Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: The Industrial Revolution
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“Master, have you heard of the Industrial Revolution?”
Jaein asked Pachum.
“Industrial Revolution? What’s that?”
“It was a technological innovation and manufacturing revolution that happened on Earth.”
“If it’s about technology, no one surpasses the artisans here.”
As the top artisan in the workshop district, Pachum took great pride in the street.
“I know that. But right now, a single artisan makes an item from start to finish, sticking to old methods. It’s about dividing labor and adopting new techniques to boost production speed.”
“But artisans see every item they make as a work of art. They hate anyone else touching their work midway.”
“Just pick people who want to do it. We don’t need many artisans anyway. What we need are regular laborers.”
Jaein, who had designed and managed factories in Korea, Mexico, and the US, found the scale here comparatively small.
“Master, get these for me first.”
Jaein wrote out a list and handed it to Pachum.
“Most of these are materials we have in stock, but this much?! Can you even make all this?”
“Don’t worry. We’ll use it all, and we’ll deliver the results to match. Mr. Carlton, please send this letter to Earth. They’ll ship equipment and materials from there.”
“I’ll handle it immediately.”
Carlton and everyone in the workshop district were grateful for their help in slaying the salamander and protecting the area, so cooperation was plentiful.
They had no shortage of warriors or artisans for the battlefield, just general labor.
“Chairman, tear down the walls marked here.”
“This place isn’t in use?”
“It’s where Jerex worked.”
Jiseok demolished the walls without concern and cleared the space.
As the largest spot in the workshop district, it was plenty big enough for the equipment.
Equipment was gradually installed in the cleared workshop. Since it had been prefabricated to standard specs on Earth, it arrived in less than a day.
“I had no idea the equipment would be this massive. The cost must have been enormous.”
Carlton bowed his head deeply, anxious about the later report. But Jaein was already used to Jiseok’s way of buying time with money.
“I’ll make sure you get your money’s worth. Chairman, move the press over here!”
“Marcelo! Are the work instructions and safety guidelines in Tellus Common ready?”
“When are the ingots sourced from Tellus arriving?! We don’t have time! No time!”
Jaein checked progress and issued rapid orders.
After giving instructions, while the line installation proceeded, Jaein fetched Jerex’s anvil and hammer. It was time to prepare auxiliary materials for processing the Ice Dragon’s heart.
“You, a human, plan to do it yourself? Dwarves can handle such work because they’re loved by fire…”
Pachum realized Jaein was loved by fire like a dwarf and shut his mouth.
“Damn it, since I’m not loved by it, I’m out.”
Pachum grumbled and went back to work.
“Shall we give it a try?”
Jaein placed scrap metal on the anvil. She took a deep breath, steadied herself, and focused her mind.
Visualizing how she wanted to shape the metal, she carefully swung the hammer down.
Clang!
Instead of transforming into the shape Jaein envisioned, the metal crumpled in the hammer’s form.
Jaein’s hammering didn’t achieve the mana circulation that Jerex had.
“I knew it wouldn’t work on the first try.”
Like a researcher who had faced many failures but never gave up, Jaein kept hammering without rest.
Meanwhile, artisans and a few mining experts worked on digging out the collapsed underground tunnel, but without triggering further collapses, progress was slow with just a handful of people.
Jaein was so busy she barely slept or ate properly. Jiseok worried she might collapse and infused her with vitality whenever he passed by to keep her stamina up.
Thanks to Jiseok’s help, after nonstop hammering, Jaein finally got the hang of it.
“Oh! It changed!”
It was subtle, but the imperfections inside the metal scrap vanished, making it tougher, and the shape shifted in the desired direction.
Without Jaein’s analysis skill, she wouldn’t have noticed the faint difference.
“Great!”
With the knack grasped, Jaein hammered excitedly. Her eyes were shadowed and cheeks hollow from exhaustion, but the joy of success filled her with energy.
After hours more of practice, Jaein began processing auxiliary materials for the Dragon Heart.
She started with simple shapes and progressed to harder ones, all while overseeing the production line installation.
“Done!”
In under three days, she had built a semi-automated weapons production line. It would have been impossible without Earth’s aid and the unstinting support from Carlton and Pachum.
“Alright, let’s start.”
Jaein placed Essence of Fire under the furnace. She could use magic stones or electricity, but this was faster and free.
She mixed materials in the alloy ratio she had developed in Korea and smelted the molten metal.
Many people came to watch Jaein’s production line.
“Using Essence of Fire makes it so fast!”
“But using such a huge furnace… Can they finish before the molten metal cools? Wasteful, total waste.”
Some artisans like Pachum and Marcelo were thrilled, while others were skeptical.
Contrary to the skeptics’ worries, the molten metal flowed into molds and solidified to the needed sizes.
Workers moved still-hot alloy bars and plates straight to presses, stamping them into sword and armor shapes.
Before gates opened on Earth, traditional production was far more complex, but the alloy Jaein created by combining new materials and techniques from gates and Tellus had a very simple manufacturing process.
“Fa… Fast!”
“Hmph… Still, magic engraving requires an artisan’s hand!”
The armor rode the conveyor belt to the next station.
A mounted laser sparked, etching a magic circle into the armor in two seconds.
Then a 3D printer filled the laser-engraved grooves with prepared solution.
The magic engraving took less than a minute.
Artisans picked up the finished products.
“Th… The completion quality is high?! Even made so roughly?!”
“What’s this alloy mix? What’s in it?”
The initially skeptical artisans inspected Jaein’s products and equipment closely.
“What takes me two days…”
“At this rate, they could churn out hundreds a day easily. Does that mean we’re obsolete?”
Another group of artisans trembled with a sense of deprivation and job insecurity. They might get laid off and sent back home.
“Don’t worry. This isn’t for high-end items—it’s mass-produced stuff. Naturally, it’s way inferior to what mana-handling artisans make. So now, artisans can focus on premium items, and we stamp out weapons for frontline soldiers this fast. It’s about specialization.”
Jaein reassured them.
Thanks to Jaein’s process, production speed increased a hundredfold. Some senior artisans had disliked making gear for regular soldiers out of pride, so they were delighted to hand that off.
“Alright, now let’s dig out the tunnel!”
With mass-production quotas off their plates, artisans had free time. Dozens rotated in shifts with miners to restore the tunnel.
“Who the hell smashed it up like this!”
An orc artisan grumbled while shoveling. The tunnel had collapsed completely, turning into a solid wall.
“I did, you bastard!”
Pachum leaped up and smacked the orc’s head.
“Th… The master did it… Haha, you’ve got some strength. It’s totally caved in.”
“What?! Should I have let you die under it instead? You Jerex-like bastard.”
“No! How can you say something so harsh!!! ”
Jaein and Jiseok joined the work too.
“Huh? Why’s the aura master in the mine?”
Workers tilted their heads at Jiseok scooping hard rock like mud with his aura-infused shovel, but they were happy for less work anyway.
Many shoveled dirt and erected pillars to restore the tunnel. Rebuilding the entire collapsed section would take more time, but for now, they just needed a path to the deepest part.
What would have taken a small team a month, they cleared in a week and finally reached the depths.
In truth, Jiseok and Jaein could have dug down in a week themselves while Jaein set up the new line. But they wanted to develop the workshop district and bolster the West Continent’s strength.
The deepest part, where the salamander first appeared, had traces of stone and earth melted and resolidified everywhere.
“Found it!”
Pachum rushed over and carefully extracted the Dragon Heart, half-buried in ash.
“Good… It’s not broken.”
Beside it lay Jerex, charred black like charcoal, unrecognizable as man or log.
“Be reborn in the next life without greed.”
Jerex’s corpse crumbled with a crunch.
Next to the ashen remains was his hammer.
Jaein picked it up and appraised it.
The hammer that endured the salamander’s flames was far superior to the one Jerex left at the workshop.
Jaein tucked Jerex’s hammer into her belt and took the heart as they headed up.
* * *
“You’re confident, right?”
Pachum eyed Jaein swinging the hammer warily.
“I’ve practiced plenty.”
“It’s yours anyway. If it breaks, don’t blame me.”
“Master, why say something ominous like that…”
Marcelo shook his head.
“Quiet. Auxiliary materials ready?”
“Yes. The prep work succeeded.”
The Ice Dragon Heart was like a diamond—hard, but liable to shatter along faults if struck wrong.
That’s why Jaein had precoated it with various materials. Now, borrowing the Essence of Fire’s power would process it without breaking.
“Good. Here goes.”
Pachum started to place the Essence of Fire on the prepared stand by the anvil, then paused.
“No… You do it.”
He handed the essence to Jaein.
“You’re the one loved by fire, aren’t you?”
“Still hung up on that?”
“Hmph… I just don’t want to get blamed if it fails because I touched it.”
Pachum said that, but really, he didn’t want to steal Jaein’s moment of glory.
“Alright, here we go.”
Placing the fiery orb triggered intense flames shooting toward the Dragon Heart on the anvil.
The blaze focused on the heart but filled the whole room.
“Argh!! Hot! So hot!”
Marcelo, fur aflame, bolted out, but Pachum endured the heat out of pride.
Jaein stepped forward, hammer in hand, embracing the full heat.
Jiseok poured vitality into Jaein and Pachum, while Nayeong expanded her shield to protect Pachum.
“Whew… Thanks, goddess.”
Nayeong smiled brightly.
Jaein gripped the hammer tight and brought it to the Dragon Heart.