day, and two meals will be provided daily.
However, it is worth noting that you will have a supervisor who will score you every day.
Don't underestimate this rating. Those who achieve excellent results for thirty consecutive days will have the opportunity to be promoted to foreman. This rating sheet will be closely related to your future life. These points can be exchanged for vacations and limited living supplies, such as a piece of clothing or a glass of rum.
If a player fails to meet the passing score for three consecutive days without any justification, they will receive a first warning and be subject to a minor penalty.
If a team fails to meet the passing score for six consecutive days without submitting a written report, a second warning will be issued, and the entire team will be punished.
If you fail to meet the evaluation standards for ten consecutive days, then you should prepare to change jobs. I can tell you with absolute certainty that your next job will definitely not be as easy as your first one.
The Gray Dwarf craftsmen here should be able to explain the details to you; they should be used to it by now.
Let me also mention your benefits. If you work in the mine for six consecutive days, you will get one day off.
Furthermore, if you're willing to spend your points, you can even explore the wilderness outside...
It's worth noting that it's best to keep some points on hand.
Of course, these benefits are based on your honest work in the mine.
The punishment for prisoners of war who dared to escape from the Black Iron Mine was quite severe, which I won't go into detail about here. I just hope you won't take the risk..."
After Roy finished speaking, the old Gray Dwarf craftsman also finished translating his words.
The Gray Dwarf craftsmen standing in the Forging Workshop below already knew these rules, and were not surprised by what Roy said.
However, the newly arrived Gray Dwarf prisoners of war were somewhat surprised. They did not expect to receive such benefits, and that they could even rest every few days.
Many of the Gray Dwarf prisoners of war began to gossip about it in private.
After staying at the North Black Iron Mine for only half a day, Roy left the North Mithril Mine with a team of twenty Half-Elf.
Continue north towards Tianpu Canyon.
He built a City Wall at the southern end of the Tianpu Canyon specifically to block headhunters from the Northern Plateau. A Mine Guard of 500 men is currently stationed at this wall.
We walked north along the glacier through the misty Tianpu Canyon.
After leaving the Tianpu Canyon, you'll reach Roy's camp in the northern part of the Pagisto Plateau.
Nearly two thousand Half-Elf Warrior from the Mine Guard are stationed here, and they can provide support to any area in the Northern Plateau at any time.
Besides housing two thousand Half-Elf Warrior, the camp is also the largest supply Transit Station in the Northern Plateau, where almost all the spoils of war collected from the Northern Plateau are stored.
When Roy arrived outside the camp, he saw a large herd of argali sheep on the opposite grassy slope, which he estimated to be more than two thousand.
These argali sheep were captured from Highland Slavers and are best suited for forming highland pack animals.
Upon entering the camp, which lacked even a wooden fence, the pile of abandoned weapons at the camp entrance was particularly conspicuous. A large number of rusty War Blade were piled up haphazardly, along with a large number of Short Flying Spear.
The Mine Guard also recovered some magical supplies from the Headhunters Tribe in the Northern Plateau.
However, the largest number of people in the camp were not these, but the prisoners of the Highland Slavers.
There were almost no young and strong headhunters among these prisoners; they were mostly elderly headhunters, women, and children. They set up tents in the camp, and all the headhunters crowded in front of the tents.
The elderly sat in the middle, while the women, holding their children, sat in the corners.
The number of headhunter prisoners was approximately three thousand. To Roy's dismay, most of the headhunter prisoners were picked up by Half-Elf Warrior while patrolling the Northern Plateau.
Only a small number of headhunter captives were captured during battles between Half-Elf Warrior and local tribal headhunters.
Many headhunters' tribes fell behind during large-scale migrations due to various unforeseen circumstances, and these headhunters who fell behind were almost all elderly people and children whose physical condition was not suitable for long-distance travel.
Once these headhunters fall behind, they immediately face survival issues.
Because once they leave the tribe, they have no way to survive in the harsh environment of the Northern Plateau.
Just as these headhunters lay dying on the frozen tundra, the Half-Elf Warrior of the Mine Guard rode by on argali sheep. As long as a headhunter was still alive, the Half-Elf Warrior would take him back.
They've been doing this for over a month now, so the camp is currently teeming with headhunters.
In addition, Commander Helik also wrote a letter to Roy. He had captured a group of headhunters at the entrance to the Land of the Ancestors of the Half-Elf Warband. In his letter, he asked Roy if these headhunter prisoners of war could be exchanged for some urgently needed military supplies on the battlefield.
The supplies have now been delivered to Commander Helik by the Griffon Corps, and the headhunter prisoners of war are being escorted towards the camp by a group of Half-Elf Warrior.
Roy arrived at the camp north of Tianpu Canyon to prepare to receive these headhunter prisoners of war...
Upon entering the camp and seeing the elderly, children, and the sick among the headhunters, Roy felt a headache coming on.
These headhunters might not even have the stamina to cross the Tianpu Canyon and reach the southern part of the Gaxi Mountain Range. Thinking of this, Roy's gaze fell on the herd of argali sheep on the grassy slope opposite the camp...