Iron Powder and Spellcasters Chapter 360

   Chapter 360 Trading (Part 2)

   The winch creaked and the cable groaned in pain.

  The pagan holy objects buried deep in the ground were lifted up by cranes inch by inch. The soil rustled and slipped, revealing the true face of the treasure. In the light of the torch, the surface of the pagan artifact shone with a dull but breathtaking luster.

   Everyone present couldn't help holding their breath - anyone who saw a lump of gold that was half a head taller than himself would have this reaction.

  Because the density of gold is much greater than that of soil, the people who worship the sky have been slowly sinking.

  Charle led people to dig all night to find the golden man, and he experienced many times of self-doubt in the middle. Then it took another day to clear the golden man out.

   Then just destroy it.

  Anna couldn't help but walked towards the golden man, reaching out and brushing the wet mud on the golden man's face.

  The face made of gold is calm and serene, not caring at all about the coming end.

   "It's beautiful." Winters walked over to Anna: "Right?"

  Anna looked at the golden man who sacrificed to heaven.

   This gold statue in front of me has almost nothing to do with the word exquisite. The Khan King who ordered it to cast it seems to be disdainful of carving details. When the hot gold liquid cools in the mold cavity, he refuses to add or delete any more.

   So that the outline of the facial features of the golden man looks so blurred, and the trachoma and defects left by the casting are faithfully preserved.

   But precisely because of this, compared to the gold and silver sacrificial vessels enshrined in the church, compared to the jeweled crowns on the heads of kings and princes, this pagan-style holy object has a unique beauty of roughness, robustness, and simplicity.

  It does not require any delicate and complicated processing at all, and its value alone is enough to overwhelm any holy weapon and any crown.

   "How long has it been around?" Anna asked.

"If the records in the Great Archives are correct." Father Kaman, who was invited to preside over the ceremony, replied softly, "It should be about 240 years ago, when the first barbarian khan who conquered the wasteland used gold donated by various ministries to cast it. ."

  Anna looked at Winters, hesitated, and finally sighed regretfully.

   Winters also felt a little regretful, and if possible, he would prefer to preserve the golden man as a souvenir. Because when he saw this golden man, the days and nights of the Battle of the Great Wasteland reappeared in his mind.

   But the future is more important than the past.

   "I don't know how many relics are annihilated in history like this, leaving no sound." Winters touched Anna's fingertips: "But at least you witnessed its disappearance."

  Anna nodded silently.

  Winters finally looked at the golden man of sacrifice to the sky, the golden man stood quietly, the west wind whistled through the valley, and the crows circled and howled in the night sky.

   "Melted it," Winters said.

  The final verdict was issued, and the golden man was dragged all the way to the temporary workshop. Father Kaman presided over a simple christening ceremony, and everyone immediately began to dismember the golden man.

   The first drop fell on the neck, and two blacksmiths used a special hacksaw to smash the golden man's head bit by bit.

   Seeing the hacksaw going back and forth, the accompanying goldsmith was so distressed that he wanted to cry.

   In order to minimize losses, craftsmen usually only use pliers when cutting precious metals. But the size of the golden man is too amazing, not to mention cutting pliers, even an axe can't be used, only a special hacksaw can be used.

  The goldsmith took off his coat and tried to catch the gold dust.

   But how can you catch it? When the wind blows, the gold dust floats away. They are the blood shed by the golden man, which has returned to the wasteland.

The 240-year-old worshippers of Heard were finally divided into seventeen pieces. The heavy gold nuggets were buried in charcoal fires to preheat, then melted into liquids in crucibles, and finally cast into gold bars. .

   When the first rays of sunshine appeared on the horizon, the golden man who sacrificed to the sky no longer existed, replaced by gold bars neatly laid on the bottom of the four carts.

   Winters put down his cane, jumped into the carriage, and picked up a gold bar.

  The residual heat of the gold bar has long since dissipated, and it feels cold to the touch. A gold bar weighing about a kilogram is only about the thickness of the hilt and the length of a palm, which is worthy of a grip.

  The members of the embassy gradually gathered around the carriage. Among them, some of them had followed Winters since they were recruited in Wolftown, some were placed under Winters' command during the Battle of the Great Wasteland, and some were captured by Winters after he captured Gervodin.

   Everyone's eyes were unconsciously attracted to gold bars - when they were just working, they didn't feel anything, but once they were free, they really began to realize that an inestimable wealth was in front of them and within reach.

   Everyone's heart was beating wildly, saliva kept secreting from their mouths, and heavy breathing came one after another.

  Winters glanced at everyone, in the eyes of his subordinates, he saw desire, awe, greed, fear...

   "The gold on these four carriages" Winters looked directly into the eyes of his subordinates and stated calmly: "Enough for anyone to live a life like a king of God anywhere."

  No one could look at Winters, even Pierre lowered his head.

   "Come." Winters handed the gold bar to Pierre: "Take it and feel it."

  Pierre hesitantly took the gold bar, while Winters continued to distribute.

   Soon, all the more than 60 people present got the gold bars, and everyone was a little overwhelmed.

"No one has seen the life of an emperor, so I have a more intuitive way to describe it." Winters showed the gold bar in his hand: "Just the small piece you hold in your hand is enough for you to buy it in the new land. Next farm, and live a prosperous life from now on. And the wagon has a total of…”

   Winters paused for a moment: "Two thousand two hundred and seventeen."

   "Now, do you know how amazing this wealth is?"

   "Now, do you know what this gold can buy?"

  Winters paused for a moment. He looked at the crowd and asked slowly, "Now, you know—why did you come here with me?"

"Each of you has proven your courage and ability in the most brutal battles, and each of you has been hand-picked by me. I can call each of you by name, and you can count every scar on me. In Gervoudan, in Iron Peak, in Palato, you are my most trusted subordinates, you are my most trusted subordinates, you are my subordinates that I can entrust my life to, so I lead you here— not anyone else."

   The people under the carriage held gold bars and listened quietly.

"You have a lot of doubts in your heart. Why do we have to deal with the Chihe Division? Isn't the Chihe Division's hands covered with our blood? Isn't our hands also covered with the blood of the Chihe Division? Why do we Now, like nothing has happened, you can be a guest of the Chihe Department with peace of mind?"

   "I will tell you honestly - from this moment on, I will not hide anything from you."

   "Because the Chihe Department can redeem our comrades who fell into the wasteland for us."

   "Because the Chihe Department can ensure that we transport this batch of gold."

   "Because the Chihe Department is willing to sell us war horses and wool, and because the Chihe Department is willing to buy our iron and minerals."

   "In a word, it is because of the exchanges with the Chihe Department that we can grow and develop."

   Winters scanned the faces of each of his subordinates, not missing any subtle changes.

   He took a deep breath and leaned back against the rising sun. For the first time, he directly expressed his heart and ambition to everyone, his subordinates, and the heaven and earth: "The war will not end, and the war is far from over."

   "The capture of Tiefeng County is not a victory, and the capture of Tiefeng County is far from a victory."

   "The new reclaimed army, the military government, the kings, they will not tolerate our existence. Sooner or later, the encircling army will appear again. Only next time, they will learn their lessons and they will be more prepared."

   "So we have to grow, we have to grow, we have to **** every sip of lotion and absorb every drop of nutrients, even if the nutrients and lotions come from our enemies! Even if their hands are covered with our blood!"

   Winters slammed the wagon with a savage punch, and the board snapped. He didn't use spell amplification, but to everyone's ears, his voice was deafening, like the roar of a gust of wind.

   Winters calmed his breath, suddenly raised his head and asked, "Why are we fighting?"

   "Fight for you!" Pierre replied without hesitation.

"I don't want you to fight for me!" Winters snarled, this time he involuntarily used loudspeaker, roaring to shake the valley: "I, you, we—we are fighting for the power to survive! We are for the Fighting for justice! We are fighting for justice!"

   "We have to fight, because we starve to death if we don't fight! We can't surrender either! Because we will be sent to the gallows if we surrender!"

   "The Republic of Palatu throws us away like garbage and doesn't care about the blood and sacrifices we paid for her. We did our part, but the Republic of Palatu didn't do her part!"

   "Those who gain power recklessly alter the fate of ordinary people for their own selfish desires, and even their lives are treated as consumables, wasted in meaningless, worthless, and useless places!"

   "This is trampling on all the fairness and justice in the world! It has violated every promise made when this republic and this alliance were established! I have failed every martyr who paid blood for this republic and this alliance!"

   "I stayed in Palatu because I couldn't stand it! It was because I couldn't bear it! It was because I couldn't swallow it! It was because the country established by the old marshal was not supposed to be like this!"

"I don't know what fairness and justice will look like when they really come to the world, but it's definitely not what Palatu is today. So Iron Peak County is not the end, White Mountain County, Vigne County, Maplestone City, New Reclaimed Land... We have to continue to expand , continue to conquer, continue to seize power, until the old world is destroyed, until the new world is born."

  The valley fell silent again.

   After an unknown amount of time, Pierre asked: "And after the new land?"

   "Then Jiangbei Province and Xilin Province." Winters raised his head and replied: "And then Palatu!"

  The scene was silent and silent. For many people around the carriage, the new reclaimed land was already very big, and Prato was even bigger than expected. Many have never even left their hometown before.

  Pierre was silent for a moment, stared at Winters closely, and asked in a deep voice, "What about after Plato?"

Winters smiled, and the next goal was too far away for Winters, so far away that there was little hope, but his answer was as firm as an oath: "Then Veneta! The province! Monta! Vine! Then The republics!"

   Winters didn't know what his subordinates were thinking at the moment, and it was also a wonderful moment for him.

  Because of the raging flames in his chest, for the first time he shared his deepest desires, ambitions, visions, ambitions...whatever you want to describe.

   That was an unrealistic, vague, and elusive goal—or so Winters himself thought.

   He shared this wish with his most trusted subordinates, and did not expect everyone to accept it.

   "I won't force you to fight with me," Winters said. "Anyone who wants to leave can leave with a gold bar."

   No one spoke. Pierre took a few steps forward and put the gold bar back in the carriage. The others followed Pierre and, one by one, put the gold bars back into the carriage.

   Two thousand two hundred and seventeen gold bars lay quietly at the bottom of the carriage, one not much, one not much.

  [Washka and Pierre's tent]

When    was resting, Vashka was still in a daze, and he asked Pierre in confusion: "What is the new world like?"

   "I don't know." Pierre fell directly on the blanket and closed his eyes to sleep: "It's better than the old one."

  [Winters and Kaman's tent]

   "No one can save the world, Mister Montagne." Carman fiddled with the campfire: "That is the authority of the Lord."

   "Do I seem to be saving the world?" Winters sipped the mare's milk: "Maybe I'm better at destroying the world."

  [Anna's tent]

  Anna stared at the drawing board for a long time, but never started to write.

  While Winters and his men were busy melting the golden men into gold bars, a convoy arrived on the west bank of the Big Horn.

   The morning sun was slightly exposed, and the outline of Tiefeng gradually appeared.

   "[Hede] wake up the slaves and send envoys." Hong Lingyu, who was escorting the convoy, instructed the guards. He squinted at the lonely peak in the distance: "The other side of [Hede] is 'Tiefeng County'."

  The expeditionary army captive who was once a slave of the Hurds, finally returned to Palatu.

   [Probably the first time Winters has publicly recruited "comrades", but his men are still following him...]

   [Actually, it was yesterday's update, I was too sleepy, so I went to bed at twelve o'clock and set an early alarm clock]

   [I'm asking for leave because I'm worried that the alarm clock won't work, um]

   [However...Since the leave has been requested, this chapter counts as an update? ]

   [Thanks to the new leader [only waiting for the leader], thank you]

   [Thank you for your collection, reading, subscription, recommendation ticket, monthly ticket, reward and comment, thank you all]

   (end of this chapter)

Chapter end