Chapter 87: Boiling Saltpeter
Nashen and Anna were both curious, but they could only follow Gervis to the edge of the puddle. Nashen even squatted down like Gervis.
Gervis squatted down, dipped his finger in the puddle, and then put it into his mouth to savor it carefully.
"???" Seeing this action, Na Shen felt even more surprised. He also followed Gervis's example and dipped his finger in the water and then put it in his mouth.
"Pooh! Pooh! Pooh! It's so bitter!"
As soon as Na Shen put his finger into his mouth, he felt a bitter taste and started spitting immediately.
"Ha ha!"
Gervis was originally immersed in his own thoughts, but he reacted when he heard Nashen's voice. He realized that Nashen was imitating his reaction, and he couldn't help but burst out laughing. Why is Nashen so funny sometimes?
"Lord Nashen, Anna! I'm going to be rich!"
"My Lord, what have you found? Could this water be the mineral?"
Anna was a little confused when she heard Gervis shouting excitedly. There was a small puddle in front of her. Gervis just tasted it and said that she would get rich.
"Master Gervis, this water is so bitter, it must not be a good thing, how can you make a fortune?"
Nashen was also confused. Anna was better and did not imitate Gervis's actions. But Nashen, driven by curiosity, imitated Gervis and tasted the water in the puddle. It was extremely bitter. He didn't know how to make a fortune with such bitter water, and he had never heard of any bitter water being sold for money in all these years.
"Haha, you'll know in a minute. Anna, go ask Thomas to bring three people over now, and bring a big pot for boiling water, firewood, linen for filtering things, and tools for digging."
Seeing that the two didn't understand, Gervis didn't tell them directly. This kind of thing couldn't be explained to them clearly, so he simply kept it a secret and directly told Anna to prepare the tools.
"Yes, sir!"
Anna was not angry when she saw that her master was keeping her in suspense. Instead, she felt that her master was very smart and she and others were stupid and could not guess what the master was thinking. When she heard Gervis's order, she responded and immediately turned around and ran out of the cave.
"Master Gervis, could it be that the mine is in this cave?"
Na Shen didn't know that Anna's blind worship of Gervis had lowered his IQ and turned him into a supporting role for Gervis.
"I guess it might be, but I'm not sure yet. We'll know once we get the tools."
Gervis shook his head. Although he was eighty percent sure that the things in the cave were a remarkable mineral on Earth, he was not sure that the minerals in space were exactly the same.
Na Shen still looked confused, but since Gervis said so, he stopped asking questions and had to squat quietly beside Gervis and wait and see.
"Sir, the things are here!"
A few minutes later, led by Anna, Thomas and three servants entered the cave, taking everything that Gervis had mentioned.
"Very good, put the tools here!" Gervis quickly stood up and directed the servants to put the tools next to the puddle.
"You guys build a simple stove and light a fire. We'll put this pot on it to cook later."
While giving instructions to everyone, Gervis picked up the digging hoe and walked to the side, swinging the hoe hard at the ground a few times. Probably due to the long-term moisture, the ground in the cave was very soft, and Gervis threw out a lot of dirt with just a few swings.
"Sir, let me help you dig!"
Several servants were building a stove over there. Seeing his master digging the ground, Thomas immediately came over and wanted to take the hoe from Gervis.
"No need, Thomas. It's already been dug. Just put all the soil into the puddle!"
Gervis dug the soil himself just to see how thick the soil layer in the cave was. He used his fighting spirit to dig a few times with the hoe and had already dug more than one meter deep. The result made him very excited. The soil layer had not yet reached the bottom. This meant that if it was really what he expected, then the reserves would not be low.
"Yes, sir."
After the soil was dug, Gervis stopped working and just stood aside directing several servants to work. When Thomas put the soil into the puddle, Gervis directly ordered the servants to stir it with a hoe to completely blend all the soil into the water.
When the water in the puddle became a little clearer, Gervis had them cover the mouth of the pot with a filter cloth, scoop half a pot of water from the puddle, and then put it on the stove to boil.
Time passed minute by minute, and everyone remained silent. They were all looking at the pot curiously. They really didn't know what Gervis was up to.
Gervis stood calmly beside the cauldron and observed. As the water in the cauldron slowly boiled away, white crystals began to appear on the edge of the pot.
“Huh!”
"My Lord, there is something white in the pot!"
"Master Gervis, how come white crystals appear when boiling water?"
There were only three people who could speak freely beside Gervis, Anna, Nashen and Thomas. When they saw the changes in the big pot, they all asked in unison. The scene in the pot was something they had never seen before. When water boils, doesn't it just bubble?
"Haha, it works. We're rich this time. Anna will let you guys have a delicious meal later!"
Gervis also saw the changes in the pot and immediately laughed excitedly. When he saw the white objects on the edge of the pot, he finally confirmed his guess that the things in the pot could not only bring him huge wealth, but might also bring considerable combat power to his territory.
"The thing in the pot is called saltpeter! It's a very strange thing! You will understand it later!"
Gervis was unable to explain to them what saltpeter was. There was no saltpeter in this world, let alone gunpowder. There was sulfur, however. Many people in this world were unhygienic and often suffered from skin diseases. Sulfur had a good effect on skin diseases. Gervis had seen it in Gandalf's territory. It was a commonly used item in this world.
With saltpeter, you can make ice and try to make gunpowder. Gervis couldn't help but be so ecstatic. One of Gervis' hobbies in his previous life was reading online articles. Although online articles were not very nutritious, he learned a lot of common sense. He remembered the proportion of gunpowder and making ice with saltpeter very clearly.
When the cooking in the pot was almost done, Gervis ordered the servants to put out the fire. After the fire was out and the smoke dissipated, all that was seen in the iron pot was white transparent crystals plus some brine. It was obvious that the nitrate content in the cave was very high, and only half a pot of water was enough to reach this level.
"Thomas, take the three of them to the open space outside the cave to dig and see if there are other minerals. Dig a hole every ten meters and a depth of more than one meter."
Being able to obtain saltpeter was a pleasant surprise for Gervis. He could not wait to go outside the space and try to make ice. However, Gervis was not sure whether the mine in this space only contained saltpeter. After all, this thing was obtained after he boiled it himself. So he specifically asked Thomas and others to check and confirm.
"Yes, sir!"
Thomas quickly agreed. As a butler, he didn't have to do any work himself. He just needed to supervise here. There was a pit every few dozen meters, and with three servants, they could quickly explore it.
After explaining everything, Gervis didn't delay any longer. He happily walked out of the cave holding the iron pot and headed for the exit of the space.
Regardless of whether Thomas and his team can find other minerals, Gervis is already very satisfied now. If someone gives him a silver mine of the same space now, he will not exchange it.
(End of this chapter)
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