---o---
"Wh-what do you mean?" Topaz stammered, a horrifying thought dawning on her.
Could it be that for Fu Zhu, an infinite energy source was just a run-of-the-mill, everyday thing?!
Fu Zhu's smile was radiant. He offered no explanation, simply turning and walking towards the tallest structure on the construction site.
"Come on. You'll understand once you see it."
Bronya, Xing, and March 7th followed him immediately. After a moment's hesitation, Topaz belatedly hurried to catch up.
When the group drew closer and looked up, they saw that the exterior of the massive, wide-based structure was encased in towering stone walls. From the outside, it simply looked like a square tower. At its base, Fu Zhu had left an opening large enough for eight people to walk through side-by-side.
As Bronya's group took in the massive structure, a steady stream of vagrants pushed wheelbarrows, continuously hauling out load after load of iron ingots.
They didn't even have time to stack the ingots neatly. They just dumped them like bricks in a designated area, then immediately turned their empty carts around and went back inside. A mere dozen seconds later, the same person would emerge with another wheelbarrow, once again piled high with iron ingots.
The sheer volume of output was so exaggerated that Topaz began to suspect Fu Zhu had simply stockpiled a massive quantity of ingots inside beforehand. But she quickly dismissed the thought; it was a lie that could be exposed in an instant, something Fu Zhu would never do.
The more Topaz thought, the more flustered she became. Her pace quickened as she tried to walk directly into the building to see what was happening inside, but after only a few steps, she was blocked by Seele, who stood guard at the entrance with her scythe.
Seele gave Topaz a cold, appraising look from head to toe and said icily, "Access denied."
Fu Zhu came over from the side, smiling and waving a hand at Seele. "It's fine, Seele. I'm with her. Let her come in with me and see the world. After all, it's the first time these outsiders have ever seen a wonder like this."
Only then did Seele nod and retract her scythe. She leaned against the wall with a smirk, seeming to look forward to the expression Topaz would have after entering the building Fu Zhu called the "32-Core Iron Farm."
"Let's go."
Fu Zhu was the first to step into the Iron Farm. Topaz hurriedly followed. Bronya took a few steps forward, then couldn't resist her curiosity and stopped to look at Seele.
"Seele, what exactly is inside?"
Seele just shook her head mysteriously. "Bronya, it's a miracle you have to witness with your own eyes. All I can say is, in a few days, the number of iron ingots on Belobog will be greater than the amount of food we eat in a year."
"Is it really that incredible?"
With a heart full of curiosity, Bronya slowly walked into the Iron Farm. As soon as she was inside, she saw Topaz staring blankly at the backpacks covering the floor.
Fu Zhu, who was standing beside Topaz, saw Bronya enter and waved her over with a smile. "Bronya, come over here and touch one of these backpacks."
Bronya quickly walked over and, following Fu Zhu's instruction, reached out a hand towards a backpack. The moment her fingers made contact, a virtual screen materialized before her.
The backpack's capacity was enormous, divided into several individual sections. Each slot displayed a count of 512 iron ingots. By that calculation, a single backpack held tens of thousands of ingots, and there was a whole floor covered in them.
And it wasn't just that. Besides the backpacks Bronya and Topaz were looking at, the rest were constantly being emptied by the vagrants, who hauled the ingots outside.
During this, a team leader walked over, a pained expression on his face as he lamented to Fu Zhu, "Mister Fu Zhu, we really can't store any more of this iron! Can you make more backpacks for storage? The brothers have been working non-stop for half a day, we really can't move it all!"
Fu Zhu shrugged helplessly. "It's no use. I could make more backpacks, but they'd still fill up. The efficiency of a 32-core Iron Farm is just too high; it's bound to overflow sooner or later. Just move as much as you can, and when you can't, go take a break."
"Understood, Mister Fu Zhu."
After the vagrant team leader left, Topaz finally tore her gaze away from the backpacks and looked at Fu Zhu, her face a mask of disbelief.
"Fu Zhu... what in the world is going on? Did you build some kind of mining machine in here?"
Fu Zhu shook his head. "What kind of massive iron vein could withstand me digging like this? Besides, Topaz, you've seen the iron ingots I gave you before. You should be well aware of their density and purity. Is there any iron vein on Jarilo-VI that could possibly produce this? And have you even considered the smelting speed required for this kind of output?"
"Then why... why is there so much iron?!"
Topaz's mind raced, cycling through every piece of high technology she could think of, but none of them, at a comparable scale, could possibly be as efficient as Fu Zhu's so-called "Iron Farm." And it seemed the only cost was the building materials. After a short period, any iron produced was pure profit!
Without consuming any resources!
This was simply a fairy tale!
---o---
At this point, Bronya finally tore her gaze from the backpacks. She tilted her head, listening quizzically to the strange, rhythmic banging sound that was constantly coming from the surrounding area.
"Fu Zhu, what exactly is inside these sealed walls? Why can I keep hearing a thump-thump-thump sound?"
"That's a secret. Bronya, I'd advise you not to find out."
Fu Zhu wanted to show Bronya the principles of the Iron Farm, but with Topaz, an outsider, present, and the fact that the farm's mechanics were a bit... dark... After all, it used villagers as part of the mechanism.
Although he knew the villagers weren't real people, in the eyes of Bronya and the others, they were. It would likely make them uncomfortable, so it was better that they didn't know.
Furthermore, the source of this iron was the endlessly spawning Iron Golems. And the IPC, Topaz's organization, revered the Aeon of Preservation. Coincidentally, Iron Golems were also looked upon favorably by the Amber Lord.
Although he didn't know why the Amber Lord hadn't reacted yet, if the people from the Company found out, they would almost certainly use it as a pretext to make a fuss. Therefore, Fu Zhu had to ensure that no one else knew what was inside.
Seeing Fu Zhu say this, Bronya was sensible enough not to press the issue.
Fu Zhu then turned to Topaz, a playful smile on his face. "So? Miss Topaz, do you still think I can't help Jarilo-VI? If you think string and iron aren't enough, I can whip up some other things. How about one hundred percent pure gold, carpets, TNT, sugarcane, sugar, and the like?"