Royal Palace.
The empress, exhausted from a long day, was still reviewing the capital's development plan for the next phase.
These were all copied by Qin Ze from the Human Race city planning book; the Empress only needed to copy and paste them once.
"His Majesty."
Gwenni entered the palace hall and knelt on one knee.
The Queen put down the documents in her hand, raised her head, and said, "An alien civilization has visited the Outpost City, and the gods have instructed us to prepare for contact with them."
A flicker of surprise crossed Gwenni's eyes.
The visit of a foreign civilization, though not the first time for the Sea of Glaze, is still a significant event.
Gwenni wondered if they would be as friendly as the messengers of the gods.
The Empress continued, "Have the knights prepare to accompany me on my journey tomorrow."
"Also, notify the Department of Energy and ask them to take stock of our ore reserves."
Gwenni nodded and immediately went to carry out the Queen's order.
The Queen secretly looked forward to tomorrow.
This is the first time "God" has given her a task, and she must complete it perfectly.
Outpost City the Abyss.
A giant Furnace stood directly in front of the city gate.
The two sides stood a hundred meters apart, gazing at each other from afar.
On the city wall, the soldiers on duty whispered among themselves about the suddenly appearing Furnace.
"What is that?"
Furnace used for blacksmithing.
" Furnace?"
"That's right, I heard they're a group of aliens who want to trade with us."
"Those stinking outsiders have come all the way to our Sea of Glaze to beg for food."
"Keep your voice down, this is a diplomatic incident."
The soldiers showed no panic or fear at the sudden arrival of the foreigners; they were simply curious.
The Sea of Glaze is now a land blessed by the gods, and the soldiers, who are proud of it, naturally don't take "outsiders" seriously.
The duty captain went up to the city wall to inspect the situation and instructed everyone, "Be alert, watch out for those foreigners causing trouble."
The soldiers straightened their backs. "Yes, sir."
On the Furnace, the Molten Steel People were still hammering and banging around the forging table, and the fire in the furnace was still burning fiercely.
Zhu Shi and his brother sat facing each other in the room next to the furnace.
"It's already arranged; their queen will visit the Furnace tomorrow to tour our equipment showroom."
"A list will be provided later, and then you can trade with us."
Hearing Zhu Shi's words, the muscular man nodded. "You'll be in full charge tomorrow."
After a moment of contemplation, Zhu Shi said, "This civilization is very weak. We don't even see many Intermediate Martial Artist among the people stationed in their Outpost City."
"Their equipment and city defense weapons are also substandard, making it almost impossible for them to inflict any effective damage on the alien beasts."
"With this level of skill, it's hard to imagine how they managed to gain a foothold in the Abyss."
Zhu Shi had always thought that the Flying Circus Man were just an insignificant drop in the Sea of Glaze.
But now it seems that those people have become the backbone of the army, and they are far stronger than the garrison in the Outpost City.
The muscular man said calmly, "Every civilization has its own secrets; let's not create unnecessary trouble."
Cast Zhu Shi said in a deep voice, "But isn't the law of the Abyss that the strong prey on the weak?"
"I think we can get this deal without paying any price."
"Even if you asked them for all the minerals in the world, they wouldn't be able to refuse."
The muscular man retorted, "That's the law of the Abyss, not the law of us Molten Steel People."
The walls of the room became as hot as lava, and even beads of sweat appeared on Zhu Shi's forehead.
The muscular man stood up, walked closer to the wall, placed his hand on it, and his expression remained completely unchanged.
"More intense than the Furnace Fire, more resilient than steelmaking—this is the belief and principle of us Molten Steel People."
Zhu Shi lowered his head, a look of shame on his face. "I understand."
The muscular man lowered his hand and said, "We'll stay here for a maximum of three days. Once the ore warehouse is full, we'll set off immediately. We don't have much time left."
The next day, the Flying Circus Man landed beside the Furnace.
As a floating bridge connected them, the Queen appeared on the other side, accompanied by several cabinet ministers and Gwenni's knights.
The group crossed the floating bridge; the Captain, the Dharma King, and a number of his clones also mingled into the visiting group.
Zhu Shi, accompanied by several muscular men, greeted them on the boardwalk.
" Molten Steel Civilization, Zhu Shi, I am the commander of this Furnace."
The Empress raised her fair chin and nodded slightly. "Empress of the Sea of Glaze."
Zhu Shi was greatly puzzled. This king was so weak; he wasn't even Advanced Martial Artist.
It is truly unbelievable that the leader of a civilization could be so weak.
Zhu Shi's gaze fell upon the inconspicuous Dharma King and the Captain in the crowd.
These two people gave him a very dangerous feeling, like two big gray wolves mixed in with a flock of sheep.
Noticing the Zhu Shi's gaze, the Dharma King smiled politely at him.
Zhu Shi nodded, then quickly looked away.
Immediately afterwards, he led the delegation on a tour of the Furnace.
This Furnace looks huge from afar, but once you're up there, you'll find it's actually quite large.
Zhu Shi first led the group on a tour of the furnace, where scorching hot air waves continuously rolled outwards.
The ministers were unbearably hot, but the Queen showed no signs of discomfort.
The little golden dragon in her Spiritual Sea of Consciousness released a wisp of power that enveloped the Empress, completely isolating her from the scorching heat.
Zhu Shi noticed the Empress's reaction and thought to himself, "It's definitely not that simple."
As they walked, Zhu Shi proudly explained, "This is the heart of the entire Furnace, providing not only the energy needed for daily life but also refining various minerals."
The musclemen kept feeding ore into the Furnace Fire and transporting the refined metal ingots to the forging area.
The forging area is located on one side of the Furnace, with more than thirty forging tables neatly arranged.
The burly men, shirtless, swung their hammers and pounded the metal with great passion.
"These are all equipment forged from common ores, and they have all reached the level of Mid-Tier Martial Artifact."
"We can mass-produce any of them; you can choose several to arm your army."
Zhu Shi displayed a series of completed pieces of equipment, from longswords and spears to bows and crossbows, and even rune-inscribed machine guns.
It has both cold and hot weapons, and a complete range of types.
Zhu Shi thought he would surprise these ignorant foreigners, but he found that the Queen had little interest in it.
The Dharma King discerned something: the quality of these equipment pieces almost entirely depended on this Furnace.
Furnace can improve the quality of the ore being smelted; even ordinary ores can be smelted into metals of excellent quality.
The Furnace was not simply used to smelt metal; metal ingots seemed to be merely a byproduct.
Zhu Shi spoke up, "Your army is too weak. Without arming them to the teeth, it will be difficult for them to gain a foothold in the Abyss."
The Queen scoffed, "My army may not be strong enough, but I don't accept just any trash."
"Moreover, our Sea of Glaze is protected by the gods, so why can't we gain a foothold in the Abyss?"