Chapter 213 — What Cecil Territory Can Sell

The workers and alchemy apprentices were making a final inspection and adjustment of the reaction vessel, confirming the seal of every connecting pipe and testing the operation of every rune array, to ensure that this vessel—whose scale far exceeded any conventional alchemy table—would not suffer a fatal accident once officially put into operation. Its most important part, the central reaction cauldron, was being inspected by Pi Yun himself.

As the part subjected to the highest pressure in the entire system, this unassuming metal vessel could well be called the crystallization of Cecil Territory's cutting-edge technology. It had been shaped personally by Nicolaus Egg, with elemental runes for corrosion resistance and high temperature and pressure inscribed within; at the same time, under Gao Song's guidance, Nicolaus Egg had also designed for it the first mechanical pressure gauge in history—using a segment of elastic metal tubing as the sensitive element, and relying on gears and linkages to drive a needle that displayed the data. Its precision was not high, but it was passable.

In Gao Yang's view, the principle of the pressure gauge was not complex, and with Cecil Territory's current machining technology it was entirely achievable; the difficulty lay in standardizing the pressure scale. Fortunately, this world with its wondrous physical laws at least had a reasonable "atmospheric pressure." Gao Yang and the Ironstar folk had struggled for a long time before measuring the local standard value of atmospheric pressure, and using it as the standard they had established a series of pressure and stress standards, then engraved the scale values relative to atmospheric pressure onto the gauge's dial. In a world where no standard parameters of any kind yet existed, Gao Yang, with a clear conscience, acted as the formulator of a series of standards, and prepared to apply these standards of his to every field developed from then on.

And besides the advanced measuring devices, the precise pipe connections, and the high-strength tank body, this equipment had another special feature: it no longer used open flame as the heat source for heating the medicinal liquid, but instead used fire elemental runes inscribed on the bottom of the reaction vessel for direct heating. Most druid potions did not require the high temperatures needed for smelting metal; fire elemental runes could fully serve to heat the tank body, and compared with the open-flame devices on an alchemy table, the heat from these elemental runes was more stable and more controllable.

At last, the final inspection was complete. Pi Yun left the inspection area of the reaction vessel, and an alchemy and herb apprentice who looked no more than twenty-some years old stepped forward—he was the alchemy factory manager Pi Yun had selected. One could tell the young man was still somewhat nervous, but he nonetheless started up the various parts of the reaction vessel according to the most standard procedure. As the pre-prepared materials were injected into the feed port, the magic runes throughout this "large-scale alchemy device" began to charge gradually. Gao Yang could feel the flow of magic; under the action of the inverter array, the raw natural magic activated those ancient divine-art runes, and everything began to operate naturally of its own accord.

Unlike the roaring commotion when the first mana engine started up, the reaction tank before them would not produce much noise even at full power. Although there were operating mechanisms around it such as stirring devices and pump devices, the original mana engine, after several optimizations, no longer produced such astonishing noise, and the mechanical devices used on this reaction vessel were all "small machines" with less commotion; when working, it could be called quite "quiet."

As for the large vessel at the very center, it was even quieter: there were no mechanical operating components inside it at all.

Rebecca watched a group of alchemists and workers bustling among those tanks, every face still bearing an expression of nervousness and excitement, and felt slightly disappointed: "Ah... I thought starting up the new machine would make a bigger commotion..."

"If this thing made a big commotion, it wouldn't be far from exploding," Gao Yang glanced at the Ironhead girl, then looked toward Pi Yun and nodded slightly. "Congratulations—your inverter array and divine-art array are running perfectly."

The wrinkles on Pi Yun's face had long since piled into a flower. This little old man, whose hobby in his spare time was peddling ointments and telling fortunes, now wore a smile from the bottom of his heart: "Yes, yes... the path is right, the path is right..."

Amber stared in surprise at that pile of complex metal pipes and reaction tanks, and could not help asking: "Such a big setup... how many potions does this produce every day? Say, old man, what's this set of tanks for?"

Pi Yun was clearly in a very good mood now, and did not even take issue with Amber calling him "old man" directly. Stroking his beard, he said with a face full of pride: "Reaction Tank No. 1 produces the druids' signature 'Rejuvenation Potion,' that is, healing agents. Farm work is suspended in winter, so no agricultural potions are needed for the time being, but there is a great deal of construction work in winter, and the territory's injury and illness reports are numerous every day—these potions will come in handy. As for output... now that we have a supply of raw materials from Kant Territory, with no shortage of materials, the potions this thing produces in a day are enough for a week's consumption in the territory—and that's a conservative estimate..."

Amber's eyes went wide: "A day's production is a week's supply?! Then it won't be long before you've filled every warehouse in the territory! What are you going to do with such a huge output?"

Gao Yang glanced at the half-elf: "Sell it."

"Sell..." Amber clearly had not expected this. It was not that her thinking was narrow, but that Cecil Territory had all along been in a state of pioneering and construction, where basically every kind of material was insufficient and there was only ever purchasing, never selling; a production surplus offered for sale was an unprecedented first. Her mind felt a little dull, and even her question came out subconsciously: "Sell to whom?"

"The first market confirmed is Kant Territory," Gao Yang said.

Amber had just nodded when she reacted: "Wait! Aren't the raw materials for these potions bought from Kant Territory?"

"Yes."

"And then you chop them up, mince and stir them, toss them into a tank for a boil, and sell them right back to Kant Territory at alchemy potion prices?"

"...That is indeed how the process goes."

"Good heavens! You can do that?!" Amber was dumbstruck, and even as a thief with thoroughly crooked morals she now felt enormous discomfort. "Didn't you say you were going to run and build Kant Territory as if it were your own, and treat the Kantish as you would Cecil's own people... Say, did you regret leaving the property Viscount Kant left you back in that castle? But even so, you don't need such a vicious trick—just hand it to me, and in the time it takes to buy groceries twice I'll haul it all back for you..."