Chapter Sixty-Seven: Gold Ore!
2016-08-23
Author: Floating Tower (诸生浮屠)
Bertrand felt like he was going crazy busy lately.
He was an official at Modo City Hall, originally a private tutor for a noble family near the Southern Coast, but he was expelled for getting involved with the enticing mistress of the house, ultimately ending up as a strategist for pirates. He was one of the earliest officials in Modo City, and now held a position equivalent to a department head at the city hall. To this day, he still remembered the scene when he was appointed and went to the temple for an assessment. It truly scared him to death because a priest used a lie-detection spell on him, conducting a detailed inquiry into his identity. He originally thought that someone with his stained past could never become part of the official class, but to his surprise, he had passed.
Speaking of which, it was infuriating; it was clearly he who had seduced that noblewoman, yet later it turned into him being the one seduced.
This nobleman appeared upright, but privately he was filled with malice, and his methods of cleansing his own reputation were numerous. Regardless, from that time on, Bertrand began working at City Hall, slowly climbing the ranks from a clerk. Perhaps for Modo City, they didn’t mind using talents with stained experiences.
Bertrand had a lot to do recently.
Early this morning, before dawn, he arrived at a warehouse in the southern part of Modo City, which was already piled high with metal ingots, with three grey dwarfs crouching nearby, drinking.
“Old Copperbeard.”
Bertrand greeted the leader of the grey dwarfs and then asked, “So, has this batch of metals been counted?”
Since last week, a large batch of metal ingots had secretly appeared in Modo City; where they had come from was unknown. Bertrand had neither seen any ships delivering goods from elsewhere nor received any trade news from other channels. It was as if they had simply materialized out of thin air, and the city hall had assigned him to handle them. Being someone from Modo City, Bertrand knew that when encountering such unexplained matters, it was best not to ask too many questions or think too much; he just needed to do his job as instructed, for knowing too much about certain issues could be detrimental to himself.
“They have been counted.”
Since arriving in Modo City, Bertrand had found that the grey dwarfs he encountered were almost always drunk. Old Copperbeard stood up and handed over a document, saying, “A total of six thousand seven hundred and twenty metal ingots, over a thousand more than the last batch.”
“However…”
“The quality of these metal ingots is still so poor! It’s just shoddy processing; even a dwarf’s apprentice could do a better job than them.”
“But this batch of ingots seems to contain some special metals as well. I need to take them back for refined processing; perhaps there will be some unexpected discoveries. The last batch of metals has already been remelted, and you can send someone to the blacksmith shop to collect it.”
Bertrand nodded upon hearing this and then signed and stamped the document.
The grey dwarfs quickly started to work, transporting the ingots back with the help of a group of apprentices.
“Boss.”
A somewhat drunken grey dwarf spoke up, “These metal ingots have a lot of impurities. However, judging from the mineral characteristics, they don’t seem to come from our world, as there are some metals we can’t even recognize.”
Old Copperbeard turned around and shot him a cold glare, whispering, “Don’t ask about what you don’t understand.”
“These metal ingots aren’t from this world; they seem to come from below!”
At this, Old Copperbeard pointed downwards.
He was certainly not referring to the Underdark, as grey dwarfs lived there and knew almost all the minerals from that region; he meant the lower planes, from other worlds. The grey dwarf perked up immediately, then anxiously glanced around and stopped talking.
Since these metals are not from this world but rather from the lower planes, no matter where they come from, the complications involved are too numerous; it’s better that they not know.
Bertrand also felt that this batch of metals was suspicious, but he was a smart man and understood what to ask and what not to. After the delivery of this batch of metals, he immediately took people to the blacksmith shop, where the refined metals were already neatly prepared. The steel was sent to the Golem Factory, the special metals went to the witch’s residence, and another batch was sent to the department in the city hall responsible for construction. Recently, as Modo City was building a new set of structures, it seemed they incorporated steel, with steel rods the size of fingers cast into the buildings to greatly increase their sturdiness.
By the time he finished all this, it was already afternoon.
Bertrand was drenched in sweat and felt he should request additional manpower from the city hall the next day, as each batch of metals sent was increasing in quantity, and at this rate, he would not be able to handle it alone.
………………
Modo City. Study.
A graceful-looking half-elf woman, around thirty, stood before Soren. She was one of the officials at City Hall. Unlike other places, perhaps due to Soren’s personal beliefs or because the witches here held sovereignty, Modo City allowed women to become officials, provided they had the requisite knowledge.
This half-elf noble was one of those who passed the assessments; she was originally a housewife from a fallen noble family in Leaffall City.
“My Lord!”
The alluring half-elf noblewoman, with her captivating eyes, dared not look directly at Soren, yet her gaze flickered as she softly said, “The third batch of metal ingots has been delivered. The grey dwarfs have discovered some accompanying rare metals among them, and there was a small amount of gold among the third batch of metals.”
“The production of iron golems is now on the right track, and the metals supplied will be enough to last until next month.”
“Here is the statistical document.”
“My Lord can review it!”
Soren took the document, glanced at it, and then handed it back, saying, “Very good. You take care of this portion. I’ll gather some people from the city hall to act as your assistants another day.”
“If there isn’t anything else, you may leave.”
The beautiful half-elf noblewoman respectfully took the document, her eyes resting on Soren for a moment before she lowered her head and exited, somewhat dejected.
As the master of Modo City, the ruler of shadows, the protector of half-elves, and a true god walking among mortals, Soren anticipated that countless beautiful half-elves might try to climb into his bed seeking a bit of charm, but he was not surprised at all, and he did not care about it.
Mortals were clear about what they wanted from him.
Just the gift of immortality and eternal youth was enough to drive many noblewomen to find every possible way to climb into his bed and present themselves completely.
However…
Soren had gradually adapted to his divine identity. Unless someone extraordinary came along, it was almost impossible for him to be moved anymore.
Sometimes it was like this; before Soren ascended to godhood, someone could easily enter his life and become an important figure by his side, but if they missed that opportunity, getting close to him again would not be so easy.
“The iron golems have already begun operation.”
Soren organized the documents in front of him and muttered to himself, “According to historical progress, there are three months left until we enter the fourth wave of the **Elemental Chaos**.”
“The Saint’s Cataclysm has unexpectedly passed more than half unnoticed.”
The gods were still doing their utmost to restrain themselves, but such restraint could not last long. With the emergence of the four elemental gods, the real god war would begin.
Conflict between wind and earth.
Clashes between water and fire.
The four ancient elemental gods inherently repelled each other, and the first to strike were the Water God and the Fire God, followed by the Wind God and the Earth God. The struggle among the four ancient elemental gods directly stirred the nerves of all the gods, leading to renewed conflicts among pantheons.
Unlike other gods, the four ancient elemental gods truly did not care about the fate of the material plane.
Because they had few believers in the material plane, their rare encounters there were akin to two meteors colliding.
“More golems are needed!”
Soren fell into deep thought and murmured, “The army of Modo City can contend against mortals, but cannot fight against a real Demon Legion.”
“We must establish a Golem Legion from the Arcane Empire era.”
“Only in this way can we prove our resistance against demons; it may be time to reach out to those tower spirits from the Clockwork Nirvana of Machines.”
Soren had laid the groundwork long ago.
He let those tower spirits roam freely, intending to leverage their powers when necessary.
………………
Bottomless Abyss, Third Layer, Land of Forgotten.
The demon Sauron sat on the grand throne of a magnificent palace. On his left and right were two beautiful succubi, serving as ornaments and attendants. They obediently knelt at Sauron’s feet, occasionally massaging his shoulders, rubbing his legs, and bringing food and wine to his mouth. Meanwhile, in front of Sauron was a terrified Demon Goblin Sorcerer, who was currently responsible for most of the accounts of the Gurenba Arena.
“The western mine needs to triple its manpower.”
Sauron looked down at the terrified Demon Goblin and the nearby Ygoroth and said in a deep voice, “My servants have discovered some gold in this mine.”
“It can allow us to forge higher quality weapons!”
“I now appoint you as the supervisor of the western mine, with over thirty thousand demons from the sixth legion under your command. My requirement is to increase the output of the western mine by threefold within one week.”
So it wasn’t that he had done something wrong.
The Demon Goblin Sorcerer breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and quickly expressed loyalty, “My Lord! No problem at all! I’ll take people over right away!”
He only discovered some gold!
He thought his hidden embezzlement had been exposed; it seemed he had to be even more careful in his work from now on.
………………(To be continued ~^~)
