Extreme Cold Era: Shelter Don't Keep Waste
Chapter 133 The Artistic Solution

Chapter 133: Chapter 133 The Artistic Solution

Excavating frozen earth during winter is truly not an easy task.

Although the temperature in the Northern Territory hasn’t dropped that low yet, and the soil hasn’t hardened to the toughness of iron, with this heavy snowfall, excavating is still by no means easy.

In fact, even coal mining has started to become increasingly difficult. Although coal seams aren’t as frozen solid as the ground, miners still have to expend more physical effort to extract it.

If it weren’t for this sudden snowfall, in a while, the coal mine managers would have to report to Perfikot about the declining mining yield due to weather conditions.

So, digging a shallow mine shaft to avoid the impacts of snow and seasonal changes is quite necessary.

However, how to excavate the mine shaft is a common dilemma for everyone.

Relying solely on human labor for digging? Then the miners at the site won’t have to do anything else for this entire winter, which will undoubtedly greatly affect the coal supply to the Eagle’s Beak Cliff base and the fjord camp.

But using other methods...

When the steam engine was first invented, it was indeed used in coal mines, but only for drainage and not for mining.

Although Perfikot intends to specially design machinery for mining, it’s clear that waiting for her to complete the design, manufacture, and installation will also require time.

As for using the snow-melting potion she previously used on the northern shipping route to thaw the frozen earth, it is indeed possible, but there’s a problem: the potion was developed specifically for snow removal.

It can quickly melt ice and snow, but relying on it to support excavation of a mine shaft would require consuming a large amount of potion, making the cost exorbitant.

Even if Perfikot has the capability to do so, she wouldn’t opt for this solution. It wouldn’t even be as cost-effective as using alchemy to excavate a mine, which, aside from exhausting herself, would incur no additional cost.

So this option was ruled out by Perfikot. Regarding the remaining options, Perfikot would have liked to use more artistic methods, but clearly, in the era of only black powder, expecting to mine with such a thing is overly ambitious.

The reason the dynamite king in the original world studied medicine for angina was to more conveniently mine.

Yet in this world, nobody has discovered that treating glycerin with sulfuric and nitric acids can produce an explosive yellow oily liquid.

So, if Perfikot wants to use this artistic approach, she needs to return to the laboratory for related research.

However, this is already not a problem for Perfikot, the remaining issue is finding someone skilled in blasting to explore how to make it more artistic.

Having settled her thoughts, Perfikot wasn’t as worried, and after inspecting the mines, seeing that conditions were generally good, with no houses collapsed and no miners frozen to death, she felt relieved.

As for the few miners who caught a cold and contracted typhoid, Perfikot wasn’t too concerned and just had them loaded onto the small train to be isolated together at the fjord camp.

Regarding the miners’ frostbite issue, Perfikot only left a maid automaton and enough healing potions for the miners. She instructed them that if any worker’s illness became severe, they should be sent to the fjord camp.

Perfikot also reminded those miners using coal blocks for heating indoors to open windows for ventilation to avoid the risk of carbon dioxide poisoning.

After saying all this, Perfikot boarded the small train and returned to the Eagle’s Beak Cliff camp.

Returning to the camp, Perfikot did not rest but went straight to the laboratory to summon the assistants working there.

"I have an experiment task that needs someone to complete it. Courage, meticulousness, and steady hands are required, as there is a certain risk involved, so everything is entirely voluntary," Perfikot stated her requirements to the group of assistants, hoping they would volunteer.

Originally, this task could be handed to the maid automaton, but all twenty maid automatons had been dispatched by Perfikot, leaving her only able to use these assistants.

However, considering that these assistants are alchemists, Perfikot believed they could provide more than the maid automatons.

Soon, a young man raised his hand, standing in front of Perfikot: "Count, I’d like to try! I have the technician qualification from the Royal Alchemist’s Society, graduated from the Royal Langton University Alchemy Department. I heard of your name; you nearly became my professor. It’s an honor to learn from you!"

The young man was very composed and graceful, expressing admiration for Perfikot without seeming overly enthusiastic or sycophantic.

Others seemed to want to take on the task too, but Perfikot seemed to find this young man agreeable, so she pointed at him and asked, "What’s your name?"

"Alfred Nobel, you can call me Al," the young man replied.

"Alright, Al, I need you to treat glycerin with nitric acid and sulfuric acid to produce a yellow oily liquid," Perfikot instructed Alfred, explaining the danger: "This liquid will explode upon vibration or severe impact, making the manufacturing process extremely hazardous. I need you to operate with great care.

To avoid accidents, I can only arrange a separate room for you outside the lab. Can you do it?"

"If it’s just these, I have no issues!" Al was evidently excited to be able to serve Perfikot and agreed quickly.

Perfikot nodded in satisfaction and said, "In that case, I’ll leave this matter to you. If you do well, this project can be handed over to you. I hope you can deliver satisfactory results."

After speaking, Perfikot glanced at the others who seemed envious of Al, then suggested, "Considering you might find it hard to manage alone, you can select an assistant to help you."

No sooner had Perfikot finished her words than Al sensed a change in the way others looked at him.

From envy to politeness, or jealousy, all were present, making him feel a bit bewildered. Ultimately, he chose another assistant with whom he usually had the best relationship to assist him.

Seeing this, Perfikot said no more but nodded, assigning him a corner room in the base as the experimental site, and wrote a note allowing Al to obtain materials from the laboratory’s storage.

Then she returned to the bedroom above the lab; after the labors of the day, she was indeed exhausted and needed sleep to recover her energy.