Chapter 414 - 403: The Beginning of the Tide
Cybertron Workshop.
"Phase One of the Civilization Reformation Plan: Production queue updated," Jarvis’s voice echoed through the main control room.
A list appeared on the light screen: 6,000 Factory Servants, 1,000 Engineering Golems, 80 Exploration Golems, and 170 Mining Golems.
This was the "industrial pacemaker" Allen had custom-designed for the Aiselan Kingdom. A single jolt would be enough to make the ancient kingdom’s mining efficiency skyrocket.
Since Allen would get half the profits, he was more than willing to make the initial investment.
Of Cybertron’s fifteen automated production lines, eight had already been switched over to assembling the logistics-series Golems. Before long, the first batch of fifty Exploration Golems rolled off the assembly line.
[Golem Deployment Skill]
Like chess pieces cast by a god, they materialized across the map of the Aiselan Kingdom, scattered near thirty-four marked, untapped ore veins.
These Alchemy Creations, shaped like giant Burrowing Insects, burrowed effortlessly into hard rock and permafrost the moment they landed.
They would delve hundreds of meters underground, using their built-in Magic Resonance Scanners to create three-dimensional models of each ore vein’s reserves, grade, and distribution.
In the Cybertron Main Control Room, thirty-four gray icons on the massive sand table map of the kingdom began to blink as a torrential stream of data flooded into Jarvis’s database.
[TRANSMITTING DATA... ASSESSING ORE VEIN VALUE...]
[ORE VEINS #7, #13, AND #22: ACTUAL GRADE EXCEEDS ORIGINAL KINGDOM SURVEY REPORT BY 317%.]
[ORE VEINS #2, #19, AND #31: ACTUAL GRADE EXCEEDS ORIGINAL KINGDOM SURVEY REPORT BY 542%.]
[CONCLUSION: OF THE THIRTY-FOUR ORE VEINS, ELEVEN POSSESS GRADES THREE TO FIVE TIMES HIGHER THAN THE ORIGINAL REPORTS. THE AISELAN KINGDOM’S PRIMITIVE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGY IS GROSSLY INACCURATE.]
Allen watched as the high-value deposits were re-marked in deep red, a subtle, almost imperceptible smile playing on his lips.
"They can’t even figure out how much gold is buried in their own backyard," he muttered. "Such primitive exploration technology."
’This is far better than I expected.’
...
「Two days later, at the Blackrock Ridge mining area.」
Prince William was remarkably efficient. The first batch of Spirit Mages and fifty thousand able-bodied laborers, led by their respective officers, arrived at their designated mining encampments.
Among them was an old miner named Logan, his face weathered by the elements, his eyes vacant.
He had been a miner his entire life and knew what was waiting for them: dim mine shafts, rock walls that could collapse at any moment, and the exchange of human lives for a meager wage.
But as he followed the column of workers out of the rugged mountain pass and took in the sight before him, he froze in utter astonishment.
The once-rugged valley had been carved into a vast, level plain.
Rows of neat, temporary barracks had already been erected. Even the irrigation and drainage ditches were clearly and precisely dug.
And in the center of the plain, five colossal Mining Golems, each three stories tall, were working in silence.
At the end of their thick, mechanical arms were massive drill bits over five meters in diameter. With each rotation, the ground hummed with a deep, resonant thrum. Before them, the hard bedrock was as fragile as tofu.
Tons of ore poured out of the newly excavated mine shafts, where a separate group of smaller Factory Servants sorted and stacked it with precision.
Logan watched the amount of ore a single Mining Golem could excavate in just ten minutes, his lips trembling as he muttered to himself:
"Good heavens... In fifteen minutes, that thing does more work than a hundred of us could do in a full day!"
The young men around him were all utterly awestruck by the sight of these Steel Giants at work.
But the old miners like Logan, after the initial, overwhelming shock, felt a profound, soul-deep fear... and also, a sense of relief.
It was as if an entire era was coming to a close before their very eyes, in a stunningly brutal fashion.
Allen knew that a few hundred Golems alone weren’t enough to industrialize the entire kingdom.
Their purpose was to lead, not to replace.
Human-machine collaboration flowcharts, meticulously prepared by Jarvis, were distributed to every mine site supervisor.
The flowcharts were translated into the simplest, most easily understood Aiselan script and were supplemented with numerous diagrams.
The Golems handled the most dangerous and strenuous tasks: excavation, rock-breaking, and transport.
Humans, in turn, were responsible for the more detailed support tasks, such as sorting, reinforcing tunnels, and equipment maintenance.
A new mode of production was being forcibly established across this ancient land.
...
’Brute force isn’t enough,’ Allen thought. ’I need skilled industrial workers who can read blueprints and maintain basic equipment.’
A book lay before him now.
It was a compendium of alchemical knowledge he had personally authored, titled *Steel Keystone*.
The complete work consisted of twelve volumes, covering basic mineralogy, the principles of basic alchemical reactions, an introduction to Runes, and the construction blueprints for a standardized Alchemy Workshop.
He had meticulously reviewed every page and every formula.
All content related to Spiritual Power, Magic Power, and Meditation had been removed. The underlying principles were replaced with the conduction of Spiritual Energy.
’All I want are engineers who can tighten bolts, not Wizards who can start a rebellion.’
’As for whether they might figure out the path to becoming Wizards on their own in the future?’
’That’s a problem for a hundred years from now. It has nothing to do with me.’
*Steel Keystone* soon found its way onto the desks of the deans of the kingdom’s three great Spiritual Arts Academies and the Royal Academy in the Royal Capital.
A royal decree from King Alexander followed close behind: all Spiritual Arts Academies were to establish a "Department of Alchemy."
Simultaneously, the Royal Capital and the five major garrison towns hastily established "Accelerated Academies for Alchemical Artisans," with a six-month curriculum. The first class would enroll five thousand students.
When the news got out, the registration offices were completely swamped. The number of applicants surpassed eighty thousand in just two days.
The common folk were not fools. They had seen those steel behemoths with their own eyes; they knew the very heavens were about to change over their country.
Whoever seized this opportunity could rise to the top in a single leap.
In the eastern suburbs of Golden Stone City, construction began on the first "Standardized Alchemy Workshop."
It covered two thousand square meters—not a large facility. Its core equipment consisted of only a small smelting furnace and three automated processing stations, all powered by Magic Stones.
Allen didn’t expect the facility to produce anything high-end. ’Its sole purpose is to serve as a teaching model.’
Ten Teaching Golems were deployed to the site. Like emotionless instructors, they demonstrated over and over to the selected artisans from the Royal Capital the meaning of "standardization" and "assembly line."
Watching the iron ingots—which they had once painstakingly hammered into shape one blow at a time—being precisely molded like dough on an assembly line, the artisans felt their entire worldview shatter.
However, as the gears of a new era ground forward, there would always be those who would try to stop a chariot with the arms of a mantis.
Prince William’s face was livid as he stared at the secret report in his hand.
"The southern Duke has detained five thousand laborers, using the autumn harvest’s labor shortage as an excuse."
"Seven hereditary nobles in the council are demanding that six ore veins within their fiefs be excluded from the plan, on the grounds that ’a lord’s mineral rights are sacred and inviolable.’"
William gritted his teeth. "And several Earls in the west have colluded to raise the price of grain and lumber around the mining sites threefold!"
King Alexander coughed violently twice, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes. "They are testing our limits."
William immediately reported the situation to Allen on Cybertron via a secure communication channel.
"My lord, should I dispatch the Guards to suppress them?" William’s voice was laced with cold fury.
In the main control room, Allen didn’t even glance up at the communication interface. His full attention was on the newly finished blueprints for a Magic Energy pylon.
"Ignore them," Allen said, his tone flat, as if listening to a mosquito buzz.
"But they..."
"Once they see the alchemical industry truly up and running, they’ll stop causing trouble," Allen said, casually ending the transmission.
To sever a person’s livelihood is akin to murdering their parents; the struggles of the old aristocracy were only to be expected.
But in the face of overwhelming productive power, all their schemes and conspiracies were just laughable static.
’Once the first batch of industrial goods floods their territories and completely crushes their pathetic artisan economy, they’ll be on their knees, begging me to build factories on their doorsteps.’
The communication link severed.
’Jarvis, project the revenue from the first batch of mines.’
"Reporting, Commander. Three high-grade ore veins have entered stable production. Factoring in the efficiency of human sorting, the preliminary estimate is a monthly yield of ore equivalent to approximately 800,000 Low-Level Magic Stones."
’Eight hundred thousand.’
’And that’s just the monthly output from three mines, with a workforce that isn’t even fully trained yet.’
Allen stood on the observation gallery under Cybertron’s dome, looking down at the holographic map of the Aiselan Kingdom simulated below.
On the map, the icons for the thirty-four mining sites were turning, one by one, from gray for "inactive" to a vibrant green for "activated."
Before his eyes, this ancient continent was finally, truly, being awakened.