Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 45 Open-pit Iron Mine
Next, Li Wei carried the sika deer back to the camp. As expected, Fila was already waiting there, her eyes full of affection and praise, because this was also a huge benefit for her.

Otherwise, when she was the head of the household, she wouldn't have insisted on focusing the family's development on hunting and gathering, because that would have been very beneficial to her career as a chef and butcher.

It's a win-win situation.

“George, my good boy, Mommy loves you. Don’t get tired while you’re cutting down the tree. Here, have some honey water first.”

Fila was very happy. If Li Wei could hunt a few one-star quality prey every month, that would be wonderful for her.

Unfortunately, this time she could only focus on skinning and tanning. Her chef's card couldn't possibly cook venison into a one-star dish; at most, it could be used to make mushroom soup.

Because many conditions are not met, it's not as simple as just giving a family a recipe for stir-fried venison. The family's facilities must meet the standards for large-scale, regular production.

For example, enough seasonings, enough oil, etc.

Families are almost out of salt these days, so even having the recipe for the 108 dishes of the Manchu Han Imperial Feast wouldn't help.

Li Wei remained calm, because he knew very well that hunting a deer was just an interlude, a stroke of luck, but such luck was rare and hard to come by.

This month he needs to cut down five units of oak, that is, at least five trees, and then break them down, so even with a steel axe, it will still take at least ten days.

If only I had a hacksaw.

However, this steel axe was quite good. Li Wei wielded it with great skill and experience. He was good in all aspects, including technique, experience, stamina, and strength. He could cut down the log in about an hour, trim the branches and leaves, and then bring the old ox to drag the log back. Next, it needed to be dismantled.

Previously, this whole process would have taken him three days. Back then, the axe wasn't powerful enough, and even with strength, he couldn't use it effectively.

Now that I have this sharp steel axe, two days will be enough.

When he led the cow back with an oak log, he found Penny and the other two preparing to forge a second steel axe for easier repair and polishing.

"Why not forge a hacksaw?" Li Wei asked.

"It's a bit difficult for now, let's try next month." Penny shook her head. Her gray hair made her look older, and her slightly furrowed brows showed how much pressure she was under.

Li Wei was confused and had no right to speak if he didn't understand.

However, he could guess that Penny and the other two, or mainly Penny and Missy, were planning to make some weapons and armor, as well as some steel tools that could be traded.

Trade is the most important theme this month.

If something goes wrong, not only will Penny, the head of the family, be in trouble, but the entire family may also suffer a severe blow.

For a moment, Li Wei was a little worried, after all, when the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken.

Unfortunately, there are no salt mines to be found in the surrounding mountains.

In the days that followed, busyness and exhaustion became the main themes for the family.

Li Wei was cutting down oak trees and chopping firewood at a rate of one unit every two days, and he also took two days to plant winter wheat.

While gathering, Fila brought back several fish every day. In addition, she seemed to be trying to make wine from wild fruits. After all, it was autumn and there were so many wild fruits on the mountain. After drying some of them, making fruit wine seemed like a good option.

In short, her harvest this month will be unprecedented. As for Penny and her two friends, after several days of hammering and forging, they forged a total of two steel axes, one steel shovel, two pickaxes, and two steel daggers.

Then, Leon took care of the small blast furnace while Penny and Missy began mining the iron ore.

Everyone is extremely busy.

And so, eleven days later, Li Wei completed the felling and splitting of five units of oak. Once the firewood was dried, it could be burned into charcoal. However, according to the agreement, he would not be in charge of this step, and Lyon would basically take over the burning process.

Then, for the rest of the time, he would have to go with Penny and Missy to mine and transport iron ore.

It's worth mentioning that he gained a total of 150 logging experience points, 50 farming experience points, and 110 hunting experience points in these days, bringing his total experience points to 450, 360, and 310 respectively.

As for the issue of meal expenses, that no longer exists. Once there is a head of the household and a main quest, even newcomers do not need to pay.

Unfortunately,

He still couldn't trigger the one-star lumberjack card, but there was no way to force it. Fortunately, the experience was genuine, especially the farming and hunting experience, which were important conditions for upgrading to the three-star farmer card and the three-star hunter card in the future.

"George, we're going mining, so you don't need to bring your bow and arrows, right?"

When the month came to its twelfth day, after breakfast, Penny and Missy were ready, and Li Wei also packed his belongings. In addition to a steel pickaxe, an iron spear, a wooden spear, and a steel dagger, he also carried a basket for carrying ore, a hunting bow, five arrows, a portion of dry rations, and a portion of water.

"It's alright, just in case. If we encounter prey, it can improve our lives."

Li Wei laughed, "But all these things are indeed quite heavy. In contrast, Penny and Missy are much simpler, carrying only a short knife, an iron spear, and a basket of dry rations."

Their pickaxes were all left in the mine and buried.

Penny stopped trying to dissuade them and led the way, with Missy in the middle and Li Wei at the back. The three of them left the camp and headed upstream along the mountain stream. Penny had walked this route many times before and had even carved out a small path for it.

Thinking back to how Penny worked from dawn till dusk last month mining and transporting ore, Li Wei admired her greatly; this woman was ruthless.

"Why not use the stream to transport the ore? It shouldn't be difficult to build a raft."

Li Wei asked casually, not thinking that Penny and Missy wouldn't have thought of this.

"The water is too shallow, and there are too many stones in the riverbed. It needs to be cleared, which is difficult to do in a short time. However, when we have enough time, we can build a dam downstream of the camp to raise the water level. We can also build a waterwheel, which will be much better than manual forging, whether for grinding flour or forging iron. In the future, we can even use this dam to cultivate the land to the east and build a castle."

Penny spoke with great enthusiasm and confidence, but this wasn't about giving orders; rather, it was about her certainty that she would remain the head of the family indefinitely. This was also meant for Li Wei and Missy to hear.

If nothing unexpected happens in the future, no one can stop Penny from staying far ahead. She will continue to be the head of the family. From her perspective, it is best to avoid ineffective competition within the family and to avoid any more messy plot twists. As long as everyone is willing to support her, she will also give up enough benefits accordingly.

Because there is enough space and stage for them to perform.

For example, at this moment, Missy and Lyon are bound together by Penny's small blast furnace, rudimentary steelmaking methods, and future foreign trade.

Only profit can stop competition.

In fact, even Li Wei wouldn't refuse such a situation; he was still waiting for Penny to make him a recurve bow, or even a compound bow.

(End of this chapter)