Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 272: Gate 17

Chapter 272: Gate 17

Weeks went by.

Gate 14 opened as normal and so did Gates 15 and 16. Gate 17 was currently on the horizon. In that time, Kazi had been busy working with Prince Yuzin and planning out the factories to be made. The Esteemed Princess of the Imperial Sect increased their budget by a hundred million and fast-tracked many aspects of their project.

For example, the heavy expense from large bulks of steel. Prince Yuzin informed him that the Eldest Princess brought over a sorcerer from the Old Mage Tower called the Steel Sharpener. The Sorcerer specialized in the transmutation of steel and could turn cheap materials into quality steel. Not just any steel either: carbon steel, stainless steel, tool steel, alloy steel—all of it was under his reservoir. According to Prince Yuzin, the sorcerer descended from a family that directly served as blacksmiths to the House of Aisin Gioro. He lacked talent in blacksmithing and after failing to produce results, the man studied to become a sorcerer. No one expected greatness from him, save one man. The now-dead eldest prince of the Imperial Sect believed in his utility and pushed him to become the Steel Sharpener.

While fiercely loyal to the Imperial Sect, the Steel Sharpener extended his services to other guilds too, albeit for a premium price tag. In honour of his old friend who had died by the claws of Yamata-no-Orochi, the Steel Sharpener never applied a premium cost to the Imperials. Nonetheless, he was a busy man and it took a miracle—the Eldest Princess of the Imperial Sect—to get him to collude with them on a moment’s notice. Seeing the Steel Sharpener in action was incredibly informative.

After seeing such high-level magic, Kazi decided to flex his own magic muscles. This was his first time going into a gate in a couple weeks. He was aware he was ahead in levels due to his Ascension but that didn’t mean he could slack off.

Kazi stretched his arms high in the air. The first of the integrated circuit factories were complete. The Imperials expected them to manufacture the Ramon Spectrometer and sell them to the Alhambra Guardians in a month’s notice. Secretly, Kazi planned to do it in two weeks.

"David! Everything going well?"

Supervising the line of blue workers was his spectacled friend. David couldn’t believe he was in such a position of power and he glanced over, arms crossed, smiling.

"Oh yeah, great stuff," David replied. Discreetly, he pointed at one of the workers. "That one guy got the hang of it fast."

Hiring smart workers and paying them to do manual labour was next to impossible unless the pay was high and the training was robust. That was why the past weeks were so busy; it required Kazi and David to run around helping with the construction of the factories as well as training of the employees. They had already written a full-scale manual for each factory type and machine. Many, many nights were spent writing the documents.

"I noticed," Kazi said.

"Want to make him a floor supervisor?"

"Not yet. The best floor supervisors think more abstractly. You’ll know one when you see them."

The factory had many moving parts with the building of transistors, the silicon substrate, the aluminum bond pad, etc. Some corners were cut with the help of the Wizards from the Old Mage Tower. Bi Sheng was something of an expert in factory work and cooperated with Kazi and David as a project manager. It really wasn’t an exaggeration to say he was a vital part of the operation. Even now, he was out there guiding the Steel Sharpener with the construction of another factory. He wasn’t just fast tracking their schedule, he was illuminating it in every way. Truly, Bi Sheng was a genius.

"I’ll be heading out now," Kazi told David. "I better not see this thing burning when I come back."

"First time’s the charm, my friend. Have no fear."

"I’ll believe it when I see it."

"Good luck! Break a leg!"

***

Kazi was summoned at the eastern entrance of the Heavenly Tower and was immediately greeted with a System message.

[ ANNOUNCEMENT

GATE 13 WILL CONTINUE TO BE CLOSED.

GATE 17 WILL PROCEED AS NORMAL AND OPEN IN 2 HOURS

YOURS TRULY, ARCHITECT CAIN ]

A message and plenty of yelling.

"What the hell is even going on? Why is one gate opening and the other is closed!"

"Screw you! I had to get a loan for this axe! What am I going to do!?"

"Pipe down! You cunts are as useful as a chocolate teapot!"

Following the message were boos and bellows from the woodworkers. Without Gate 13, they had no way of paying off their loans and was no one to yell at save the tower and the heavens. The players who were committed walked forward.

’Wood workers, eh? Hm, they’re certainly in a precarious situation and more certainly looking for money.’

A whole crowd had been formed of these woodworkers. No more than thirty of them, loud and pissed. He had to tell David about this.

[ Kazi Hossain: Come to the Heavenly Tower. There’s wood workers out here that are desperate for work. As players, they have high potential. Use it. ]

Where there was anger, there was desperation to be exploited. He wanted to stay and chat and calm them down. He could do it too. Alas, as much as he sympathized with their plight, he had to get going.

At the pillars of the portal leading to the Server Room were flowers and parting gifts. A small memorial for those that died in Gate 10. He heard the Hall of Players had built a proper memorial and called for the grieving to write names.

Kazi wondered just how many were completely forgotten.

The world just...moved on. He moved on. The tragedy of Gate 10 and the players that died. Independent memorials were held but other than that, it was like a natural occurrence. Everyone moved past it as if it was an everyday thing. As if large-scale slaughter in Gates was normal.

He stopped a step before the portal. He looked at the tributes and went over, kneeling down. Black and white photos were displayed. The names and faces were seeded into his head. He could never forget.

Behind him, heaps of players entered with and without fear. Some were eager, others were nervous. Kazi closed his eyes, offered a prayer and stood up. Through the portal, into the Server Room, and Gate 17 he went.