Chapter 355 - 283: Village Defense Battle (19)
Chapter 355: Chapter 283: Village Defense Battle (19)
One thing after another had happened recently, leaving almost no time to breathe.
Now, he finally had some free time.
But having free time didn’t mean he could relax. There was a lot of work to do in the territory.
’It would be great to have a long stretch of time for development.’
Zhao Chi sighed.
But he knew he was already much luckier than many others.
There was nothing to complain about.
He didn’t rest, instead finding Tang Ruan to continue crafting.
But this time, they weren’t going to make Iron Armor.
"We’re going to make High-brightness Kerosene? But we’re still in dire need of Armor," Tang Ruan couldn’t help but ask.
"It’s fine. Right now, the entire family—the entire village, even—is in bad shape. High-brightness Kerosene might be helpful to others. We can trade the Kerosene for Iron Armor."
"Oh, I get it. Come on in, my lord."
"Right. You should probably wear a hat. The conditions in the Oil Refining Workshop are terrible. After one refining session, your hair will be all stuck together."
"Okay, I’ll go get one."
The Oil Refining Workshop was in Peach Blossom Village.
The Refinery Team Leader, Chen Hua, had been producing a lot of Kerosene with the female refinery workers.
However, they didn’t yet have the Ability to make High-brightness Kerosene. Forcing it would result in a high failure rate and waste a lot of Rare Materials.
For now, only Zhao Chi could make it himself.
Even before entering, he could smell the thick odor of oil, mingled with a rancid stench.
It was the smell of rendering the stinking fat of snow bears.
He entered the Oil Refining Workshop.
Inside, the oily smoke and stench were even stronger.
Although all the surrounding windows were open, and several skylights had been cut into the roof, everything was still greasy.
Chen Hua was wearing a leather hat, a leather apron, and a pair of leather shoes.
Other than that, she wore nothing.
Her smooth back was completely exposed.
She was all alone in the Oil Refining Workshop.
"Huh? Tang Ruan? Are you here to pick up some Kerosene?"
Tang Ruan smiled. "I’m here to keep you company. The lord is here too."
Chen Hua nodded. "I see. It’s perfect timing, actually. We’re about to run out of High-brightness Kerosene, so we definitely need to make more."
Zhao Chi asked, "Where is everyone else? Are they all helping out in Penglai Village?"
"Yeah," Chen Hua nodded. "Fang Li’s Building team reassigned them. Luckily, we made a lot of edible oil and Ordinary Kerosene beforehand, so we can last for a few more days."
Tang Ruan pointed at Chen Hua. "Why are you only wearing an apron? Won’t you get all oily?"
Chen Hua said, "I have no choice. It’s more uncomfortable to wear clothes, and I’d have to wash them constantly. This is better. If I weren’t worried about oil splattering on my skin, I wouldn’t even be wearing this."
Tang Ruan laughed. "Yesterday at the Armor Shop, Ding Dang and the others were also dressed very simply, but they wore pants, unlike you."
Chen Hua nodded. "The conditions at the Armor Shop are bad too. It’s just as hot, and the air is even more acrid. It’s better not to wear much. Besides, it’s all women here, so who cares? The lord is the only man around, and we don’t mind if he wants to look. Hey, Lord, look!"
Chen Hua lifted her apron.
Her whole body was greasy, with a sheen that was a bit like Tang Ruan’s hardened Jade Skin Armor.
Tang Ruan laughed. "Why are you just like Sister Gu? But I have to say, being all greasy seems to make your skin look even more delicate."
Chen Hua nodded. "You think so? Come and feel. It’s really slick."
Tang Ruan didn’t hesitate and put her hands right on her.
Chen Hua chuckled. "My lord, can you sense it too? How does it feel?"
Zhao Chi sighed. "It does feel nice, but aren’t you wearing a High-Efficiency Shirt?"
"Of course I am. It’s in my cosmetic slot. What I’m showing now is my Equipment slot. I can’t bear to switch to my cosmetic look, or it would get all greasy too."
"I see. Well then, let’s get to work."
There was already a good amount of finished Kerosene.
This meant Zhao Chi could directly perform an Improvement on the Kerosene, skipping a step.
This would significantly increase his Efficiency.
Now, with the High-Efficiency Shirt and Zhao Chi’s ultra-high Perception, his crafting speed was greatly increased.
Zhao Chi fell into a cycle of crafting, soaking in the hot springs, and sleeping.
By 9 a.m. the next day, after a total of 32 hours, he had used 105 Speeding Charms and 140 various Medicines.
He produced a total of 644 vats of Super Bright Kerosene.
Each vat was about 3 liters, for a total of 1932 liters, which would also be sold by the liter.
If calculated at 20 Silver Coins per liter, that would come out to 386 Gold Coins.
Of course, this was just the gross profit.
The cost of the Speeding Charms, Medicines, and Rare Materials still needed to be deducted.
The 105 Speeding Charms, in particular, were not cheap.
After all, this was a case of trading money for Time. The extra cost was unavoidable and just had to be accepted.
And then there were the taxes!
’In a situation like this... do I still have to pay taxes?’
He could ask his Third Brother, Zhao Cang, in a bit.
After all those calculations, the net profit was only 162 Gold Coins.
’Actually, that’s not a small amount.’
He was running low on Speeding Charms and needed to buy more.
He also needed to keep some of the Super Bright Kerosene for his own use.
So, he decided to sell 1800 liters and keep 132 for himself.
After some experimentation, he found that a torch dipped in 100 milliliters of Kerosene could burn for 1 hour.
The remaining 132 liters could make 1,320 Super Bright Torches, which would be enough for now.
If he ran out later, he could always make more.
Zhao Chi clicked on Zhao Cang in his contact list.
Zhao Chi: [Third Brother, do you have a minute? I need to hand over a batch of torches. Here’s the list. Can you grant me permission to come over?]
A moment later, Zhao Cang replied:
Zhao Cang: [Huh? The illumination range on these torches is increased by an extra 1000%? Where did you get them? Did you confiscate them from those bandits?]
Zhao Chi hesitated.
He originally wanted to just admit he’d made them himself.
But there were too many things that would be difficult to explain.
After all, this was essentially Super-Improved Kerosene. With Zhao Chi’s current refining Ability, it should theoretically be impossible for him to create it.
And even if it were Super-Improved Kerosene, it wouldn’t have this kind of Attribute Effect.
This was, after all, the result of Zhao Chi transferring data.
After thinking it over, he decided he couldn’t admit it directly.
’Guess I’ll have to make something up.’
Zhao Chi: [Well, how should I put this... By a stroke of luck, I met a Master Refiner, but he doesn’t want too many people to know about him.]