Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest
Chapter 121 - 25: Nothing at All

Chapter 121: Chapter 25: Nothing at All

Iron and coal mining required manpower.

The size of the army also needed to increase.

Roman’s demand for steel wasn’t enormous in the early stage; he only needed enough to equip five or six hundred men.

He had calculated that each Heavy Shield Warrior would need about 50 pounds of steel, while the remaining warriors would need approximately 20 pounds of iron each.

That amounted to roughly 6 to 10 tons in total.

Every industry’s output was linked to manpower.

Roman divided the paving team.

He first selected a group of laborers with decent physiques to assist with Forging at the ironworks.

people followed the construction crew to build the Breeding farm.

And 600 people joined him in coal Mining and Coke Refining.

With a Coking Furnace and a blast furnace, it wasn’t an exaggeration for Roman to complete a 6-ton steel output within a month—but what he got was only pig iron.

Difference from a blast furnace, a smelting furnace would melt away the slag in iron ore to produce sponge iron.

Whereas a blast furnace would melt down the entire block of iron ore into molten iron.

Once the molten iron had solidified, it became pig iron with high carbon content; its texture was brittle, not suitable for forging—only fit for casting. It was qualified for casting farming tools.

But to obtain forge-able steel required stirring steel—by adding other minerals during the liquification of pig iron and stirring, the resulting steel would be forge-able.

After several failures, Roman found the right formula.

This was a dangerous job.

Roman didn’t demand an increase in output, nor could he; that molten iron was no joke—it was normal to lose a few lives.

Therefore, they could only produce four or five hundred pounds of steel each day—roughly equivalent to half an adult’s volume.

If converted to iron ingots, that equaled a daily income of 10 Gold Coins.

Roman had no specific expectations or demands for the steel output.

All he knew was that this overwhelming quantity of steel could bring all Kingdoms, Nobles, and Church in this land to their knees before him.

...

Dragon Castle.

"Sir, Makor Fury is waiting for you in the council hall."

He woke up from his deep sleep, emitting a repressed and husky voice, "What time is it now?"

"You are about to have lunch."

The diligent servant drew back the curtains, and splendid sunlight, neither too glaring nor too hot, shot through the blinds.

A beautiful Maid took the meal tray brought by the servant, ladled out sparkling and translucent Ice wine with a golden spoon, and brought it to his lips to drink.

Every time he woke up, he would say he was thirsty, so they prepared his waking meal.

The wine was a delicacy from the Cangyue Kingdom, the cream pudding was concocted by a chef from the Free City, and the caviar came from the distant Ice Island. It was still fresh when it arrived in the Duke Domain, the chefs carefully extracted the full and lustrous roe from the sturgeon’s belly, resembling black Gold.

He didn’t spend a penny on these foods—they were offerings from merchants and Nobles who admired him.

The rest of the Maids attended to his excretory needs after getting up.

After the elaborate waking rituals were over, ten bald attendants entered one after another. They approached the bed, pulled out the sedan poles below, and lifted both the bed board and their master.

The archway was exceptionally spacious, allowing them to pass through side by side.

The Riptide Grand Duke entered the council hall.

The long-waiting Makor Fury immediately stood up.

He was in his early thirties, at the prime of his life, with messy deep-blue hair like seaweed, and a face like a sculpture eroded by seawater, with deep-set features and rough skin, his eyes sunken, his nose hawkish and sharp, like a rock jutting out abruptly from a cliff.

His eyes were black and blue, sinister and profound, suggestive of turbulent tides in the black of night.

"Grand Duke! The Son of the Rage Tide salutes you!"

Makor knelt on one knee.

"Pine didn’t come?"

Makor bowed his head and said, "My father is occupied, as you know. A Duke of the Black Iron Land can’t show himself lightly. Otherwise, everyone would tremble... Please forgive my father’s concerns."

The Riptide Grand Duke wistfully said, "The last time I saw you, you weren’t as tall as your father when he left. I wonder how Pine is now."

"...He will come to see you, at the latest by next year, to discuss some matters personally," Makor said ambiguously.

"Is that so?" smiled the Riptide Grand Duke. "Stand up, child. What does Pine want to discuss with me?"

Makor stood up; he was clad in armor on one side, his armor shimmering with a dark blue luster, and his white cape was rather conspicuous.

"War!! As you know, the order of the Conquerors is about to face an unprecedented collapse. It’s time to make those thugs pay!"

A wave seemed to rise in Makor’s sinister, profound eyes.

The Riptide Grand Duke wished he could be the spirited Makor at this moment.

"The order of the Conquerors... What does the Black Iron King say?"

He looked down and said, "The Black Iron King has decreed the matter to my father. He said the order of the Conquerors is close to collapsing, and we can’t ignore this situation."

"Good, it’s time to teach them a lesson. The King of Ice Island gave me a sparkling Ice Diamond three years ago. He said it was worth a fortune and had an Axe Guard escort it, but they encountered pirates at sea. They’re called ’Face Ripper’, correct? Those pirates stole it, and I haven’t even seen what it looks like..."

Makor replied respectfully, "I will pay special attention to it! When the time comes, I will offer the Ice Diamond to you with both hands."

"Very well! The Riptide Family will fully cooperate. What do you need?"

"We need a large supply of provisions, without your collaboration, Fury’s army will struggle to mobilize for a four-sided attack!"

"Five thousand tons of grain..." the Riptide Grand Duke said.

In Makor’s sinister eyes flowed the Fury Family Bloodline, those eyes were deep and terrifying.