Chapter 446 Alchemy

Chapter 446 Alchemy

Chapter 446 Alchemy
The Fortress of Infernal Affairs.

An everlasting darkness enveloped the earth, and the hard labor rotation in the fortress began. Millions of people were sent back to the prison from the construction area, while others walked out of the buildings one after another. The administrators assigned tasks and tens of thousands of guards supervised their execution.

Jiang He walked out of the East District Prison, and when he looked up he could see a lonely blood moon hanging in the sky, with hazy scarlet moonlight falling. In this world, dawn is just a deformed product of the shadow of eternal darkness. The strong humans are not recognized by the world, and the specific reasons are not yet known, but the short lifespan is a real problem.

As everyone stepped into the designated construction area, a feeling of oppression and dullness hit them. The fortress's thousand-meter-high walls stood tall, and the cold walls were covered with thorns. On the mottled ground, a few withered yellow weeds stubbornly squeezed out of the cracks, swaying in the cold wind.

"Everyone, stay put!"

"Violators will be killed."

The Eastern Construction Area belongs to the East District Prison, which has jurisdiction over one million prisoners. It is managed by ten administrators and a management team leader who serve as middle and senior management and are directly responsible to the deputy warden.

Given the amount of gold in the core prison, Jiang He keenly realized that he was the focus of management's attention.

Not long after, the management team leader came over in person. He was very old, with wrinkles all over his face, no longer as beautiful as before. This female marquis had the strength of a golden elite, and even among the vampires, she was an elderly person. If the time she spent sleeping in the blood pool was counted, her age was over a thousand years old.

The prisoners nicknamed her "the old lady" and even suspected that she was the ancestor of the Duke of Merrick. The fortress was newly established and there was a shortage of manpower, so even such antiques were dug out, which showed that the background of the Duke's relatives was indeed worrying.

"Everyone must be implanted with the Thorn Blood Pact."

The old lady's hands were full of thorns. She picked out one and slowly stabbed it into He Xiaoqi's right eye.

The Blood Pact of Thorns is the ability of Duke Merrick. Once the blood pact holder leaves the fortress without permission, thorns will grow wildly in the body with the help of flesh and blood and soul until the escaped prisoner dies in pain.

The thorns pierced his eyes and veins bulged on He Xiaoqi's forehead. If it were on the battlefield, this old baroness would at best be his equal.

After a while, it was Jiang He's turn.

The old lady glanced around, picked out some thorns and slowly stabbed them away, laughing softly, "The prisoners in the core prison are all watching you secretly. They are imperial officers, and they are quite unruly. You are either stronger than these soldiers, or you have a background so powerful that you can disregard the lives of the officers, or you have something that they need."

"Give me an answer. Before I was willing to speak properly, I lived for thousands of years and I still have some vision."

Jiang He's eyes moved slightly.

The pain in his eyes was not worth mentioning, but what surprised him was that the old lady had exaggerated insight.

Behind the opponent is Duke Merrick, a heroic creature who poses an absolutely fatal threat to him, just like the blood shadow before. When the two sides fight, it is very likely that life and death will be decided in one move.

Jiang He pondered for a moment. It was impossible for him to compromise in prison, so facing He Xiaoqi's provocation, fighting back was inevitable. According to the diagnosis of the prison doctor, this could be attributed to paranoid personality disorder.

And a problem arises from this, which is that the cellmates who witnessed the confrontation are likely to betray him at some point.

A person with high combat power who is guaranteed to be a gold elite, but usually shows the level of a peak silver elite, once he is thoroughly investigated and the gap between his life level and combat power is verified, the worst result will be.

In just a moment, all my thoughts calmed down.

Jiang He raised his palm, and more than a dozen alchemical matrices including the Ouroboros Matrix, the Burning City Matrix, and the Abyss Gate Matrix changed in turn.

The old lady showed a look of surprise for the first time and couldn't help asking, "Quasi-alchemist master?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the prisoners all looked sideways. He Xiaoqi was stunned, because this was a senior technician.

He can freely shape the alchemical matrix and do it at will, but he has not been able to summarize his own alchemical method. In view of the difference between alchemy masters and alchemists, he can be summarized as "accurate".

Jiang He secretly suppressed the desire to complain. The word "accurate" was not important. The key was that he could not reveal his identity as a master, because his alchemy method was based on the swallowing of the power of gluttony. Gluttony integrated all the extraordinary factors and destroyed the origin stone shackles and the thorn blood covenant with ease, which would easily arouse vigilance.

The old lady no longer cared about how this guy became the prison leader. Instead, she pointed to the crude frame of a giant artillery tower not far away and said, "The original engineer of that artillery tower was crushed to death. You will be responsible for its construction."

Jiang He said, "I need manpower, and you also said that these officers are unruly, so I must at least have the power to execute some of them, otherwise there will probably be many people who are secretly trying to sabotage us."

There was a moment of silence.

The old lady took out a thorn token from her old sleeve, threw it to the other party, and said, "For the position of warden, you can execute less than a hundred prisoners every day, and recruit about ten thousand people. You can appoint a maximum of twenty guards. It will take one month. I don't want to see the watchtower still in its current state by then."

Jiang He nodded. Due to the nature of the mission, he had to run away, but he had to find an opportunity. If he escaped directly from prison, the outcome would probably be the same as that of Blood Shadow.

[Tip: Main quest ① has been released]
[Quest Requirements: Return to Cangwu Province]
[Task time limit: 30 natural days]
[Task Reward: Undying Skill Upgrade Scroll*1/10000 Experience Points and Game Coins]
[Failure penalty: None]
……

Morning time.

Jiang He led everyone in the prison to the frame of the turret.

He gave the five golds and the elite He Xiaoqi the status of guards, with corresponding badges on the thorn tokens. In addition, there were three more vacancies that would be selected by election.

The entire engineering team adopts the specification of "three shifts and six groups", with three shifts in rotation, and is divided into foundation group, wall group, mechanical equipment group, mobile group, etc. The tools are standardized, and the weight of rammers, the track gauge of stone transport vehicles, the spacing of scaffolding cross bars, etc. are uniformly adjusted.

Jiang He was not a major in alchemical engineering and had no experience in commanding construction. He built his own alchemy tower entirely on his own, but he had served as a legion commander.

Under the vertical penetration command system, he adopted a dual-track system of military orders and industrial orders, and established a wartime command chain with guards as the apex of power.

The system is divided into levels based on the 100-50 scale, and the three-color flag is used for real-time control: red flag - stop work to avoid risks, yellow flag - replenish materials, green flag - speed up construction, and finally supplemented with closed-loop quality inspection and dynamic risk management.

Because of the power of execution, it is not difficult to establish a mature and effective management system.

As the turret became the territory of human prisoners, recruiting workers became quite easy. Many human laborers came here on their own initiative to seek shelter to avoid being harassed by other dark race prisoners.

In the afternoon, in the simple alchemy workshop outside the artillery tower.

Jiang He designed a special refining matrix based on the characteristics of source stone. The compressor assembled from it can greatly reduce the time spent in producing building materials.

"…The project is on track. According to the current progress, most of it will be completed in half a month, but there are some problems that cannot be ignored."

He Xiaoqi quickly got used to reporting to someone. At least following that person allowed him to live a comfortable life in the Wujian concentration camp.

"First of all, it's a tribe issue. The werewolves and spider demon prisoners are very dissatisfied with the human laborers' escape. A violent conflict broke out two hours ago. I suggest setting up a guard team."

"The second is the enthusiasm of the hard laborers. We can't offer decent rewards, and we only rely on the power of execution. The camp is dead and some gold guards even take the lead in being lazy."

"Finally, what I want to ask is..." He Xiaoqi paused and said seriously: "Do you really plan to stay in Wujian Fortress for the rest of your life?"

In front of a newly assembled compressor, Jiang He brushed the dust off his hands, turned around, took out a blueprint from his pocket and handed it over.

He Xiaoqi took it and looked at it carefully, and doubt gradually emerged between his brows. The design on the drawing looked like a watchtower, but it was also unclear.

"Fold it twice and then turn it over." Jiang He took two sips of the wine.

Upon hearing this, He Xiaoqi immediately folded the drawing in half, then turned it over. Suddenly, the drawing caught fire and the paper burned, leaving only the lines. It looked like a battleship design drawing.

Modeled after the overall framework of the Saint Lilith in its Ultimate Stage and equipped with the Alchemy Tower's emergency escape system, the new "Battle Tower" is difficult to fly for a long time, but can take off and propel itself at high speed like a rocket, thus leaving the Infernal Fortress.

He Xiaoqi was amazed. Most alchemists had relatively weak combat power, but they could stand on equal footing with the strong ones. There was a reason for that.

Normally, Alchemist is equivalent to regular gold.

The status of a quasi-alchemist master is no different from that of a vampire marquis.

As for the real masters, even Duke Merrick would have to treat them equally. If one of them were to be stationed in the fortress, the workload would be reduced by more than 50%.

If they are the legendary alchemy masters, even if they have just been promoted, their status is equivalent to that of top heroes. Once they have gained experience and accumulated experience, their status will be even more unimaginable. Moreover, these guys have sufficient means to prolong their lifespans.

He Xiaoqi was immersed in the battleship design, which was a symbol of freedom. At the same time, he felt an indescribable beauty in it.

"All actions must be under command." Jiang He asked casually: "If you can't do it, go back to do hard labor. It's up to you."

The lines on the drawing turned to ashes, and He Xiaoqi was speechless. If the previous one was an obedience-type requirement, then this time it was a command-type instruction. He often tamed the troublemakers among his subordinates, but he never expected that one day it would be his turn.

After a while, He Xiaoqi lowered his head and remained silent.

Jiang He sipped his drink and asked, "What is that young lady doing?"

He Xiaoqi's face showed a trace of embarrassment, and he replied: "Stealing food...brewing wine."

Jiang He leaned back slightly upon hearing this, in amazement. "The food for the hard laborers is all rationed, how did she get the food?"

In this damn place, food is life. Those who are willing to share it with others for free will basically not survive to this day. "The young lady has set up a mutual aid association." He Xiaoqi said with some difficulty: "As long as the hard laborers hand over some food, they can get a large compensation when they encounter an accident and cannot move. Losing labor in Wujian Fortress is tantamount to waiting for death, so there are many people participating."

"A laborer fell from the roof this morning. After she presided over the compensation, she was elected as the guard."

Jiang He was speechless. He was sure that Yu Jianyue was not the child of destiny, otherwise the executive-only prompt would not have gone unresponsive. This guy was simply a genius in selling insurance.

He Xiaoqi stood there as if he was on pins and needles. In the eyes of a veteran officer like him, such business practices were no different from fraud and theft.

Jiang He said sternly, "If she goes back on her word, my reputation among the hard laborers will be ruined. If the old lady knew that the camp was brewing wine secretly, the food quota would definitely be reduced. She is holding back all the officers who want freedom."

When a tall hat fell from his head, He Xiaoqi's spine seemed to be broken and his head suddenly lowered even lower.

"So, all actions must be under command."

"clear."

……

In the evening, the blood moon remains.

The sunlight from the Dawn Continent could not reach here, and the entire fortress entered a short rest and meal time.

Feeding millions of people is undoubtedly a huge test for the fortress’s kitchen.

For the laborers of all ethnic groups, in addition to the coarse grains allocated to the engineering team, the kitchen was only responsible for distributing a certain amount of survival cakes on time. This kind of cake was made of rice husk ash mixed with moss associated with thorns on the wall, and the taste was like chewing dust.

"After swallowing the ashes and leaving the hometown, the King of Hell will carry the burden in his palace."

"Hey, I bit off a piece of my finger in the pancake."

"Oh, someone come and kill me."

"I can't bear it anymore. I want to sell my blood."

Among the vast crowd, a werewolf stood up and went straight to the kitchen to guard. He was separated from the main force in the clan war, and then captured by a slave-catching team in the wild. The days of fine clothes and delicious food were gone forever.

The werewolf came in front of the vampire guard, and the two sides exchanged a few words. The latter bit the back of the werewolf's neck with a disgusting look on his face. As the blood flowed, his face became paler and paler, and finally he fainted and fell to the ground.

The vampire guard left a few cans and turned away.

Among all races, human blood tastes the best, but because humans contain the source of dawn, excessive intake can easily lead to abnormalities, so blood sampling is conducted uniformly among prisoners.

More and more prisoners began to sell blood, and some guards privately traded "honey blood cans". These cans were black market items, with the strength, age, and date of the blood seller marked on the surface. The prices varied greatly depending on the quality.

On the kitchen side.

Tens of thousands of people gathered together, like a gang in a prison. Several dark race groups saw the several gold statues inside and had no choice but to stay away.

Next to the innermost campfire, He Xiaoqi came back with a pale face, holding half a roasted deer in his hand. After putting it next to Yu Jianyue, the colonel leaned against the rock and closed his eyes to take a rest. With someone present, he at least didn't have to worry about a surprise attack from the strong men of the dark race.

Yu Jianyue tore off a deer leg without any hesitation, and occasionally picked up the wine jug to drink it. The wine was very turbid, and things like Gouhuo biscuits were used as brewing materials. Naturally, the finished product had nothing to do with high quality.

Jiang He stared at the campfire calmly, his hands moving non-stop, assembling various mechanical parts tightly.

Currently, Zhuang Ya is sleeping in the Alchemy Tower room in the Portable Imperial City. Lao Hei replied through his animal companion, saying only that there were werewolves all around and that was it. Wuhe said that he had a good time playing with an old lady, and overall, there was no danger for the time being.

Across the campfire, Yu Jianyue burped, looked up and met someone's eyes.

She lifted the venison and said with a smile, "Don't judge me like that. Uncle He believes that he failed to protect me and caused me to end up here. If I don't accept his contribution, he will feel even more guilty. It's just that a colonel was captured. It would be a pity if he committed suicide for his honor."

Jiang He's eyes were focused and he was mumbling something. What was he saying?

The alchemical machine was assembled, with a solidified matrix engraved inside, and it looked like a toaster.

The fortress was built on a large source gold vein, and the surrounding soil contains rare spillover supernatural factors. Since the source gold can be absorbed, these spillover factors are naturally the same. In theory, for supernatural creatures, food containing factors has a higher satiety and nutritional content.

In short, with the toaster, the fortress prisoners no longer need to survive on bread, they can just eat dirt, and it can also speed up the mining progress in disguise to a certain extent.

Jiang He stood up with the toaster.

At the same time, tens of thousands of eyes were cast over, some were looking curiously, some were harboring malicious intent, and some even wanted to replace him.

Jiang He casually handed the finished product to a prisoner. This thing could be replicated by a few apprentices. If it were not for reducing the difficulty of production, he would not have to make it until now.

In just a moment, the first earth cake in the history of the Eternal Dark World was born. After discovering that the earth cake was really edible, the scramble for survival resources began immediately.

Small-scale conflicts triggered large-scale chaos.

Jiang He sat back down and came to a conclusion - inciting the prisoners would mean a dead end, so he had to continue with the rogue rocket plan.

The chaos lasted for nearly a quarter of an hour.

The situation was not calmed down until the East District Management Captain, the Old Lady, arrived and cast a Blood Mage spell. Following the clues, she quickly tracked down the culprit.

"It's nice stuff, but the fortress is not your playground."

The old baroness's eyes were slightly cold. The kitchen manager praised the new things highly. She had originally planned to give this guy a less busy position so that he could continue his alchemy research. However, despite her best efforts to control the situation, thousands of prisoners still died. She had to bear the loss and was in a very bad mood at the moment.

"The East Blockhouse must be completed within 25 days."

"If you violate the deadline by one day, you will be sent to the punishment room."

The old lady uttered some harsh words and turned away.

Because someone had "fallen from power", some prisoners outside the core prison immediately contacted each other secretly.

Jiang He sat beside the campfire, indifferent.

Across from her, Yu Jianyue was sitting cross-legged on the ground with her cheeks puffed out, holding the venison in her hands with oil dripping from her mouth. She took the time to give a thumbs up.

After a short break, Si Chuan limped out and walked straight into the campfire circle in the middle of the crowd.

"I am back!"

No one cared. Jiang He casually threw a pot of dragon blood wine over. It seemed that the torture in the punishment room was not for show. To be able to torture a golden master like this, it could only be said that everyone has his own expertise.

……

仅仅第二天。

Some of the prisoners ate fresh earth cakes.

The old baroness reported the news to the deputy warden. After observing for a day and finding nothing unusual, the senior officials immediately organized a group of alchemy apprentices to imitate the "toaster".

The construction of the Infernal Fortress consumed most of Duke Merrick's wealth, and he had no spare money to hire a master alchemist to provide guidance.

In the engineering area.

Hundreds of apprentices and several alchemists surrounded the alchemical creation in front of them, staring at it for a long time.

"It is truly a work of art, without a single cumbersome detail."

“This solidified matrix is ​​too difficult to replicate.”

"Apply a layer of factor paint and stamp it a few times like a seal. The effect is only about 30% to 40%, but we can go with quantity."

The three alchemists worked together for half a day and finally peeled out the core matrix. Everyone was staring at it. This core was simply magnificent in the eyes of alchemists.

Soon, five days passed.

For a time, high-cost food that required rice husks was completely replaced, and earth cakes became the main food of the fortress.

(End of this chapter)