Chapter 815: At Last, I’ve Found You

Once Peace Haven's military and administrative restructuring is settled, Henwell makes time to visit the Technical Research Institute.

Several department heads are waiting to brief him on the breakthroughs of the past three years.

They are reporting their work, but they also want to demonstrate the importance of their departments in hopes of securing additional funding.

Their first stop is the Materials Department, once one of Peace Haven's most expensive research projects and now a vast organization.

Henwell has poured a fortune into developing extraordinary alloys that Peace Haven can call its own.

Revoco of the Materials Department introduces their latest work. "My lord, these are our improved versions of Blood Hill Steel and Orma Steel."

"They are not a generational leap, but their overall performance is twenty percent better, and the production cost has been cut in half."

"The smelting process is more complicated, however, and the equipment at the Extraordinary Metal Smelting Center will need to be upgraded."

Henwell studies the figures in his hands. "What about output? Will it fall significantly?"

Revoco shakes his head. "No. Once the equipment is upgraded, output will increase by twenty percent to nearly nine tons per month."

Henwell runs the numbers. A full set of extraordinary equipment, including armor and both long and short weapons, weighs nearly fifty kilograms.

Nine tons of extraordinary alloy can produce one hundred and eighty sets of equipment. On paper, that sounds like plenty.

That output is now lower than that of only two powerful kingdoms, and it already exceeds the output of Lumir and Ogiro.

In practice, it is nowhere near enough. Peace Haven needs extraordinary alloy for far more than equipment sets.

Smelting equipment, advanced steam engines, and high-end consumable weapons all require extraordinary alloy.

Less than half of the alloy produced can actually be used to forge standardized equipment sets.

Peace Haven is now formally entering the Calamity War, causing demand for extraordinary equipment to soar.

Fewer than a thousand sets of extraordinary-alloy equipment a year cannot come close to meeting current needs.

The surge in enhancement slots has created a new problem: for the first time, some Peace Haven professionals have no extraordinary weapons or equipment to use.

Henwell frowns at the staggering cost of upgrading the Extraordinary Metal Smelting Center.

After a moment, he looks up at Revoco. "Forget the upgrade. I will fund an entirely new smelting center."

"Keep the old center operating and continue producing the original alloys for now. We need every bit of output we can get, so production cannot stop."

"Once the new center begins production, we will replace and upgrade the old center's equipment."

The offer is far more generous than Revoco expected, but instead of celebrating, his heart jumps.

He knows Henwell would never hand him a prize this large without attaching a price of his own.

Sure enough, Henwell continues, "However, I have requirements of my own."

"The new center must produce fifteen tons of improved extraordinary alloy each month."

"Both output and quality must rise every year, and the old center must increase its output to ten tons before it is upgraded."

"One year from now, the two centers must produce a combined total of thirty-five tons of improved extraordinary alloy each month."

Sweat beads on Revoco's forehead. "My lord, that will be extremely difficult. You know how complicated extraordinary-alloy smelting is..."

Henwell cuts him off. "I am not asking. This is an order."

"Do not tell me it is difficult."

"Can it be any more difficult than developing the alloys in the first place?"

"No slacking. Give me everything you have. The Technical Research Institute consumes more money than any other department in Peace Haven."

"Whatever you need, I provide."

"At a time this critical, you should not be trying to bargain with me."

"Many Peace Haven soldiers are about to risk their lives protecting our home."

"You may work in safety, but that does not mean you can hold back."

"This is not one person's war. It is a war for all of Peace Haven and all of humanity."

"It is time to give everything we have."

Revoco is silent for a moment. "My lord, I cannot promise success, but I will give it everything I have."

Henwell claps a hand on his shoulder. "Remember, every drop of sweat you shed means less blood spilled by our soldiers at the front."

With that, Henwell signs the proposal and hands it back to Revoco.

As the tour continues, something catches Henwell's eye.

Henwell asks, "Revoco, why is the Materials Department growing plants? Isn't that the Biological Analysis Department's work?"

Revoco points toward a small grove. "The fruit of this plant, called a gumfruit tree, is quite interesting."

"Its fruit produces a gelatinous material that we are currently studying."

Henwell freezes as a possibility strikes him. "Bring me everything you have on it. And fetch one of those fruits."

A short while later, Henwell finishes reading the records and studies the coconut-sized gumfruit before him with a strange expression.

This damn thing is natural rubber!

At last, he has found the industrial raw material he has been searching for.

Of course, the substance inside the gumfruit is still very different from the rubber Henwell remembers.

That hardly matters. They have found the material. Now they can study its properties and develop something closer to rubber.

After reviewing the records, Henwell has his attendants draft an official document on the spot.

Researchers will be drawn from several departments, with the Materials Department and Biological Analysis Department taking the lead in studying the plant.

Revoco cautions him, "My lord, this substance does have many potential uses."

"But gumfruit trees grow mainly along the coasts of Lumir and Ogiro."

"We have attempted to transplant and cultivate them, and we also asked the Agriculture Department for guidance."

"But the plant is so demanding that we can keep it alive only by recreating its environment with extraordinary spell formations."

"The Agriculture Department has already reached its verdict: large-scale cultivation is essentially impossible."

Henwell considers this for a moment, then turns to Dalton. "Send the order. Activate extraordinary communication."

"Contact Elia in the Expeditionary Zone and have him search for this plant."

"At the same time, have a company of Lord Iron Guards secretly escort researchers from the Agriculture Department and Materials Department to the Expeditionary Zone."

"They will study the plant where it grows while establishing a plantation for cultivation, breeding, and the selection of better varieties."

The other department heads stare at Revoco with open envy when they see how seriously Henwell is taking the project.

Revoco, meanwhile, is grinning from ear to ear. He knows he has landed another major Peace Haven project.

One look at his smug face has the other department heads silently cursing his absurd luck.

At the same time, they begin instructing their assistants to organize their departments' research records.

They cast the net as wide as possible, hoping to land a major project of their own.

Henwell places great importance on materials science. Progress in the field comes through slow, steady accumulation.

Every discovery has the potential to drive enormous advances throughout the existing industrial system.

Even its simplest use, making tires, could transform transportation throughout Peace Haven.

Faster transportation would give every industry a powerful boost.