Chapter 287: The Western Depot and the Guilds

"My King, does this organization, or rather, this institution, have a name? I need a banner to recruit men!" Just as he was about to leave, Andemuge suddenly turned back and said to Sinuoli.

"A name?" Sinuoli frowned. Names like CIA, KGB, Gestapo, MI5, and so on immediately surfaced in his mind, but suddenly a sense of mischievous humor welled up in his heart.

"How about Western Depot? Let's just call it the Western Depot."

"Western Depot? What does that mean?" Andemuge looked puzzled.

"It's named after the fact that your office is located on the west side of the fortress," Sinuoli smirked. "Besides, I think it sounds quite mysterious, don't you?"

The young Ranger nodded thoughtfully. After Sinuoli mentioned it, he also felt that for a secret surveillance agency, a name that was simple and crisp, yet left outsiders clueless, was a matter of great artistic conception.

"Let me give you a slogan as well: 'Execute first, report later; authorized by the royal power.' That is the Western Depot!" When dealing with Chaos cultists, one certainly cannot afford to slowly request instructions and report back; the power to execute first and report later is essential.

Andemuge, of course, did not know the story of *Dragon Inn*, but he murmured this declaration, which was full of spirit, and left with high hopes for the future.

"Next, it is time to wait for the harvest." Sinuoli muttered as he leaned back in his chair, and he began to study the knowledge in his mind.

Not long after, the Archmage of Liming Fortress sent over the two treasures provided by Teclis; it seemed that even for a Chief Archmage, bending the rules for personal gain required some procedures.

The buffs from the Zhihui Huangguan made Sinuoli feel clear-headed and more focused. In the blink of an eye, several months passed, and a telegraph operator interrupted Sinuoli's thoughts with a document.

"My King, a telegram from Jiliuguan!"

"I hope it's good news!" Sinuoli shook his head. His research progress on the Earth Vein Network was not very encouraging; in the original settings, this set of knowledge was not meant to be mastered by beings other than the Slann. If it weren't for the fact that Dwarfs had a good affinity with the earth, he would probably still be completely confused right now.

"The technology for the locomotive has made a breakthrough, choosing Warpstone as fuel—not bad, not bad!"

Sinuoli nodded as he read the telegram. On this point, he had reached a consensus with Buluokesen long ago; Warpstone, a mineral with huge energy density per unit volume, could be utilized by Dwarfs just as it was by the rat-men.

Although it had the huge disadvantage of being unstable, letting it perform only the simplest and most basic task of powering the Steam Engine remained controllable.

"But, why must we use the rats' magic stones?" young Noli asked casually.

"Energy issues. The Southlands don't have many Coal resources, and heaven knows who this bill should be charged to. The cost of transporting Coal from the Old World is too high, and that stuff isn't very safe either."

Sinuoli did not continue. He knew Noli wanted to ask if there was plenty of Warpstone if there was no Coal. But in fact, the Mountain Kingdom did have Warpstone—some were byproducts of mining, and some were spoils of war captured from the rats. These polluting things were all sealed away by the Rune Masters and rarely mentioned to the outside world.

"Fellow countrymen, welcome to the inauguration ceremony of the Nan Shijie Bianyuan Shanmai Rune Smith Guild and the Engineer Guild hall! First, I want to thank all the colleagues who contributed to the construction of the hall and the preparation of the guild!"

As Buluokesen solved the key technical problems and brought a group of official Engineers to Gaoyuanbao, as promised by the Engineer Guild headquarters for establishing a branch, Sinuoli was finally able to promote the local talent cultivation system.

"... The president of the Rune Smith Guild will be held by myself concurrently. As the chosen one of the honored god Thurni and a disciple of Krag Master, I have the perseverance, patience, and determination to devote all my life's learning and ability to carry forward the Rune Craft and pass on the skills I have mastered..."

"... Facing the development of the era and the growing threats from hostile forces, we should realize the urgency and the challenges, and carry forward our initiative and creativity. I hope that everyone here in Kalake-Zuen can raise their sense of crisis and learning consciousness, organically combine traditional technology with emerging technology, develop a new approach with Southlands characteristics, and reach a new level and a new realm..."

"My speech ends here. Next, I invite the branch president of Nan Shijie Bianyuan Shanmai, the youngest Engineering Master of the Mountain Kingdom, Buluokesen, to give a speech. Let's give him a warm welcome!"

In Dwarf society, long-windedness and quoting classics were originally a major feature of a lord's speech. Sinuoli creatively combined the fragmented memories of his past life with current needs, and his unique speaking style won him a large number of supporters.

"Do you have any thoughts or directions for your future studies?"

After the ceremony, Sinuoli sat in the guild hall and looked at the ten young people standing in a row. These little ones had just turned fifty; by Dwarf standards, they were just growing from childhood to adolescence, and they hadn't even grown beards yet!

"None!"

"We listen to your instructions, Master."

These Dwarf youths were all good seedlings selected from small settlements and Empire Dwarf communities. Their hometowns did not have their own Rune Masters, so they traveled thousands of miles to the Southlands to receive training. Precisely because of this, they lacked a systematic understanding of Rune Craft and did not have much knowledge of it.

"If I have the chance, I must go to the Empire Magic Academy to take a look!" Sinuoli pinched the space between his nose and upper lip. If he had to decide himself, he still wanted to follow the path of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, but these little ones had no foundation, so he could only teach them from scratch.

"Then, from now on, attend classes in the morning and review in the afternoon. Once you have a preliminary grasp of Runes, you can go into practical work. Practice makes perfect; repeated practice is also a very good way to improve."

Sinuoli muttered. In the construction of railways and fortresses, certain key nodes needed to be reinforced with Runes. Combining Rune technology with engineering had always been what Jiliuguan was doing, and Sinuoli also planned to promote this set of methods in the Southlands.

Building a railway was a long process, but fortunately, once a section was built, it could be used. Sinuoli decided to start from Red Cloud Mountain; after all, it was the gateway to the Southlands, and relatively speaking, the utilization rate would be higher.

In fulfilling busyness, another year came to an end. What was coming was the year 6949 of the Dwarf calendar, which converted to the year 2426 in the Human calendar.

"Now it can be considered on the right track!" Sitting in his office, Sinuoli reviewed the documents in front of him. The temperature in the Southlands was high all year round; even the winter in the mountains was at most just a bit cool. Without seeing the heavy snow of Everpeak, Sinuoli felt that this year had passed somewhat unrealistically.