The Borderlands, Sulfur Hills.
Hot steam rolled through the hills and ravines, making this place unlike other areas of The Borderlands which were mostly cold; it was even somewhat sweltering.
At this moment, Red Dragon Samantha's crimson scales were covered in black ash, and she was fully concentrated.
She was using her front claws to grip a red-hot steel ingot and shove it into the Alchemy furnace, then exhaled a blast of Dragon Breath to ignite the furnace's fire.
When the steel ingot completely melted into flowing metal slurry,
She flicked her tail, the tip accurately hooking onto a mold.
Immediately after, the magma-like molten steel poured in, solidifying in the mold into a rough breastplate embryo with scale-like patterns.
Samantha pinned down the cooling breastplate with her front claws, and her dragon tail curled around an Adamantine Hammer to begin forging.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Every strike sent out sparks like falling stars.
A look of pleasure appeared on Samantha's dragon face as she vented the power of a Red Dragon.
At first, she had hated forging, feeling it was troublesome and tedious, but as she gradually grew accustomed to it, she found joy in it instead.
For instance, with the forging now, every recoil made her muscles tingle and her dragon scales quiver; she could hardly stop.
The use of power made the Red Dragon instinctively feel pleasure.
When the breastplate's curve first appeared, Samantha exhaled a cone of Dragon Breath. As the high temperature softened the edges of the steel armor, she took the opportunity to pick out pre-made spines parts with her tail tip, then fused them onto the shoulder guards like sewing, followed by step-by-step processes of welding, quenching, and polishing.
Under Garros's education, Samantha had come into contact with Alchemy very early on.
Now, she already had ten years of Alchemy experience. The process of forging armor couldn't be called aesthetically pleasing, but it was considered skilled and efficient. For an Alchemist, crafting things by hand was the best way to increase experience and speed up their Rank.
Additionally, fire plays a significant role in Alchemy.
A Red Dragon's Dragon Breath is no ordinary fire; its Rank among alchemical exotic fires is at the very top.
The prospects for a Red Dragon taking up the profession of an Alchemist are actually quite broad.
Often, to improve the quality of their alchemical creations, Alchemists would find ways to make contracts with Red Dragons, paying a price to specifically ask for their assistance in forging.
When the final step arrived,
The Red Dragon suddenly spread her wings, the membrane's shadow looming over the armor: "Watch, you fools! The great Red Dragon Queen is about to complete another masterpiece!"
The surrounding Fire Salamanders, Giant Fire Ants, and other subordinates all prostrated themselves on the ground as if by reflex.
Dragon flames ignited on the Red Dragon's sharp claws, turning into Flame Claws.
Sizzle sizzle—the Flame Claws swept across the breastplate, leaving behind orderly, complex, and intricate runes, performing the most critical alchemical enchantment and reinforcement.
After nearly half an hour, the scattered runes became a unified network.
"Finished!"
The Red Dragon left a claw mark on it as her personal signature, then retracted her claws.
Panting heavily, she lay down by the lava pool, smoke rising from the gaps in her scales. This three-hour forging had consumed a small portion of her Dragon Breath, making her feel exhausted.
At that moment, a shadow suddenly loomed over the Sulfur Hills.
The Red-Iron Dragon flapped his wings to push away the steam and landed in front of Samantha.
"When did you get here?"
Samantha propped up her body and, as if seeking credit, used her tail to lift the runic armor, saying: "Look, the work I just finished. It's worth at least a thousand gold coins!"
"I watched the latter half of your armor forging."
Garros nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over it briefly, and said: "Decent armor."
But it probably isn't worth a thousand gold coins, he added in his mind, though he didn't say it out loud.
The Alchemy industries of the various nations on Planet Bernardo were all very developed, even somewhat overflowing; even the Goblin Clans in the wilderness could get their hands on Mining Golems. Though somewhat backward and old, they were genuine Alchemy Golems.
If placed in a location where Alchemy was backward, it wouldn't be a problem for a piece of Runic Battle Armor to sell for over a thousand gold coins.
But here, it was difficult.
Furthermore, the Runic Battle Armor Samantha made wasn't particularly Advanced; it was just made according to blueprints, a mass-produced product. She hadn't yet reached the level where she could design and manufacture Advanced alchemical creations herself.
"How many similar sets of armor can you make in a day?"
Garros asked.
He spent most of his time in Dragon Valley and rarely came to Sulfur Hills. Today, while practicing his flight skills on a whim, he came over to check things out and watched Samantha's armor-making process for a while.
Samantha: "I can probably make about three sets."
She needed to be fully concentrated during the manufacturing process and do everything herself, which was time-consuming and laborious.
"What about the other Alchemists in training?"
Garros remembered that within the Molten Iron Clan, there were subordinates with the potential to become Alchemists, the smarter ones who had been sent to Sulfur Hills to study Alchemy collectively while also assisting Samantha.
"Their level is too low."
"None of them can manufacture a complete set of armor from start to finish like I can. At most, they can make some crudely crafted blades and weapons."
Samantha waved her claw, speaking dismissively.
The Molten Iron Clan's plan to train Alchemists and develop the Alchemy industry had only just begun. Currently, none of the Alchemists except for Samantha were of much use; they could only be called Alchemy Apprentices.
However, they shouldn't be completely useless either.
Garros thought for a moment and said: "The Alchemy Apprentices and other subordinates in Sulfur Hills can actually participate in alchemical creation."
A few sparks puffed out from the Red Dragon's nostrils.
"With those fools? No way, they'll only waste Materials."
she said disdainfully.
Although Materials weren't ready-made wealth, they could be transformed into valuable creations through Alchemy, and Samantha didn't want them to be wasted for nothing.
Seeing the Red Dragon's reaction,
Garros pondered for a few seconds and slowly said: "Samantha, have you ever seen ants moving house?"
Samantha nodded.
She had enjoyed playing with ants in her youth, so of course, she had seen the behavior of ants moving house.
She liked to give the ants a large piece of food they couldn't take away, only to take it back before the poor ants could return with their main force.
Repeating this, she enjoyed the pleasure of manipulating the fates of weak creatures.
"Each ant only carries a small piece," the Red-Iron Dragon continued unhurriedly. "But in the end, they can clear out an entire piece of food that far exceeds their body size."
The Red Dragon scratched her head irritably, not understanding.
Seeing this, Garros realized that the Red Dragon's IQ wasn't currently online; he needed to tell her what to do more directly instead of using metaphors.
"The Gnolls pull the bellows, the Ogres swing the hammers for forging, the Kobolds assemble the parts, and the Alchemy Apprentices carve the basic runes."
"In short, break down the complete forging process into different steps. Hand over the simple steps to other subordinates to complete, while you can omit those dull and tedious parts and only do the most critical and core tasks."
Garros explained in more detail.
Opposite him, Red Dragon Samantha looked thoughtful, understanding Garros's meaning.
She imagined it; this would indeed allow her to complete alchemical creations more efficiently. Moreover, completing the core steps would provide more experience, which would also help her Alchemy Rank increase.
"How come I didn't think of that?"
Samantha wagged her tail and said happily: "Garros, you truly are my brother, to think of such a brilliant idea."
Garros nodded slightly without replying.
The concept of an 'Assembly Line' was surely already mature on Planet Bernardo; it was just that Alchemy had developed too quickly, and the Red Dragon's Legacy didn't have specific descriptions for it, leading to a lack of ideas.
As the saying goes, a single thought can widen the world.
Those difficult problems that once caused one to toss and turn often become simple and clear in a flash of inspiration, just like a complex lock that only needs a key turned in the right direction.
Now that Samantha had the concept of an Assembly Line, the output of Sulfur Hills would surely increase.
Strength is of paramount importance, and the faster growth of Dragonkin requires resources.
Various High-energy Supplements, Growth Serums, Vitality Potions, and such were also on the merchant group's trade list, and they were quite expensive.
If Dragon Valley wanted to develop further and obtain more resources, the Alchemy industry was indispensable.
The Molten Iron Clan lacked effective output. Currently, trade with the outside world was mainly through selling various raw Materials from the mines.
Unpolished wealth like the Grey Magnetite Mine and Obsidian Mine was being continuously transported to the outside world through merchant caravans, and then exchanged at heartbreakingly low prices for expensive potions, spices, black oil, and other items.