Ghost Knight King's Dungeon Project

Chapter 40 [Love of Craftsmanship and the Foundry]

The exiles' wagons, though simple, were spacious and sturdy. Each wagon was pulled by two mountain ponies, moving steadily forward. If it weren't for the slight creaking of the axles and the receding scenery outside the window, one could hardly perceive their movement.

These mountain ponies, which pull carts, come from the border region between the eastern hills of the Kingdom of Florence and the southwestern plains of the Erdrik Empire. They are a hardworking breed jointly bred and are also known as "Hilary horses." They are gentle, have large hooves, and are extremely enduring, especially good at pulling carts for long distances and traversing hills.

The exiles also seemed to have made some strange modifications to these horses. When they passed through the Eastern Supar Empire, they hired Supar life alchemists at a high price in the oasis black market to implant a small amount of magical beast muscle and digestive organs into these ordinary Hili ponies, making them some kind of secret half-magical beast, half-horse chimera. They were stronger and could eat some enchanted plants from the wasteland, making it easier for them to adapt to the travel mode of the demon exiles.

The carriage was covered with exquisite bas-relief patterns, and hung with small ornaments woven from feathers, leather, or fibers. There were also simple yet interesting small wood and stone carvings on display—all made by the restless demon exiles on their travels.

Even compared to dwarves and elves, the demons are a restless race. They possess high levels of craftsmanship and are constantly in a state of active passion. When there are no grand wars or magnificent construction projects to release their passion, they rely on miscellaneous activities such as killing, research, exploration, and travel, as well as entertainment and art such as music, painting, literature, and games to barely relieve the repressed restlessness in their hearts.

Lacking grand ambitions, the demon exiles channeled their creative passion into small crafts like scattered wood carvings and decorative items, offering solace for their unfulfilled desires. These trinkets sometimes fetched good prices in the markets of habitable zones.

Talia, wearing a small crown of wildflower vines on her head, hummed a little tune as she leaned against Samael's shoulder armor.

She removed the claw-shaped gauntlet from her right hand, grasped a small knife handcrafted by exiles, and used her thumb to control the blade by pressing against the back of the blade. She whittled a small piece of wood left over from gathering firewood at the camp yesterday, slowly carving it into a large-headed wooden puppet in the shape of a knight.

The little wooden puppet is half finished. It's only the size of a palm and has a two-headed knight design. The huge helmet looks exactly like Samael's, like a chibi version of Samael.

Samael sat half-paralyzed in the back of the truck, seemingly staring blankly at the truck in front of him, but in reality he was browsing the database of the UI.

This was his habit in his spare time, hoping to find some useful information from this vast database. Although most of the entries in the technology tree were locked, he could still find some useful information through some fuzzy reasoning and searching.

In the battle against the hunter Musa, the spoils included Musa's Witchkin Scimitar. Samael stared at the rolled-up Witchkin Scimitar leaning against the corner of the carriage, and typed "Witchkin" into the search bar, hoping to find more information.

Unfortunately, this database is quite inhumane and seems to be more like a crude library of programming annotation text than a detailed manual prepared for early colonists.

Each entry only contains a few fragmented introductions; the description of "Wujin" is still limited to just a few sentences:
【Wu Jin】

[By using psionic processing to achieve stable metallographic phase transitions, thirteen different metallographic structures can be obtained during casting using thirteen different processing methods. These structures can be combined to create complex logic gate automation devices.]

[Possesses extremely strong psionic conduction capabilities and a controllable selective conduction mechanism, enabling the creation of complex and precise psionic circuit structures, including the cores of psionic implants and inorganic psionic constructs, and allowing for the compression of instruments to extremely small sizes. Suitable for high-precision, complex instruments and sophisticated scientific research equipment.]

[It has a relatively soft texture but strong material stability, allowing it to be ground into extremely sharp cutting edges. After processing, it can be used as a nanowire saw for industrial cutting machines or as a disposable cutting head.]

[Data on the technological intersection of Level II Basic Automation, Level I Basic Materials Science, and Level II Basic Matter Phase Transition has been completed.]

[Due to a lack of pre-developed technology and equipment, manufacturing is currently impossible.]

This is advanced component material... equivalent to psionic semiconductors that can be made from pure metal. It's absurd that Musa Salamander and his demon lord Sitika don't understand its true uses and are actually using this to forge weapon blades...

It's almost as if survivors in a post-apocalyptic world have lost their technology, so they take apart circuit boards, cut them into arrow shapes, and shoot them out to hunt.

However, on the other hand, the conversation between the two remnants of the Sand Scorpion Warriors that I overheard in the tavern mentioned the "Witch's Collar," which can control slaves and is used to forcibly drive the demon exiles he captured to be used as slave warriors. It seems to be some kind of improved psionic implant.

Sitika doesn't seem to be that stupid. Perhaps he also understands the true purpose of Wujin, which is why he was able to create something like the Wujin slave collar.

He pondered for a moment, then typed "mysterious copper" into the search bar.

【Ghost Copper】

[By using psionic processing to achieve a stable copper phase transition, seven different copper phase structures can be obtained during casting using seven different processing methods. These structures can be combined to create stable and reliable logic gate automation devices.]

[Possesses usable psionic conduction capabilities and a controllable selective conduction mechanism, enabling the creation of stable psionic circuit structures, including psionic implants and inorganic psionic constructs.]

[Rugged, stable, and reliable; can withstand extreme temperatures and can be slowly and automatically recast and repaired; however, it cannot be compressed in size and has poor conductivity, making it unsuitable for core components of small, precision instruments. It is typically used only in unattended, harsh environments of automated industrial machinery.]

Based on the concentration of psionic energy and etheric radiation in the surrounding environment, it can actively control the penetration of psionic energy, absorbing heat in the process. After damage, it uses this energy to slowly reconstruct itself, repairing its structure. Suitable for manufacturing automated industrial machinery in space, unmanned automated building structures, and the outer shells of unmanned spacecraft and satellites.

[A technological interplay between the first level of basic materials science and the second level of basic matter phase transitions.]

[Due to a lack of pre-developed technology and equipment, manufacturing is currently impossible.]

It's strange. Samael raised his arm, looking at the dark gold blade mark on his arm guard that Musa had almost slashed through with his witch-gold blade. The large gap that used to let light through had now been partially repaired. Although the repair was slow, it was definitely effective.

Previously, during the battle of Musa, two [biological structures] were also scanned: a polarized gland and an anti-pump shell. The description mentioned something about "lacking organic psionic structures and temporarily unusable".

If "Organic Psionic Constructs" refers to undead in the conventional sense, including skeletons and rotting corpses, then what are "Inorganic Psionic Constructs" in the Enchanted Metals category? Are they metal-forged psionic automatons?

Perhaps we could use enchanted metals like witch metal and ghost copper to create different components, then manually assemble them to create some kind of psionic automated machine similar to the one constructed by his Ghost Knight? Samael was lost in thought.

"Tap tap! Look at this." A hand reached out from the side and held up a small, chibi-style wooden knight puppet that looked just like Samael in front of his helmet. "Here, a little gift I made for you."

A tuft of her steel-gray hair stuck up and swayed right in front of Samael's helmet. "Oh." Samael paused for a moment, then extended his bronze gauntlet and took the small doll.

Talia's craftsmanship is as excellent as that of her other demon brethren. The lines of her carvings are clean, smooth, simple, and elegant. She even used the back of a knife to scrape away the small splinters on the wood for a long time, polishing them until they were mostly clean. The doll is very cute, almost like a small toy made by a skilled craftswoman.

The wooden figurine's helmet is exquisitely designed and detailed, including the potion pouch at the waist, the kite-shaped shield on the back, the knight's sword at the waist, and the exile's cloak.

Although the exile's cloak that was picked up has been torn to pieces by the harvesting machine, and the shattered bronze sword and shield has been recovered and not yet recast, this small wooden carving still perfectly recreates the appearance of the exiled knight of Samael in the past period.

“Oh…” Samael carefully held the little doll, feeling as if his non-existent heart had stirred.

He grabbed his helmet with both hands and pulled it up, removing it to reveal a gap in his neck. Through the gap in his armor, he stuffed the small toy into his breastplate.

"What... is this for?" Talia asked.

“I will preserve it carefully—at least for seventy or eighty years, until the wood rots away.” Samael fastened his helmet back around his neck to plug the gap, but as soon as he stood up, the wooden figurine fell out again from the gap under his breastplate.

He hurriedly reached out and caught it, carefully holding it in both hands.

“Plans have changed—do you have any string or something? I’ll wear this around my neck and show it off for a few days first.” He looked around for a string.

“Uh… if you like, I can carve a different one for you every day,” Talia laughed. “Logically, I should split a mountain in half to use as a mold, mix steel and bronze, and cast a majestic statue for you that is dozens of times larger than you, with some gold for decoration and some emeralds inlaid…”

“No, no, this is fine.” Samael, clutching the little knight wooden doll, planned to find his good friend Archie Yeviel to ask if there was a hanging rope, and incidentally, “casually,” “accidentally,” and “surprised,” inquire about Archie's whereabouts:

How did you know this was a little doll that Talia carved for me?
The exiles' truck stopped at that exact moment. Samael, clutching his wooden toy, peered eagerly towards the driver's seat, habitually intending to harass Yachi.

When he lifted the car curtain, he realized that there was a large crowd of people blocking the front of the car, making a lot of noise and surging around, as if some kind of large event was being held.

In the distance ahead of the convoy, amidst the brick, wood, and rammed earth houses of the imperial citizens, stood a tall hall, constructed of a mixture of magnificent and solemn marble, white stone bricks, and lime concrete, decorated with imposing black iron and red copper. The white walls were adorned with reliefs of hammers, anvils, and forge fires, making the entire building resemble some kind of towering cathedral.

Inside the small shrine stood sculptures of saints holding hammers; some were striking sword blades, some were adjusting plowshares, some were carving molds for gears, and some were fanning the flames in the furnace.

The huge square in front of the temple was filled with furnaces and anvils, and the clanging of hammers was continuous, like some kind of powerful percussion instrument. Dozens of blacksmiths and foundry technicians were busy among them, while the surrounding area was filled with spectators, temple clergy responsible for maintaining order, and seven or eight soldiers. It seemed to be some kind of forging competition.

A huge bronze hourglass sits on a high platform in front of the temple, filled not with sand, but with sifted fine iron filings.

Five or six clergymen, clad in deep red robes bearing the insignia of hammers, anvils, and sword crowns, sat on armchairs on the high platform of the temple. Presumably judges of the competition, they toyed with different shapes of weapon blanks and blades, observing the contestants' progress and exchanging hushed conversations. Occasionally, a clergyman would descend to the arena to check on the contestants' forging progress and condition.

"Albert! Albert! Albert the Hammer King!"

"Ryan! Steel-footed Ryan! Go all out, Ryan!"

"Carbon Hand David! David!"

The audience cheered for their favorite forging contestants. Some contestants turned around, smiled, and waved in response to the audience's enthusiasm. Some excitedly bent their arms and flexed their biceps in response to the cheers. Others were behind schedule and pressed for time, so they didn't have time to respond to the audience and just kept hammering away.

The contestants included men, women, and children of all ages, all of whom were sturdy blacksmiths or skilled foundry technicians, and there were even seven or eight dwarf contestants.

In the crowd of spectators, there was a small tower made of three or four wooden crates stacked together, with several anxious dwarves clinging to it. It was obviously a three-dimensional auxiliary viewing device created because the game could not be seen from the crowd under normal circumstances.

The square was packed with people, and the streets were overflowing with them. Ceremonial processions paraded through the surrounding streets, carrying singing bards and musicians playing various instruments, chanting before giant paper models of anvils and hammers. Seven or eight musicians struck a steel harpsichord with small hammers, producing clear, melodious sounds.

The citizens of the empire were almost all stuck in the streets, mixed with vendors selling all kinds of snacks, making the streets in front completely blocked.

“The Forgers’ Festival.” Archie turned to Samael. “It’s blocking the road. We might be delayed for a day or two, Mr. Samael…”

He had intended to apologize for the delay, but then he saw Samael's helmet pointing directly at the competition venue in the square.

"Wow, there's even a sword-forging competition..." If Samael had eyes and a mouth, he would be staring wide-eyed and drooling.

No man can resist a sword-forging competition! Unless it's a machine repair or industrial machinery demonstration—now we can actually see a live, otherworldly sword-forging competition!
[Authorized user detected for the Colony Construction System.] A pop-up window suddenly appeared on the helmet UI, facing the Forger's Temple in front of it.

Huh? Samael was taken aback.

A circular radar view is highlighted in the corner of the UI, marked by a small, stationary, flashing red dot located in the Imperial Forgers' Temple directly in front.

Please scan this user's ID code to obtain authorization and unlock the relevant database.

(End of this chapter)