Our Family Has Fallen

Chapter 1133: Chapter 626: Plan and Experiment

"There’s nothing much to see right now, maybe after a while, it will start snowing." Lance could hear the teasing in her voice, as his gaze extended to the surroundings.

On both sides were harvested wheat fields, looking bare, with only a few scattered people busy within, making it seem quite desolate under the autumn wind.

Although Hamlet’s land was fertile, due to the climate, there was only one season for harvest, planted in the spring of March and April, and harvested in the autumn, which is around this time.

Despite the stretches of the Misty Mountains blocking most of the cold air, which is the reason for the snow-capped mountains.

Similarly, the cold air ascending over the mountains in deep winter would still bring chill to the entire Empire, and ice and snow were not very unusual.

And Hamlet happened to be at the gap at the end of the mountain’s remnants, acting like a funnel bringing in cold air, so one could anticipate the arrival of heavy snow.

When Lance first arrived, it was just at the end of spring; however, Hamlet did not have the revival of all things typical of spring but was rather a mess.

Unknowingly, more than half a year had already passed, staying busy made time fly, and only now did he feel a bit disoriented.

Funny to say, Lance really had to thank that farm owner.

Bandits had destroyed Hamlet, the farmland suffered considerable damage, and many lands laid fallow.

Still, the farm owner took over the farmland, gathered the serfs, and ensured the completion of spring plowing with all his might.

Although all he did was for himself, ultimately it became a wedding dress for Lance.

But it cannot be denied that he preserved Hamlet’s food security.

Since it was a secret mission, they did not enter the outpost or town but directly went through it.

The number two artilleryman position had already been withdrawn because this place had been blasted, and the underlying Beast Lair passage had long collapsed and been sealed off.

They needed to head towards the number three position on this side, entering from the last wilderness entrance.

"The surroundings are all flat land, the advancement of the wilderness development to here would probably expose this, making it unsuitable for long-term farming,"

Grendel concluded after surveying the surroundings, as she was somewhat familiar with Lance’s plan and roughly knew the situation.

Lance was naturally aware of this, but he was also at a loss for words.

"Temporarily, if we could find a better method, it wouldn’t have to be like this. If worst comes to worst, we can enclose the surrounding area as a protectorate, ostensibly to protect the ecosystem, plant herbs, until we find a cultivation method or a more stable location."

After speaking, Lance led the team into the Beast Lair.

Lance was already accustomed to it, and Paracelsus had been here before and had a mask to filter the air.

However, Grendel, coming to the Beast Lair for the first time, couldn’t help but wrinkle her brow, even though she had a mask on.

"This is actually much better since all those Pigmen have been dealt with, otherwise it would smell even worse."

Lance joked, raising the torch as he went deeper inside.

The Beast Lair was so familiar to him after so many trips it was like going home, and his goal was very clear.

To install a corrosion-resistant metal door at the exit of position number three, then blast the remaining few passages shut, completely cutting off other routes and sealing this place entirely.

"Here it is."

Lance found a narrowing corner after going slightly deeper, where a rough but hefty door thoroughly isolated the area; the backside was supported by a robust steel framework fixed in the brick wall, with the bricks almost entirely filling the passage except for a small entrance and exit in the lower right corner.

It was a pre-determined location, where the engineers, following the Lord’s request, excavated to both sides, then set the door and built the wall with bricks and cement.

Yes, cement.

Lance felt somewhat thankful for reading so many novels that made him aware of how simple cement production was.

First, we need to find the three main raw materials for cement: limestone, clay, and iron ore, then grind the limestone and clay together into raw materials, next, calcine the raw materials until partially or fully melted, known as clinker; finally, grind the clinker with iron powder or iron slag to get the cement.

Raw material grinding — clinker calcining — cement grinding. So, the cement production process is abbreviated as "two grinding and one burning."

This is why Lance embarked on massive construction, which quickly lifted Hamlet’s buildings off the ground.

Why most of the buildings, excluding large structures like castles, churches, and towers, seldom exceeded two or three stories.

This was not a matter of money, even though Totnes was wealthy, but most buildings were still two or three stories crammed along the street.

It was wholly because the building’s main structure couldn’t support more; the mortar that bonded their bricks was purely lime sand, although some special buildings might use materials containing magical Supernatural Power.

But that had nothing to do with ordinary people; the intervention of Supernatural Power greatly hindered the technical development of this world.

Simply put, the track got skewed; Transcendents pursue Mysticism, while ordinary people tend to turn to deities for solutions rather than think of solving problems themselves.

But even in Hamlet, even the Lord has to apply the mortar...

Lance began to take out those components, installing a large, dark golden metal plate full of riveting marks onto the framework, like adding a layer of armor.

It wasn’t long before completion, and then Lance called the two to begin the actual task.

Because most passages of the Beast Lair had been blasted shut, the space contraction increased the density of the Flesh Devourers, and just a slight movement could attract a swarm of Devourers; the tapping sounds of small Devourers’ spiny feet resounded from the ground.