Chapter 502 Supply and Demand is Truth

Supply and demand is truth! That's why the black market exists.

For many years, Kaka lived on Treasure Island, the largest black market in the empire.

This is a small island located in the south, with only a strait separating it from the mainland. On the island live various black market traders, including merchants, looters, gamblers, repairmen, pharmacists, thieves, and so on.

Everything that exists in the Empire can be bought on Treasure Island. As long as you can afford the price, someone will put the goods on the shelves.

In fact, the Empire has been cracking down on black markets everywhere. However, [Treasure Island] is an overseas territory directly under the Empire, directly under the Imperial Capital, and protected by the laws and legal principles of the Empire, which is something that other black markets cannot do.

Because the taxes brought by transactions here are too much.

When taxes were low, the Empire towered over the taxpayers.

When taxes are high, imperial policy will favor taxpayers.

When tax payments exceed the limits that can be curbed by law, the empire will unconditionally protect taxpayers and become their most steadfast backing.

This was well known to the merchants of the empire.

Mallet Kaka was hired by a merchant to come to Treasure Island as a tinker. As the name suggests, he is a goblin who does carpentry.

As the number of transactions on Treasure Island increased, the demand for talents in various industries continued to grow, so Mallet Kaka settled in Treasure Island.

He married a female thief and gave birth to a son, Quick Foot Kaka.

The female thief lived with the hammer for many years, until the child was eight years old and his name was decided. Then she suffered from her occupational disease and took away all the family's property and never returned since.

Kuaijiao started hanging out on the streets at a very young age. He quickly grew into a black market reseller and later had a son with a female pharmacist who made generic drugs.

When he grew up, little Kaka got his own name: Kuaishou Kaka.

The reason why he got this name is that Kaka has been nimble since he was a child and is particularly good at delicate work.

He can single-handedly repair a wrecked long-tail truck in just a few days, and he can transform a pile of scrap metal into a usable heating stove, fishing stool and storage rack.

Kaka is very good at imitating and learning.

Such as some expensive mechanical items, such as mechanical pocket watches that only nobles and wealthy people have, multi-layered silver wine jugs, portable multi-functional belts, and walnut chairs with copper rods that can be raised and rotated... He can imitate and repair these high-end and exquisite props made by the Invention Department.

On Treasure Island, Kaka is called the "High Imitator".

Some goblin merchants began to secretly ask him to make some imitations and sell them among the expensive originals.

Relying on his skills, Kaka was not rich, but he was not hungry.

However, the ability to imitate and refurbish also caused him trouble.

He was asked to make some special replicas.

For example, a clockwork locomotive that explodes while running, a poison needle placed in a pocket watch, handcuffs and hoops that can be ejected in a swivel chair, a wine flask containing mercury...

This gave Kaka the chills.

He knew very well that these things would affect some people, causing some to disappear or die suddenly, and would bring him endless troubles afterwards.

But the employers were also difficult to refuse. The local robbers and thieves were the ones who came forward, but they were just errand boys, and behind them were the big men who held power and wealth.

Kaka felt very painful.

"Why do you have to find me? Other tinkers and engineers can do this."

This question made the employer laugh: "You are the best at counterfeiting and renovation. Who is a good person in Treasure Island? You often do these jobs, don't you?"

Some also said: "Isn't high-quality imitation just stealing other people's things? What we want is your craftsmanship. You'd better be sensible, accept the gold coins, and make the things for me. This will be good for both of us."

The title of "high imitation artist", which once represented recognition of technical skills, has now become a trouble for Kaka.

He finally understood.

The reason is not that other engineers cannot do it, but that in everyone's eyes, the imitator is an evil goblin who steals technology and craftsmanship.

The evil imitator should do the dirty work.

The engineers in the invention department are the inventors who do serious work under the sun.

Kaka tried many times to get into the invention department. He applied to start as an apprentice with no pay and hard work, and he would accept any promotion if there was no technical evaluation.

But the technical officer in charge of recruitment in the Invention Department told him: "You have to understand that the Invention Department cannot accept a person with a serious bad record. The Invention Department creates great and brilliant inventions for the empire. It is a respected temple and no one is allowed to tarnish the sacred cause here!"

"Go back to your treasure island. That's where you belong."

This hit Kaka hard.

Being born on Treasure Island was not something he could choose, but technology and invention, is it that what is born in the Invention Department is bright and righteous, and the technology on Treasure Island is dirty and obscene? When Kaka was confused and distressed, his father quickly gave him a gift.

It was a little golden turtle.

In the Empire, it is an expensive and popular pet among goblins.

"Although this gift is a little late... you need a little motivation and change, quick hands." The elderly father said: "Take it with you, remember that you will be responsible for its life, and you will soon find your own direction."

Kaka raised a sea turtle named Little One. He has not yet thought about his future, but the outside world has changed drastically.

The emperor of the empire went into exile overseas, and the electors began to fight for the imperial capital that represented orthodoxy. The entire empire fell into constant war and turmoil.

Treasure Island is not immune to the incident.

The chaos ended the tax privileges, and armies of different numbers collected military fees from the island, saying that they would defend the island on behalf of the empire. They did not go too far for the treasure island, but repeatedly levied taxes for various reasons and even went to the island to arrest people, causing many people on the island to leave and migrate.

Kaka also took his father and Little One and followed the merchants to the Resurrection Kingdom to escape the disaster.

…

The Resurrection Kingdom is a young country, and the main ethnic group is the Bone Ancestors.

Unlike the empire, there are no old aristocratic groups, no local lords and armed forces. As long as you work and produce, you can get a unified reward from the kingdom.

Relying on his ability to learn and imitate, Kaka quickly adapted to the local environment and was even hired as a senior craftsman in the kingdom.

His main job is to design and test new skeleton creatures.

There are two common skeleton creatures in the Resurrection Kingdom, one is the bone horse and the other is the skeleton dog.

King Raymond requested: "We cannot limit ourselves to these two species. We must make full use of the advantages of bones, use bone horses and skeleton dogs, and transform and strengthen more types of skeletons. The oracle said that diversity represents stability."

Kaka also strongly agrees with this.

King Raymond was a technologically savvy leader, and many of his policies were geared toward better production and manufacturing.

The Twin Snakes Empire's main beneficiaries are a small number of elites such as merchants and nobles, while the main beneficiaries of the Resurrection Kingdom are the common craftsmen and farmers.

The entire Resurrection Kingdom is a huge machine based on the country. Whether it is agriculture, animal husbandry or manufacturing, the country uniformly distributes materials and tools, and uniformly recycles the output, so everyone thinks this is a matter of course.

With the divine power of Yao and the supervision of the apostle Mao Cao, King Raymond also set an example, using his strong personal charm and reputation to fully promote the advancement of the country and protect the interests of every citizen.

At work, Kaka participated in the [Bone Cow] and [Bone Lizard] projects.

Although both projects were eventually abandoned due to their lack of practicality, they allowed him to meet a like-minded friend, Bugi.

Bucky was one of the first bone mages in the kingdom.

Unlike most bone mages who tend to focus on improving their spells, he pays special attention to the basics.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

“Without the foundation stone, there is no house.”

Bugi always said: "We need more ghost lighthouses, more scholars, so that more people can accept and master knowledge, even the simplest knowledge. This must be done so that the kingdom can make a real leap forward. Otherwise, farmers will always be farmers, and craftsmen will always be craftsmen. This stereotyped status quo, which is almost determined by birth, will prevent the kingdom from being full of vitality and creativity."

"We need the foundation of mathematics, language, writing and rhetoric, mining, smelting, casting, astrology, navigation... Every basic knowledge will intersect on the way forward."

Bu Ji went to the Yao world's seminary for further studies for three years, and after returning he became more convinced of this view.

As an experienced engineer, Kaka approves of Buki.

Many employers believe that the key to making a mechanical pocket watch is to have the most important design drawing. As long as there is a drawing, you can find a craftsman to restore it.

That's not the case at all.

Drawings are indeed important, and the more accurate they are, the more useful they are.

But the craftsmanship of hand-polishing parts is also important. A slight difference in precision will lead to a very different final result.

The material is also important. Take copper as an example. The same parts made of brass, copper, bronze and nickel silver can have very different effects.

…

Each foundation is a stone brick, and only a large number of stone bricks can be piled up to form a flat and stable foundation.

Manufacturing is about laying the foundation layer by layer, but in the eyes of outsiders, it is just adding up and stacking plates.

Buggy once asked Kaka: "What kind of tools do you think we need to develop more skeleton creatures?"

"It has to be something that is in line with the usage habits of the White Bone Ancestors, easy to operate, and has a lot of plasticity."

Kaka raised the bone in his hand and said, "I've always found it strange. Why can't we use bones as the core material to make a series of tools?"

"Since bones can be combined to create skeleton dogs and bone horses, this is a material with strong inherent potential. The Kingdom has rich experience in using and making bones, so why would it want to go against the grain and use wood and metal instead?"

"Compared to metal, bones are too weak."

Buki shook his head, and the upper and lower jaws of the skull opened and closed, making a flat sound. "Compared to wood, it is not flexible enough. Bone is a common raw material, but it cannot bear too much weight... and the larger the bone, the more difficult it is to make it active. You can see that it is easy to make a skeleton dog, but it is much more difficult to make a skeleton horse. Bone cows often fall and disintegrate naturally."

"Then change the angle."

Kaka pinched a piece of bone in his hand: "Bones are more flexible and lighter than metals, much harder than wood, and can be combined with each other, which naturally reduces a lot of processing steps. Isn't it?"

“…That makes sense.”

“Why not try using bone as the core material and using wood, stone and metal to assist it?”

"this……"

The more Kaka talked, the more feasible it seemed. He waved the bones in his hand and said, "We don't have to pursue skeleton creatures. Even if we just use bones to weave a complete and extensible framework, we can fill it with all kinds of things, right?"

"Bones are lightweight and can be used to create large structures such as vehicles, houses, ships, and even castles and fortresses."

Bu Ji was stunned for a moment, and then his body began to tremble: "You... are right! Why didn't we think of that we have very good natural materials ourselves!"

The two hit it off and began testing their guesses.

After a lot of experiments and records, they came to a surprising conclusion.

The hardness of bones is far greater than that of wood, and the hardest skull is almost as strong as fine iron in terms of impact resistance.

The hardness and flexibility of bones of different species vary slightly, and the bones of extraordinary people far exceed those of ordinary bones in both aspects.

Blood elements are injected into skeleton horses and skeleton dogs to further enhance the hardness and flexibility of the bones. The blood elements also make the bone structure more active.

…

When the [Mediation Army] officially entered the Twin Snake Empire to mediate the war, Kaka and Buggy delivered a thick application entitled "On the Feasibility, Necessity and Decisive Influence of the 'White Bone Project' on the Future of the Kingdom" to King Raymond's desk.

Kaka and the other man were waiting anxiously.

One day, two days... they couldn't even concentrate on reading the newspaper.

Exactly eleven days later, they received a reply from the king himself.

"I have read it. I have verified your conclusion. The Kingdom approves your plan and will provide you with all necessary resources."

Kaka and Buki were overjoyed.

They immediately began to form a research team, inviting not only goblin engineers and inventors, but also scholars from the Yao tribe to participate.

However, at this time something big happened.

The Bone Giants, led by the hero Sidar, made their official debut and slaughtered all enemies on the battlefield of the Twin Snake Empire, inspiring countless bone ancestors and triggering a gene sequencing craze.

Since the gene sequence allows a skeleton ancestor to have the strength of a giant, is the Bone Project really necessary? The Bone Project is like a sand castle built with great effort on the beach. Facing the flexible giant evolved from the gene sequence, it is full of flaws and defects.

Kaka and Buggy were hit hard by the genetic sequence and fell into self-doubt.

Is there still any meaning for the Bone Project?

Thanks: Colonel Pumpkin YH for supporting 500 Qidian coins.

(End of this chapter)