Chapter 57 - Detailed Operation, Purifying Sulfur
Chapter 57: Detailed Operation, Purifying Sulfur
Some supplies had already been piled up in the utility storage warehouse, but after Su Mo poured out all the sulfur ores, the warehouse finally looked somewhat full.
A faint stench effused from the surface of the ore.
After examining the powdery yellow substance on the ore, Su Mo lowered his head and picked out a smaller piece, bringing it to the workbench.
The process to purify sulfur ore was extremely simple.
One only needed to heat a sulfur monomer mineral of an acceptable purity in a distillation flask. When the temperature reaches 200 degrees, a filter is used to remove any unmelted impurities to ensure purity.
The remaining substance then resumes heating after filtering. During this heating process, the remaining substance is stirred to continue evaporating and filtering the impurities.
By the time the temperature reaches 400 degrees, the sulfur gas will begin to evaporate. These evaporated sulfur gases are collected and a purer sulfur can be obtained after cooling and solidification.
In ancient times, the reason why a weapon of mass destruction like gunpowder had not been developed sooner was that it had been more difficult to extract pure sulfur.
However, such an extraction would not be a problem at all with the current workbench.
Su Mo went back to the energy room to plug in the generator and electricity supply. He then came up to the workbench and switched on the self-test button.
When the red and green indicator lights had all turned green, the self-test concluded, and Su Mo equipped the robotic arm and began to manipulate the apparatus.
The workbench had already been equipped with a complete purifying tool.
The sulfur ore was first crushed into fine pieces with the robotic arm. The purifying vessel was then pulled over. The crushed sulfur pieces were poured into the vessel till it was about two-thirds full before Su Mo began the required operations.
Purification of this standard could easily be completed with the basic tools from a high school chemistry experiment lab.
The experiment module here had an excellent-quality electric heating nozzle, thus the heating efficiency was higher.
After a short while, the temperature required for the preliminary filtration was reached. After swirling and filtering it through the filter paper, Su Mo began the heating process again.
This time, the filtered impurities had been reduced. Another round of filtration was easily completed.
When the temperature rose to 400 degrees, traces of yellow gas began to waft through the air.
The valve was opened and the yellow gas began to drift along the duct into the condenser tube at the side.
As time passed, more and more yellow crystalline powder began to form before sliding through the condenser tube into a beaker that had been set aside for collection.
The workbench was equipped with experimentally added containers to enhance the efficiency of collection and rate of heating.
After completing the entire process, Su Mo estimated the time taken to have been less than 20 minutes based on the fuel consumption of the diesel generator.
[Sulfur (Good)]
Description: High-purity sulfur crystals distilled by the craftsman “Su Mo”. The process was rigorous and followed scientific methodology. Its grade has been upgraded to good quality for inexplicable reasons.
Special ability: Increased combustibility. More powerful when added to certain items.
Seeing that there were about 300 grams of sulfur in the beaker, Su Mo clapped his hands with satisfaction.
Sulfur was a little delicate. It was flammable and had to be stored in a cool environment.
He took out a small wooden cup and, after pouring all the purified sulfur into it, he covered it with a lid.
After scanning the storage area, Su Mo ultimately chose to put it in the secondary bedroom, which was currently unoccupied.
A day of hard work had been fully rewarded.
The huge shelter finally looked more lived-in as well. There was Oreo and the kobold, and even two wild feather chickens called Little Spark and Big Spark.
“Hey, speaking of which, why hadn’t the two little things come out?”
He walked over to the crop breeding room curiously and found the figures of Little Spark and Big Spark in the corner.
The two chicks looked exhausted and were leaning on each other for support as they laid obediently on the soil of the culture medium.
A few fresh buds of cabbage had been crushed underneath and were struggling to survive under the weight of two wild feather chickens.
“These little ones are pretty good at picking a place to sleep. They came to sleep under the sun and have almost crushed my vegetables.
Su Mo was a little amused after observing them for a while.
He held onto the red combs atop their heads and laid them on the ground.
“Huh? What’s this?”
Su Mo found strips that looked a little like crystals under the spot where the two wild feather chickens had been sleeping.
There were about seven or eight strips strewn evenly around the culture medium.
It drew his attention, and Su Mo summoned the system to examine it.
[Wild Feather Chicken Excrement]
Description: Natural fertilizers discharged by the wasteland creatures, wild feather chickens, after consuming an active water source. It does not have an unpleasant odor, but rather emits a fresh fragrance.
Function: Catalyzes plant growth and plant cell activity. Greatly improves the survival rate of plants.
Comment: Use Jinkela! Twice the potency, half the cost! Use Jinkela for millet and get 1,800 jin per mu!
“What good stuff! I thought they were just two chickens that would lay eggs, but I didn’t expect them to supply natural fertilizer as well.”
“Though the two little ones looked pretty exhausted after passing these out.”
Seeing Little Spark and Big Spark sprawled on the ground, laying there and looking as if they were on the verge of death, Su Mo poked Little Spark curiously.
All he got in response was a weak cluck.
“Maybe they’re hungry? Speaking of which, these wasteland creatures are quite strange. Although Oreo looks like a husky dog, she basically eats everything. So what would these wild feather chickens usually eat?”
Su Mo walked inside and saw that the basin still had some psychic energy water remaining. He nodded and strolled toward the spot where the living supplies were stocked.
After a long day of mining, Su Mo decided to make himself a nice dinner and carefully selected some ingredients.
The remaining sand wolves from his previous hunt were piled in the corner of the storage space. The smell of blood assaulted his nostrils upon taking one out.
He had fished out a fattier sand wolf and proceeded to cut up a few large pieces from it. After putting the remainder back, Su Mo headed to the stove.
Sand wolf meat was very lean and tough, so Su Mo chose an unhealthy cooking method—frying!
He cleaned up the blood from the wolf’s flesh, then sliced the meat evenly, salted it, and sprinkled over some cracked black pepper. He then massaged the marinade into the meat.
He poured some flour mixture onto the sand wolf meat and then opened up a packet of spicy chips. He rubbed the spicy oil from inside the packet onto the floured meat evenly then covered it.
As the meat marinated, he started up the stove and, after cleaning it, he heated some oil in the wok.
When seventy percent of the oil was heated, he put in the meat.
A sizzling sound crackled when the sand wolf meat came into contact with the vegetable oil. At the same time, the fragrant smell of fat also arose.
When both sides of the sand wolf meat turned golden, Su Mo hurriedly turned off the stove and fished out the fried meat slices.
The vegetable oil in the wok began to cool down once it detached from the heat source.
After the oil had cooled completely, Su Mo brought out the Arowana brand oil barrel and poured most of the oil into it, leaving only a little left.
He took out a catty of biscuits and poured them into the oil, stir-frying them.
The already fragrant and flaky biscuits gave off an unusual fragrance as they sizzled in the oil.
Living in this apocalyptic wasteland, being able to eat such ‘unhealthy’, greasy food was a blessing not easily obtained.
When he was done preparing his meal, Su Mo turned around and was about to call the few little ones over to take their meals, but was instead surprised to find the two wild feather chickens that had been playing dead to already be sitting in a row nicely in front of the stove.
“Goodness, you three, I see that you’re starving~”
Underneath the soft lamplight, Little Spark and Big Spark’s eyes sparkled as they stared at the freshly fried, greasy biscuits in Su Mo’s hand.
At the side, Oreo’s saliva was already dripping on the ground. Holding her food dish in her mouth, her gaze was trained on the dish in Su Mo’s hand that contained the fried meat patty.
“Huff huff! Woof awoo!”
Seeing that Su Mo had no intention of letting her eat, Oreo rolled on the ground in panic, feeling very much aggrieved.
“Be good, everyone has a share.”
He motioned for Oreo to put down her food dish. Su Mo then poured half of the biscuits at a time and put in two meat patties.
He then scooped out the other half of the biscuits, mashed them into pieces in a bowl, and placed them in front of Little Spark and Big Spark.
A delicious dinner was ready. After Su Mo had given the order, they began eating happily.
The crisp fragrance of the oil and biscuits exploded in their mouths. The sand wolf meat, which was initially very lean, had been tenderized after being fried. It could even make a person swallow their tongue.
After taking a big bite of the biscuits and a mouthful of psychic energy water, Su Mo felt as if there was a rush of energy being channeled through his entire body!
“Huh, I feel like I’m forgetting something. Whatever, I’ll think about it after I eat!”
Su Mo shook his head, tossing the weird thoughts to the back of his mind. He then shifted his attention back to the sumptuous dinner~
‘I’m going to be full tonight!’
‘And then I’ll complete that big project I’ve been thinking about for two days now!’