"What is this?" asked Nightingale, looking at the shiny black stone on the table.
"Obsidian," Roland said, his eyes fixed on the drawing he was making.
"Black... what kind of stone?" "No, I'm just making it up," he sighed. Judging by its shape and color alone, who could possibly tell what stone this was? He wasn't a geologist—pure metal wouldn't even be recognizable to him, let alone ore. The limited knowledge in his head told him that ores were mostly complex compounds, with impurities causing color variations. Take iron ore, for example: hematite, pyrite, and siderite could look worlds apart just by their appearance. Pyrite, in particular, sometimes displayed a faint yellow metallic sheen, often mistaken for gold, hence its nickname "fool's gold."
Regarding high-temperature resistance... compounds do not have a fixed melting point, which is also influenced by impurities and composition. Temperature alone cannot distinguish their types. Moreover, metallic elements exist in ionic form, and without knowing the purification method, melting them is of no use.
"You have something you don't know?"
"More than enough," Roland set down his quill pen and brewed himself a cup of black tea. "Would you like some?" "No thanks," she waved her hand. "By the way, beef jerky isn't as tasty as grilled fish fillets. You should keep the fish fillets in your drawer from now on." "..." Roland fell silent for a moment, pretending not to hear. He also planned to hand over this stone to Chief Alchemist Kaimo Stryl for disposal. Minerals, after all, carry some degree of radioactivity—keeping them as office decorations would be a poor choice.
After Soroya's abilities evolved recently, he discovered that he could suddenly create far more things.
The water supply system is the first infrastructure that can dramatically enhance residents' well-being. Picture this: after a grueling day, you return home drenched in sweat, eager to wash your sticky body, only to find the water tank empty and have to fetch water from the nearby well. The experience is downright frustrating. Roland also detests the tedious process of scooping water from the tank for washing his face and hands. He believes that even water left in the tank for days can harbor parasites, let alone when the tank is rarely cleaned for months. A closer inspection reveals that the sediment at the bottom of the tank resembles drifting caterpillars.
The water tower system presents no technical challenges—steam engines pump water from the Chishui River into the tower, where it flows through pipes to households via the siphon principle, forming an automated water supply system. Roland's failure to implement it stemmed from... the materials.
Water pipes are typically made of iron or copper. Without rust-proof treatment, iron pipes become unusable after a few years. Copper pipes, however, are the ideal choice—resistant to corrosion, non-scaly, non-toxic, and even containing copper ions with antibacterial properties. But using a metal as precious as coinage for pipes? The Beipo Mine's output was far from luxurious enough to justify such extravagance. Even in later times, copper pipes remained a luxury reserved for high-end residences.
Currently, Border Town cannot export minerals and even imports metal ingots. Thus, Roland is reluctant to use iron or copper pipes to build a water supply system that offers no profit but is purely for enjoyment.
Now things are different. With Soroya's coating, he can work with nothing but his Magic Power to create pipes—like taking an iron pipe, wrapping it in paper, then coating it with Soroya's material. Once removed, it becomes a pipe. Even if these pipes aren't pressure-resistant, they'll work perfectly in manholes with covers.
Next comes the power supply system... While it may not be feasible to implement citywide in the near future, lighting up the castle has always been Roland's dream. Reading by the flickering light of candles is both physically draining and harmful to the eyes. With summer approaching, imagine the unbearable heat of keeping torches and candles lit through sweltering nights.
With generators and electrical wiring now available, Castle's early entry into the electrical age seems less distant than before. As for the filament of the light bulb... He vaguely recalled that before tungsten filaments were used, people commonly made incandescent bulbs from carbonized bamboo threads. Bamboo was not a rare commodity, as it grew abundantly in the forests south of the Chishui River.
However, what Border Town needs most at present is iron smelting facilities. Iron production directly affects the scale of mechanical manufacturing and weapon production, and is the foundation of the town's survival.
"Is this a tower you drew?" Nightingale asked curiously as she sat at the table.
"Pretty much," Roland nodded. "But it's hollow inside, used to load fuel and ore. It works like a shaft furnace, melting iron ore into pig iron." This is the blast furnace—the upgraded version of the ancient shaft furnace.
He had visited the construction site of the shaft furnace designed and built by Losya. To be honest, apart from its relatively small capacity and lower temperature, its structure closely resembled that of a blast furnace. Had it not been for Soroya's evolution enabling the town to produce refractory bricks, he would have planned to build another dozen or so such shaft furnaces.
With the advent of refractory bricks, it became necessary to consider blast furnaces capable of higher temperatures and greater production capacity.
The newly designed blast furnace stands nearly eight meters tall, four times the height of a conventional shaft furnace. Its tower-like structure features a maximum inner diameter of three meters, supported by a base frame to prevent collapse. The walls are thinner at the top and thicker at the bottom, with the furnace belly reaching up to half a meter in thickness. The innermost layer uses Soloya-brand refractory bricks coated with a special material, while a ring of air inlets is installed to draw air into the furnace belly via a steam engine.
To maximize steam engine efficiency, Roland engineered an automated feeding system for blast furnaces, featuring a climbing rail and a specially designed feeding cart with a movable bottom door. When the cart ascended to the furnace top via the steam engine, its bottom latch would engage with a hook, opening the discharge port to pour fuel or ore into the furnace. This system represented cutting-edge technology for its era.
Unlike large-scale open-pit, low-calorific shaft furnaces, blast furnaces remain operational for extended periods after commissioning, requiring continuous fuel and ore supply with significantly higher output. The construction of just five or six such blast furnaces would multiply the town's pig iron production.
...
After finishing all the drawings, Roland rubbed his sore and numb wrists, pulled out a box from under the table, and pushed it toward her.
The nightingale stood frozen in surprise. "What...?" "Well... I meant to give it to you sooner, but the intricate carvings took some time. After all, I'm not very adept with the factory machines," Roland said with a smile. "Take a look inside." She reached out to open the box and couldn't help but gasp in amazement.
Inside, two revolver pistols were arranged in a staggered pattern—unlike the original model used in the Carter duel, these gleaming silver weapons had surfaces so polished they could reflect human figures. Their handles and barrels were adorned with intricate carvings, while the barrels bore the nightingale's name: "To Veronica."
This plan had been brewing in Roland's mind for a long time. The newly developed revolver pistol was far more refined than the cumbersome and cumbersome preloaded flintlock, maintaining high standards in both safety and firing efficiency. The potential power of such weapons in the hands of a Witch with exceptional mobility like Nightingale was truly exhilarating to contemplate.
"Thank you," she said with a smile, picking up the two pistols, leaping off the table, and making a firing gesture. "Can you teach me how to use them?" "Of course," Roland nodded. The man in white, with his dazzlingly bright smile, instantly made him understand what it meant to be unapproachable. "It's simple—just sneak up on the target, pull the trigger, and shout' It's noon'."