Chapter 41 - Change of Mind
Chapter 41: Change of Mind
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Superintendent, put it down. I’ll do it myself!” Zhang Yibei said softly while trembling.
Xiao Zongshui rolled his eyes and placed the water kettle in front of Zhang Yibei before continuing to distribute kettles to the other Forging Apprentices.
The superintendent of the 78th Workshop, Li Hongyuan, was pushing a cart of iron materials to the side of each smelting furnace.
As for the other superintendents, some were sweeping the floor while others were moving things. In short, none of them were idle.
On the other hand, the Forging Apprentices were resting. Some were eating while others were drinking water.
At first glance, it was hard to tell who was a superintendent and who was an apprentice.
“Brother Li, are we just going to let that surnamed Zhou do whatever he wants?” one of the superintendents whispered when he passed by Li Hongyuan.
He appeared angry, and there was a murderous look on his face.
As workshop superintendents, although their positions weren’t high, they were the highest authority in their own workshops!
When had they ever done something like this?
In their workshops, were these Forging Apprentices even worthy of serving them tea?
“Or what?” Li Hongyuan revealed the whites of his eyes. “That surnamed Zhou is throwing his weight around now. We offended him before. If we let him catch us again, will we be able to bear the consequences?”
Li Hongyuan carried a basket of iron off the cart and placed it beside a smelting furnace. He was fat to begin with, so when he got busy, he started sweating profusely.
In just two days, he felt as though he had done all the work he had to do in his life.
Every day, Zhou Shu would call them before dawn, and he would only let them leave at midnight.
Their daily work time was longer than that of these Forging Apprentices!
They had almost no time to rest. As soon as they finished their job at hand, Zhou Shu would immediately arrange other work for them.
He even controlled their meal times and bathroom breaks!
If they didn’t want to do it, fine. They would have to explain it to Great General Meng themselves!
On the other hand, these Forging Apprentices didn’t need to do anything. The only thing they needed to do was receive Zhou Shu’s training and learn some weapon forging techniques that they didn’t understand.
“Superintendent Li, after distributing the iron, go prepare lunch.” Zhou Shu’s voice came from afar.
Anger flashed across Li Hongyuan’s eyes, but his rationality still made him reply loudly, “Got it!”
“Superintendent Xiao, hurry up. Everyone is sweating so much. If we don’t hydrate ourselves in time, our energy will drop. At that time, who will be responsible for the delay in forging?”
Xiao Zongshui suppressed his anger and sped up distributing the water kettles.
Zhou Shu paced back and forth in the factory like a supervisor and occasionally reprimanded the superintendents.
These workshop superintendents were afraid that Zhou Shu would complain to Meng Bai. So even though they were upset, they didn’t dare to say anything.
Seeing this, Zhang Yibei and the others had mixed feelings. On the one hand, the people who had oppressed them in the past were now serving them, making them feel rather pleased.
On the other hand, while being served by these people, they also felt uneasy. Would they get revenge later?
“Everyone, take the time to rest. We still have to continue.” Zhou Shu clapped his hands and said loudly, “In order to complete this mission, Superintendent Xiao and Superintendent Li have sacrificed a lot. Everyone must cherish this opportunity. No matter what, we must complete this mission!”
“Don’t worry, Superintendent Zhou. We’ll do our best!” Zhang Yibei and the others exclaimed.
That’s right. The leaders had already lowered their statuses and helped them with their chores and whatnot. What reason did they have not to work hard?
Xiao Zongshui, Li Hongyuan, and the others cursed in their hearts. Are we doing it willingly?
It’s all because of you, bastard Zhou Shu, ordering us around like bulls and horses!
“Dear superintendents, everyone knows how much you have sacrificed for the mission. Thank you!” Zhou Shu continued.
“Thank you for your hard work, Superintendents!” Zhang Yibei and the others shouted sincerely.
Damn it! Xiao Zongshui, Li Hongyuan, and the others cursed, but they also all felt strange in their hearts.
It wasn’t that they didn’t know the Forging Apprentices scolded them behind their backs, but what did it matter?
When Zhang Yibei and the others thanked them for their hard work, they could tell that they were sincere.
They suddenly felt that the Forging Apprentices weren’t so vulgar and rude. They could see that the superintendents were working hard.
“It’s all for the mission!” Li Hongyuan smiled and waved his hand.
“Go do your work!” Zhou Shu said angrily. “You’re just a laborer undergoing reformation through work. Do you really think you are the leader of an inspection team?
“Why don’t you say that you are serving the people?”
Li Hongyuan was a little embarrassed as he continued moving the iron materials. Xiao Zongshui and the others secretly laughed.
He was asking for trouble for trying to steal the limelight from Zhou Shu.
In the factory, everyone got busy again.
Not a single person was idle here, including Zhou Shu himself!
Three thousand Huben Sabers, one thousand Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers, and five hundred Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber in a month was almost an impossible task.
They would definitely not be able to complete this mission in such a short time if they used regular methods.
Therefore, Zhou Shu could only take a different path and apply the method he had used when forging Huben Sabers for the Huben Troops.
It was impossible for Forging Apprentices to master how to forge the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber and the Horse Slaying Saber in such a short time.
Even the simplest Huben Saber among the three was something they had yet to master.
Therefore, one person had to command the forging according to the forging formula, and then the Forging Apprentices would follow this person’s instructions, just like what Zhou Shu had done before.
But doing this wasn’t an easy task. First, the person in charge had to familiarize himself with the forging process.
In order to complete the mission, the thirty or so people in the current 0th Workshop were definitely not enough.
As for Zhou Shu, he didn’t have the energy to train more people, so he planned on training Zhang Yibei and the others and then getting them to head to the various workshops to forge.
Now, he wanted to teach Zhang Yibei and the others first!
Fortunately, Zhang Yibei and the others had cooperated with him before, so they were quite familiar with his working style.
Although they couldn’t forge the Huben Saber independently, they were already familiar with the forging process. It wasn’t a problem for them to command others to forge while looking at the forging formula.
But they had never forged the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber and the Horse Slaying Saber before, so Zhou Shu had to see them forge them first before he could let them go without worry.
The secret forging formula of the Huben Saber had already been recorded in the Forging Division. It was nominally owned by the 97th Workshop. If other workshops wanted to forge it, they had to pay a fee to the 97th Workshop.
The money didn’t belong to everyone. It was the property of the workshop. Even Xiao Zongshui was unable to embezzle it. He could only hand over the portion of the profits he had received to Zhou Shu as a way to apologize for what had happened before.
The grand minister, Yin Wuyou, had promised that the ownership of the forging formula for the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber would belong to Zhou Shu instead of the workshop. Every time the Forging Division forged a Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber, they would give Zhou Shu some benefits. This was the real money maker.
As for the Horse Slaying Saber, Zhou Shu didn’t enjoy such treatment.
According to the rules of the Forging Division, the weapons developed by the Forging Apprentices in the Forging Division’s workshops belonged to the Forging Division. The Forging Apprentices would receive a reward, but they wouldn’t have all the rights to the forging formula.
The Horse Slaying Saber was like the Huben Saber. The ownership belonged to the Forging Division, and the ‘patent fee’ would go to the 0th Workshop.
Although Zhou Shu was the superintendent of the 0th Workshop, the 0th Workshop’s money was a bit different from his personal money.
For these matters, the Forging Division had its own set of rules. By handing over the forging formula to the Forging Division, Zhou Shu didn’t need to worry too much about the subsequent matters.
To him, he wasn’t too concerned about these benefits.
Regarding money, it was okay as long as he had enough to spend. He was going to become a Divine Craftsman in the future. He didn’t have to worry about not being able to earn money.
Right now, the most important thing was to rely on the Forging Division to promote the weapons he forged and increase his cultivation!
Only by becoming stronger could he feel safe in this world.
While teaching Zhang Yibei and the others how to forge the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber and the Horse Slaying Saber, Zhou Shu also forged several Horse Slaying Sabers.
In the Legendary Armament Canon, he had forged enough Huben Sabers and Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers, but he was still lacking in Horse Slaying Sabers.
And thus far, the Horse Slaying Saber had yet to complete a kill. What kind of benefits would it bring?
Zhou Shu was looking forward to it.
“The Huben Troops sure are unreliable. After the last time, they didn’t kill any more enemies!”
Thinking of the benefits from the Legendary Armament Canon, Zhou Shu thought of the Huben Saber and the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber.
He had handed over all the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers he forged to Meng Bai, most likely to equip soldiers. As for the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers, he would also hand them over to Meng Bai after a month.
Only the Huben Sabers, as well as the hundred Huben Sabers he had forged, were all in the hands of the Huben Troops. Zhou Shu had filled the quota in the Legendary Armament Canon. Even if he forged more Huben Sabers, he wouldn’t be able to replace them for the time being.
… Unless the Huben Sabers with the Huben Troops were destroyed!
Ever since the traitor incident, the Huben Sabers had not brought him any benefits for a long time, causing his Dragon Elephant Prajna Technique to be stagnant for a long time.
As Imperial Guards, the Huben Troops had too few opportunities to fight!
Right now, he could only hope that the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers and the Horse Slaying Sabers could be delivered to the hands of the soldiers. This would bring him the greatest benefits. After all, weapons were meant to kill enemies.
Zhou Shu now understood that the numbers in the Legendary Armament Canon were a protective mechanism. Once they were full, the weapons he forged later wouldn’t give him any benefits even if they completed kills.
Only if one of the first hundred weapons was damaged would another one be able to fill up the quota.
Thus, Zhou Shu had now set a rule for himself. As long as the numbers in the Legendary Armament Canon were full, he would no longer continue to forge that weapon. Only when there was a shortage would he forge one.
After all, he was already a workshop superintendent, so there was no need for him to do any useless work.
“Zhang Yibei, Sixth Brother Wu! Everyone gather!” Zhou Shu shouted. There’s no need to think much about these things for now.. The most important thing is to complete Meng Bai’s mission.