Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 75: Sixty-six: Meeting

Chapter 75: Sixty-six: Meeting

The tool shop is located at the boundary between the Central District and the North City District, close to the eastern district. This area is densely populated, with many people possessing the buying power—northward lies the Noble District, where the gentlemen with firearm certificates always hope the guns in their hands can work faster, better, and more accurately; eastward is the civilian-populated Eastern District, where commoners, various low-tier Transcendents, and harbor travelers reside. The low-tier Transcendents all strive to buy themselves a gun (whether they have a certificate or not, because the issuance of firearm certificates is very stringent. Except for Church personnel and members of the Transcendent Guild, one must have a certain annual salary, someone to vouch for them, and also need to present proof of tax payments from the recent years to acquire a firearm certificate.), and those travelers, such as Tech Hunters who delve into the deadly lands to uncover pre-era technology, tend to arm themselves to the teeth.

Moreover, Tech Hunters have exceedingly high requirements for firearms, as they are likely the only group of people who have witnessed ancient weaponry from the previous era.

Speaking of eras, Malin thought the people of this world were quite headstrong. According to the Church’s records, the world had entered its sixth era, meaning civilization had been interrupted five times, yet each time, the seed of civilization managed to stubbornly ignite the darkness after the apocalypse.

The first great destruction is undateable; records in the books indicate it happened at least ten thousand years ago (the exact year is completely undateable). An explosion that shook the entire world, some of the forbidden lands on this continent stem from that era. It is said that without lead-lined full body equipment, a large output of Spell Scrolls, or high-tier Transcendents, it would be impossible to survive there (Malin felt all the major explosions must have been nuclear bombings. It is said that Tech Hunters, wearing protective gear and using Spell Scrolls daily, can live safely there for at least four months. There must be at least one year between two explorations. Considering the half-lives of radioactive elements such as caesium, strontium, and gadolinium, the recorded years by the Church should not be too far off).

The first era existed before the first great destruction, followed by the second era.

The second great destruction came from an invasion by the different kind; in the second millennium after the first great destruction, the invasion slaughtered the world to the point of desolation, and the flame of civilization for nearly all races was extinguished. But in the end, when the era of the Rift Tide ended, the different kind were banished back to the Subspace, and the surviving races once again began to return to the surface.

The third great destruction occurred a thousand years after the second great destruction. A cold wave that swept the entire world caused incalculable losses. Some northern races were entirely wiped out—even the Dwarves from the north had died out once—only a group employed as craftsmen by humans survived, and they became the common ancestors of the northern Dwarves thereafter.

The fourth great destruction followed in the third millennium after the third, where a civil war within the millennium-long Empire once again opened the rifts to the Subspace. Humans suffered heavy losses in this destruction, and some families that had been continuing their lineage since the first great destruction were wiped out. However, humanity managed to fend off the onslaught from the Chaos different kind, but because of the massive losses, they were forced to retract, abandoning vast lands, and civilization began to regress. To this day, some wild ruins from the fourth era can still be found.

The fifth great destruction stemmed from the regression of civilization following the fourth. Not until a century ago was this decline contained. Various race’s historical records mourn this period; during the fourth era, all races had developed civilizations far superior to the present. However, after one invasion by the different kind, due to loss of too many people, many technologies even experienced a generational gap. For instance, among the collections of the Church of the Goddess of Harvest are some items clearly identifiable as guns from the fourth era, whose metal composition remains unanalyzable to this day.

Malin had a glance and could only say that due to the severe damage, he could only recognize it as a gun, but as for whatever else was there, he couldn’t make it out.

The father of Xingyan, Steel Azure, was a Tech Hunter whose legs were crippled during an early adventure. Afterward, he became a blacksmith—"My knee had an encounter with an arrow," would be almost the fate of all members of the Anvil family.

The reason he agreed to be the master for Malin’s tool shop was because of some sketches of equipment that Malin had drawn for Xingyan.

Xingyan was a rare Dwarven Martial Monk, and the reason she was an Apprentice of the Church of the Goddess of Harvest was also because she had a human grandmother, a devout follower of the Church of the Goddess of Harvest.

As a Martial Monk of the Church, Xingyan didn’t have to abide by some of the nonsensical vows that those Church Martial Monk orders require (For example, one order’s Martial Monks have a peculiar vow of poverty, not allowed to equip any protective gear whatsoever; Malin thought this order was insane—if their early members die off in waves, is the order planning on playing Lich Martial Monks?), so Malin drew beautiful and durable armguards and legguards for the lady.

After her father had seen it, he directly approached Malin—he stubbornly believed that Malin must have had access to knowledge from the previous era.

While preparing the toolshop, Malin also decided to make the most of everything, providing the dwarven master with a bunch of tool blueprints and concept sketches. The former was practical equipment that could be made by just about anyone, while the latter were like relics unearthed from ruins, solely for pleasing the eye.

But the Jade-Steel uncle, upon seeing the blueprints, didn’t hesitate to sign a contract with Malin—in his view, so many blueprints represented absolute artisanal skill, enough for him to devote his entire blacksmithing ability to Malin.

So lately, besides having to fend off temptations from the Church of the War God every now and then, Malin also had this uncle coaxing him to become a craftsman every day. He always said that the children of Frost Giants were naturally proficient at forging, and not using that strength to become a craftsman was a real waste. Being able to craft one’s own equipment would surely result in the most suitable gear.

Malin was almost tempted to learn, but what stopped him was the dwarf uncle’s last statement.

"If you learn from me, I’ll give you my daughter Xingyan in marriage."

How can I learn the skills of a craftsman from you like this! That’s too much!

So, every time he came to the toolshop, Malin would bring Faye along. With the half-blood elf girl present, the dwarven uncle didn’t dare to overstep.

As for the toolshop’s business, don’t let the small number of customers fool you; most orders came through a subscription channel. For example, the Tech Hunters at the Carterburg guild recently ordered a hundred heavy gun barrels and two hundred sets of sighting tools from the shop—currently, the dispersal rate at two hundred meters for the heavy barrels on the market was twice as poor as those from Malin’s shop, while the sighting tools were a combination of long scopes and side-mounted notch-style mechanical sights. Unable to refine tritium, Malin used exhausted fire crystals as a substitute for tritium in the sighting tools after they were crushed and polished.

Only a little bit of Spiritual Energy was needed to allow it to replace tritium light for a night, and since Tech Hunters were generally adept at using Spiritual Energy, this type of sighting tool combination was very popular among them.

This was the first product Jade-Steel had created from Malin’s concept sketches. They split the profits sixty-forty, with the downside being slightly less money for Malin, but the upside being that this dwarven master had registered a patent for the invention with the Dwarven Craftsmen Guild. Everyone could replicate it, but each production required a licensing fee equivalent to twenty standard Mowish currency to be paid to Malin.

It was said that the Dwarves were very fond of this sighting tool set, and Jade-Steel had already filed several other combinations prepared by Malin, ensuring him a future of happily collecting funds.

It was rumored that the God of Craftsmen also took some divine pleasure in this invention, and the Church of the Dwarven Craftsman God had made contact with Jade-Steel. They wanted to pull him back to the Dwarven Kingdom, but he rejected them with the contract.

This made Malin have even more confidence in the uncle.

Returning to our discussion, although elves and dwarves don’t get along very well, at least Uncle Faye’s ledger is clear and accurate—Xingyan, as an apprentice, has studied for many years; keeping accounts is a simple task for her.

"By the way, kid, there’s a bonfire dance tonight, won’t you ask my daughter for a dance?"

While reconciling the accounts, the olivine uncle seemed to still not have given up his hope of marrying off... no, that is, his intention to invite Malin to become his craftsman apprentice.

"Malin already has me as his dance partner," Faye raised an eyebrow, asserting her claim in front of the dwarven uncle.

Facing the elven girl, the dwarf pursed his lips and raised his hands in a gesture of resignation: "I need to get back to work, I won’t see you out if there’s nothing else."

So, Malin left the tool store with the girls, and on his way out, he remembered that Jessica wanted a climbing pickaxe, so he went to the warehouse and picked one out for her, mentally adding the expense to his own account.

The value of one hundred and twenty gold, the desired birthday gift, should surely make the werewolf girl very happy.

...........

The National Publishing House was located in the Central District’s administrative area, the most secure place, and the publishing house itself was a small three-story building.

Malin arrived with 20 minutes to spare before his appointment. Originally, the three of them planned to sit in the first-floor rest area, which was cooled by a magical array, but no sooner had they sat down than they saw a group of people rushing out, followed by a secretary who approached: "Are you Mr. Malin Gaiate?"

"Yes," Malin nodded—he had been to the National Publishing House only twice before and had not met her.

"I am Karen Lili Milton, the third secretary of the president; the president is waiting for you inside." As the secretary was speaking, Malin and his companions saw a man, his face covered in blood, being dragged down the steps by two strong men.

"Uh, what is this..." Faye frowned, unable to hide her discomfort.

"That was the gentleman from before you," said the secretary, "He was found to have problems during his third meeting, and the task force that just left went to the printing factory to prevent his book from being printed." She added regretfully, "Another book in this world is doomed to remain unfinished."

Indeed, the author probably doesn’t even have his life left.

Malin sighed, then saw the dragged author suddenly struggle.

"What I wrote was the best love story! Why! You are slandering me!!" As he yelled, the man spat out a mist of blood and fell silent.

Malin looked at the secretary again.

The secretary pursed her lips: "Do you think a story about a male who, due to a brain injury sees normal people as different kinds but sees different kinds as normal, and falls in love with a different kind, is normal?"

Faye and Maya shook their heads like rattles.

Then, the secretary turned her attention to Malin.

"What do you think?"

"Quickly drag it away and burn it," Malin said calmly.

Therefore, the secretary showed a satisfied smile: "Yes, you’re right, authors contaminated by chaos can only be purified with flames."

Malin strongly agreed.

Because there is a saying that goes:

Genius is half a step beyond mortals.

And those who are a full step beyond, are all lunatics.