Back at the lakeside, Mr. Zhou immediately shared this good news with the other players.
Then he led the players to start building kilns for firing bricks.
After spending half a day, they finally managed to cobble together two kilns.
Subsequently, Mr. Zhou took the players to find suitable stones, grinding one side to serve as an axe blade.
Next, they drilled wood to create fire, built a fire, and burned some charcoal.
Then they selected a suitable stick, using stones to determine its position.
After that, they used the burning charcoal to burn the determined position, fanned the fire, and adjusted the angle to burn out a suitable hole.
They then inserted the polished stone and used creepers in an X shape for secondary binding and fixing, creating a Stone Axe suitable for chopping trees.
Compared to the Iron Axe, using a Stone Axe to chop trees is undoubtedly much more laborious, posing a significant test to one's physical strength.
Fortunately, these players are Skeletons, so physical labor is not really a big deal for them.
Moreover, they are Undead Skeletons, with bones stronger and more resilient than those of normal humans.
Mage Fang Ka also came here for an inspection and felt somewhat helpless about the players' primitive methods.
He is not Kain, who can freely leave the island and bring in various supplies.
For now, he could only let these players make do.
However, there was an axe in the Ancient Castle, made of Morsun Steel.
This world has many things similar to Earth, but also many differences.
For example, Earth's metal mines mostly exist here, yet there are some ores here that Earth does not have.
For instance, Secret Silver Ore.
This is an excellent Enchanted Metal, capable of perfectly bearing and manifesting the power of Enchantment.
Weapon Enchantment is not possible with all weapons; it has strict material requirements.
Weapons made of ordinary metals cannot bear the power of Enchantment and will break.
There are not many materials suitable for Weapon Enchantment, totaling five kinds.
Mithril, refined gold, Purple Tungsten, these three are ores that can be directly mined.
The other two are Morsun Steel and Galan Steel.
These two materials were researched by a Dwarf named Morsun Gudel and a Human named Galan Reed, respectively.
Both are special metals made from steel as the primary material, adding specific Magic Materials, and refined through specific methods.
Although their suitability for Weapon Enchantment cannot compare with the first three ores,
their advantage is that they can be manufactured on a large scale and are much sharper and harder than ordinary steel.
Unlike the first three ores, which are exceptionally rare and cannot be widely implemented.
According to historical records, three thousand years ago, a major leak occurred.
The refining methods for Morsun Steel, monopolized and treasured by the Gudel Clan of Dwarves, and Galan Steel, monopolized by the Reed Clan of Humans, were leaked on the same day.
And they spread rapidly.
Anyone who wasn't a fool could tell that this was undoubtedly a grand conspiracy.
Both clans put in all their efforts, but in the end, neither could find out who leaked the methods nor stop the spread of the refining methods for Morsun Steel and Galan Steel.
According to records, the Narrend Dwarven Empire to which the Gudel Clan belonged, and the Gus Human Empire to which the Reed Clan belonged, maintained quite an ambiguous attitude toward this matter.
Although it sparked a lot of speculation, no one had any evidence.
From then on, the steel in the market was completely replaced by Morsun Steel and Galan Steel, due to the low cost of refining these two metal materials.
The Magic Materials needed to be added were relatively common and easily obtainable.
They could accept Weapon Enchantment, and even without Enchantment, their quality far surpassed ordinary steel.
Many people secretly applauded this leak incident, quietly cursing the two clans for not being human, previously claiming high costs and engaging in price gouging by declaring high prices through scarcity marketing.
From that day forward, these two clans began to continuously decline.
Thirty years after the leak incident, these once extremely prosperous families were subsequently and ultimately wiped out by crimes imposed by their respective empires.
The book described in detail the refining methods for Morsun Steel and Galan Steel.
The Magic Materials needed are indeed very common, and they're available on the island.
However, the problem is, it's unknown if there is Iron Ore on this island…
First, there must be Iron Ore, then it must be refined into steel, and based on steel, it can be further processed into Galan Steel and Morsun Steel.
However, given these players' initiative, if there really is Iron Ore on the island, they will surely dig it out, not letting it go.
He usually uses the Morsun Steel axe to chop wood.
Although it doesn't have Weapon Enchantment, as Morsun Steel, its sharpness and durability are top-notch, far exceeding ordinary steel.
He pondered for a while, then decided to rent it out to these players to improve their efficiency.
So he set off back to the Ancient Castle, brought the axe over, and stood in front of the players: "My loyal subjects, I have a handy tool here."
As soon as he finished speaking, a notification popped up in front of all the players.
"Considering the efforts of all players, Mage Fang Ka is very moved and decided to rent out the axe from his Ancient Castle, at 1 Copper Coin per day."
Upon seeing the notification, the players were momentarily stunned.
Flatulence nudged Mr. Zhou: "Zhou, doesn't something seem off? Aren't we working for him? Why is there a charge for the tool?"
Mr. Zhou contemplated briefly, then said, "Renting this axe will undoubtedly make the work much faster."
"Would this count towards personal contribution? If so, I think it's a bargain, allowing us to claim a larger share of the reward pool."
"After all, considering everyone's assets right now, apart from me spending 1 point and 1 Copper Coin for the building blueprint, you all have 1 Copper Coin and 1 point each."
"Meaning, you can each rent it for one day."
"You've seen the previous game update announcement, right? This game updates frequently, and who knows when new players will join."
"With how this game usually operates, if new players join, they might directly enter this team task, increasing the number of people sharing the reward pool."
"By renting this axe, you can do more work and increase your personal contribution."
"I think this might be special treatment for us veteran players. This is an opportunity we should seize. What do you think, Brother Pi?"
Hearing Mr. Zhou's analysis, Flatulence showed a look of sudden realization: "Ah? You're right, Zhou, you make a lot of sense!"