Chapter 117: Cecil Mechanical Manufacturing Facility

It was true that this metal-ball alien’s ability to transform the shapes of metals at a very fast speed left a deep impression on Gawain. At the start, he was indeed also amazed by this fellow’s high efficiency when he was processing the spare metal parts. However, he quickly realized that compared to such speed, his precision was probably an even greater wealth.

Speed was nothing — Gawain was very much aware of this. Although Nicholas Egg’s processing speed could scare everyone present here out of their wits, Gawain was very clear that under the model of true industrial mass production, it was meaningless no matter how astonishing an individual’s speed was. Was completing a hundred spare parts in a few minutes very fast? Sure, it was faster than a blacksmith’s hammer, but just by casually arranging several production lines from the industrial times, this speed would instantly be wholly defeated by those machines!

Although Gawain had no way of casually getting a production line right now, they now had a prototype of the Magic Powered Engine. He believed that there would come a day where he could do so with a wave of his hand. Nicholas Egg’s advantage in efficiency would sooner or later become obliterated after more and more machines were put into production. Yet, his other edge wouldn’t be that easily replaced by machines. At least compared to his efficiency, this advantage would be slower in being replaced—

His precision.

Those spare parts that he had ‘molded’ using the leftover pieces weren’t randomly made. Gawain could tell that they were actually the mini versions of some exposed parts of the Magic Powered Engine, and the intricacy of every spare part was nothing that those hand-made products of the blacksmiths could compare to. Better yet, even strands of hair had been carved out on those metal sculptures… This was completely wicked!

“Precision?” Nicholas Egg seemed to have realized something too. He pondered seriously for a while and replied rather confidently, “That depends on how many items I am simultaneously processing at one time. If it’s a hundred at one go, there would certainly be a considerable number of errors. However, if I were to process less than ten parts at a time and I am allowed to do so slowly… the errors would probably be a few times finer than a strand of your hair. Of course, the specific speed depends on the complexity and size of the parts, but to me, the most complicated parts in this machine that you’ve built are fairly simple.”

“?!”

The metal ball did not hear a sound from Gawain for a long time. He could no longer hold back and floated over to nudge the latter’s arm. “Hey, hey, why are you not speaking anymore?”

“The first generation of industrial machine tools is in your hands!”

“Huh?”

Gawain did not give the other party much explanation because his heart was already completely filled up with joy and elation; he could barely spare any energy to talk about something else.

Yes, this was the first generation of machine tools, or the so-called ‘mother machine’, the most important link in allowing the entire industrialized chain to be built up. Instead of letting Nicholas Egg repeatedly manufacture those mass-produced parts in large numbers, he ought to let him make use of his advantage in precision and efficiency to build the ‘mother machine’ that could be used to produce the components of other machines within the shortest amount of time. Regardless of whether it was all sorts of machine tools that could process spare parts or ‘rune-drafting machines’ that carved simple runes in batches, only by producing these things would he be able to tie the foundation of his territory to the upsurge of motive power provided by the Magic Powered Engine; in turn, this would give him the confidence to fight before that not-too-solid barrier opposite the mountains collapsed!

At this point, he even felt slightly regretful. Why hadn’t he discovered this talent of the metal ball earlier? If he had participated in the research and development of the Magic Powered Engine prototype, this day might have arrived earlier.

However, he did not let such emotions of regret last too long. This was because before personally witnessing it today, who would’ve thought that this metal ball’s control over metal would actually be so powerful? In fact, Gawain even suspected that Nicholas Egg himself hadn’t thought of it either…

Besides, there was one more thing: he wasn’t carried away by Nicholas Egg’s ability. This metal-ball alien was a special entity; he was an entity that could not be cloned and could not regenerate. Moreover, betting the entire setup on one individual was extremely irrational in any situation. It would be wonderful if Nicholas Egg could produce the first generation of machine tools, but what if an accident occurred? What if he was unable to control a certain type of key metal material? What if a mishap happened to him? What if a piece of equipment with unique characteristics of this world could not be produced using metals?

Thus, Gawain quickly calmed down and was aware that while Mr. Nicholas Egg (or Miss? Say, was this a male ball or a female ball) was the greatest boost that he’d encountered thus far, he could not be completely dependent on him.

He still had to ensure that there were laymen participating in the entire process of building the industrial foundation.

Thus, he looked towards the uneasy old blacksmith and rune craftsmen and nodded lightly. “No need to worry that your skills won’t come in handy from now on — the territory is forever lacking manpower. At the most, a little change would come to your ways of work henceforth.”

Then, he shifted his attention to Nicholas Egg. “Are you willing to be the manager of the Mechanical Manufacturing Facility?”

Nicholas Egg was brisk in his reply. “Sure, why not? — It’s rare that I can find something to do.”

“Alright, you’ll be responsible for helping me build machines. Soon, I will hand you some blueprints and machining tasks. Aim to get those things out as quickly as possible. For the convenience of materials, this work shed next to the steelworks shall be for your use. In addition, your first task will be to build another three Magic Powered Engines. I want to use them in key areas such as the mine and steelworks.

Although Gawain’s position for Nicholas Egg was ‘constructor of machine tools’, at the present stage, the latter still totally had the spare capacity to help expand the scale of those mass-production machines. In line with the principle to make the best possible use of men (and the same applied to the ball), Gawain arranged a big pile of production tasks for this ball without the slightest hesitation.

The other party looked pretty pleased…

Watching the highly driven and enthusiastic Nicholas Egg, Gawain’s heart gradually settled.

With such a hacker-level transmigrated egg aiding him, if he only considered the technology tree[1] without taking into account the social form, he believed that he had made a revolution, not just substantial progress…

And amidst such a joyous mood, he noticed with sharp eyes that the old blacksmith Hummel, who stood in the corner, still looked slightly dismal.

However, Gawain ultimately did not speak up to counsel him.

Hummel was an old blacksmith after all, an old blacksmith who had interacted with hammers and anvils for several decades. He believed in his own hammer and took great pride in it, just like how a knight trusted his own sword and combat skills. However, a metal-ball alien, a ‘metal master’ who was gifted with the ability to control metals, suddenly appeared and completely crushed this old blacksmith’s confidence.

This was perhaps still not the fatal blow because before the appearance of Nicholas Egg, ‘dwarf craftsmen’, who greatly surpassed human blacksmiths, already existed in this world. Hummel wasn’t jarred by an entity whose ‘skills’ overwhelmed his own. What was truly troubling this blacksmith was probably that he had somewhat realized what was to come in the future—

Using machines to drive huge hammers, it was a future where manual labor became increasingly insignificant, and it didn’t seem to be that far from today.

Hummel possessed a sharpness that was rare amongst the laymen of this era.

But how could Gawain put it now? Tell Hummel to adapt to his identity of ‘steelworks manager’ as soon as possible and stop constantly thinking of his own blacksmith career? Or tell him that tradesmen would not completely decline; even if another world where industrialization was highly advanced came about, blacksmiths still owned an unshakable place there for their livelihood? It was too early to tell Hummel all this now.

He would have to be able to adapt to the changes of this world quicker because even swifter changes were about to come very soon.

Gawain Cecil sighed inwardly and then broke the silence. “The newly formed department needs a name. We’ll call it Cecil Machine Manufacturing Facility for now. Nicholas Egg, you will be the supervisor of the machines and the first director, an equal to Hummel who is the manager of the steelworks. In addition, you may select some people from that hundred craftsmen to serve as your long-term assistants, but the name list has to be handed to me for checking.”

“Alright. Having people assist me is bound to be faster than me, a ball, doing everything alone. They can help with the assembly.” Nicholas Egg floated up and down and expressed his assent.

On the way to leaving the machine manufacturing facility, Heidi looked towards Gawain again and again.

“What’s wrong?” Gawain asked curiously.

“Nothing. It’s just, I rarely see times when you are this happy.” Heidi revealed a warm smile. “You’re usually always very solemn, with a poker face, but you smiled many times today.”

Gawain was taken aback. “I’m usually very solemn?”

He’d thought that his usual mental activity had been pretty intense. Moreover, after much honing from hanging out with Amber all day long, he was now almost half a professional joker. Though it often wasn’t to the extent of losing his dignity as an ancestor, he was unlikely to have the image of a poker face, right?

Unexpectedly, Heidi nodded very seriously. “Perhaps you do not notice, but your usual expressions are really solemn.”

Gawain instantly touched his own hairline with some worry. Following that, he rubbed his chin, as if absorbed in thought. “Ten to one, it’s the problem of having a square face and a full beard…”

“Ah?”

Gawain immediately waved his hand. “No, nothing.”

Heidi subsequently still had many internal affairs to handle, so she bade Gawain farewell midway. Watching as Heidi’s figure gradually disappeared from sight, the joyful expression on his face slowly disappeared, and a trace of gravity surfaced.

He did not directly return to his tent. Instead, he made a slight turn on the way and came to a wooden hut located southwest of the camp.

This wooden hut was bigger than the surrounding houses. There were even large nurseries in front of and behind the house. A wide variety of plants were being grown in them. Amongst them, over half were herbs with all kinds of efficacies, while the remaining were more common plants that could serve as spellcasting materials after being processed.

Just from those nurseries, one could determine the uniqueness of this wooden hut.

This was the dwelling of a druid, Pittman, and also his workspace. — Though he appeared to be rather unreliable, this lodging and workplace looked quite like how it ought to.

Gawain stopped in front of the wooden hut and saw a sign hanging on the door. A few lines were written on it with elegant handwriting:

“Pittman’s Apothecary Shop. Sells various kinds of herbs and finished alchemical potions. Sells druid talismans, changing-of-luck ornaments. Part-time antique appraising, divination (currently learning). Professional locksmith, roof repair, family chef (able to babysit children while at it, not accepting those aged three years and under).”

Gawain looked at that sign with an empty expression, very peaceful at heart.

This little old man knew that the illiterate civilians couldn’t understand the words on the sign at all yet was unrelenting in hanging this on his door. This could probably only be explained as a personal hobby?

Gawain shook his head and stretched out his hand to knock on the door, but just as his hand was about to touch the wooden door, it had been opened from the inside.

Pittman’s wrinkly face appeared in sight. “Ah, I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

Gawain faltered. “You knew I was coming?”

Could it be that this little old man really mastered his divination?

In the end, Pittman shook his head. “I was leaning on the window earlier and saw you walking here.”

“…”

[1] technology tree – in real-time strategy games, a hierarchical representation of technology of deterministic progress that a player can make

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep