Chapter 110: The Blacksmith

The players' discussions eventually settled on development; arguing fiercely was useless. Players needed Steel, and even if they weren't selling it externally, they needed farming tools first.

The farming tools Andrew distributed in Tana City were completely unsuitable for cultivation. Veteran players had complained that the tools at the Nongzhuang were difficult to use and of very poor quality.

Therefore, the top priority was to obtain suitable tools.

The farmers who logged back in, besides clearing wasteland, all began to head up the mountain to fell trees; even some veteran players joined in.

Because the Steel Plant's purchase price for timber was not low. Of course, they did not accept trees as thick as an embrace, and the players couldn't manage such thick trees anyway; transportation was a major issue, so most of what was purchased were poplar trees around thirty years old that grew relatively quickly.

It took about five or six players to transport one tree to the smelting area. Even for the closest trees, it took a full two hours from felling to transport for a single tree.

Fortunately, there were over three hundred players willing to participate in this activity, and they were all new players, so there was no shortage of people for transport.

What was lacking were tools for felling timber.

There were only five axes in the entire Nongzhuang, and the felling speed could not keep up with the players' transport speed at all.

Moreover, the condition of the axes was not very good; after only one morning of felling, two axes were already unusable.

"The edge rolled again. Can we sharpen it more? Someone has already entrusted others on the forum to buy axes, but we have to wait a while." Over forty players were already waiting to transport timber, but the felling progress could not keep up with the players' transport speed at all, which made several players feel exhausted.

They were not particularly skilled at felling trees to begin with. Don't look at this work as if it were easy; in reality, it required quite a bit of technique. Conversely, transporting was actually much easier.

Thus, the felling speed became even slower. Now that the speed had finally improved a little, the axes were broken again.

Even leaving a portion at the smelting plant to dry the firewood wouldn't work, because there weren't enough axes, and drying firewood always required axes.

This also showed just how much Tana City needed Steel.

It took at least an hour to get from the city to the foot of the mountain here. It was impossible for the players to hire carriages separately to come over; that would require even more time.

Even if they ran the whole way, they would still have to wait until after lunch, so except for those few players with axes who were still working hard, the remaining players all sat down, preparing to wait for the meal.

"I found quite a few good things." Bencao Gangmu also walked down from the mountain. Usually, he wouldn't dare to go up the mountain alone, because according to the veteran players' popular science, there were many wild beasts in the mountain forest that would truly eat people.

Now that there was a group of players, his courage grew. Anyway, there were enough people for transport and no work to do, so he took two players who planned to be hunters in the future and ran up the mountain together.

The resources on the mountain in Tana City were indeed abundant. Bencao Gangmu found quite a few useful medicinal herbs along the way.

Besides common Chinese medicinal herbs like astragalus and notoginseng, he even found two three-leaf ginseng plants, a large handful of mushrooms, and an entire patch of unmanaged pumpkin fields. It was estimated that some birds had eaten the pumpkin seeds, and thus a patch of pumpkins was produced here...

In short, he and the other two people carried three full baskets down the mountain; it could be said they were packed to the brim.

At this time, players at the foot of the mountain had already started cooking. Andrew had distributed two loaves of bread to each player so they could have enough for lunch and dinner, but there were no vegetables or anything like that; after all, there was usually no one specifically assigned to cook at the Nongzhuang.

But how could the players be content with this?

They had originally prepared some wild vegetables. Tana City was like spring all year round with abundant produce, and wild vegetables could be said to be visible everywhere.

It was just that because the average age of people in Tana City was not high, most people were trapped in the Factory District day after day and simply didn't know the benefits of wild vegetables.

After these wild vegetables were blanched, adding a little salt and pickling them for two days made them taste quite good. The players also didn't let go of the pumpkins Bencao Gangmu had picked.

Bowls of pumpkin porridge were fragrant and overflowing. Dipping bread into it and pairing it with a little pickled wild vegetable, the players' meal was considered quite nutritious.

By the time they were almost finished eating, the new axes were finally delivered.

The person who came to deliver the axes was not a player, but an apprentice from the blacksmith shop named Ruide Huai'en.

He had been studying at the blacksmith shop for sixteen years, but the master did not seem to like him and intended to pass the blacksmith shop on to a younger apprentice.

Of course, Ruide Huai'en did not worry about his livelihood. He had skills and could eat anywhere he went. He could also repair the machines in those factories, so there was no need to worry about life problems at all.

It was just that he still felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, so he used the excuse of delivering goods to come out for some fresh air.

The price of an axe in Tana City was not cheap. An axe could now be sold for 100 Tana Coins, which was definitely a huge sum for commoners. This item was the same price as a weapon, so delivering 10 of them definitely made them a big customer.

"Sir, these should be the axes ordered here, right?" This was the first time Ruide had seen so many people felling trees together. It was imaginable that in a month, they would be able to clear out all the suitable trees nearby.

This place could also be cleared for cultivation soon. According to the rules of Tana City, if one cleared wasteland, one could have priority in purchasing this land.

A player shouted quickly, though Ruide did not understand the language spoken, but he knew these axes could be successfully handed over.

So they were all Xiahui People; no wonder they wanted to clear the wild mountains.

If they lived according to current prices, these outsiders might not even be as well off as those guys in the Factory District.

Because they didn't even know how to operate machines, and besides having slightly sturdier bodies, they had no special advantages.

So if they wanted to find a place to settle down, it was indeed better to clear a place themselves to make a gathering point.

The players didn't know what he was thinking. Zhongshan Laoren took the axes, immediately distributed them, and then said gratefully: "Thank you for delivering these axes. They are exactly what we need, and they look much easier to use than our original ones."

"That is natural; they were all forged by my own hands," Ruide said with a smile. "However, it has been a long time since anyone bought things like axes. Everyone is more willing to buy parts like Nails or Screws to assemble things."

Seeing that the other party was so talkative and also a mature blacksmith, Zhongshan Laoren struck up a conversation with him.

A player also very perceptively served the other party a bowl of pumpkin porridge and offered a piece of white bread to thank him for traveling so far to deliver the axes.

(End of chapter)