I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 480

When the next day arrived, full-scale work on building the blast furnace began.

First off was entering the Artificial Sun power plant located in the Ash Zone.

The Artificial Sun remained completely intact despite erupting with a massive flame tsunami.

’How on earth did they build this...’

I got slightly curious, but tried hard to ignore it. I didn’t want to become Icarus.

Tearing off the iron plates that effortlessly endured even that heat, I met the Flame Horse family on my way back.

Fortunately, everyone looked safe and sound, appearing much better off than before.

"Here, here. Eat this and grow big and strong."

"Pue-eng."

"Ppu-eng."

The baby Flame Horses were also growing rapidly. As expected, younglings seemed to grow visibly day by day.

Thus, returning to the Shelter, I set out determined to construct the blast furnace.

Using iron plates that steadfastly held up against blazing heat instead of heat-resistant bricks. How did I bend them, you ask?

"Huuup!"

Kkigigik!

I bent them with brute force and fitted them properly. Tools were things used by the weak.

Naturally, the companions who saw this reacted as if witnessing the stranger things in the world.

[Ludwig. What do you think it would be like if every person in the world were like that human?]

"#$%% #$%%"

[Humanity would still be living in the wild... I deeply agree. There would be no need to use one’s head.]

"Master would definitely have been the alpha of the pack, just as he is now."

"Hey, instead of whispering like beta males, why don’t you guys help out a bit?"

After giving a earful to the whispering group, I was able to build a proper blast furnace.

Now that construction was finished, it was time for testing. Truth be told, the Adamantium extracted yesterday contained quite a lot of impurities.

You might find it strange that it had so many impurities despite being refined. But this was normal.

If iron ore had been refined this way, only trash iron of the worst quality would have come out.

So what did I do? Besides the Gallery, I borrowed the power of Alex’s Library.

Getting explanations from Passing Dwarf was fine, but I needed theoretical knowledge.

[The method you are executing. Ancient China tried it too.]

"In China? Ah, come to think of it, I’ve heard of it. Surprisingly, Chinese metallurgy was advanced..."

[The Backyard Furnace policy implemented during Mao Zedong’s reign. Performed magic that converted perfectly good farm implements into various low-quality iron.]

"..."

[If you intend to write history, I recommend continuing as is. Human mistakes are bound to repeat themselves anyway.]

"Forget it."

At least I listened to expert advice. Especially since I even received a warning.

Did he say I’d end up bleeding out of my ass someday if I kept doing that? Certainly, I had been getting away with free rides until now.

’It couldn’t be helped. Whether Mithril or Orichalcum, all I had to do was mine it and I was done.’

Up until now, I had been lucky.

The Adamantium extracted so far also had significant impurities, but it separated automatically and soaked into Mythricon like butter.

Hearing this, someone might ask: Why not just keep it purely for enhancement then?

’I’m curious, after all. Plus, there are things I want to forge.’

There’s also the possibility of discovering pure Adamantium ore instead of frilled lizards.

Or perhaps I might discover minerals beyond even that.

I couldn’t use something mixed with impurities back then either. I was practicing with Adamantium.

’Not sure if a mineral superior to Adamantium will ever appear, though...’

Truth be told, I’m just doing it because I want to.

Deciding to rest for today, there were plenty of other things to discuss with the named users on the forum.

’Let’s see. The smelting method is...’

Through books, I grasped the smelting methods step by step.

Most were based on iron ore, so it was hard to place them on the exact same footing.

But according to what I heard from Passing Dwarf, the process itself was similar.

’First I have to crush it into fine pieces to filter out impurities.’

Not only that, but an immense amount of charcoal was required. Looking at it this way, what I had done was close to amateurish hackwork.

Succeeding was almost a miracle. The fact that Adamantium melted at all was astonishing.

’Low-temperature reduction and high-temperature reduction... Just looking at the names makes me dizzy.’

The difference between the two methods was whether it produced liquid molten metal or not.

Low-temperature reduction separated impurities while maintaining a solid state, while high-temperature reduction melted it into molten liquid to separate.

The reason Adamantium didn’t melt during the first smelting was also because it was low-temperature reduction.

’Because I smelted it fiercely once more after that, a relatively purer extract came out. My head’s gonna explode.’

Now I understand why blacksmiths were equivalent to doctorate holders or master technicians.

Even knowing the theory, it was dizzying because I couldn’t understand why it happened, yet ancient blacksmiths acquired all these theories purely through raw experience.

Moreover, in a field where practical experience is so vital, cases where rigidly memorized theory becomes meaningless were countless.This chapter is updated first at novelping . com.

Just like cooking, where many people follow a recipe step-by-step but fail to make the desired dish depending on equipment and variables.

’Therefore, practice is the answer.’

Was it fortunate that this was the Forest of the Four Seasons? Maintaining a steady fire output for several hours wasn’t difficult.

Thanks to that, melting minerals wasn’t difficult, taking at most 2 hours to finish.

Thus, through book knowledge, experts, and Passing Dwarf’s help, it seemed I could extract better Adamantium than yesterday.

’The issue is charcoal, though... for now using pure fire power is enough, but it’s something to ponder.’

According to the books, using coke instead of charcoal was the rule. It was a fuel made from coal, just as charcoal was made from wood.

It was only because this was the Forest of the Four Seasons that minerals like Orichalcum and Mithril could be melted without issue.

’They said Mana Stones work fine, right?’

Mana Stones could likely be obtained from Praise the Sun. Naturally, I didn’t plan to get them for free and intended to trade.

Before that, I should ask the expert a few questions. I contacted Passing Dwarf immediately.

[Passing Dwarf: More importantly, how’s your blast furnace? Forgot to tell you something last time.]

[Wild Grylls: Inner part broke so I rebuilt it. Went to the Artificial Sun and snagged some iron plates too. Should hold up with this, right?]

[Passing Dwarf: Don’t tell me you didn’t use bricks?]

[Wild Grylls: Broke immediately so I didn’t use them?]

[Passing Dwarf: ;;;]

[Wild Grylls: What’s up. Don’t just sweat, tell me the reason.]

[Passing Dwarf: First of all, use bricks—refractory bricks—unconditionally. In house terms, they’re like the main beams and pillars.]

[Wild Grylls: Even when I used those, they broke down real quick?]

[Passing Dwarf: In that case, it’s one of two things: I gave you defective goods, or you failed to maintain the furnace heat and cooled it down rapidly. No way I gave defective stuff, so I predict the latter, yeah.]

[Wild Grylls: How’d you know?]

[Passing Dwarf: Knew it. It’s because the temperature changed too fast.]

Realizing I was getting serious, Passing Dwarf offered expert advice he could give.

No matter how heat-resistant the iron plates were made, their heat retention was meaningless compared to bricks.

In the first place, iron itself was a material that absorbed heat well, which was why bricks were used.

When I asked why, he admitted he didn’t know the detailed theory either. That made him seem even more trustworthy.

’Following an expert’s experience-based advice is better than incomprehensible theories.’

In the end, I tore down the blast furnace I had painstakingly built and remodeled it completely. Inside, I stacked refractory bricks step by step and covered them with mud.

Where were the iron plates used? They were wrapped on the exterior to add stability, and iron pipes were attached to the blowholes.

Crafting the pipes required using brute force to bend them again, which was tough, but fine.

[Wild Grylls: (Photo of completed blast furnace) How’s this?]

[Passing Dwarf: Not bad. Like I said earlier, that’s good for 1 or 2 uses, so make good use of it.]

[Wild Grylls: Thinking about building them one by one is already so tedious. Should I just host a blast furnace crafting contest?]

[Passing Dwarf: And the reward? Don’t tell me you’re giving Mithril?]

[Wild Grylls: Is that a no?]

[Passing Dwarf: Don’t do crazy shit and just do it manually. Or hand it off to someone else.]

Looks like crazy ideas were out. So I proposed a different reward.

Asking if offering liquor ingredients as a reward would work since dwarves loved alcohol.

[Passing Dwarf: Don’t go trying to ruin my country;;;]

[Wild Grylls: Is it that bad?]

[Passing Dwarf: Places are crawling with guys way worse than me.]

Oh well, nothing I could do. Since I shouldn’t ruin a nation, I dropped it.

In the early days, my fame (?) was lacking so hosting a shoe crafting contest was possible, but now it was a bit awkward.

Especially with the kindly Orange Badge having declared me as the Herald of God.

If I caused any more commotion here, there was no telling what might happen.

’I should ask the hobgoblins.’

Since I lacked time to build them one by one, asking the hobgoblins should work.

Winter had passed, so interacting with them around now wouldn’t be bad.

Since I planned to steadily scout the gorilla tribe in the future, frequent contact was beneficial.

’I’ve been giving them World Tree fruits steadily all this time; how have they changed?’

I provided them World Tree fruits steadily so everyone would get healthy.

By now, wouldn’t the entire village be filled with hobgoblins?

Since I didn’t plan to explore today anyway, visiting after a long time sounded fine.

"Lackey. Let’s head to the goblin village. Time to bring back some workers."

"Understood."

Bringing just Lackey, who served as translator and foreman, was enough.

The route to the goblin village had been cleared beforehand, and there was no chance of being ambushed along the way.

Still, just in case, I didn’t forget to remain on guard while walking. In the Forest of the Four Seasons, dropping your guard meant kicking the bucket easily.

’It’s been a really long time since I visited the village.’Read the latest chapters at nov⁠elping.com.

Until now, Lackey visited as a sort of envoy (?), but visiting in person felt like almost a month for me.

Since I spent about ten days of that passed out, the actual time must have been even longer.

Passing through the familiar route, I headed toward the goblin village. No ambushes or anything occurred along the way.

Soon, breaking out of the dense forest, I reached a relatively wide clearing.

Sitting right in the middle was the wooden palisade. But I had an illusion that the perimeter of the palisade had expanded slightly.

’Was it... not an illusion? Anyway, let’s keep going.’

The hobgoblin tribe was a race that achieved a sort of ’civilization’ within the Forest of the Four Seasons.

Even before evolving into hobgoblins, each individual was quite strong.

Above all, the fact that they knew how to use their brains stood out the most.

’To be precise, it’s progress.’

Creatures of the Forest of the Four Seasons possessed fundamentally high intelligence.

But they used it in combat, not for development like the goblins.

Unlike the gorillas, their physical conditions were somewhat tough for surviving in the Forest of the Four Seasons.

Except for hobgoblin warriors, the goblins were utterly feeble.

"Kkirik?"

"Hello?"

As I approached the palisade, I faced a goblin—no, a hobgoblin—standing guard above.

Even the guard detail was composed of hobgoblins. My efforts in steadily providing World Tree fruits all this time had paid off.

"Krake! Karkura!"

"What is he saying?"

"The honored benefactor has arrived."

The hobgoblin on guard duty yelled loudly in a panicked voice.

Whereupon the area behind the entrance instantly burst into commotion.

’Did I unnecessarily bother people?’

For a moment, I naturally treated goblins as people, but let’s gloss over it.

Since they established their own civilization, treating them like people was better.

Geugeugeugeuk—

As the massive wooden wall lifted, the village landscape behind it unfolded.

Or so it should have. Instead, imposing hobgoblins were huddled together closely.

It was a deeply perplexing moment, so I looked at Lackey. I didn’t know what was going on.

"Why are you looking at me? I don’t know either."

"Did the goblins visit while I was passed out?"

"They came, but I sent them back because of Master’s condition."

"Mmm..."

I was puzzled for a moment, but it was something to move past.

More than that, rather than hostility, a strong sense of ’welcome’ radiated from them, so there was nothing uneasy.

With that, I stepped forward. Approaching them, their imposing pressure was no joke.

First of all, most were massive in build. The prominent muscles regardless of gender were a bonus.

"Abiona. Karkura."

"...Who might you be?"

What was even more surprising was the hobgoblin that came out to welcome me.

Seeing the beard grown down to his solar plexus, I could tell he was a fairly elderly hobgoblin.

Yet except for the wrinkles on his face, his back stood straight upright and his muscles were formidable.

"Ka Ukanua Gganmar."

"...Gganmar? The Chieftain Gganmar I know?"

Whether he understood my words or not, Hobgoblin Gganmar nodded.

His somewhat imposing physique, which clashed with his gentle, aware expression, left me bewildered.

But that wasn’t the end. The hobgoblins who had gathered to greet me cleared a path.

As they cleared the path, I could see the village situation at a single glance, and it was far more developed than before.

Originally, it was a hunting-and-gathering society rather than an agricultural one, so most houses were pit-houses.

But most of the houses meeting my eyes now were actual thatched-roof cottages. Houses built with wooden frames.

The walls also featured firmly hardened yellow clay, fitting for the ever-shifting Forest of the Four Seasons.

"...Isn’t this developing a bit too fast?"

The reason for that could be realized before long.

"Unak-ua karuka bajunamu kua."

"Thanks to the blessing given by our honored benefactor, we can eat our fill without even having to go hunting."

"..."

I was a little worried that I might have released poison into the Forest of the Four Seasons.

’Wait, no. It doesn’t matter even if I release poison here, right? They can’t leave anyway.’

Although I quickly changed my mind.