Magic? My Iron Torrent will sweep it all away!

Chapter 503: The Giant Ship Soars into the Sky, Tears well Up, Applause Resounds

Thorin raised an eyebrow.

One hundred gold coins?

He subconsciously felt he hadn't said enough.

But then I thought about it again, what can you buy in Terra with 100 gold coins?

An ordinary person's monthly expenses are capped at three gold coins, and even with good food and drink, ten gold coins are the maximum.

One hundred gold coins a month, pure cash, all-inclusive (food and lodging included), no need to fight, no need to go to the battlefield.

They work eight hours a day and then stop.

If this were used to recruit workers within the dwarf race, they'd beat people senseless.

Normally, for a dwarf to craft a piece of equipment, he needs to buy good materials, forge it with great effort, and inscribe runes to infuse it with magic.

If any part of the process fails, all investment will be lost and the entire process will have to start over.

After all that effort, you might end up earning less than 100 gold coins.

Thorin rolled his eyes twice, then glanced at Lin Mo again.

Fourth tier: 500; Fifth tier: 1000; Sixth tier: 5000...

The higher up you go, the more valuable it becomes.

High-level artisans are already scarce, and they are indispensable for inscribing large rune arrays, so this ladder is flawless.

He already felt like he'd hit the jackpot.

But you still have to put on a show.

"Hmph, you people of Great Xia are indeed shrewd in business."

"Okay, that's the price."

"But let me make this clear from the start: if my people are mistreated when they get to your so-called moon, I'll have to pay them extra!"

Lin Mo smiled and extended his hand.

"Don't worry, you won't be treated unfairly."

The two hands are clasped together.

Transaction.

And so, in this warehouse filled with the smell of alcohol, the two parties signed a magical contract.

The runes on the parchment glowed with a pale golden light, slowly sinking into the paper and transforming into an unalterable mark.

Thorin stared at his name on the contract for a long time, then suddenly muttered something.

"Inscribe runes on the planet..."

"I, Thorin, have lived for over two hundred years, and this is the first time I've ever taken on a job like this."

He paused, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"That's quite an achievement."

After saying that, he grabbed the half-empty jar of wine that had survived in the corner, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp.

"If word gets out, the tribe will probably be in an uproar and think I'm joking."

Lin Mo smiled.

"Then let them blow it up."

"Once the runes are inscribed, you, Thorin, will be the first hero in dwarven history, your name etched in eternity!"

"A task that even the god of craftsmen couldn't handle, you accomplished."

Thorin laughed heartily.

"That's right!"

"This is the craziest and most daring deal in history, and it was signed by me, Thorin!"

His eyes shone brightly, his mind filled with the legendary dwarves that Lin Mo had told him, their names etched in history.

This was incredibly tempting for dwarves who revered legend.

.......

Lin Mo returned to Blue Star that evening and went straight to Old Zhao's office.

The office was dimly lit. Old Zhao was hunched over his desk reading documents. After listening to Lin Mo's report, he nodded and smiled.

"Good! The matter of the dwarven craftsmen is settled, and the problem of lunar gravity is now resolved."

"Academician Qian's planetary engine project is also progressing, with two projects running in parallel."

He took off his glasses, rubbed his temples, and sighed:

"Time is just too tight."

After finishing his report, Lin Mo didn't go back to rest; instead, he went to the spacecraft manufacturing center.

If he remembers correctly, the sea trial is tomorrow, so he's going to check.

The person in charge saw him from afar and quickly came to greet him, unable to hide the smile on his face.

"Commander Lin!"

"The Kuafu has been fully tested and commissioned; all runes have been inscribed, achieving 100% coverage across the entire ship!"

"The engineering team has run all the systems through self-tests several times over the past few days, and there are no problems. We can conduct the test flight on time at 9:00 AM tomorrow!"

Lin Mo was also pleased to hear this and said:

"You can fly tomorrow?"

"It can fly!"

"Okay! I'll be there on time tomorrow!"

He turned his head and looked at the huge underground dock.

The light couldn't reach the end.

The Kuafu lay quietly in the center of the dock, like a sleeping ancient beast.

The densely packed runes on the ship's surface gleamed with a faint blue light under the lamplight, its massive 1,080-meter-long body looming there.

Just looking at it makes my heart race.

The capacity is 20,000 people.

Technology is the skeleton, magic is the pattern.

The ship of human civilization on its long voyage!

That evening, news was released that "the Kuafu will conduct its trial voyage tomorrow."

Social media exploded.

The entry went viral and quickly rose to the top of the trending searches within ten minutes of its release, with the comment section instantly flooded with comments.

"Holy crap! That was fast! The country's cheat code!"

"A giant spaceship that's a thousand meters long... Something I never dared to dream of in my life, it actually came to be built."

"Kuafu? Chasing the Sun! What a great name!"

"The test flight is tomorrow, don't let me sleep tonight, who can sleep at all!"

The number of online users across the entire Great Xia region surged to an all-time high.

Everyone is waiting for 9 a.m. tomorrow.

the next day.

8:45 a.m.

On the surface of Tian Shu City, the enormous canopy of the World Tree casts a long, continuous shadow.

Hundreds of thousands of residents surged onto the ground, filling every inch of the observation area with a dense, dark mass.

Some people carried their children on their shoulders and stood on tiptoe, peering towards the northeast.

Someone was live-streaming on their phone, but there were so many people that the camera was shaking terribly.

Someone was clutching a telescope, the lens barrel covered in sweat from their palms.

Crowded.

Everyone is waiting.

Nine o'clock sharp.

You feel it first on the soles of your feet.

A low-frequency resonance came from underground.

"Here it comes!"

All eyes turned to the northeast.

The surface of that wasteland is cracking open.

Two giant gates were slowly pried open by an invisible force, revealing the bottomless dock below.

The heat surged up from the cracks, twisting the air overhead into a tangled mess.

Then, the Kuafu rose up.

The ship was the first to emerge from the ground.

The silver-gray bow cuts into the sunlight, like a giant beast emerging from the earth.

Next comes the hull.

The colossal structure, 1,080 meters high, rose inch by inch, obscuring half the sky.

A huge shadow fell, as if night had fallen prematurely.

All thrusters ignite simultaneously.

A jet of azure plasma erupted from its tail, accompanied by a deafening roar that swept across the observation area several kilometers away, leaving it splattered with hot air.

The crowd was immediately stunned.

"Waaaaah—"

Suddenly, a crying sound came from somewhere.

An elderly engineer with gray hair squatted on the ground, covering his face with his hands, his shoulders trembling.

The young technician next to him, with red eyes, patted his back desperately. After patting him a couple of times, he couldn't hold back anymore, and tears streamed down his face.

The journey of Daxia to where it is today has been built through countless efforts and countless days and nights of hard work by its staff.

In the face of the apocalyptic crisis, they worked tirelessly on research and development, resulting in the deaths of countless people.

Among them were his teacher and his fellow students.

If it weren't for Terra's appearance, he might still be trying to piece together a spaceship in orbit, hoping to share some of the flame and continue its existence.

Fortunately, all the hard work paid off!

The Great Xia Dynasty has emerged from its slump and is now striding towards the stars!

"Slap! Slap slap! Slap slap slap slap..."

Some people applauded, looking at the old engineer with deep respect.

Then, more and more, like waves, echoed throughout the entire observation area!

PS: Thank you to Yuanqi Tudou Miaomiao for the gift king! I'm adding an extra chapter for this, but I still owe four chapters!