8mi Chapter 94 Buying timber in the East Market, buying timber in the West Market, buying timber in the
Chapter 94 Buying timber in the East Market, buying timber in the West Market, buying timber in the
The goblin broke out in a cold sweat.
Maybe she wasn't talking about me...
Gebu Gebu Gebu Gebu...
The pages of red text flashed before Gebu's eyes, making him feel uneasy.
Geb quickly got up and washed his face, trying to forget all the unpleasantness.
After calming himself down, he quickly drew a construction diagram using the sketches in Belle's notebook.
Despite its name, the Iron Golem is actually made of a variety of materials.
Armor and skeletons are made of rigid materials: they can be steel, brass, or, for a more advanced level, adamantite.
The joints between different limb parts need to be made of flexible materials that can provide cushioning: rubber is generally used.
Rubber is only found in the warm, humid coastal areas of the south. The Old Kingdom, located in the north-central part of the continent, did not produce it.
The joint itself is made of metal and is wrapped in a flexible material.
Based on the information available, Geb planned out how to build this fake golem:
Because only fake ones need to be built: armor, bone strength, and joint flexibility don't need to be considered—as long as the size, range of motion of the limbs, and angles conform to golem engineering.
In this way, all materials can be substituted:
Rigid material: wood.
Flexible material: wood.
Joints: wood.
...There's nothing we can do! We can't get any other materials from this place right now!
However, although they are all made of wood, there are still differences in the details.
The skeleton is made of hardwood with structural strength and toughness, and the joints are made of metal parts—parts such as wheel hubs and windmills can be modified and recycled.
This town used to have many mills, and there must be a lot of discarded dyeing machines gathering dust in warehouses—let's see if we can salvage some parts.
To fill the golem's body, you can use hay and cork—a type of cork tree that grows abundantly in the kingdom's forests. Its bark can be peeled off, crushed, heat-treated, mixed with paste, and pressed together to create a light and flexible material—the cork stopper for wine bottles.
There's no need to consider armor strength; just use leather to shape it and tie it with rope.
How to put it? It's like building a scarecrow. You make a frame inside, put a skin on the outside, and then stuff it with filling.
The more troublesome part is the movable arm—which requires some hardware. The golem's ball joints can move freely at all angles, and Gebu thought for a moment that he could modify a dwarven cargo crane from a caravan, since the bearings and ball joints were readily available—and then use ropes and pulleys to operate it.
The arms are manageable, but the golem's hands are too intricate to make anytime soon.
Geb came up with a plan—to use the Wizard's Hand to support the glove for a simulation. Because the Wizard's Hand has no fixed shape and can be large or small. Its only limitation is the ten-kilogram weight limit, but it doesn't actually need to weigh anything—the crossbow is fixed to the arm, and the Wizard's Hand only needs to support the glove and pull the trigger.
With this plan, the only things that actually need to be custom-made in advance are the metal parts at the joints and the modified hand joints.
The blacksmiths in Chifang Town and the blacksmiths in the caravan were all asked to work overtime to finish it in one day...
Gebu calculated all the materials, made a list, put it together with the sketch, rolled it up, carried it on his back, and hurried to find Dulin to hand it in.
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The dwarf listened to the halfling's rapid-fire, eloquent speech. After ten minutes, Geb finally stopped and took a sip of cool water to moisten his throat.
"Are you done talking?" Dulin asked.
"Ah." Geb took a breath and continued, "In short, by mobilizing the resources of this town and the caravan, I'm confident we can create a fake golem—"
"Young man, wait a moment..." The dwarf picked up Gebu's sketch and examined it carefully for a while. "Where did you get this sketch?"
"That's none of your business, Dulin," the halfling said. "I have my own methods."
"Is it accurate? Building a fake golem is no easy task. If the information is inaccurate, the losses will be huge."
"Trust me, dwarf." Geb patted his chest. "You always talk about how reputable the Jinkra Clan is, and I, Geb, am not one to just boast without doing anything. I'll take care of building the golem; no problem at all. However, there's one thing I need your help with."
The dwarf paused, looked at Geb, and said, "Alright, what do you need me to do?"
Gebu smiled slyly and extended his palm.
"Could you reimburse me for the cost of building the golem?"
The dwarf opened the materials list and gasped when he saw the budget listed at the end.
"648 gold coins?! That's way too much!"
"A lot? Not much." Gebu shrugged. "Every item is listed—count them yourself, isn't it at least this much money?"
"I..." The dwarf scratched his beard, frowned, and looked at the list over and over again.
"If you're worried about the money, then don't do it. At worst, we won't make the crossbows anymore; it's a breach of contract, so what?"
Geb fanned the flames from the sidelines, using words to provoke Dulin.
Upon hearing this, the dwarf gritted his teeth and said:
"I always keep my promises to her. How could I possibly give up halfway? A Zinc Krall never breaks a promise he makes."
After saying this, Dulin put the list on the table. He remained silent for a moment before saying dejectedly:
"Wait a moment... I'm going to the vault master to get some money..."
"Okay, hurry up, the market's closing time soon."
Geb made no attempt to be polite, casually sitting in the dwarf tent and munching on his coffee beans.
After the dwarf left, he picked up the list on the table, glanced at it, then folded it up and stuffed it into his pocket.
Look at how I've done this accounting; it's neat and accurate, and it's convincing.
Geb refreshed his mask and took out another bill from his pocket.
【material】
Hardwood = 2 gold per piece on average * 25 pieces = 50 gold coins
Cork, hay = 4 silver coins/kg * 50 kg = 20 gold coins
Leather and processing fee = 10 gold coins
Hemp rope, linen, nails, and other consumable materials = 10 gold coins
[Artificial]
Laborer: 5 silver coins/person/day * 10 people = 5 gold coins
Master Carpenter: 2 gold coins/day * 2 people = 4 gold coins
Carpenter's apprentice: 1 gold coin/day * 5 people = 5 gold coins
Blacksmith Prefabricated Components: 60 Gold Coins (Includes costs for dismantling and modifying old machinery; all rush orders)
【transportation】
Donkey cart rental: 5 silver coins/cart/morning * 4 carts = 2 gold coins
【other】
Bribe the guard (bringing so many people out of the city will easily get you stopped and cause trouble, this money can't be saved): 10 gold coins
Humans eat donkeys: 5 gold coins
Backup tool: 5 gold coins
In total
186 gold coins.
With a 10% fee fluctuation, it only costs 205 gold coins.
Priced at 648, net profit of 443 gold coins.
Even if there are some uncounted expenses, with such a large profit margin, we will definitely still make a profit.
"Construction projects are still the most profitable!" Geb thought to himself. Even if he quoted an exorbitant price, Dulin couldn't argue—if he thought it was too expensive, he could do it himself!
No one in the entire kingdom dared to take on this job!
If a few more of these deals come in, then 5000 gold coins won't be out of reach...
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After getting the money from Dulin (which he practically squeezed out of his hands, and the dwarf was very reluctant to part with it), Gebu first went to the caravan to arrange the parts that the blacksmith needed to make, and then quickly ran to the town square. He first posted a job advertisement on the notice board, and then purchased the items one by one.
"This is all good timber, halfling. I'm keeping this batch to build my new house," the carpenter told Gebu. "Good timber like this won't be easy to find after the wildfire."
"Customers like me are even harder to find, buddy. Cash, full payment, I can settle it right away." Gebu held 20 gold coins in his hand, looked at the half-finished sled in the carpenter's workshop, and turned to the carpenter. "Is this for your child? How old is he?"
"It's eight years old," the carpenter said, a hint of tenderness in his eyes as he looked at the wooden sled.
"Take the money, rest for a couple of days, and spend more time playing with the kids. Why make things so hard for yourself?" Gebu said.
"..."
The carpenter looked at the gleaming gold in Gebu's hand, thought for a moment, and then said:
"40".
"25".
"30, it can't go any lower."
"Deal!" Gebu shouted quickly.
After arranging the pickup time with the carpenter, Gebu walked out of the shop—who knew that a little bit of scrap wood would be so hard to come by.
The fire I started a few weeks ago has ended up burning my own backside... Oh well, the dwarves are paying for it anyway, so it's fine if it's a bit pricey.
I wonder how Tongtong is doing... whether he's being hunted down by witch hunters.
Gebu shook his head, banishing the bad thoughts from his mind: That guy Lin is lucky, he'll be fine.
Having traveled all over town and visited every carpenter's shop, Gebu finally bought all the timber he needed, along with cork, hay, leather, and other supplies.
All that's left is to call in reinforcements.
He took two steps toward the square and found a huge crowd of heads in front of the notice board.
Wow, my job is so popular? Gebu was secretly pleased. Looks like I asked for too much pay; I'll find an excuse to cut some later.
Before Geb could even feel happy for two seconds, he realized that the group of people weren't looking at the notice, but rather gathered around the church entrance behind the notice board.
The churches of the Church of Obak are very distinctive. Regardless of size, they are always tall and narrow, with spires pointing straight to the sky—the churches are always the tallest buildings in the entire town.
"Old Master Ou, tall and hard... is that what you mean?" Gebu complained.
A pyramid-shaped golden emblem is carved on the off-white archway, and below the door, the old priest "Crow" is calming the restless crowd.
Gebu quickly went over and craned his neck to watch the excitement.
"Obak, Father Usha, didn't you say that the manticore was sent by the gods to punish the caravan?! How come my old man who farms the land was also harmed by that monster!"
A peasant woman with tears streaming down her face shouted angrily at the priest.
"Hey, there's a melon!" Gebu thought to himself, unable to take a step.