Chapter 47: Seeds of Industrial Reform, the Darkness Underneath Elven Perfection (part 1)

The next morning.

When Yang Hao woke up from his slumber, he found Teresa, dressed in a thin nightgown, embracing his head. His chin was nestled firmly in her bosom, and he could feel the warm breath from her sleep on his face.

They had been sleeping like this recently. Although there were two specially prepared double beds, neither Yang Hao nor Teresa had any intention of sleeping apart.

However, this arrangement also led to some awkward situations.

After all, Yang Hao was a normal man, and Teresa was not someone who preferred women.

Though they hadn’t taken their relationship further yet, to avoid losing control, Yang Hao hoped to find an appropriate occasion to propose to Teresa after ensuring a stable life for her.

It didn’t seem quite right to continue like this before proposing.

Yang Hao thought about it. Even Priscilla hadn’t gone this far with him. On reflection, maybe he was the exception? Never mind.

For now, he should get up.

“Teresa? It’s morning.”

“Mmm…”

The little nun, still half-asleep, instinctively tightened her embrace until Yang Hao gently patted her back and pinched her ear. Only then did the usually proud nun groggily wake up.

This was a scene only Yang Hao could witness–a drowsy girl yawning as she slowly sat up in bed, her gray eyes filled with bewildered confusion. To ensure her surroundings were safe, she clung to his arm.

His private beauty. Yang Hao mused as the finally awake Teresa yawned again, nonchalantly beginning to change clothes right in front of him.

“I’m still here, you know.”

“Hmm? Oh—good morning.”

“Good morning. Sigh, you know that’s not what I meant.”

“Does it matter, little puppy? Eventually, we’ll probably end up wrestling naked in bed for an hour or two before getting up—ah. Are we heading out for inspections today?”

“Yes. I plan to bring Narujia along. We might not be able to let them live idly in the future. If we can find a use for the Golems, that would be ideal.”

“What about Joseph?”

“They still need to care for the wounded. I’ve heard that limb regeneration can be problematic for those with magical organs.”

“Oh.”

She removed her nightgown, swiftly donned her nun’s habit, and after putting on her boots by the bed, she suddenly nodded thoughtfully. She then grabbed Yang Hao’s sleeve, signaling him to come closer.

Yang Hao complied. Teresa always had peculiar ideas from time to time, and he was used to it.

What was it this time?

He looked at the little nun in front of him, who thoughtfully suggested that they might need to change how they address each other in public this time.

Yang Hao didn’t need to change his way of addressing her, but Teresa said that it might be better for her to change hers.

“After all, you see, while calling you little puppy when we’re alone is a sign of our close relationship, it’s important to maintain respect in front of others.”

“Just call me by my name?” Yang Hao shrugged. “Besides, I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

“But I care a lot,” Teresa said seriously. “I don’t want outsiders to misunderstand the nature of our relationship or to think of you as my possession rather than an independent person. Perhaps my previous term of endearment has caused this misunderstanding, so this needs to be resolved.”

Since Teresa felt so strongly about it, Yang Hao had no reason to oppose her.

He simply patted Teresa’s hand in encouragement and asked her what she wanted to do. Then, Teresa grabbed his chin.

“Uh…” 

The little nun gazed deeply into Yang Hao’s eyes. She gently rubbed her delicate fingers against the stubble on his chin, which prickled her skin. After a while, her face turned red.

“Although calling you by your name is best in public, when we’re alone, I want to call you… dear.”

She closed her eyes and leaned in for a hug.

Feeling the warmth of her lips against his, Yang Hao hugged her back.

***

After taking Narujia who was dressed in traditional elven attire, outside, Yang Hao and his group waited for Arthur to arrive at the bow shop. His leg had already healed with the help of magic, but for some reason, he was wearing a golden mask. Combined with his long golden hair, this already handsome man now had an added aura of mystery.

As he left, he shared an affectionate kiss with Viya. Their relationship seemed genuinely good, apart from their unique preferences as a couple, they looked like an ordinary, happy family.

“Your Majesty, let’s go. To reach the Oak Tree Mines, we need to ride horned deer or swift eagles… Eh? Who is this?”

“This is Narujia, the Ling tribe chieftain. We’ll talk on the way.”

The Sky Garden of Fingal had a swift eagle flight hub open to all elves. By riding these eagles, elves could travel quickly and for free within the Elven Forest, though important destinations required presenting some credentials.

Yang Hao had the certification document given to him by Fen, so once he showed that, everything proceeded smoothly.

By 10 a.m. that morning, they arrived at the Oak Tree Plaza.

At first glance, it appeared to be a unique scenic spot formed by countless intertwining oak trees. However, upon ascending into the air and pausing at the treetop level, the truth of the location became apparent.

Surrounded by oak trees was a stone hill slightly shorter than the nearly hundred-meter-high forest.

The roots of the trees twisted around the mountain, squeezing into every crevice. They inserted their brownish, semi-transparent ducts into the ground.

In the light, these brownish roots, resembling intestines, rhythmically pulsated. They slowly transported the mineral sands toward the heart of the tree.

Arthur explained that this was the Elven Oak Tree Mine. This mine, the closest to Fingal, produced over seventy percent of Caparia’s magic minerals. It also yielded regular iron, silver, copper, and deeply buried gemstone mines.

This place was essentially the heart of Elven mining. Losing this mine would plunge the elves into a decade-long resource shortage. The supply of armor and even arrowheads would become extremely unstable.

After landing, Yang Hao and Arthur worriedly climbed down from the griffin. 

Before Yang Hao could say anything, the gold-masked Arthur being familiar with the path, led the way and said, “Your Majesty, the mineral resources here are abundant, but as you might also think… they are too concentrated. It’s really too concentrated. Seventy percent of a kingdom’s mineral resources come from here, and not just the minerals, but the supporting military industry is also built around the mine. This is like having the human heart and brain operate in the same place; if this place were to be intentionally destroyed, the elven military industry would be completely crippled.”

In the Roman Empire, the now-dismantled steam factory was also considered a dense industrial zone. However, when Yang Hao and Arthur were in the Roman Empire, they would never establish such a crucial steam factory close to the mining area.

One reason was to avoid further environmental damage and population congestion. More importantly, it was to prevent being wiped out by enemies.

If enemies only destroyed the raw material production areas, the factories would still be operational. They could quickly produce equipment and seek short-term solutions against the invaders before resources were exhausted.

If enemies only destroyed the steam factory industrial zone, with the raw material production areas intact, they could still prepare for long-term warfare. While weapon production wouldn’t be as efficient as before, they could still continuously produce small batches to handle prolonged conflicts.

However, the elves’ outdated approach of concentrating more than half of the raw material production and more than half of the handicraft industry in the same area was undoubtedly foolish.

This meant that if enemies targeted the raw material production areas, they could simultaneously destroy the handicraft industry hubs.

Losing both raw material production and product output would force the country to rely on stored products and resources for one final decisive battle.

Perhaps the elves thought that since this approach worked in the past, it would still be perfect now. But in Yang Hao’s opinion, this outdated perfection was better off discarded altogether.

“Your Majesty, you know… this is like having a perfect stone knife. But we’ve entered the steam age. What use is a stone knife now? I’d rather see the elves using imperfect iron knives than watching them head into battle with stone tools. Especially considering the Roman Empire’s steam factories…”

“Steam factories? They’re all gone, dismantled. The steam rifles have either been thrown away or sold off. So, in a way, the elves are using perfect stone knives to fight against the Church District’s rusty iron knives.”

“What?! Dismantled?! Have they lost their minds?!”

Stunned by the bombshell Yang Hao had just dropped, Arthur stood frozen in place, even as Narujia and Teresa passed by.

The news was a heavy blow for Arthur. After all, the steam factories were his pride and joy, akin to a child he and Yang Hao had nurtured. Even though he couldn’t return to see them, he still felt a sense of pride in his heart.

The Roman Empire had not only driven out the Regent King but also dismantled the steam factories? Who could have predicted that?

He was dumbfounded for a while, finally calming down and muttering, “Well, I’m with the Elven Kingdom now anyway,” as he jogged back to Yang Hao’s side.

At that moment, they arrived at the entrance of a hollow oak tree. Showing the guards their documents, they entered and began to observe the metal ingots produced automatically by the ancient trees.

Yang Hao counted silently in his mind, while Arthur, as usual, provided the timely answer.

“The ancient trees don’t produce metal ingots as quickly as the factories we established in the Roman Empire. From a broad perspective, the overall production capacity of the Oak Tree Mine is only about two-thirds of what the Roman Empire could achieve when it had steam factories. However, considering the population and resource demand differences between the two countries, the Elven Kingdom overall is in a better position than the Roman Empire. Though the Roman Empire is larger overall due to its vast population. The disadvantages are as stated, but the advantages are evident. We just need people to sort and transport the metal ingots that were produced for storage. In terms of costs, we only need to regularly supply the ancient trees with magic power, plant oak tree seeds externally, and occasionally provide irrigation. Additionally, we don’t have to worry about the underground mines collapsing.”

“Underground mines… how much resource is there?”

“No one knows exactly. But the elves say that this Oak Tree Mine and the workshops have been operating for thousands of years, from the ancient magic disaster wars to the present. I personally estimate that the underground is a rich mine only accessible to the elves. But I must be clear with you, this mine is more fragile than we imagined. We simply can’t extract the resources below through manual labor unless we flatten the entire mountain and then dig a massive pit, much like the silver mine on the eastern side of the Roman Empire.”

“In other words, this place is not only the heart of the elves but also their crucial Achilles’ heel.”

Yang Hao let out a heavy sigh, muttering that if it were just the heart, it could at least be saved with healing magic from the mages, continually cast for about a month to keep it alive.

But if the Achilles’ heel was destroyed, it would mean instant death with no chance for rescue.

Yang Hao and Arthur discussed the proposal to split the dense mixed industry here as soon as possible. Although this would impact production efficiency, it was better than having both sectors suffer if one was hit.

They then talked about the possibility of transforming the oak trees into structures similar to steam factories. During this discussion, Arthur seriously stated that Yang Hao must decide the direction from the start.

After all, ancient trees were not like human-made factories. They needed time to grow, and once they had grown, it was almost impossible to change their internal structure, except for further expansion.

So, should they continue producing metal ingots like now, fully automated but slow, with the benefit of endless production without supervision? 

Or should they opt for a semi-automated factory like the steam factory, requiring human labor but yielding quicker results?

Yang Hao thought for a moment, realizing that he still didn’t fully understand the Elven Kingdom, so he humbly hoped Arthur would not worry about appearances and provide his suggestions.

“That being said, I prefer the slower, fully automated factory.” Arthur shrugged and patted the mask on his face. “After all, the total Elven population can’t provide us with a large workforce, and Elves are a laid-back race. You might be able to occasionally invite an Elf to go out and watch the moon, but if you say to watch the moon every day, they’ll just turn and leave.”

“In other words, they can’t do monotonous work on an assembly line. I understand. Thank you, Arthur.”

Yang Hao recorded Arthur’s suggestion in his notebook. 

But at that moment, Teresa suddenly spoke thoughtfully.

“Since the factory formed by ancient trees will almost be impossible to change internally in the future, why not consider the possibility of improvement from the start and leave room for future modifications? Just like how the clergy leaves room when taking oaths. The Church’s oath intentionally states not to wear gold, silver, or jade in sacred occasions, but even the God of Light might not know exactly what sacred occasions refer to. So naturally, the Church’s priests openly wear gold and silver rings while walking down the street. Even those fools know to leave room for themselves, so why are you two thinking about fixing the direction from the start?”

The little nun looked at Yang Hao as if he were an idiot. 

Yang Hao and Arthur exchanged glances, both equally perplexed.

Yang Hao then drew a hard line through the original Fully Automated Factory Reform Plan in his notebook, replacing it with Diversifiable Internal Automated Factory Reform Plan. He hugged his lover tightly, whispering his thanks for her reminder.