Chop that up Finely please
Acri chirped its glee and began to slice and dice the bone with his head Such was his sharpness that even this bone of a Level 50 monster was easily dismembered by it Randidly turned his attention back to the molten iron before him regarding it carefully
Zone 1 was highly advanced and could no doubt produce steel of a very high caliber without the use of manual labor to get it They were prepared for the System after all and had set up specialty factories long before now Still they choosing to push for this now accepting a inferior grade steel now for the superior stuff that would likely come along later
Why Because they finally realized how weak that left him in the higher end when other people had been successfully using the System for so long
Well it wasn’t like Randidly couldn’t make use of his own knowledge to help them along a bit
Acri arrived at his side having swept all the thinly sliced shavings into a bowl Calmly Randidly stretched out his hand and dumped the shaving into the crucible Then he began to use small spurts of Gravity Affinity to mix the superheated metal and monster bone together He withdrew his hand The flesh was burnt and the bowl was charred but it was a small thing in the grand scheme of things
Within a second his flesh had healed He hadn’t received a Skill Level for it but Randidly knew it was only a matter of time This was just the beginning
What he hadn’t expected was that was the bone mixed with the metal the volume of the molten liquid would actually shrink Randidly frowned but would reserve judgment for now But it did have the side effect of only producing 9 ingots instead of the 10 he should have received based on the raw materials They were slightly darker than the steel typically was with something like a matte finish that didn’t reflect light
Randidly picked up one of the ingots and squeezed He smiled
When he showed 8 of his finished ingots to Foreman Davey The man seemed surprised He took a long look at the metal muttered something and tried to bend it with his hands Inwardly Randidly was impressed because he very slowly bent the ingot then bent it back into shape Then he flicked the metal with a fingernail
A clear ding sounded out Foreman Davey nodded vaguely
We’ll take all 8 of course although I’m not sure this one will hold its shape long term But I wanted to test it You pay for better recipes and mix them This isn’t a metal I recognize
Randidly shrugged I was a cook before I came here I know a little bit about using the System to help mixtures along
mm well it’s good metal I’ll buy as much as you can make What’s your name kid
Randidly froze He hadn’t thought about this and had to force out the first name that came to mind Baloo Erickson
Well Baloo pleasure doing business with you I’ll buy this for 2 50 an ingot The two men shook hands
Chapter 506
It was well within Randidly’s power to make a metal that was better than this Erickson Steel as Foreman Davey called it He explained to Randidly privately that once you had obtained preliminary citizenship you had access to an electronic market of sorts and could put metals you created up directly for sale
Currently he was sending the test piece of Erickson Steel off to a lab for some testing but had already sold the other 7 ingots to a friend of his Based on the pleased face that Foreman Davey was making he made a bit of a tidy profit too
Randidly perhaps could have kept up his word that he would not leave the factory until he had enough money to buy the preliminary citizenship but ultimately caution won out Rising so fast so quickly would likely get him noticed Aside from that he likely would still use this part of the factory to make his own metal for his drones unless there was a large number of high quality materials available for cheap Besides Foreman Davey was establishing his steel as a product already there was no need to rush The money would come
So after another two days of work and selling 40 more ingots to Foreman Davey Randidly left the factory and wandered into a nearby mining town that had sprung up near the factory Zone 1 took construction much more seriously that Zone 32 and there were already condos springs up with prices of hundreds of dollars a month in rent
Randidly eyed them dutifully Sure they were rather nice but
Walking past the condos Randidly reached the part of town where most of the normal steel workers lived and spent time Here the rent was somewhere between 40 and 70 which was still a large expense but it was much more in line with the money they were making right now Each and every bit of steel they made was a struggle especially in the beginning while their Skill Levels were rising
Considering that the money they spent on learning information about metal recipes and Skills Randidly wondered how they would ever make enough money to afford preliminary citizenship They probably wouldn’t for a long time that was likely the point
Randidly walked into a bar following the smell of half decent food He could have made his own of course but he had been seen talking with Foreman Davey while the other man had a pleased expression The workers would likely be curious That curiosity might turn into something more sinister if he allowed it to fester Although it went against his nature it was in his best interest to approach other people
Randidly grimaced
There was another big positive about coming out to socialize a bit of course His entire purpose here was to gather information For all that his perfectionist tendencies drove him to improve himself and his metal making process that was no reason to lose sight of that goal If he did not look he would not find the Creature
Not that the Creature would be lurking around a steel town but it was probably best to put his ear to the ground as soon as possible
No sooner had he sat down than a man walked over toward Randidly and joined him at the bar
Heya youngin I’ll be brief The man said carefully eyeing Randidly The man was balding with a thick patch of stubble on his face but his hands were active and strong There are other ways to access the markets than Foreman Davey I’ve seen the steel you made its good stuff But we can never get out of the factory if we don’t help each other If you need help or want to get a fairer price for your steel come ask for Ricky Stain at the high rises We will get you situated right
The man clapped Randidly on the shoulder using more force than was necessary When Randidly didn’t budge in the slightest the man’s eyes widened and he walked away a hint of fear in his face Randidly called the bartender over and ordered a beer
One drink and he grimaced again Jesus Christ even in liquor Donnyton was an order of magnitude above this Zone Or perhaps their strengths were just in different areas Some of these luxury items weren’t considered necessary by the AI that ran this place and therefore wasn’t emphasized Either way it was something of a disappointment and made his stay in this social setting all the more disappointing
Still he had come and been approached so that was probably enough right But Randidly was slightly curious as to how this Ricky Stain made money if he offered a better price than Foreman Davey It was something worth paying attention to if nothing else Perhaps all was not as peaceful as expected within the factory And in a post System world disgruntled workers were a hell of a lot more dangerous
Just as Randidly was about to rise the door opened revealing a young woman with a shock of orange hair Her cheeks were smudged with soot outting the fact that she had been working in the factory and long hours by the look of her With a sigh she collapsed into a seat three down from Randidly
Without even being asked the bartender brought the woman over a drink
A regular then ’ Randidly thought regarding the girl curiously Eventually Randidly thought enough time had passed for him to leave without it seeming to have been caused by the girl’s arrival Randidly made to stand but was stopped at the door slammed open again A man in a military uniform walked through the doors and looked around Spotting the woman he strode confidently over