landbeastnovel Chapter 117 Wintering
Chapter 117 Wintering
Chapter 116 Wintering
There are thirteen days left until the Winter Lord's attack.
The cracks in the stone bricks of the lord's hall still exuded a bone-chilling cold.
The firewood in the fireplace crackled, and the flames flickered weakly.
Olivia walked up the steps in her deerskin boots, carrying a thick stack of reports.
Her long, emerald-green hair was tied back, making her look capable yet revealing a hint of weariness.
"My lord, this is a summary of this week's logistical and financial information."
Olivia placed the report on the oak table in front of Lorraine.
Lorraine, who was flipping through the "Witch's Codex" that only he could see, responded without looking up.
"How's the food situation?"
"Thanks to those magical farms, it's perfectly safe for now."
Olivia pointed to the first line of the report.
"The yields of various crops are very high, the warehouses are almost full, and the grain stored in the city is enough to last until next spring."
Lorraine nodded slightly, tapping her fingertips lightly on the table.
"But the look on your face tells me that the trouble isn't over yet."
Olivia sighed and pulled out a weather forecast chart marked in red from under the report.
"According to the Alchemists' Association's weather forecasting device, the White Curtain Snowstorm is coming in a week."
She spread out the map and traced her finger across the area surrounding Frostwolf City.
"The temperature drop this time will be terrifying; the temperature in the city will drop to the point where water freezes instantly."
"Only with enough fuel can civilians survive in their homes."
"Moreover, once the white blizzard seals off the city, the rate at which the stored fuel is consumed will be five times faster than usual."
Lorraine glanced at the numbers at the end of the report and raised an eyebrow.
How long can the existing reserves of firewood and coal last?
"At the current rate of consumption, it can only last for ten days at most."
Olivia's voice turned serious.
"If the blizzard continues for half a month, Frostwolf City will become a giant ice cellar, and far more people will freeze to death than starve to death."
She paused for a moment, then tentatively made the suggestion.
"Unless I order now to allocate a portion of the magic-powered farmland to be converted into fast-growing fuel crops."
"Although that crop tastes terrible, its dried stems make excellent fuel."
Lorraine waved her hand, directly rejecting the proposal.
"Farmland is for producing food. It's a waste of time to switch to growing fuel crops, and it also damages the soil's fertility."
"The fuel issue doesn't need to shake the foundations of agriculture."
Olivia was taken aback.
"Don't touch the farmland? Then what are we going to burn? We can't expect ordinary people to tear down their houses and burn the roof beams, can we?"
Lorraine leaned back in her chair, her gaze fixed on the gloomy sky outside the window.
"Aren't there coal mines in the city? Just keep mining them."
Olivia gave a wry smile and shook her head repeatedly.
"My lord, you may not be familiar with the situation at the mine."
"Those large coal mines far from Frostwolf City were swallowed up by the snowstorm long ago, and now they are full of raging monsters."
"We cannot risk sending miners to their deaths by venturing deep into the 'Moment of Anomaly'."
"As for the coal mines near the city—"
She spread her hands, her tone helpless.
"According to the mine's report, those mines have been dug for decades and are long on the verge of depletion."
"The mine tunnels are now filled with hard rock layers. Every day, we dig out more gravel than coal. It's basically an empty shell."
Lorraine did not show any disappointment; instead, she asked a question in return.
"Are you sure it's truly depleted?"
Olivia frowned.
"This is the conclusion reached by the mine supervisor and dozens of veteran miners. They have spent their whole lives dealing with coal, and they are certain that they cannot be wrong."
Lorraine stood up and straightened her collar.
"Call them over; I want to hear their report myself."
Half an hour later.
Two men covered in black coal dust were led into the lord's hall.
Leading the way was the mine foreman, who wore a worn-out leather jacket and had a face covered in deep wrinkles.
Following behind was an old miner whose back was completely hunched from years of labor, and whose fingernails were filled with coal sludge that could not be washed off.
The two knelt tremblingly on the stone floor, not daring to look up at the lord seated above them.
"My lord."
The supervisor's voice was somewhat hoarse.
"The three coal mine pits in the south of the city have been completely abandoned. We tried digging to the side, but all we dug out was grayish-white granite."
Lorraine looked down at them, her tone calm.
"Besides the sides, have you dug any deeper?"
The foreman was stunned, then a bitter smile appeared on his face.
"Sir, the mine is already deep enough; any deeper and you'll reach underground water veins."
"Moreover, the rock at the bottom is as hard as steel; a regular pickaxe can only leave a white mark when it hits it."
"In our line of work, when you reach that layer of hard rock, it means the mine has reached its end."
The old miner nodded in agreement, his voice trembling.
"Yes, sir. Those mines have completely dried up; even rats won't venture deep into them."
Lorraine listened without saying a word.
The "Witch's Codex" in his mind was emitting a faint light.
A clear geological structure map appeared before his eyes.
Beneath those so-called "depleted" mines, separated by a thick layer of rock, lies a vast, pitch-black mineral vein.
That was a deep coal mine with astonishing reserves, enough to keep Frostwolf City burning for hundreds of years.
Lorraine pulled out a document that had been prepared beforehand from under the desk.
It was a thick stack of parchment, with a line of text written in neat handwriting on the cover:
Technical Analysis and Plan for Deep Mineral Development and Mining in the Depleted Coal Mine of Frostwolf City
Lorraine tossed it casually, and the parchment flew through the air in an arc before landing precisely in front of the overseer.
"Take a look at this."
The foreman picked up the report with a puzzled look and opened it with trembling hands.
He initially thought it was just some whimsical idea of the lord, but when he saw the first page of the blueprints, his eyes suddenly popped out.
It was an extremely precise mechanical structure diagram.
"Steam Magic Pressure Drill Rig - Magic Vertical Elevator - Tunnel Reinforcement Support Structure -"
The foreman muttered to himself, his breathing becoming increasingly rapid.
Although he was a rough man, he had spent thirty years in the mines and could see the ingenuity of these designs at a glance.
Moreover, in order to make the plan understandable to these miners, Lorraine specifically had the Witch's Codex generate it in simple and easy-to-understand language.
"Can these machines really be built?"
The foreman looked up, his eyes filled with shock.
Lorraine said calmly.
"I will have Ohm provide you with these devices; her all-purpose mechanical repair shop has already started construction."
"You just need to tell me, is the plan in this report feasible?"
The foreman stared intently at the geological projection map on the report, his hands trembling violently with excitement.
"If we have these machines, if there really is a mine down there—"
"My lord, these machines you have proposed are creations that only a god could have made!"
But he quickly calmed down, a hint of doubt in his eyes.
"But sir, even if we master the technology to dig deeper, how can you be sure that there are mineral veins deep inside?"
"What if we break through the rock layer, only to find another layer of rock underneath?"
Lorraine smiled slightly, her eyes filled with confidence.
"If I say it exists, then it must exist."
"What you need to do now is not to question it, but to immediately train those veteran miners according to this report."
"The techniques for mining deep ore and mining surface ore are completely different. Pressure, ventilation, support, each one needs to be relearned."
Lorraine extended a finger and tapped the table.
"The snowstorm is coming in a week. Although training you in advanced mining techniques will take time, I don't have time to let you work out slowly."
"Three days."
"Within these three days, you need to select some of the best and most capable miners to learn this new technology, and then immediately send them down the mine."
"I will send some engineering puppets to supervise the area to ensure that no accidents occur at the mine."
"Yes, sir!"
The foreman, carrying the weighty report, left the hall with the old miner, turning back to look at him every step of the way.
Olivia stood to the side, watching their departing figures with a complex expression.
"My lord, do you really think they can do it?"
"That's a deep coal mine, something no one had ever tried before, and then we dug even deeper."
Lorraine stood up and walked to the window.
"In this era, what is considered 'impossible' is often simply due to insufficient technology."
"With the right tools and methods, even black gold from the deepest parts of the earth can be harnessed by human power."
Over the next three days, the mines in the southern part of Frostwolf City underwent a dramatic transformation.
Dozens of steam-powered freight cars loaded with heavy metal components drove out of the industrial area of Babel.
Ohm personally led the team, directing a horde of engineering golems to erect a towering steel frame at the entrance of the abandoned mine shaft.
The enormous gears and connecting rods roared heavily as they were propelled by the steam.
The miners gathered around the overseer, listening to him explain terms they had never heard of before.
"Listen up! Stop using your damn pickaxes to hack at the rocks!"
The overseer waved the parchment in his hand and yelled at a group of old miners.
"See that drill bit? It was personally crafted by the Witch of a Thousand Machines; it can drill through the hardest granite!"
"What we need to do is operate these giant machines and extract the black gold from underground!"
The old miners looked at the machines, which gleamed with a cold metallic luster, with disbelief.
In their minds, mining is all about sweating, wielding pickaxes, and carrying baskets.
Now, everything has become strange and eerie.
On the first day, under Ohm's guidance, they learned how to connect the magic conduits.
The next day, they mastered the operating levers of the steam drill.
On the third day, the foreman led the first batch of the most elite miners, who had passed the emergency training, onto the elevator platform heading deep into the mine.
Upon reaching the depths of the tunnel, the overseer stared intently at a rock wall that had been marked in red beforehand.
That was the coordinate given by Lord Lorraine, the newly appointed Earl, who claimed that beneath this depleted coal mine lay a deeper mining area.
He didn't know whether he should trust Lorraine, but no one in the entire mine dared to disobey the Count's orders.
Now, all they can hope for is that the Earl wasn't blindly ordering them to dig deeper, but genuinely knew there were deeper veins to mine, which is why he gave them that order.
"Ready to dig!"
The foreman's voice echoed through the empty mine tunnels.
The huge drill bit began to spin, and the ear-piercing metallic scraping sound made people's eardrums ache.
Sparks flew everywhere.
The once indestructible rock strata began to crumble in large sections under the bombardment of the magic drill.
Time passed second by second.
The miners held their breath, staring intently at where the drill bit had gone.
Half a day.
One day.
One and a half days.
Just when everyone's patience was about to run out, and some people even began to whisper that the lord had just randomly chosen a location to torment them.
"Snap!"
A crisp cracking sound rang out.
The resistance of the drill bit disappeared instantly.
A cool breeze carrying a strong earthy and stale smell gushed out from the crack.
The foreman pushed aside the miners blocking his way and was the first to rush forward.
With trembling hands, he pried a dark object out from behind the broken rock layer.
The object gleamed with a captivating, deep black light under the torchlight.
It is free of impurities, extremely hard in texture, yet has an oily sheen.
"black gold--"
The foreman's voice was trembling.
He turned around abruptly and shouted frantically at the miners behind him.
"It's coal! It's top-grade deep coking coal!"
"The reserves are so vast that the bottom is not visible!"
A deafening cheer erupted from the mine shaft.
The old miners stroked the dark ore, tears welling up in their cloudy eyes.
"My lord—my lord is truly a god!"
"How did he know there was so much coal hidden down there?"
The overseer clutched the piece of coal tightly, his admiration for Lorraine reaching its peak.
He had assumed that the lord was merely a nobleman skilled in martial arts and political maneuvering.
But now he realized that Lord Lorraine was practically omniscient.
The report he provided was absolutely perfect, down to the last detail, down to the last coordinate.
The news flew back to the lord's manor as if it had grown wings.
When Olivia saw the baskets of high-quality coking coal being transported back to the city, she was completely stunned.
She picked up a piece of coal and vigorously wiped off the dust.
The quality of this coal is several levels higher than that of the previous surface coal.
"Now, Frostwolf City will not only be able to survive in the White Curtain—"
Olivia muttered to herself, a strange light flickering in her eyes.
"We can even sell the surplus fuel to the lords in the south after the snow season is over."
"They would certainly be willing to spend a lot of money to prepare for the coming winter season and protect against the severe cold."
She turned her head and looked at Lorraine, who was sitting calmly behind her desk drinking tea.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone on Lorraine, gilding his silhouette with a golden hue.
This man always seems to have a trump card that no one can see through.
Lorraine put down his teacup and glanced at the constantly fluctuating data on the secret manual.
The successful mining of coal is just a small step in the process of industrialization.
But this step has completely solidified his rule in Frostwolf City.
"Olivia".
Lorraine spoke softly.
"Lead men to take over coal rationing."
"Tell the civilians in the city that there is nothing to be afraid of in the White Curtain."
"As long as I remain in Frostwolf City, the fire here will never go out."
Olivia bowed slightly.
"As you wish, my lord."
Outside the window, the first snowflake quietly fell.
The curtain is about to fall.
But deep within Frostwolf City, an unprecedentedly scorching power is burning.
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