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Chapter 836: Signs of Change

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

Despite some hard selling happening, the Fjords businessmen still finally accepted this method of selection. They all knew that if they quit now, the others would only take over their share. Eagerly wanting to become distributors for these exclusive products, they did not mind such a little compromise.

And they also could not deny that what Roland said had some truth to it. The samples that they had brought back before, despite the notable differences in taste, could not be matched by the fruit wine or other drinks on the market. So the difference lay mainly in the amount of profit. Since they were all responsible for sales in different regions, the possibility of competition was not high, thus further reducing the risk of selecting an inferior product.

Roland was chuckling to himself as he observed Gammon and the others pacing back and forth around the barrel. Some were nose sniffing and even trying to find some residual appearance of the beverage. Though the buckets looked ordinary from the outside, the interior had a layer of membrane made by Soraya. This completely isolated the air inside and outside, therefore the nose would certainly not be able to smell any difference.

Taking advantage of the crowd picking out the Chaos Drinks, he quietly pulled Margaret aside and whispered, "The buckets on both sides of No. 10 and No. 24 have quite tasty drinks. At least I personally like them very much."

The latter looked astonished. "Your Majesty..."

"You can take that as a gift," said Roland with a light laugh. "If it wasn't for the first batch of businessmen that you brought, the Western Region might have taken two or three years more before it could look like this. Though your intention wasn't to do business with Border Town, the town still reaped the benefits, so this reward is nothing." He paused and said, "But of course, it would only be for this time. After all, if you get good cards each time, the others will certainly become suspicious."

He had pretty much said all the facts. At that time, the steam prototype had been cumbersome and difficult to operate, and had only been suitable for the simplest drainage and haulage work. There had not been too many sales markets in the Western Region. Had she not introduced it to the Silver City mineral traders, thus opening up a high-profit trade route, the initial accumulation would have been more difficult.

Not to mention Margaret's Chamber of Commerce was responsible for the sales in the Graycastle area, so monopolizing the local market through the first batch of higher quality products was also a good choice.

"In that case, I accept your gift." The businesswoman did not do much to refuse—in dealing with people, she really resembled Thunder who was cheerful, generous, and uncalculating. After briefly saluting Roland, Margaret laughed and said, "Since I have received your gift, I can't do nothing in return. I might as well reveal to you a good news."

"What do you mean?" Roland asked, raising his eyebrows.

"The first group of businessmen you mentioned, which includes my old friend Hogg, plan to visit the Western Region this period." She lowered her voice and said, "But from his letter, it seems that this time it would be more than just him—the machines that you sell have spread in the Central Region of the kingdom, and almost all the mining businessmen are now asking him about the rail-transport system. And in about six months, your plant will be busy all day long."

"Is that so?" Roland was a little startled, then smiled and nodded his head. "That does seem like a good news to celebrate."

However, only he knew that there was a heartfelt sense of accomplishment after hearing this news.

"This day has finally come," he thought.

Over the past two years, he had sold a total of nearly 100 steam engines, of which only 30% belonged to the kingdom. At the beginning of the establishment of Graycastle Industrial Co., the monthly output was only an appalling two or three units. This output could hardly meet the demand of his own domain, but he still sold a part of it to Silver City. He had been looking forward to this day.

Such a scarce source of power is almost negligible for the industrial revolution, but it was a sign of a change from manpower to machinery and of a new mode of production. When everyone noticed the power of this new source of energy and wanted to follow suit, the change would start.

He believed that this interest-based change was almost impossible to stop. Its effect would be more than 10 million times better than just selling and promoting products, and its energy would be enough to change the whole era.

Today, Neverwinter was no longer like before. The output of one day in an industrial park today was equivalent to one month's output in the past. After the plants adopted three shifts, it would grow even more. Most importantly, a large number of apprentices who had received elementary education were steadily turning into workers—they had never touched a hammer nor built a sword, but had learned how to use machinery to produce machines. As long as the time was ripe, there would be an unprecedented eruption of productivity in Neverwinter in this era.

From Margaret's news, Roland seemed to envision that this moment was now not far away from him.

...

Two days later, the Fjords merchants left Neverwinter with their selection of Chaos Drinks, and Barov eagerly went into Roland's office with a thick pile of books.

Judging from the chief's smiling expression that almost covered his eyes, Roland knew that the results this time must have been quite good.

However, after opening the statistics sheet, he did not linger on the deposit amount but instead focused his attention on the new arrivals.

According to the agreement of the last meeting, Sunset Island and Shallow Water Town would each provide 300 craftsmen in exchange for completing the transformation of the paddle steamer in five years. The wealthy Crescent Moon Bay was even more direct and used 2,000 people and 50,000 gold royals to purchase a steel ship with no sails. Although both were aiming to get the knowledge of shipbuilding technology, Roland did not care about this and instead treated it as a bargaining chip—as long as they were willing to leave their people in his city, he would be fine with giving them not only manufacturing methods and techniques, but even design drawings.

Therefore, they also made a lot of effort this time. According to Barov's statistics, the number of craftsmen brought by the Fjords trip was 10% to 20% more than the agreed number. Most of them were old-timers with many years of experience in shipbuilding and carpentry, hence its intention was self-evident: Neverwinter did not prohibit technical skills from being mastered by other cities. This meant that when the contract was completed, other than those who were treated as part of the transaction, the others would learn all the skills and return to the Fjords.

Unfortunately, they did not understand the technical terms of the new era.

Roland could not help but raise the corners of his mouth. The people of the Fjords would soon realize that if they wanted to produce their own steamship, they would have to buy raw materials, equipment, key parts and components from Neverwinter... In the end, they would only be more dependent on Graycastle, like small countries without complete industrial capabilities in the modern world where he had lived.

He lifted the quill, drew a circle below the total number of these tradesmen, and returned the statistics sheet to Barov.

"Help the arrivals to settle in and call Karl Van Bate so that together you can make a financial plan based on what the industrial park is doing right now," said Roland. "We have to build a few more plants."

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Chapter 837: Letter to the Sleeping Island

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

Tilly was at her desk, writing a secret letter meant for the inhabitants of the Sleeping Island.

Since she would be using the carrier pigeon, she had to reduce the size of the letter, and use the most concise language to express herself.

The content was actually not complicated and could be completed in two to three sentences, but, somehow, she could not stop writing. She was in an uncontrollable mood and felt like she was writing a long family manual—letting her thoughts run wild was certainly a rare occurrence for her.

However, Tilly unexpectedly found out that it was not a bad feeling to do so.

Since it was not a matter of life and death, she decided to go with this feeling.

Slim ink marks slowly moistened the letter, and she could not help but feel a sense of warmth.

"Dear Camilla,

"The Months of Demons is now over and the Western Region is calm again. Victory Day celebrations were particularly interesting. Do you remember the hot pot that I told you about? Roland moved this cooking method to the town square, with four huge woks of boiled soup, and then the meat, vegetables, whole chicken and Bird Beak Mushrooms were thrown into the soup. The fragrance could be smelt across the other side of Redwater River. He also said the pot was a feature of Neverwinter that definitely had to be tasted."

"With Roland's encouragement, everyone put all kinds of food in their pots. I have to say that with a thick soup, no matter what I ate, my mouth was full of flavor. There was no difference between City Hall officials, the Witch Union, or ordinary subjects. This scene would have been impossible in the past. It is hard to imagine that a cruel war that will determine the fate of the world will follow this passionate scene. It is also precisely because of this, that this kind of joy was especially precious."

"I'm writing these to tell you that Neverwinter is really an incredible place—and I'm not trying to change your views of the nobility, but Roland Wimbledon is not a noble at all. Unsurprisingly, I just confirmed our speculation. He is exactly like us, the so-called noble identity was only a passage of time or a cover-up. So you should also take a look at this new city. Sleeping Island, certainly needs guarding, but I don't want you to view this responsibility like a cage."

"And by the way, during this Months of Demons, our witches finally no longer just stood idly by. Roland's plan of the Southernmost Region was carried out by Ashes, Andrea, and Echo. As for the interesting things happening in the desert, I won't go into details here and we can talk about it later on. I believe that the Sleeping Island will inevitably become even more important after the other sisters have come."

"To the Chief Butler of Sleeping Island?" Just then a hand suddenly came out from behind Tilly and placed a cup of azure drink in front of her.

"Well," she smiled, and she knew that it was Ashes without turning her head. "I was just writing about you. Would you like to take a look?"

"I'd better not," Ashes rubbed her shoulders and whispered. "I still have to prepare today's dinner."

"Then you'd better go. I look forward to your delicious dishes," Tilly laughed. The witches generally dined with Roland in the castle's living room, so the small kitchen in their apartment was less likely to be used. But since they had been separated for months, Ashes wanted to share their dinner alone, and of course she would not refuse. Not to mention that Ashes also mysteriously claimed to have obtained a magical condiment from the Southernmost Region.

After she drank the Chaos Drink that was refreshing as an icespring, she then continued writing.

"After chitchatting so much, now let's talk about serious stuff."

"According to my agreement with him, spring is when the relocation will take place. The time has come for action, and my idea hasn't changed. Everything has gone as expected and even more perfectly than anticipated, hence we should just follow the plan—I believe you are already well prepared."

"After the Months of Demons ends, the Fjords' trade roads will soon be busy and I'm afraid it will be difficult to hire enough ships and sailors. If you encounter such a problem, you can ask Thunder for help. He's currently seeking Sealine adventurers, so ships and people are not a problem. Before the steel ship that Roland built for him is ready, Thunder will remain at the Fjords. As long as we can get in contact with him, he will surely help us."

"In addition, do not forget to advertise to the lords and merchants of Fjord Islands about our whereabouts. Also, inform them that the Sleeping Spell will continue to be open to all. Don't worry that, after the relocation, part of the witches will be too far away from the Fjords. Now that Western Region's Shallow Beach has been put into use, and Roland also intends to build a new port in the Endless Cape for replenishment, this means Neverwinter vessels can easily reach the Fjords."

"I have a hunch that it will not take long before this route becomes the busiest trade route between the mainland and the islands; it will become a normal thing to cross the Straits, especially once the converted paddle steamer in the harbor is completed."

"It is important to remember this, Camilla. Migration to the Western Region does not mean giving up the Sleeping Island." Neverwinter is the front line against the demons and the most dangerous place once the battle of Divine Will starts. As a part of humanity, we should try our best to make a contribution to fight against the enemy. Even Roland cannot guarantee victory. When the Western Region is captured by the enemy, the only place we can go to would be the Fjords islands."

"Although it would be better if such a thing did not happen. Anyway, we still have hope as long as the Sleeping Island is still there."

"Take care,"

"Tilly Wimbledon."

Princess Tilly let out a deep breath after writing. Camilla Dary, originally a noble of the old king's city, knew quite well the dirty secrets among the nobility and that caused her to completely lose faith in them. Although Camila still supported all the decisions she had made, the last time that they had spoken, the housekeeper had faintly hinted that she would stay behind in the Sleeping Island forever.

However, Tilly felt that although Sleeping Island was important, it should not be a place to stay alone. The guardians could take turns, and everyone should have the opportunity to come to Graycastle to re-experience normal life. This was what she would like to see. Of course, this letter might not completely convince Camilla, but as more and more witches came to the Western Region, she believed that Camilla would change her original view.

Tilly put down the quill, rolled the paper into a circle of paper, and then fastened the string.

When Honey was called over, she was shocked to see five or six scrolls of paper on the table.

"Will they be sent to the Sleeping Island?" she asked.

"Yes, and all of them have to be sent to Camilla," said Tilly, nodding her head, "... Is that too much?"

"It doesn't matter, since it's Your Highness Tilly's letter, it'll have to be sent no matter what!" Honey patted her chest and said, "now I'll go to catch two seabirds for you. Whether it's a secret document or even a honey grilled fish, it can also be sent!"

Looking at the girl jumping up and down as she left the room, Princess Tilly could not help but walk to the window and look towards the direction of the Fjords.

Before long, the witches that were forced to leave their homeland would once again set foot on this piece of land.

Starting with Neverwinter, everything thought about witches would change for the better.

By that time, the Western Region would be even more livelier than it was now.

She was sincerely looking forward to that day.

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Chapter 838: A Special Day

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

When the sky was just turning white, Broken Sword was already completely awake.

She stood up, walked to the window and pushed it open. The slightly chilly morning breeze suddenly poured into the room, bringing with it a chill of melting snow, with the fragrance of the coming spring. The faint blue sky was not yet completely illuminated, but from the sparse clouds, it could be seen that today would be a good day.

After putting on her clothes, she walked to the living room and discovered that a plate of roasted nuts and a can of vegetable soup were already laid out on the table for four people—amongst them, Annie always got up early, and would not only be the first to finish washing, she would also occasionally make breakfast.

After they officially joined the Witch Union, they moved from the Foreign Affairs Building to the Witch Building and could have their meals anytime at the castle, but Annie still chose to prepare breakfast herself sometimes. In the first month after receiving her salary, she went to the convenience market to buy cooking materials such as firewood, butter and salt. She also went to the wild to collect some wild fruits and vegetables every week.

Broken Sword curiously asked why she did so, and Annie's answer was simple. She said survival in the wilderness

was a skill, and if not practiced for a long time, it would be forgotten. If it was time to escape again, how could they ensure survival?

Broken Sword could not understand why Annie was always ready to wander. But having said that, occasionally tasting these wild fruits was not bad.

"Good morning." She sat at the table and pulled at her nuts. "Are you going to the factory today?"

"Yes." Annie nodded and finished the remaining hot soup in the bowl. "There are some big objects that can't be pushed out by the workers. The machine can't plug in that big thing, and it can only be joined by small iron pieces. Miss Anna was doing it all before, but it's all up to me now."

From her voice, Broken Sword could hear a trace of vague satisfaction and sense of accomplishment, which was probably the most significant change since the four came to Neverwinter—their ability was no longer something meaningless. Working for His Majesty and getting paid was like a craft. The experience of relying on oneself instead of swindling or relying on the charity of others gave Broken Sword a sense of being reborn. She believed that Annie had the same feeling, or she would not get up early every day and be the first to head to the factory, even without any pressure to survive.

But today was a special day.

"Don't forget that today Hero..."

"I know." Annie looked a lot more serious. "Rest assured, I'll finish my chores earlier and come in time."

Broken sword became more relieved. "Well, she can feel more at ease with you around."

"Then I'll make a move first." She got up and left.

"Go, I'll take care of Hero."

"The hot water is in the kitchen and the rest is up to you." Annie did not speak much and quickly left home.

Broken Sword went to the kitchen to get a basin of hot water after eating her share. She crept lightly into Hero's bedroom. As Hero had lost her legs, she would still sleep with Annie even if there were enough rooms. In the daytime, the other three witches would take turns to take care of her. Miss Iffy and Lady Wendy would also come to help sometimes.

What was surprising to her was that Hero was already awake and sitting on the bed. She was looking out at the brightness through the window. The soft shimmer of her lilac hair and fair complexion made her look extremely pleasant. And under this light, it was hard to imagine how brutal a treatment she had been subjected to.

However, Broken Sword quickly regained her senses and realized that Hero might not be as calm as she looked on the surface. That could be why she woke much earlier than usual.

"Good morning," she said.

"Ah... good morning," said Hero, as if she was recovering from a daze, and said apologetically, "sorry to trouble you again."

"It's no trouble at all," said Broken Sword, sticking out her tongue. "No one would think so. And maybe after today, you'll be able to do it yourself."

Suddenly, Hero's eyes flashed a very complex look of tension, anticipation, fear, and excitement... After a while, she managed to control her emotions and forced herself to smile. "I don't know if I can—I have forgotten completely the feeling of walking, even if in a dream, I..." She bit her lip and continued, "I can only crawl forward."

"So you can learn from the beginning. It's not a big deal," said Broken Sword, pressing on her shoulder. "Even God's Punishment Witch can do it, and surely you can as well. Come, try to raise your legs."

Hero took a deep breath, opened the quilt, and saw two thin, branch-like legs exposed—they were different from a few months ago. Her legs which had been severed from the knees grew much longer, almost to the ankle position, and the ugly scars had also become smoother. They looked crumpled and different from normal legs and seemed as if they could snap off at any moment. But at least, they were much better than before.

This result was the joint effort made by the Witch Union.

At first, Nana could only recover minor wounds such as severed fingers, and the regrowth of the whole limb could not be achieved until the four witches joined the Witch Union. Broken Sword followed the instructions of His Majesty Roland to complement Nana with her strengthening ability and achieved a breakthrough—holding a sword which Broken Sword transformed into, Nana's healing ability had been fully upgraded, and even a hunting dog with broken feet could grow new claws.

This new discovery brought a ray of hope to Hero's recovery.

However, the test that started later was not that easy.

First of all, Nana's healing effect only took effect on the wound, and Hero's broken leg had already healed. If they wanted to recover her legs, they had to create new wounds in them. Secondly, even with Broken Sword's magic, treatment could only last for dozens of minutes, which meant that the recovery process had to be carried out in several stages. The combination of these two points posed a formidable challenge to both the healer and the patient.

Hero had to repeatedly suffer the pains of wounds in her broken legs, and Nana had to cut her legs several times to make them grow. This treatment program was problematic from the beginning.

Fortunately, Lady Wendy noticed this problem and mobilized the entire Witch Union.

Broken Sword realized for the first time that they called each other sisters and this was not just a term, but they felt like a family from the bottom of their hearts. Though the four of them came from the Kingdom of Wolfheart, and joined Neverwinter not too long ago, they were not stingy about their affections for each other.

Miss Leaf used a special plant called the sleeping fern to cultivate unconscious herbs that when consumed, one would not wake up for hours. Thus this helped to relieve Hero's suffering.

Cutting was carried out by Miss Anna. Under the sharp Blackfire, the formation of a new wound could be completed instantly, and Nana only needed to focus on her ability.

Finally, Marquess Spear Passi, the lord of a city, did not return immediately after the meeting at Fallen Dragon Ridge because of Hero. The previous treatments had been cautious—Nana's magical powers had been depleted every time to recover sections of legs which were as short as a half of a finger. Once her ability had been exhausted, the open wounds would have soon become lethal. Therefore, the recovering process had been extremely slow. With the help of Marquess Spear, recent treatments had made considerable progress.

If everything went smooth, Hero would regain her full feet after today.

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Chapter 839: Hero's Tears

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

Broken Sword put on the protective socks for Hero, and carried her to the wheelchair. She gave Hero a simple wash and breakfast... Amy, her next door neighbor, also woke up. When everything was ready, they pushed the wheelchair and went to the hospital.

Hero was much more nervous than usual and hardly spoke along the way. Fortunately, Amy helped to make the atmosphere more lively, so that the tension would not affect Broken Sword.

As for Amy herself... probably optimism was her nature, so she could smile at any moment, even when she was fleeing to the Kingdom of Dawn—this always made Broken Sword envious.

It was almost 9:00 am when they arrived at the hospital. When they had just entered the courtyard, the three of them saw Lady Wendy waiting at the entrance.

No, not only Wendy, but there were also Scroll, Anna, Leaf, Mystery Moon and Lily... Almost all of the Witch Union members were gathered there waiting for their arrival.

Although she was not the patient, Broken Sword still felt a sudden surge of warmth. She even felt her eyes getting sour and tearing up.

There was a slight tremor in the wheelchair and she knew that Hero was becoming emotional.

"His Majesty and Marquess Spear have been waiting for you in the medical room," Wendy said with a smile, touching Hero's head. "Don't worry, you'll regain your freedom soon."

"His Majesty?" Broken Sword sounded surprised. "His Majesty Roland has come?"

"Who else could it be," exclaimed Mystery Moon, "only His Majesty could make Lily put down her microscope and the weird worms."

"Don't talk nonsense!" Lily shouted and tried to cover Mystery Moon's mouth.

This made the three chuckle, and eased their nervous mood a little.

Wendy shook her head reluctantly. "Let's not let His Majesty wait too long."

Broken Sword pushed the wheelchair into the medical room, and after saluting the king and the Marquess, carefully carried Hero to the bed.

Just as Hero was about to take the herb, Annie finally rushed over.

She grasped Hero's hand gently, just like in the past and said, "I'll be here until you wake up."

This sentence seemed to have an incredible magic, as Broken Sword saw the girl finally settle down on the bed.

On the long flight to the Kingdom of Dawn, it was Annie who had been busy taking care of these three girls that had no experience of the wild and had brought them safely there. In the process, they had all regarded Annie as the backbone, believing that as long as she was there, any problems could be solved.

Shortly after swallowing a pill, Hero fell asleep.

"Let's get started," Wendy said to Broken Sword.

She nodded and closed her eyes—in an instant, the five senses disappeared instantly, just as if they been thrown into the void. However, this feeling lasted only for a few moments, and soon she "watched" things around again—through the eyes of Miss Nana.

Her experience after exerting the ability was amazing, and she could even see herself as a short, thin "dagger," with vibrant, greenish soft lights flowing between the blade.

This willow-like dagger was a suggestion made by His Majesty. He said waving a sword in front of the bed was too weird, and it would be better if she could become a short dagger. He also gave this kind of weapon a weird name, a scalpel.

Suddenly, a surging magic burst into her body, and her sense of fullness made her start to hum. Of course, only the girl holding her could hear this slight moan.

"Still very uncomfortable?" Nana brought the scalpel in front of her.

"Much better than the previous ones," Broken Sword took a deep breath—though it was only her subconscious move. After all, the weapon did not breathe. "It doesn't matter. I can stand it. Feel free to use it."

This powerful magic Broken Sword felt came from Leaf when Spear Passi connected the two of them together. Fortunately, Miss Leaf's ability itself had the characteristics of vitality and moisture, so after adaptation it would not be too uncomfortable. This was unlike Anna's Blackfire, which was hard, sharp and cold, as if it were covered with steel needles. This, plus her magic capacity, was almost unbearable for Broken Sword.

Therefore, when working with witches, only a few cooperated with Miss Anna.

After becoming a blade, she could have a conscious connection with the user but also became faintly aware that the witch's magic and her own character were not unrelated. Most witches' temperament could always be felt from the fluctuation of magic. So it was very difficult to understand, how Anna who looked so approachable and smart, though she spoke very little, could give her such a feeling magically.

Anna removed Hero's socks, and her fingertips showed a dark, thin line, that bound her legs like a rope.

Broken Sword could not help but shiver.

She had seen it with her own eyes, that when necessary, this Blackfire was able to instantly melt the metal and burn it up. But for now it felt just like Anna's magical power, a hard and cold icy filament.

The black line soon vanished, and Broken Sword knew it had shrunk into a tiny black spot. In this shrinking process, in which the skin, blood vessels, and bones were neatly cut—because the cutting surface was too flat, so it took a while before a circle of bloodstains gradually emerged.

The sliced ​​amputated limb was less than a finger thick, and Nana already stripped off the epidermis, driving the magic to wrap the wound.

Broken Sword has seen the next treatment many times.

Bloody red wounds began to grow forward under the old skin and grow out new pink skin. The magic of the two bodies also flew quickly, without a steady input from Leaf, they would soon be depleted.

About half an hour later, a complete pair of feet finally appeared in front of everyone.

Nana's energy also reached its limit, throwing off the scalpel. She was holding the bed and gasping with her forehead covered with fine sweat beads.

And Broken Sword was not much better. The whole process for her, was like constantly inflaming the internal organs. Even after the restoration of the original appearance, the whole body was still sore.

The little girl was brought by Wendy to the next room to take a break, but Broken Sword insisted on staying.

She wanted to be with Annie and Amy, to see Hero wake up for the first time.

...

After the sleeping fern's effects faded, Hero slowly opened her eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Wendy helped her sit up in bed, softly asking, "Can you feel them?"

She shook her head first, as if she wanted to throw the drowsiness out of her mind, then widened her eyes and stared at her own feet where there had only been bald broken legs with ugly scars, nothing else.

Everyone held their breath, and cast their gaze on the back of her foot. The medical room was silent for a moment.

Suddenly, her slender toe trembled slightly.

Broken Sword's heart also fluttered. She even thought it was her own illusion so she blinked and looked again.

The toes fluttered twice and like rusty scissors that had not moved for a long time, jerked and slowly bent.

Her uneasy heart finally felt assured and she just wanted to cheer. But she saw Hero's eyes flash two drops of tears. She was stunned, as even during the most difficult period, she had never seen Hero shed a tear.

"Than..." Hero swallowed as soon as she opened her mouth, and for a long time failed to complete her sentence, but all the people present understood her meaning. "Thanks... thank..."

Annie leaned over and Hero burst into tears in Annie's arms.

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Chapter 840: Black Blood

Translator: TransN Editor: Meh

After Roland returned to the castle, Roland still could not feel peace in his heart. As the saying goes, people would shed tears of delight. But in his view, Hero cried not only out of delight but it was also a way to pour out all her suppressed emotions after suffering years of unfair treatment, pain, and false accusations.

In other words, the fact the put on a tough look did not necessarily mean that she did not feel pains. It was rather a mask underneath she hid all her true feelings. It was not an unnormal reaction for a girl who had just come of age before the misfortunes had weighed upon her. She had done very well in being strong and hopeful.

The treatment turned out successfully, and she regained a pair of normal feet. After being unable to walk for such a long time, it might take a while for her to control her feet again. However, since she could feel her new feet after the treatment, her feet nerve must have been well connected with her spinal nerve. With rehabilitation, she would be able to walk again sooner or later.

This treatment had also helped Roland to further confirm Broken Sword's ability—to increase the witch's "magic power limit".

Every witch had her power limit. Take Hummingbird's ability for an example. There were limits to the volumes of the objects of which she reduced weights, the lasting power of her magic and the extent of weight reduction. Once she passed one of the limits, the consumption of her magic power would multiply. It was like a rising index which could not go far beyond its normal value. To think it in another way, Hummingbird was unable to turn a huge mountain into something as light as a feather, nor could maintain her power effective forever. It would probably require an unimaginable amount of magic power to achieve that.

The same applied to Nana. The magic power she needed to regrow the limbs was far beyond her magic power limit. That was why she could replant broken fingers but was unable to regrow limbs, not even with Leaf's help.

Broken Sword's ability helped increase such limits so that something that had been impossible became nearly possible. With Broken Sword's help, the witch did not have to consume a considerable amount of magic power at a time but they only needed to apply their ability several times.

From the drawer, Roland pulled out a stash of Wendy's reports that recorded the test results when Broken Sword worked with other witches and spread them on the desk.

The result showed that most witches' abilities sharply strengthened with the help of Broken Sword. The heightened limit enabled them to enhance the effectiveness of their work. For example, the Dawn I enchanted by Mystery Moon would work longer, from the previous five days to the current two weeks. The improvement was highly precious for Neverwinter, for the city was not in a position to generate electricity on a mass scale at present. After all, as the number of plants grew, the power supply for lighting was hitting a bottleneck.

Also, the consolidation effect enchanted by Candle could maintain longer with the Broken Sword's support, which was quite beneficial to the increase in service life of machine tools as well as the advancement the processing level. Now that so many green workers were sent to the plants, it was no surprise to see them break a dozen of boring cutters or several machines every day if Candle did not help.

In addition, Broken Sword also offered significant assistance to witches like Soraya, Agatha, Lucia, Paper, etc. who worked in the plants. Thanks to those witches, the industrial development in Neverwinter was still phenomenal even without a well-established regulatory agency and sufficient labors. Without the witches, there would be more accidents and breakdowns of the system due to the dangerous and primitive production methods. Now with Broken Sword joining in, the production process would be safer and more efficient.

Roland concluded his report with his prediction that Broken Sword would be one of the busiest witches in Neverwinter.

In the afternoon, his guard Sean entered his office.

"Your Majesty, the Minister of Chemical Industry, Sir Kyle, hopes you can pay a visit to Lab Four. He said that there has been some progress in what you asked for."

"Oh?" Rowland's eyes brightened. "Rearrange my schedule. I'll be there immediately."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Roland, escorted by guards, arrived at Lab Four.

With the establishment of the acid plant and the nitration plant, the humble bungalows, which had been originally constructed as small workshops for both experiments and production, had become the veritable research center of Neverwinter. Now near the Redwater River, walls had been set up to separate the buildings. The research center was now guarded, equipped with a logistics team, and even the interior had been renovated. The outer wall of the building was repainted in a cream color, looking magnificent and grand.

Kyle Sichi did not show up at the gate of the building of Lab Four to greet Roland. Only the vice minister Chavez stood there, looking a little embarrassed, but Roland did not take it as an offense. He had known the Chief Alchemist a long time ago and was aware of what kind of person he was, so he just waved his hand and entered the building without a word.

Kyle was standing before a long lab table, his eyes glued to the liquid in the condenser pipe as it trickled down the beaker. The amber liquid was transparent, giving off an old and familiar smell. There were some more beakers around it, in which there were liquids of different shades of colors.

Roland could not help drawing a deep breath.

It had been a long time since he smelled the scent of gasoline.

Certainly, gasoline was an inappropriate name for this crude product that was definitely incomparable to the widely used fuel in the modern world, although they did have the same scent. Roland still had a long way to go before it became a steady energy supply.

"Your Majesty." The Chief Alchemist, who just noticed Roland, placed his hand on his chest. "You're right. The Blackwater in the Southernmost Region indeed contains many liquid components. I've done some experiments according to the approaches described in 'Intermediate Chemistry' and found out that the components could be separated through distillation, but..." He paused to point at the beakers on the table. "If the sample is further distilled, the composition of each component present little difference."

"That means you did it right," Roland said carelessly, for he knew that they were all hydrocarbons, and Lucia would obtain the same result if she did the experiment. "Did you dig out something else?"

"The components are all combustible, and the upper layer of the liquids obtained from the distillation are more volatile in nature, like this one..." Kyle picked up the beaker with the amber liquid and slightly shook it. "It's like an explosion when it's ignited! Your Majesty, are you planning to make a more powerful explosive out of it?"

Roland chuckled as he gazed at the animated old alchemist, who, in his opinion, had finally improved and become a real chemist, because now, he could associate combustible materials with explosives.

In fact, the Blackwater was sampled in Endless Cape.

From the very beginning, he suspected it was the eruption of oil wells that caused the so-called underground fire to burn constantly. Oil belonged to a big family. As oil was the lifeline of the modern industry and the essential material that had greatly influenced the World War, Roland had learned a lot about it. In fact, the difference between the oil sampled in the east and the west continents was so great, even greater than the skin colors of people in these two areas, that they could be considered as two entirely different liquids. The color of the oil varied dramatically, from golden, dark green to black, maroon, and even transparent. Some of the oil was as runny as water, while some thick and sticky; some could not be burned directly, while some highly inflammable...

In terms of their components, any mixture of hydrocarbons consisting of hydrogen and carbon could be taken as a kind of oil.

So, it was not strange to classify Blackwater as oil.

In other words, it did not matter whether Blackwater was similar to the oil in the modern world, as long as they could obtain combustible oil from it. After all, even people in the modern world had not been able to completely figure out where the oil came from, neither had they completed a thorough research on all the members of the oil family. Roland had heard people proclaim that oil would be used up in 50 years when he had been young, but it turned out that the reserves of the new oil fields discovered every year grew much faster than the consumption of the oil. Moreover, the summation of all the reserves of discovered oil fields had far exceeded the amount of the oil calculated based on the biotransformation hypothesis.