Evil dragon has a warm heart

Chapter 55 - 55 55 Add a Set of Drive Shafts

?Chapter 55: Chapter 55 Add a Set of Drive Shafts Chapter 55: Chapter 55 Add a Set of Drive Shafts The host species for the second Glowing Mushroom Bug fungus was swiftly selected—a thick birch tree not far from the one with the first fungus.

Given that Wuyao Snake Manor currently had no more forests to convert into new Fluorescent Fungus Magic Medicine Fields, the only option was to let the influence of the two fungi overlap, thereby increasing the production speed and scale of the Glowing Mushrooms in the birch forest.

“We need to promptly establish a new birch forest across the river,” Russell issued the highest directive.

Charles, Hans, and others were following right beside him, nodding hurriedly, indicating that everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

Indeed.

Russell could see across the river, where a large group of serfs, under the leadership of their overseer, was meticulously planting cut birch branches into the riverbank.

Birch trees can be grown from seeds or propagated from branch cuttings.

These branch cuttings had been personally inspected by Phantom Beast Knight Eric, selected for their ability to generate magic power.

After the birch trees were impregnated with the fungus, the influence of the fungus was constantly at work, gradually transforming the birch forest by infecting ordinary trees with magic power, enabling them to draw magic power from the earth and thus nourish the wood itself.

However, many birch trees had grown for years, and the infection would take a long time, possibly ten to twenty years to fully mature.

But once the cut branches endowed with magic power took root and sprouted, they would quickly grow into magic-infused birch trees, bypassing the need for the infection process.

By the time Russell made his way to the other side of the river,
the serfs stopped their work and bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle upon seeing Russell and his entourage.

Russell had abolished the ritual of serfs kneeling whenever they met their lord, changing it to a simple deep bow when they saw the lord for the first time each day. On the second and subsequent encounters, even a bow was not necessary, only a nod with a gaze of respect would suffice.

It was a way to maintain the lord’s authority without interrupting the normal course of work.

For him, kneeling and kowtowing, such base practices, were unnecessary to demonstrate his status as a lord; his status derived from the Fluorescent Fungi Family and the fighting power brought by his fighting qi cultivation.

“Rudi, the overseer of Magic Medicine Tun, greets you, Sir,” said the overseer Rudi, with a red nose, bowing enthusiastically.

“Rudi, keep up the good work, and report to me immediately if there’s any situation in Magic Medicine Tun,” Russell said.

“Yes, Sir,” Rudi replied.

“Hmm,” Russell murmured.

Russell looked at the hardworking serfs and sincerely smiled. This vast land with all its crops, these people working for him, even these people themselves were his private property.

Life as a lord of the manor might be mundane and less colorful than the life on Earth, but it was rich in spiritual fulfillment.

A vast expanse of land for him to do as he pleased.

“Let’s go, Mr. Charles, let’s see how the Windmill Mill is coming along,” Russell said, once again bursting with enthusiasm as he made his way up to the mill on the hillside.

Watching the lord and the knights stride away, the serfs who were quietly planting trees gradually became bolder and began to whisper among themselves.

“The Sir is so diligent, almost every day we see him inspecting his domain,” one of them said.

The overseer serf laughed, “The Sir is young and strong, of course, he must inspect the domain every day, to prevent you old fellows from slacking off.”

Not afraid of the overseer who was also a serf, they jibed back, “You’re no slouch at slacking off yourself. It’s when the Tun Leader isn’t around that you’re the first to laze about.”

“If you old coot say one more word, I’ll whip you with this!”

“Come on, hit me!”

“Enough, all of you, stop the ruckus,” an old and prudent serf advised. “It was not easy to wait for such a generous and kind master. If we don’t farm well and anger the lord, we’ll have to return to our hard lives in the past!”

The serf steward agreed with a nod, “Indeed, a lord willing to provide meals when we serfs labor, that’s truly our good fortune.”

“And now we have the chance to plant magic potions. Better days are yet to come!”

“The Great Dragon is watching over us!”

“May the light bless and hope our lord lives a hundred years, forever in charge of our manor.”

The desires of the serfs were always so simple.

At the same time, Russell had arrived at the construction site of the Windmill Mill. The main structure, built up of stones, was essentially finished, but the mill’s sails, as well as the rotating shaft and grinding plates inside, were still under construction.

The stonemasons were outside, shaping the millstones. The millstones were enormous, carved from huge boulders extracted from Curved Blade Mountain.

Russell had limited knowledge and was not very clear about what kind of rock it was.

In any case, the rock was extremely hard and wear-resistant. The stonemasons had to chisel many times just to smooth off a bit of the edges, and for just this pair of millstones, they would need to work on them for at least half a month.

Inside the mill, carpenters were busy adjusting the timber.

Worm gears, turbines, bearings, connecting rods—the Windmill Mill was much more complicated than Russell had thought.

“Sir, you’ve come at just the right time,” the chief carpenter of the Windmill Mill, who was also the chief designer—a serf technician from Fluorescent Castle (the term ‘serf technician’ refers to any serf with a technical skill, with magic potion cultivation considered a skill, as is carpentry)—greeted him.

“What’s the matter?”

“We’ve done some on-site measurements, and it turns out that the wind speed around Alfalfa Hamlet might be a bit low on average, so we need to design an additional set of transmission shafts to get the millstones moving,” the chief carpenter explained. “But adding an extra set of transmission shafts will demand too much from the timber.”

“So these timbers can’t be used, can they?” Russell frowned.

“Not for the key parts, the strength of the wood is not enough.” The chief carpenter took out a piece of draft paper with crudely drawn diagrams on it. “Sir, as you can see, these parts cannot be made of wood; they need to be replaced with metal ceramics.”

Russell glanced over it; the parts that required metal ceramics weren’t numerous.

But this would certainly exceed the budget.

“I’m sorry, Sir. We didn’t anticipate this earlier. The wind power in Alfalfa Hamlet turns out to be a bit lacking.” Charles quickly self-criticized while simultaneously shifting the blame, “It’s also because these carpenters and stonemasons were too coarse in their work. They built it to ensure that the windmill could turn, and now they say it can’t.”

“Uh, Lord Charles, we never said the windmill couldn’t turn. It’s just that the windmill’s power would be a bit weak. To ensure normal operation, we’ll need to add another transmission shaft,” the chief carpenter interjected.

“Alright,” Russell waved his hand dismissively. “A trivial matter is not worth arguing about. Now you tell me, if we add this transmission shaft, will the Windmill Mill operate normally, yes or no?”

“Yes, Sir. I guarantee it.”

“Then, Mr. Charles, according to the chief carpenter’s needs, go purchase metal ceramic parts from Fluorescent Castle,” Russell decided.

After making his decision, he then turned to the chief carpenter and said, “Once the parts are bought, if everything about the Windmill Mill is normal, then all is well. But if there are still problems with the design, I’ll have to hold you accountable, and I’ll be asking Fluorescent Castle what kind of technicians they’ve been nurturing.”

His tone was mild, but to the chief carpenter, it carried immense pressure: “I assure you, Sir, there won’t be any more issues.”

“Very well, I look forward to the good news about the completion of the Windmill Mill.”