Outside the castle, a biting wind howled, but inside Ed, Gray, and Nora chatted amiably.
At this moment, Gray was busy recounting his experiences from returning to the Graycast Corridor until he set foot on the trade route again.
He certainly had reason to boast, after all, he already had a certain level of legendary status regarding the Graycast Corridor and the Great Labyrinth City.
"... Overall, the Grand Artisan of the Graycast Corridor were quite satisfied with our previous agreement, but they still proposed some modifications..."
"For example, regarding the frequency, previously, the trade frequency on my route was one round trip every two months. The people in the Great Labyrinth City felt that this frequency was still too low, so they have deployed a new mobile fortress vehicle crew to cooperate with me. From now on, there will be a trade trip every month. This time it's me, and next month it will be another group of merchants."
Ed nodded and noted down the information, but then a trivial question came to mind:
"I think you've noticed as well, it's winter now, and even I don't currently have the ability to significantly alter the climate (not really), so what do you intend to take from the Second Holy See in this trade?"
In response to Ed's question, Gray took a sip of the unidentified tea in front of him and said:
"That's what I'm going to talk about next. After returning to the Great Labyrinth City last time, both I and the Antasia underwent several comprehensive inspections, inside and out."
"The results show that those plant-based parts have now become part of my body. They don't just perform mechanical movements; they also participate in my body's life activities, with their own growth and metabolism."
Ed was not surprised by this result at all. After all, this is the principle behind vegetative state. Even if gears and connecting rods replace the original muscles and bones, the wooden materials are still alive and can be considered as flesh and blood in a broad sense.
This transformation is beneficial and harmless to Gray. The only thing to be careful about is whether his body will Aberration again if he stays in the Graycast Corridor for too long.
However, this was not a problem for Gray. As a traveling merchant, he spent most of the year roaming the world around the fortress, and the frequent travel between different rule domains would allow some of the erosion to be offset.
Therefore, in Gray's case, the Aberration in the Graycast Corridor can almost be considered a kind of "happiness disease."
Ed's mind flashed with images of Gray running around the world, while the unsuspecting merchant continued:
"They saw this as a new direction for development, but many more traditional Grand Artisan considered it a desecration of machinery."
Didn't they take you apart to check the internal structure?
Ed smiled and asked in return, to which Gray shook his head and explained:
"No, I was practically a dead man on the merchant list. Returning to the Great Labyrinth City was like being resurrected. Although the Grand Artisan didn't see it as a normal modification, they didn't want me to die again."
What about the Antasia?
"That's the problem, Son of God."
Gray cleared his throat:
"At the beginning, I was prepared for the Antasia to crash halfway through, but its stability far exceeded my expectations. The dual power system of Blood Corpse and plants brought a lot of flexibility to the overall operation time planning of the fortress."
"A small fortress powered solely by Blood Corpse would hardly stay in one place for more than twenty hours, otherwise the Blood Corpse that form the power core would undergo autophagy due to excessive hunger. But now the Antasia can stop for as long as it wants, and the nutrients absorbed from underground can sustain the Blood Corpse ' survival and sustenance for a short time in the form of plant tissues."
"Many Grand Artisan saw the potential in this direction of modification, so even though it's winter for the Tree Worship Church, they still sent me here—"
" The Graycast Corridor means that it doesn't matter if they don't bring back a single grain of food this time, as long as they can bring back some wooden parts. They plan to purchase some wooden parts to partially replace the existing machinery, and then consider deeper cooperation based on the subsequent stable operation."
"So that's how it is..."
Ed nodded slightly upon hearing this; the Graycast Corridor's reaction was consistent with the behavior expected of a powerful force in this apocalyptic world of Demonic Tide.
Faced with a new branch of the technology tree, they neither remained indifferent nor blindly followed suit, but instead planned to conduct research step by step at their own pace.
Wooden parts are indeed a great idea for expansion; perhaps before long, I'll have another source of foreign exchange income.
However, upon realizing this, Ed also grasped the problem in Gray's words:
What season is it now in the Graycast Corridor?
Nora, who had been sitting and listening for a while, replied:
There aren't really any seasons, it's just that the weather is a bit cool.
What is considered a cooler season?
"It means exactly what it says. The alternation of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, or rain and drought, only existed before the Demonic Tide and in our textbooks. After the Demonic Tide, there were no obvious seasonal changes in the Graycast Corridor area."
That sounds a bit tragic?
Ed recalled seeing photos of the Graycast Corridor and the Great Labyrinth City posted on the forum by users like [ Lion Hidden in the Eyes ]. Indeed, none of them showed any snowflakes, and they were always accompanied by large amounts of dust...
Since it is a force based on machinery, it will inevitably require a large amount of metal ore during its development, so it is not surprising that there will be serious air pollution.
From this perspective, replacing the wooden parts in the Graycast Corridor is indeed necessary.
Thinking of this, Ed asked Nora:
Are edible crops grown in the Graycast Corridor?
"Yes, but not in large quantities. The land in the Demon Realm is more suitable for planting than the Graycast Corridor. The local slag is thicker than the soil, so no matter how the grain is processed, it will always have a copper or iron rust taste."
Ed smacked his lips imperceptibly, feeling a bitter taste in his mouth just from hearing those words.
He looked at Gray and brought up another matter:
How is the selection process for your Grand Foundry Master going?
Upon hearing this, Gray immediately became excited.
He spoke earnestly, following the timeline:
"When I was selected Grand Foundry Master at Daye, I only signed up briefly, but then I disappeared and they removed me from the list."
"But not only did I return to the Great Labyrinth City alive, I also brought with me three envoys, a converted small fortress, and a new trade route."
"So they added my name back, and thanks to this achievement, I successfully passed the preliminary selection."
"Preliminary selection? How many rounds of selection are there in total?"
"I don't know, but the selected candidates will be continuously eliminated until only one remains, and that one will be the new Grand Foundry Master."
How many people have been selected so far?
Upon hearing this question, Gray's lips drooped again.
"About ten thousand..."