Chapter 30

The next morning, Charlo took Clyris to the northeastern reaches of Ironwood Territory.

This was also the first time Clyris had ridden the Mana-Motive Train since its inauguration.

"How is it? It's quite a novelty for a first ride, isn't it?" Charlo asked, sitting opposite her in the private carriage.

"It is acceptable. Smoother than riding a horse, and certainly faster," Clyris replied indifferently, watching the scenery blur past the window.

To be fair, she could fly much faster than this train. But saving energy was always good. And for ordinary humans, this speed was nothing short of miraculous.

"This is our current limit—120 kilometers per hour... After all, it is just an adaptation of the steam engine," Charlo said, his gaze also drifting out the window, a look of nostalgia in his eyes.

Soon, the train arrived at the station. She followed Charlo onto the platform.

Stepping out, she saw rows of familiar workshop buildings. However, they were mostly deserted now. Only one massive factory building still had people coming and going.

Unlike the bustling industrial zone in the southwest, this area had only a few dozen residential houses. Yet, in her perception, the residents here were almost exclusively supernatural—mostly Second-Rank Knights!

They lived in housing clustered around the central factory, like soldier ants guarding the queen.

"This... was Ironwood's first industrial base," Charlo said, looking around fondly. "Over four years ago, when I first arrived, the blacksmiths were here, hammering out the foundational tools of our industry one strike at a time. The very first Mana Engine was born right here!"

"Later... after the engine was perfected, we built the new industrial zone in the southwest, closer to the mines. Most of the craftsmen moved there."

"So now, this place has become your source of mana stones, correct?" Clyris finished his thought.

"Exactly!" Charlo nodded. "You might find it hard to believe, but I didn't set out to synthesize mana stones initially!"

Talking as they walked, they reached the main gate of the factory. Charlo pushed it open.

"Welcome to—The Mana Stone Synthesis Plant!"

Clyris stepped inside. The first thing she saw was a massive iron tank. It stood several meters high and over two meters wide. A pipe ran from the top of the tank through the roof. At the bottom, two pipes extended out: a thin one connecting to a small spherical machine, and a larger one connecting to a boxy machine.

The device was running. From the boxy machine, standard square-cut mana stones slid out one by one, falling into a collection cart below. Meanwhile, the spherical machine spat out white granules, which were carried away by a conveyor belt.

"This is..."

She watched the boxy machine. Every minute, a mana stone slid out—roughly one kilogram in weight.

One kilogram wasn't much. But looking around the factory floor, she counted over ten identical setups, all producing at the same speed. That meant every minute, this factory produced more mana stones than a High-Rank Supernatural could condense in a whole day!

"This is the Mana Stone and Fertilizer Factory! Currently, the daily output exceeds twenty tons of mana stones and forty tons of fertilizer! It supplies the entire energy demand of Ironwood and the agricultural needs of our farms!" Charlo introduced excitedly.

"This is truly..."

Clyris walked closer to inspect the tank but couldn't see anything special. She could only sense that the tank was inscribed with a standard, massive Containment Array that covered almost the entire surface. The pipe on top had a Mana Gathering Array, but it was a crude, common version—far inferior to the high-precision array she had designed for the Rune Engraving Machine.

This gathering array simply sucked in air to concentrate ambient mana. Unlike her array, which condensed space to pull pure mana without affecting the atmosphere.

"How is this done?" Clyris asked, puzzled. She placed her hand on the tank but felt only ordinary metal.

"At first, I just wanted to analyze the composition of the air..." Charlo explained. "In my experiments, I heated mercury in the air. The results showed that oxygen accounted for over three-fifths of the volume! I immediately realized my experiment was flawed!"

"I switched to the combustion method and finally determined that the oxygen content in the air was about 25%. That’s when I realized: there must be something else in the air that reacted with the mercury under heat!"

"I began testing the product of the heated mercury and air reaction. It was a special crystal, extremely unstable. It decomposed if the temperature exceeded 100 degrees Celsius or if placed in water."

"After a series of tests, I discovered that it was actually an unstable mana polymer. Its bonds were far more fragile than natural mana stones, hence the easy decomposition. However, I found that in a mana-dense environment, under high pressure and electrification, it would condense into stable mana stones! As a byproduct, it generated a white powder. Mars later discovered this powder promotes crop growth, so we use it as fertilizer."

"That is..." Clyris was astonished. "What is the principle behind this?"

"I don't know," Charlo sighed. "Currently, all our applications of mana are superficial. Our knowledge regarding the fundamental nature of this supernatural force is still too shallow."

"Hmm... let me think..." Clyris frowned, searching through the fragmented memories of the Ancient Demon Kings in her mind. Unfortunately, she found nothing relating to chemical synthesis of mana.

"Forget it. I've made peace with it," Charlo said, comforting her with a relaxed smile. "Mana is something you can't see the depths of until you reach a higher realm!"

"But that doesn't stop us from using it. The races of Rodinia have used it for tens of thousands of years without harm. Even if we don't understand the 'why,' we can use the 'how.' It's just a complex procedure! No big deal!"

"When you put it that way... I suppose you are right." Hearing him say that, she relaxed. If mana had been safe for millennia, changing the extraction method shouldn't suddenly make it dangerous.

"I am currently preparing to expand the factory, turning this place into a massive mana production base!" Charlo continued. "Of course, to protect it, I have stationed the strongest defensive force in all of Ironwood here—three full Knight Squads, including thirty Third-Rank Knights! It's stronger than the city guard!"

Clyris recalled the supernaturals she had sensed earlier and nodded in understanding. So those were the guards...

Just then, an attendant jogged in and whispered something in Charlo's ear.

Charlo's expression shifted rapidly—shock, confusion, and finally, grave seriousness.

"What happened?" Clyris asked curiously.

"Archduke Fokk's youngest daughter... Ophelia de Landon is coming to visit me!" Charlo said, his expression strange.

"What?!"