Chapter 110: Strange Dream

  Hill's rainy season is a very annoying season, with three months of continuous rain, making many things unable to proceed normally. The second city that had already started construction was also suspended due to the rainy season. Mo Yan planned to build the second city near Kabinda and other small towns, close to the Unata cave. Some warehouses were built earlier because of their simple structure, so they were completed before the rainy season. A large number of dwarves and dog-headed people were gathered here, excavating a new mine tunnel.

  The mountain peak adjacent to the second city is called Mount Yulico. Although its elevation is not particularly high, it is relatively speaking, and the height of Mount Yulico allows its summit to have perennial snow. The snow on these summits is an important source of freshwater for the Mississippi River and another river, except for the replenishment of rainwater during the rainy season.

  The snowmelt from the Ural Mountains collects at the foot of the mountains and becomes the source of the Mississippi River, which supplies Cabinda. It can be said that without the Ural Mountains, Cabinda would not be able to support a large population. Even if its industry and commerce were well-developed, without drinkable water, there would not be many people coming to Cabinda.

  After the exploration of the dwarves from Thunderhold, it was found that Mount Yuliko has very high-quality mineral veins, not only are there many types and abundant reserves, but also easy to mine. This is also why Mo Yan set the second city here, whether it's cannons or other things being cast, they all need a lot of steel to support them.

  Such a huge demand, it is no longer possible to satisfy the iron ore near Thunder Cliff, so Mo Yan needs a huge steel industrial base to produce the steel that Thunder Cliff must have. The rich mineral reserves of Yulikeshan made him Mo Yan's goal. According to many gray dwarves, Yulikeshan is simply a treasure trove, and you can find high-quality iron ore or other minerals by digging casually.

  Originally, Mo Yan was considering using the Karbinda people's ritual cave, but he thought it would cause unnecessary conflict with the Karbinda, so he chose a place at a certain distance from the cave as the address of the second city. Some warehouses that had been built before the rainy season arrived, because the cave goblins had already been dispatched to excavate minerals here, and some mineral reserves had begun to accumulate.

  A road from Thunder Cliff to the future Ironforge is also being built by thousands of gnomes, and it's believed that after three months, it should be passable. By working on both sides at the same time, a lot of time can be saved, and once the road is completed, some of the ore collected in Ironforge can be transported to Thunder Cliff.

  While the construction materials of Thunderfall can also be transported to Ironforge, the city's furnaces and dwellings, as well as some necessary infrastructure. It is worth mentioning that most of the design of this city was completed by the dwarves, with Mo Yan only participating in a very small part, which was still for the purpose of increasing entertainment facilities.

  In the eyes of the dwarves, although some recent entertainment activities are not bad, iron smelting is still more interesting. As long as there is a large enough furnace, you can get enough fun. And because the dwarves have lived underground for a long time, their furnaces are huge, but they all need to rely on the terrain underground.

  This means that half of Ironforge is inside the mountain, and for such a design Thunder Bluff would require an enormous amount of manpower to flatten out the surrounding cliffs, otherwise enemies could just walk in from the slopes and the outer walls would be useless. Fortunately, the dwarves and gnomes are free labor and are also good at digging, so it's not impossible to complete such a project.

  Ironforge, with its five massive foundries, will produce a staggering amount of steel once they are completed and operational. The cost of producing cannons, which consume large amounts of steel, can also be reduced, allowing for mass production to equip the armies, increasing their combat power by several levels. Mo Yan, who believes that more cannons mean more justice, hopes to see hundreds of cannons firing in unison.

  Speaking of artillery, one has to mention Ryze's research. As a knowledgeable and experienced wandering mage, Ryze never thought that such weapons would appear. After witnessing the power of artillery and firearms, he was inspired by numerous ideas - what the dwarves' black powder could do, magic could certainly do better.

  So Ritz, after buying back the materials from Mo Yan, began to spend all day in the mage tower, doing various experiments. The insufficient power of gunpowder was a major problem, and the dwarves had been trying to improve it for thousands of years, although they had tried various other formulas but made no progress.

  Because the Dwarves also lacked magical talent, they never produced any mages. This also made them unenthusiastic about magic, only knowing how to use new formulas to solve problems. After Rhys obtained gunpowder, he added some magical materials to the compound formula, increasing elemental stimulation and mana absorption. After dozens of experiments and multiple explosions that killed and injured dozens of people, Rhys confirmed a safe and effective new formula, which he called Crystal Gunpowder.

  The formula of this gunpowder is based on the black powder of the Dwarves, with a large amount of magic crystal and a small amount of other substances added to it. The resulting magic crystal black powder not only has a more violent power, but also no longer affected by rainwater, and can burn and explode normally even on rainy days.

  Under Mo Yan's guidance, Rietz and the Grey Dwarves collaborated to create a modern-style cannonball. A simple miniature firing mechanism was set up at the bottom of the cannonball, which ignited the magic crystal black gunpowder inside the cannonball to launch it out, and the warhead of the cannonball was also an explosive warhead, which was improved to have a sharp shape.

  Those six muzzle-loading cannons were all remade into new breech-loading cannons with magic ignition arrays. The cost of adding the magical ignition device to the cannon was not much higher than before. Because Thundercliff only had one wizard, Ritz, it took seven or eight days to produce a single cannon like this.

  In the depths of night at Thundercliff, in the master bedroom within the White House. A gigantic bed was covered with a red spider silk sheet, Mo Yan lay on it resting. Two demonesses slept on either side of his arms, the giant body of the Minotaur making them look even more petite.

  The rain outside the window continued to fall, and the lightning in the sky occasionally made a loud noise that illuminated the entire room, but it did not wake Mo Yan from his sleep. Such an unguarded moment had never appeared on him again after he was trained, and he usually maintained a half-awake state, always paying attention to changes in the external environment.

  At this time, Mo Yan was having an unusual dream. In the dream, a blonde little girl with an unclear face was tied up somewhere. The surroundings were either dark or had a blood-red background, and it was unknown what kind of creature was making sounds that seemed to be coming from all around. In this eerie dream, Mo Yan seemed to have turned into an infant, unable to move freely, and even breathing became difficult.

  Just as Mo Yan was stumbling in his dream, trying to get close to the golden-haired petite figure. A flash of light suddenly lit up, making Mo Yan feel like he had fallen off a cliff and lost weight, and then he woke up from his bed with a start. Mo Yan sat up abruptly and also woke up the two demons, Lilith looked at the sweat beads on Mo Yan's forehead with some curiosity, she had never seen the Minotaur in front of her sweat before.

  Even that time with the thirty or so Troll warriors, after almost a day and night he hadn't been like this. What kind of dream could have made him so exhausted? Lirien got up from the bed, fetched a towel and handed it to Mo Yan, letting him wipe off the sweat on his face, asking: "Was it a nightmare? I didn't think Master had bad dreams too."

  "It's not a nightmare, it's just very strange." Mo Yan buried his face in the handkerchief and thought back to the dream he had just had: "I haven't had a dream in a long time, I don't know why it suddenly became like this. According to magic, is there a reason for having a strange dream?"

  "There are indeed some witchcraft that can kill people in their sleep." Vivian hugged Mo Yan's thick arm, as if comforting him, saying: "However, if one really falls under such a spell, once they start dreaming, there is no room for maneuver. In the dream, it can be said that death is almost certain. And if nothing can wake them up, then it's just an ordinary nightmare."

  "There's nothing to worry about then." Mo Yan thought for a moment and felt it made sense, so he stopped worrying about the issue and lay back in bed, saying: "Maybe I was thinking too much, let's just go back to sleep."

  Lilith and Vivian looked at each other as Mo Yan seemed to have fallen asleep again, although they didn't say anything to each other, it was as if they had mutually confirmed something. The two lay back in Mo Yan's arms, closing their big eyes with long eyelashes, seemingly sleeping yet thinking about something.

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  Collect and recommend

  Let me sort out my thoughts, I feel a bit confused...