Chapter 61: First Hearing of Zhendan

"Yes, Humans have had contact with that empire located in the east of the continent for several hundred years. According to merchants, it is a place overflowing with gold, spices, and silk!"

Discovering that there was finally knowledge Sinuoli did not understand, Buluoke became excited.

"Initially, Tilean merchants opened up the trade route to Cathay; they passed through Black Fire Pass, headed north along the World's Edge Mountains, then crossed the mountain passes to enter the Great Bone Land and pushed further into the far east."

Sinuoli listened, mesmerized; he was full of curiosity and longing for the distant Zhendan.

"The trade route they opened is called the Changya Zhilu, and its terminus is Shangyang, the westernmost pass of Zhendan, said to be ruled by a son of the Dragon Emperor of Zhendan," Buluoke continued to explain.

"Are there Rune Colossus there?" Sinuoli couldn't help but ask.

"No, no, no, don't be impatient. In the north of Zhendan, to defend against the invasions of the empire's northern nomadic peoples and the minions of Chaos, their Dragon Emperor personally built the Changyuan thousands of years ago and infused it with his own magic to guard the northern frontier of the empire."

"A Warhammer version of the Great Wall, then!" Sinuoli thought to himself.

"The Changyuan is guarded by the Dragon Emperor's eldest daughter. According to the merchants' descriptions, the Changyuan is garrisoned with Terracotta Sentinel, a type of tall construct that seems to be driven by technology."

"An enlarged version of the Terracotta Warriors?" Sinuoli blurted out, but clearly, Buluoke did not understand this phrase.

"We infer from the merchants' descriptions and some simple data they brought back that the technology used to manufacture these Terracotta Sentinel would be helpful for us to repair the Rune Colossus. If we can repair these powerful guys, it would surely be a great boost to the strength of the entire Mountain Kingdom."

Buluoke began to look toward the future, while Sinuoli fell into deep thought.

"Are these guardian Terracotta Sentinel only at the Changyuan? That, what was it, Shang...? Are there none there?"

"Shangyang, respected Chosen of the Goddess," Buluoke corrected. "Perhaps there are, but they shouldn't be placed in conspicuous spots. That kind of thing is also classified for Zhendan; perhaps the Terracotta Sentinel of Shangyang are also hidden underground like our Colossus."

"Haven't we made any attempts? Collecting data, learning the technology, and so on," Sinuoli continued to ask.

"Ever since we learned this news, our Engineering Guild has been planning," Buluoke sighed. Seeing this, Sinuoli knew that what followed would not be good news.

"The Changya Zhilu has many risks; the wild monsters encountered while crossing the mountains or the extreme weather are enough to destroy a caravan."

"But that is not the most terrifying part," Buluoke paused. "There is also a Hobgoblin empire on the Great Steppe, and it has a large number of raiding forces under its banner, so only very few caravans can safely travel back and forth. It is said that if the armies of those tribes were all assembled, they would stretch as far as the eye can see!"

"So many of the intelligence personnel we arranged either failed to reach Zhendan at all or were lost on the return journey? But there must still be..." Sinuoli added.

"Yes, there are still some caravans that returned successfully, but the news they brought back was either too superficial or simply could not stand up to scrutiny; they just made things up to try and swindle our gold!" Speaking of this, Buluoke was so angry his beard trembled.

"We made those greedy and stupid guys pay the price! But that doesn't help us repair the Colossus!"

"Forget it, let's go look at something else! If you make any breakthroughs in the relevant Fuweng-Jishu, you must contact me; we can offer a price that will absolutely satisfy you!"

After receiving Sinuoli's affirmative reply, the two shifted their gaze to the feet of the Colossus.

There were two groups of Dwarf working on research; they all had flowing white beards, and the various engineering products on their persons were far more numerous than those of the Dwarf outside.

Sinuoli and Buluoke first walked toward the left. Several clansmen were surrounding a strangely shaped cannon.

"This is the Vice President of the Guild; he and his team are developing a true weapon of slaughter!" Buluoke introduced.

"We call this thing a Flame Cannon. We first pour hot oil and molten tar into the very inside, then inject air into the cannon barrel, so the pressure inside the barrel will rapidly increase to the point of almost exploding.

We then place an igniter wrapped in fuel in front of the nozzle at the right moment, and then release the pressure in the cannon barrel. These scorching mixtures will then gush out from the cannon barrel and be rapidly ignited by the igniter.

The burning rolling oil pours from the sky into the enemy's ranks; a rain of death falls from the sky, and the flesh and blood on those bastards will immediately melt under the high temperature, leaving only scorched bones on the ground!"

Buluoke spoke with vivid expression, and his face revealed a gnashing-of-teeth expression, as if he were incinerating a pile of Skaven.

"However, the range and stability of this thing both need improvement; um, just a while ago, one of them blew up!"

Buluoke did not want to say more, and he led Sinuoli to the right. Here, two Dwarf aircraft were parked, and they were somewhat different from those seen outside.

The Engineering Master in charge of this research, unlike the previous one, was not indifferent to the arrival of Sinuoli and Buluoke; he greeted them enthusiastically.

"Good afternoon, respected Chosen of the Goddess! I am Pulisi-Tianxingzhe! Currently in charge of the research and development work for the aircraft."

Sinuoli greeted him, "Hello, respected Master, can you introduce your work to me?"

The Tianxingzhe before him was a spirited old Dwarf; he wore a leather aviator cap and beard cover, as well as a pair of flight goggles. It was clear that besides being an Engineering Master, he was also an excellent pilot.

"It would be my honor! Every one of us wants to let the Ancestor Goddess know of our achievements. My team is trying to enhance the firepower of the Helicopter. You come from Everpeak, so you must know that the current Helicopter has almost no lethality against large numbers of enemies!"

After receiving Sinuoli's affirmative reply, the old Dwarf continued: "We are now trying to find ways to reduce weight and increase power so that the Helicopter can carry more weapons!"

Tianxingzhe reached out a hand to gesture: "This is our No. 1 prototype; we have retrofitted it with a Sulfur Gun. This thing has higher shooting accuracy and can also effectively target large units."

"This is our No. 2 prototype," the old Dwarf pointed to another aircraft.

"We call it a Bomber. In order to carry more bombs, we redesigned the airframe structure. Now, this thing can truly let our enemies experience what it means to have death fall from the sky!"

"Sounds good, but why haven't I seen much of it outside?" Sinuoli couldn't help but ask; he felt this Bomber was truly good.

Just then, the Dwarf in the workshop suddenly heard a deafening loud noise.

Thanks to Admiral Spire, International Room Management Bureau, Warhammer 40k, Blood Soul, the Black Apostle of Chaos, Graidus, Warlord FD, Watch Hero League 233, and the book friends for their monthly tickets.

Continuing to ask for tickets, collections, and tips, ha.