CHAPTER 39: CHAPTER 39: AM I NOT WORTHY?

The Caged Parrot praised from the side: "The Scapegoat’s hunting skills are amazing."

The Iron Black Pot humbly smiled: "It’s just a bit better than the average person."

Mr. Zhou, while feeling the yellow clay inside the furnace, instructed the Iron Black Pot: "Apply the yellow clay layer inside the furnace thickly as a temporary heat-resistant layer and inner wall."

"This high furnace prototype’s temperature definitely won’t reach the normal high furnace temperature, we can barely make do for now and find a better heat-resistant layer later."

"Also, listen to my instructions by then, don’t increase the blowing force too much, and give less internal pressure."

"Modern high furnaces widely use welded steel plate furnace shells, only a few small earthen high furnaces use steel hoops to reinforce the brick shell."

"The furnace shell is a fixed cooling device, ensuring high furnace masonry firmness, sealing the furnace body, and also bearing the top load of the furnace."

"Therefore, the furnace shell not only bears huge gravity but also withstands thermal stress and internal gas pressure."

"Sometimes, it has to resist sudden impacts like material collapse or possible gas explosions, hence it needs sufficient strength, which we currently lack, so we must find ways to improve and solve it."

"Mainly let me see the reactions at that time, whether it can operate normally, and from where it can be improved, etc."

Upon hearing Mr. Zhou’s words, the Iron Black Pot widened its eyes: "So this is a dangerous prototype?"

Mr. Zhou shrugged slightly: "A high furnace is not as simple as an earthen kiln, we can only experiment and improve slowly based on the current situation."

"It’s not exactly dangerous, at most, the furnace might fall apart, but being careful, it shouldn’t come to that."

Saying this, Mr. Zhou turned his gaze to Hand Rubbing Diamonds: "Diamonds, you seem to have some understanding of this, what are your thoughts?"

Hand Rubbing Diamonds pondered slightly upon hearing this and then hesitantly said: "I have some ideas, let’s test this prototype first and then discuss it."

Hearing this, Mr. Zhou did not press further and continued to work with everyone.

After working for another half a day, this makeshift version of the high furnace prototype was roughly formed.

Mr. Zhou surveyed it a few times before speaking: "Mr. Qian and I will first fetch a small amount of red iron ore, Black Pot you and Parrot go to burn some wood to make charcoal, and Diamonds, finding some limestone shouldn’t be hard for you, right?"

"By the way, Black Pot, you’ve probably hunted a lot of prey, right?"

The Iron Black Pot gave a look of you-know-it: "Just tell me what you need, stop beating around the bush."

Mr. Zhou smiled: "We don’t have high-temperature wind, so we’ll have to think of a way to ignite."

"My idea is to place flammable dry grass saturated with oil in front of the tuyere, then use a burning stick to ignite it."

"This way, the wood and charcoal inside can be ignited, serving as a substitute for the high-temperature ignition device."

The Iron Black Pot shrugged lightly: "That’s simple, I’ll dig out some grease for you."

Mr. Zhou was slightly surprised: "Dig it out of the ground? Are you kidding?"

The Iron Black Pot patted the leather satchel he always carried on his back: "This is the beast skin stripped during hunting, cleverly sewn into two leather satchels by Parrot using a tough and fine vine, one for each of us."

"Inside, besides homemade arrows, I also plan to process beast tendons during my spare time."

"The beasts we hunted at first were two, since they weren’t big and looked quite cute, after taking the tendons and blood, we just buried them simply."

"Later ones we hunted were uglier, and burying them was undoubtedly a waste of time, so we just took the tendons and blood and dumped them."

"With so many beasts in the forest, the corpses casually discarded should have mostly been gnawed away."

"But those two we buried at the start might still be there, so I’m not joking, I’ll just dig them out for you to get some grease."

"Actually, I thought of giving these corpses to Sea Flip at first, to see which meats are good for cooking, but you know..."

"That kid is busy leveling up to 2, probably can’t handle it for now, and I don’t even know where he’s doing tasks."

Saying this, the Iron Black Pot patted the bow and arrow on his shoulders: "By the way, Zhou, want a bow and arrow? I can spare time to make one for you, and even teach you archery, hehe."

Mr. Zhou rolled his eyes speechlessly: "What? Trying to make Somersault owe you a favor, and since that wish wasn’t fulfilled, now you’re targeting me?"

"I’m a Mage, not trying to be an Archer."

The Iron Black Pot looked over at Hand Rubbing Diamonds: "What about you, Diamonds?"

Grandpa Qian of Bone-Touching immediately protested: "Hey, what’s with that? Skipping over me like that? Am I not worthy of your pitch?"

The Iron Black Pot shrugged: "Not at all, it’s just that you’re a Mage like Zhou, if he’s not interested then you most likely aren’t either, right?"

Grandpa Qian of Bone-Touching widened his eyes: "How do you know I’m not interested? You didn’t even ask?"

The Iron Black Pot quickly stepped forward: "So Mr. Qian, does that mean you want a bow and arrow?"

Grandpa Qian of Bone-Touching gently shook his head: "No need."

The Iron Black Pot reached out and patted his own forehead: "Mr. Qian, I’m very respectful of the elderly and care for the young, don’t cause trouble."

Grandpa Qian of Bone-Touching laughed jovially: "Just kidding, if you have time, make one for me and teach me archery too."

"I want to feel like a Divine Archer even with these old bones."

"And I think it’s pretty suitable for early progression."

The Iron Black Pot patted Grandpa Qian of Bone-Touching’s shoulder meaningfully: "Don’t worry, Mr. Qian, with my teaching, you will definitely become a strong Divine Archer."

Grandpa Qian of Bone-Touching stepped aside, removing the Iron Black Pot’s hand from his shoulder: "Alright, if you can do it, I’ll owe you a big favor and help with whatever you need in the future."

The Iron Black Pot withdrew his hand without embarrassment, crossing his arms: "Having you say that, Mr. Qian, is enough."

Then he turned his gaze again to Hand Rubbing Diamonds.

Noticing the Iron Black Pot’s gaze again, Hand Rubbing Diamonds nodded slightly: "Alright, get me one too, and when you have time, please teach me archery, I’ll owe you a big favor too."

Mr. Zhou reminded on the side: "Let’s get back to work."

He then turned his gaze to the Iron Black Pot: "Couldn’t you go hunt one alive? That should count as part of the team task performance, after all, it’s a team task necessity."

Mr. Zhou glanced at the Iron Black Pot and sighed: "Am I not worthy?"