Thanks everyone for donating powerstones, hope we reach top 50 in the powerstones ranking this week. Btw, This is the Bonus Chapter for reaching 100 Powestones.
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Zeke arrived at the camp gate.
Sergeant Victor was in the middle of a conversation with the soldiers of the 23rd Regiment.
Just as they had said, only seven members of the 23rd remained. Leading them was a burly man. His skin was dark and shiny—not a natural complexion, but one that looked as if it had been scorched by fire after long-term exposure to high-temperature environments.
"My apologies, Sergeant Victor," the dark-skinned officer said. "The transport ship we were on did indeed carry a significant amount of minerals."
"However, that ship has already been destroyed by the traitors."
Zeke paused in his tracks as he approached.
Damn it. I knew things wouldn't go that smoothly. Looks like it's a bust.
"Is this the man who needs the minerals you mentioned?" The officer noticed Zeke approaching and turned his gaze toward him. "Is the need urgent?"
Zeke nodded. The tunnel was nearly finished, and the assault on Tyrok Bastion was imminent. If he could upgrade his gear before then, it would be perfect.
"Is there really nothing left?" Zeke asked with a sliver of hope. Even if it wasn't enough for a full set of tools and armor, just enough to make a decent sword would do.
The officer and his squad members exchanged glances.
"I see. Since the situation is so critical, we actually have a backup plan."
"I am the Acting Commander of the 23rd Regiment. My callsign is Fire-Anvil. It is a tradition in our regiment; every commander inherits this title."
As he spoke, he pulled a small, compact dagger from his tactical belt. Even covered in dust, it couldn't hide the deep, dark luster of the metal itself.
"This is forged from Adamantium," Fire-Anvil said. "The 23rd Regiment is stationed at ore refineries year-round. Almost every veteran knows a thing or two about forging. It's become a habit for us to use scrap material or spare time to craft little trinkets."
As his words fell, the six squad members behind him also pulled out similar items: a ring, a bracelet, and even an entrenching tool charm.
"It is Adamantium, alright, but these have already been forged into shapes." What Zeke needed was raw material.
Fire-Anvil nodded. "So, we will smelt them back into metal right here."
He looked around at his squad. "Everyone in the 23rd is familiar with smelting and forging. Recasting small items like these is a piece of cake for us."
Fire-Anvil acted with lightning speed.
The seven veterans coordinated with camp personnel to gather metal plating scavenged from destroyed transport ships.
"Most of these are heat-resistant plating from the ship's hull," Fire-Anvil explained. "Excellent thermal resistance."
What happened next was an eye-opener for Zeke.
Without complex blueprints, relying solely on experience and visual estimation, the 23rd Regiment used the metal plates, rebar, and scrap they found to hand-build a smeltery right on the spot.
Zeke circled the furnace twice. The more he looked, the more familiar it seemed.
It looks just like the Smeltery from the Tinkers' Construct mod.
Then again, all smelteries look somewhat similar. Tinkers' Construct itself drew inspiration from real life.
"Captain Fire-Anvil," Zeke asked, "you have the furnace, but what do you plan to use for fuel?"
There was no Lava here.
Fire-Anvil didn't answer. Instead, he walked over to the Leman Russ Battle Tank parked nearby and whispered a few words to the armored unit commander.
The commander nodded and patted the tank.
The steel beast roared to life, adjusting its position until its twin-linked cannon barrels were aimed directly at the intake of the makeshift smeltery.
"The Leman Russ Battle Tank," Fire-Anvil said as he walked back. "Famous for its reliable structure and massive potential for modification."
"Worlds across the Imperium adapt it to their local environments. For example, this Leman Russ Incinerator right here has been fitted with a twin-linked Volkite Demi-Culverin." (TL/N: A Twin-linked Volkite Demi-Culverin is a powerful, ancient, vehicle-mounted energy weapon from the Warhammer 40,000/Horus Heresy universe)
He raised his voice slightly, shouting toward the tank hatch: "Control the output! Don't flip my furnace over!"
"Copy that, sir," a muffled voice replied from inside the tank.
"Fire!"
A condensed tongue of blinding white fire spewed from the Volkite cannon, pouring into the smeltery.
Waves of heat rolled out. Even standing several meters away, Zeke felt his hair curling from the heat.
The surface of the furnace glowed a dull red as the internal temperature climbed.
In the corner of Zeke's vision, the long-absent system notification text popped up:
[Smeltery Constructed. Mod: Tinkers' Construct & Warhammer Addon Unlocked]
[You can now smelt metals, cast tool parts, and assemble weapons and tools.]
[Obtained: "Materials and You" (Tinkers' Construct Manual) x1]
Tinkers' Construct. A classic Minecraft mod. Simple and practical. (TL/N: Tinkers' Construct is a mod about putting tools together in a wide variety of ways, then modifying them until they turn into something else.)
Fire-Anvil had already tossed the collected items into the smeltery, where they gradually melted into liquid under the roaring flames.
Seeing Zeke lean in, Fire-Anvil asked, "Want to give it a try yourself?"
He stepped aside without saying much more. He was a man who detested unnecessary chatter—both from others and himself. If you want to do it, just do it was his motto.
Zeke checked the smeltery. 1.5 units of Adamantium. That was it? What could he even make with this?
Whatever. Let's get the patterns made first. I remember it goes like this, then that, and finally... wait, I got the order wrong.
Zeke broke into a sweat. It had been a long time since he played with this mod.
"You... are forging a weapon?"
Fire-Anvil stared at Zeke's movements. "Your technique is very rough. There is a lot of room for improvement."
Zeke blushed. If there was someone who knew Tinkers' Construct better than him, he certainly wouldn't be doing it himself. But there wasn't, right?
This is bad. The hardest part of Tinkers' is the alloy mixing later on. If I can't even get this right, what am I going to do then?
[You can share manuals such as "Materials and You" or "Create Manual" with others.]
[Those who receive the manual can also use the mod.]
That's great! It has an 'idiot-proof' mode.
It wasn't that Zeke couldn't build; it was just that the alloy section of Tinkers' Construct involved mixing two or even three different metals to create new ones. If you added Warhammer materials like Adamantium or Plasteel into the mix, god only knew how many hundreds of combinations there would be.
Having someone else's help would make things much simpler. He could commission them to do the work and then borrow (plagiarize) their recipes.
Zeke decisively pulled out the "Materials and You" manual. "Mr. Fire-Anvil, I need your help."
Fire-Anvil took the book and flipped through it roughly.
"The method isn't difficult. It says here that depending on the material, the weapon can be imbued with various traits. Is this true?"
Zeke nodded. That was the fun of Tinkers' Construct: forging unique weapons based on the materials used. For example, defensive gear made of Cactus had a thorns effect, while weapons made of Bone had armor-piercing capabilities.
Fire-Anvil finished reading the manual and began assisting Zeke. "According to the usage rates in the book, this amount of Adamantium won't make anything."
Zeke remembered the Adamantium cabinet in his backpack that he had found on the Genestealer ship.
"What if we add this?" Zeke threw the cabinet into the furnace.
"Still not enough. What weapons do you have on you right now? Let me take a look for reference."
Zeke took out the weapons he currently used. There were only three: the Shield, the Iron Sword, and Grug's heavy hammer.
Some strange, primitive weapons. Again, Fire-Anvil disliked judging others, so he kept his thoughts buried deep in his heart.
Fire-Anvil thought for a moment. "Perhaps I can coat your shield with a layer of Adamantium. Since there is very little, it will only be a thin plating."
"Also, that Genestealer claw you have... it would make excellent material for a blade edge."
If he hadn't mentioned the Genestealer claw, Zeke would have almost forgotten about the item he scavenged from the bottom of the ship.
Fire-Anvil truly lived up to his experience in forging. Relying on the manual, he quickly devised the best crafting recipe for Zeke.
"Good, good, good." Zeke nodded repeatedly. Professionals really were different.
It was a pity he couldn't make an Adamantium Pickaxe, but a shield would do.
As Fire-Anvil got busy, Zeke watched him and saw a familiar shadow.
Back when he played modpacks, he also had a fixed group of friends for "new world" runs. Everyone had their role. Those good with tech mods handled automation; those good with forging mods made weapons; those good with magic handled spells...
Since Zeke knew a little bit about everything but mastered nothing, he was responsible for general planning (slacking off) and distributing the supplies they made (freeloading).
Those times were happy. No matter how perverted the monsters in the modpack were, as long as they worked together, it was just a small level they could clear in a night or two.
Until later, when they encountered a monster named "Life." Zeke was utterly defeated and rarely had time to contact them again.
Zeke looked at Fire-Anvil.
The world really is a circle. After wandering around, he had returned to the starting point.
In his original world, he went from discovering Minecraft alone to having a group of friends, and then to being separated.
And in this Warhammer world, he started alone, met Dance, then Karmine, and now Fire-Anvil...
What about the ending? Zeke wondered. What will the ending be this time?
"Forging complete," Fire-Anvil's brief, powerful voice cut through his thoughts.
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