Chapter 1070

This was also within the expectations of the dark elf perched on the tree trunk last night; in the morning, she had come by once, hidden among the trees, and watched Lin Cheng and the others depart.

As always, nothing out of the ordinary.

It was just that the mechanical wolf Lin Cheng took out made the dark elf slightly stunned and nostalgic. The mechanical servant last night had already surprised her, and now the mechanical wolf astonished her even more. Had human alchemy really developed to such a level?

She herself was a half-baked alchemist; to be precise, every elf knew a bit of alchemy, so the moment she arrived, she could tell the mechanical wolf was a metal product—she simply didn't know the specific method of making it.

Once upon a time, at the pinnacle of the elves' alchemy craft, there were the elven warships! The unrivaled rulers of the continent's skies, who could even contest the dragons for the title of overlord of the heavens. Now the elven race had fallen into decline, forced to hide in the various dense forests of the continent just to survive, laughably fighting magical beasts for a foothold.

This time, no longer seeking to be the continent's overlord—just hoping the elves could unite as one and leave a piece of land that truly belonged to the elves for their many elven subjects.

That was the recent moonless night, when they had easily repelled the magical beast army. For the next two days, the whole city drank and ate magical beast meat. For the soldiers of Yongjicheng, the moon-eclipse night was nothing more than the magical beasts willingly adding a meal for them.

After waiting nearly an hour, it was finally Lin Cheng and Miss Qianhui's turn.

"Where are you two from? What do you do? And what is this…?" The inspecting guard captain in charge kicked the mechanical wolf, feeling a slight pain, and discovered it was as hard as metal—not a tamed magical beast at all, but rather an alchemical product.

"We come from Black Stone City. I suppose I'd count as a blacksmith, I know a little alchemy. This is my masterpiece, the mechanical wolf—it can be used for transport, and it's very fast. This is my traveling companion, she'd count as a mercenary." Lin Cheng briefly introduced himself and Miss Qianhui.

On the continent, the term "mechanism art" wasn't in common use; for the common people of the continent, alchemy and alchemical products were far easier to accept.

"Can't tell, but you this blacksmith do have some skill, huh? This mechanical wolf looks pretty good—can it fight?" Hearing Lin Cheng say he was a blacksmith who knew alchemy, the inspecting guard captain took him more seriously and began carefully examining the mechanical wolf.

He touched here, touched there, occasionally knocking on the mechanical wolf, and discovered it wasn't hollow inside… He thought to himself, this must be a capable blacksmith.

As for Miss Qianhui beside them, she was simply ignored. Mercenaries—he had seen plenty of them long ago; this one was nothing more than a female mercenary.

Even if this pretty female mercenary had some relationship with this blacksmith, he didn't want to know.

"Fine, you've passed. Someone come escort them to the armory."

"Hmm?"

Lin Cheng felt something was off just listening.

"Wait, officer, that doesn't seem right. We're just entering the city, not here to join the army." The first half of the sentence sounded fairly normal, but the second half made both Lin Cheng and Miss Qianhui feel something was off at the same time—why did that sound so much like going off to be a soldier?

He still wanted to be a blacksmith.

"I know. Recently the legion commander issued an order… to gather all capable blacksmiths in the city and send them to the armory to repair and maintain the weapons. You, as an outside blacksmith, are temporarily conscripted on account of your mechanical wolf. As for your companion, she will go with you. Food and lodging will be handled directly by Commander Jue himself, and the treatment will absolutely not be poor."

"Ah, this… can I refuse?"

Lin Cheng's heart was refusing.

"Of course not!" The inspecting captain refused coldly.

"This is an order from the legion commander—no one can refuse!"

"…Fine." Lin Cheng could only agree.

"Someone come, take them to the armory, and tell General Ji Xia that this blacksmith is quite capable—he can be entrusted with some difficult problems."

"Yes!"

The soldier obeyed and led the way. Lin Cheng and Miss Qianhui exchanged a glance, could only remount the mechanical wolf, and followed the other party to set out.

Although the other party was only this one soldier, within Yongjicheng they didn't dare act recklessly—any rash move would likely get them wanted and hunted down by the whole city.

"What do we do now? We only came to spend the night; we still have to hit the road tomorrow morning."

Miss Qianhui suddenly felt that the lord of Yongjicheng—how could he issue such a rude order, not even letting outside craftsmen like Lin Cheng off the hook.

(Zhao's)

"Not a big problem—as long as we finish the repairs quickly, won't that do?" Lin Cheng, on the other hand, felt the problem wasn't big. In fact, the order issued by the lord of Yongjicheng certainly extended to outside craftsmen as well, but it didn't forcibly require outside craftsmen to join. It was just that recently some problems had indeed appeared in the armory: the original master craftsmen responsible for the maintenance and repair of the catapults and Master Jianong's cannons had been transferred to other cities by the legion commander, so during the last moon-eclipse night, the catapults and Master Jianong's cannons, having been used excessively, were damaged.

It would take at least another month before the master craftsmen returned.

But the legion commander had previously ordered that all the catapults and Master Jianong's cannons be sent to the Boulder Fortress a week later.