Chapter 271: The Underground Furnace Castle |
[Underground Furnace Castle]
Descend the metal stairs.
In an instant, the hot air of over 50°C hits you.
The scale of the lava flowing in the furnace fortress area is not comparable to that of the blacksmithing area in the large manor house, it is not at all on the same level.
The lava flowing here is the size of a river!
There are hundreds of black iron pillars coming out of the bottom of the lava, connecting to the top of the fortress, and supporting this underground area.
Dang Dang Dang ...
The incessant sound of beating iron echoed in the air.
About ten thousand muscular blacksmiths with distinctive muscle contours, wearing only leather aprons, were hammering metal on their respective iron drills.
Immediately, one could not see the end of the lava flow, and the black iron columns continued like this.
Even though Han Dong was born a cytologist, he could imagine how much effort had gone into building this underground furnace fortress.
This furnace fortress was like a vital organ of the Holy City.
"The size ... feels like the furnace fortress is already larger than the school boundary? Also, there are a lot of blacksmiths down here that aren't trainee knights, right?"
Wendy explained.
"Mmmmmm! The vice-captain is right, the Furnace Fort was not exactly part of the school in the first place, and its overall area nearly takes up half of the [second level].
Apart from being a study area for our apprentice blacksmiths, it is also an important military base for the Holy City.
All blacksmiths who have obtained the "Forging Certificate" will come to the underground furnace fortress to contribute to the Holy City's industry.
All of the Holy City's homegrown equipment comes from here."
"I can't believe it ... Wendy is your blacksmithing room far away?"
"Not far yet, I'm in this area covered by the school.
It's still because of my master that I was able to get a private blacksmith shop.
After all, most of the people who do this job are men and I often encounter people who harass me, and although I can punch them out of the way with one punch, it still interferes with my studies.
By having my room, I can avoid these influences."
"Normal."
Wendy wasn't bad-looking, even upper-middle class.
And although her muscles weren't pretty, she had curves.
In terms of development, Wendy wasn't bad at all. Han Dong could tell that Wendy had wrapped her upper body in bandages to keep her 'features' as small as possible to reduce the 'burden' on her body during the forging.
In a place like this where the ratio of men to women is 5000:1, it would be strange not to be harassed. (TN: mechanical engineering department)
Han Dong covered his whole body with the 'beak doctor outfit' to avoid unnecessary trouble.
However, as he followed Wendy forward, he could still feel many hostile gazes.
It was as if you were a university student who happened to know a girl in a physics or mechanical school.
When you go to the classroom to talk to her intimately during class, you should be able to understand what Han Dong is feeling right now.
A group of muscular men could jump on him at any moment, male on male.
Han Dong was on guard the whole time, always feeling like there was going to be a big fight.
A short while later, he arrived in front of the blacksmith's room that belonged exclusively to Wendy.
The circular structure of the building covers an area of about twenty square meters ... The exterior is made up of a metal seal with iron nails, and a symbolic metal chimney merges with the blacksmith's room.
The door must be opened by a long key with a hydraulic valve.
As soon as the door opens, a wave of heat hits the room.
Thanks to the furnace inside, the temperature in Wendy's smithy is almost 70°C.
If not for the crow costume insulating the temperature, Han Dong himself would certainly not be able to withstand such high temperatures and the plague in his body would be mostly deactivated.
"Wendy ... you live here every day?"
"Yeah, the master doesn't let me live in the dormitory, and the daily task of forging and studying is heavy ... living here is also more time-efficient."
Such an extreme environment is impossible for an average student to endure.
Moreover, this place, being Wendy's room, did not have the proper decoration for a young girl ... Instead, there were quite a few shields and weapons hanging on the wall.
And the iron bed in the corner without any soft cushion is Wendy's bed.
Thinking back to Wendy's special birth (as a baby, she was handed over to her current master by her father and presumably started hiring in the blacksmith's room at the age of five).
Staring at Wendy's cute and innocent smile, Han Dong felt a little emotionally touched.
"Wendy."
"Vice-Captain?"
"Did your master say anything? When is it intended for you to head to Destiny Space?"
As soon as she spoke, Wendy immediately looked a little embarrassed.
"Well ... I was planning to talk to the Vice-Captain about it originally. Master has asked me to attend the next one, which is [Destiny Space] in a month.
I don't know if the vice-captain ... is free."
"Just in time."
Wendy first somewhat failed to understand the meaning of 'just in time', and after a moment was immediately so excited that she hugged Han Dong.
Click ...
With just such a gentle hug, Han Dong felt as if his shoulder blades were misaligned.
"I'm sorry ..."
"It's alright." Han Dong used the fungal aid to immediately allow the misaligned bones to recover.
"That ... vice-captain, who else is in our team?"
"It's still undecided, I'll ask my former friends.
If they don't time it right, I'll contact Captain Abel or get Mia on board.
A team of four would be best."
"Good ... Vice-Captain you can just arrange it, I'll do my best to help."
Wendy bowed directly at 90°, even with tears in her eyes.
Due to the master's decision, Wendy had never formally traveled to [Destiny Space], plus being timid herself ... as time went on, she even felt fear and dread of the Destiny Space filled with evil spirits and weirdness inside.
Currently, being able to be taken by Han Dong for her first 'first experience', the fear hovering in Wendy's heart has also been mostly dispelled.
"That's right! Let's talk about the vice captain's equipment first!"
"There's no rush ..."
Han Dong snapped open his 'Little Devil Eyes'.
After checking all corners of the blacksmith room in detail to make sure no one was eavesdropping, he asked about the second and most important thing that he had approached Wendy about today.
"Wendy, do you remember the Crow Men?"
"Of course, I remember!"
Han Dong handed a detailed information page about the 'Crow Men' to Wendy, "Can you design and build a piece of equipment that fits the Crow Man based on its physical characteristics.
External, embedded, or exoskeleton equipment would be fine."
"I'm not experienced in this area of Crow ... yet, I'll have to look at it in detail ... but if it's a request from the Vice-Captain, I'll certainly try to achieve it."
"Well, conceive an outfit that best suits the Crow's ... if possible, and if I think it's good, I may try to forge it in bulk."
Just then.
A searing heat spilled out from between the doorways.
Something was coming ... and, it seemed, angrily.