Evil dragon has a warm heart
Chapter 402 - 402 401 Black Oil

Chapter 402: Chapter 401 Black Oil Chapter 402: Chapter 401 Black Oil The ice age had not yet ended, and the Blackflame Plains were still covered by a layer of ice and snow, but there were already people clearing the land.

On the plains to the northwest, over a hundred serfs were exploring black oil veins under the leadership of a group of knights. Veins nurtured by bipedal flying dragons were mostly shallow, so there was no need for drilling, making them easy to mine.

A few riders came to the mining team in progress.

“Lord Russell.” The leading knight quickly came forward to salute Russell and then, seeing Rolin beside him, exclaimed in surprise, “Ah, Miss Rolin, you… how come you are here, is this Sir Cooper?”

“Hey Quinn, nice to see you.” Rolin greeted casually and then noticed a dark large scorpion crawling on Quinn’s shoulder, “Hey, Quinn, have you contracted a Gloomy Light Black Scorpion, are you now a Phantom Beast Knight too?”

Quinn immediately replied, “Sir trusted me with the opportunity to contract Blake. Now, I have been appointed as the Mining Team Knight Commander, in charge of extracting black oil for Sir and Lord Russell.”

“Good for you, congratulations.” Rolin smiled. “Under the dragon’s watch, I always knew that you, Quinn, would definitely earn my father’s trust.”

Quinn was a Great Knight of the Fluorescent Fungi Family.

Not long ago, he successfully contracted the Gloomy Light Black Scorpion and was promoted to Phantom Beast Knight, then was sent by Baron Roman to mine black oil.

Seeing the Gloomy Light Black Scorpion on his shoulder, Russell also smiled.

Initially, because this fellow was too much of a grumbler, allowing Russell to hear its phantom beast whispers from morning till night, even disturbing his sleep, he had no choice but to ask the Saiban Fairy for help, evolving the whisper into the Lucky Whisper.

Throughout the busy year, or soaking on the snowfields, the Lucky Whisper had never been triggered.

After greeting one another,

Russell inquired, “Quinn, how is the black oil mining progressing?”

“Reporting to Lord Russell, we have set up ten oil collection points on the black oil vein, all of which have successfully extracted black oil. Currently, we plan on excavating a Black Oil Lake in the middle part of the vein to leach out the surrounding black oil.”

“Let me see the black oil.”

“Sir, please.”

The group quickly arrived at the oil collection point, where Russell saw the extracted sample of black oil. The pitch-black, viscous liquid, more like paste than a liquid, was jet black and shiny, but it lacked the special odor Russell had imagined.

“Sir, take a look.” Quinn had someone bring over a stick, dipped one end of it in black oil, and set it alight.

In an instant, the stick was engulfed in a roaring flame.

Quinn excitedly said, “Lord Russell, the combustion effect of black oil is far stronger than that of coal. Just a bit of black oil produces a burning effect that matches the temperature in a coal-fired furnace. It can completely replace coal.”

Although the black oil and the petroleum that Russell had imagined seemed different, seeing such an effective combustion result still pleased him.

“Very good, very good,” Russell instructed, “expand the scale of black oil extraction as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, Lord Russell!” Quinn accepted the command.

Seeing this, Rolin teased, “Russell, you’re going to be rich, aren’t you? Black oil is better than coal, and soon everyone will be vying for your black oil… What do you say if we make an initial purchase of black oil for Heiting Castle, maybe with a family discount?”

“Sister, brother-in-law, the value of black oil hasn’t been established yet. We’re not selling,” Russell said with a smile.

“What other value could it have?”

In Rolin’s view, since black oil had a higher combustion strength than coal, its value as a combustible “metal” could be priced in comparison to coal.

Russell smiled slightly, “The value needs to be unearthed slowly.”

He already had a complete set of ideas in mind, and had even devised a strategy when he chose the Black Oil Dragon.

The black oil was clearly different from the petroleum on Earth.

It was a magic-induced substance, nurtured by the bipedal flying dragon, rather than related to the geological changes over billions of years, as with petroleum.

But generally speaking, in a world with extraordinary powers, it was still composed of material substances.

Black oil and petroleum might share some similarities. On Earth, petroleum can be used to produce numerous chemical products, and it’s possible that the same can’t be said for black oil. Thus, he planned to attempt to establish a chemical engineering system targeting black oil.

Producing clothes, plastics, rubber and the like with black oil might be technologically challenging, something beyond Russell’s ability to achieve.

But at the very least, he would try refining and breaking down black oil to see if he could obtain products like kerosene, gasoline, diesel, lubricating oil, and asphalt.

If he truly couldn’t develop any products and could only use black oil as fuel, then he would still need to study how to ensure black oil burned thoroughly to maximize its effectiveness. For example, what kind of furnaces were suitable for black oil, or how to solidify it for easy transport and burning.

Later, he would invite a group of scholars to Blackflame Plains to personally study and utilize the development of black oil.

He would also create several brick and ceramics kilns nearby to explore the use of black oil.

At that time, with Glowing Valley providing clay residue, they could continuously fire residue bricks to build castles and urban towns with them.

After watching the burning of the black oil for a while, Rolin found it boring, “Russell, let’s go have a look at Leize.”

“Leize won’t do.”

“Why not?”

“You can tell by the name Leize—it’s a vast swamp. Right now, the melting snow can’t be drained away, making it impossible to traverse,” Russell explained. He didn’t care as he could fly, but Rolin and Cooper could not.

Thus, he couldn’t take his sister and brother-in-law on a tour of Leize.

However, in the end, they still went to the edge of Leize and stood on the fragmented ice cap, gazing at the watery expanse of Leize from a distance.

“Such a huge area is a swamp; Russell, how do you plan to develop this?” Rolin inquired.

“We’ll have to see when the warm season arrives. If the water really can’t be drained, I’ll dig a large lake in the low-lying areas to hold the water,” Russell said. “Fire Ant Swamp became a fertile land by digging Swan Lake. I can do the same.”

Moreover, he wouldn’t need to expend much manpower.

By casting Dragon Breath Starburst at a low-lying spot, using dragon breath as a kind of explosive, he could blast out a large lake.

Of course.

He and the Black Oil Dragon Ross had ascended to their positions recently and were still exploring their training, having not yet learned the Dragon Breath Starburst.

Cooper suddenly said, “Russell, I think it might not be necessary to dig a large lake. After the resonance of the three territories, when the snowfield melts, the range of Leize will expand further. By then, the water in Leize might be able to find its way out.”

Russell nodded, “If that’s the case, it would be for the best.”

With no scenery worth seeing, they wandered around the periphery of Leize for a while and then left. They traveled quickly and arrived at Wuyao Snake Manor after nightfall.

Thus, the Rolin Cooper couple could only stay the night at Cigar Courtyard.

“Having grown accustomed to the delicacies in the castle, come taste the food from my small courtyard,” Russell specifically instructed the kitchen to prepare their best dishes.

Secret Ginger Onion Fresh Fish Soup, Secret Style Sweet and Sour Pork Back Rib, Secret Technique Yellow Braised Chicken Rice, Secret Recipe Marinated Tofu, Secret…

“By the Dragon’s gaze!” Rolin frowned and tasted the dishes only perfunctorily, “Russell, do you eat these foods every day?”

“Don’t they suit your tastes, sister, brother-in-law?” Russell feasted with great relish.

Rolin glanced at Cooper. Cooper also happened to look up; the couple exchanged looks and then shook their heads simultaneously.

Rolin even exaggeratedly said, “It’s hard to imagine what kind of ordeal you’ve been through to develop a taste for such food!”

“Alright, alright, I won’t trouble you any further,” Russell said with a chuckling shake of his head.

Once a person’s culinary preferences are established, they become deep-rooted and hard to change. Just as he would always favor the cuisine of his Earthly home and not the local dishes of Dragon Sleep Continent.

He then turned to Butler Morris and said, “Let the kitchen serve some ordinary dishes instead.”