Ch.338Chapter 338 – The Great Fire

Dwarf Dwell, a member of the New Continent Expedition Team’s Third Division, was installing equipment brought from the Western Continent while dripping with sweat.

The device he was installing was a semi-permanent flame generator modeled after the Heart of Extreme Heat installed in the Grendillet Mountains.

It was brought to produce flames for manufacturing and maintaining equipment for the expedition team, and the one Dwell was currently installing was the final device.

Until now, they had to burn flame stones found throughout the new continent along with firewood to generate high temperatures, but once this device was operational, they would be able to maintain high temperatures for extended periods using only flame stones without any firewood.

That’s why hundreds of sweat beads had formed on Dwell’s forehead and dropped to the ground as he installed the final device.

“Finally, the installation is complete.”

Wiping the sweat from his forehead as he stood up, Dwell grabbed the beer mug placed beside him and downed it in one go.

“Phew. The beer’s gone lukewarm. Tsk, and all the carbonation is gone too. I should go get another beer before running a test operation.”

Dwell took his empty mug and left the building with a sign that read ‘Flame Supply Facility.’

“Hey, Dwell. Is the work finished?”

Greeting Dwell as he exited the facility was a technician who had been working alongside him in the new continent.

Though his skills weren’t comparable to Dwell’s, he was still the most skilled among the technicians dispatched here.

That’s why Dwell decided to leave the operation of the flame supply device to him.

After all, he had installed all five flame supply devices by himself, so now it was time for him to rest.

“Yeah, you damned fellow. The work is done. I’ve already loaded the flame stones, so all you need to do is press the activation button.”

Dwell mentioned that he had already placed flame stones in the device during installation.

This was necessary because the flame supply device needed precisely calculated amounts of flame stones to provide high-temperature flames for extended periods.

“Really? Got it. Go and rest then. We’ll handle the activation of the flame supply device.”

At the technician’s words, Dwell nodded and headed toward the communal kitchen.

After downing about a tankard of beer and taking a long nap, he would have a mountain of work waiting for him, but right now, he needed rest.

This job had been close to hard labor even for a dwarf known for his dexterity and ability to work for days without rest when focused on a task.

After all, he had been working on the flame supply devices for nearly two weeks without proper rest.

“Hmm.”

Dwell remembered explaining to the human technician how to operate the flame supply device installed in the facility and the precautions to take, but he still felt somewhat uneasy.

However, he soon recalled one fact.

‘I only put in enough flame stones for a test operation, so even if an accident occurs, the damage will be minimized.’

He knew very well that newly operated devices inevitably encounter problems.

But once the installation was complete, he would clearly be too exhausted to function!

When dwarves fall into deep sleep, they’re nearly impossible to wake up.

That meant if a problem arose, it would be difficult to respond, wouldn’t it?

So, the solution was to set everything up in advance so that even if someone unfamiliar with the device touched it, no major accidents would occur.

Hoping nothing would go wrong, Dwell drank three more mugs of beer before finally falling asleep.

Meanwhile, after Dwell had fallen asleep, the technician brought his assistants to prepare for the activation of the flame supply device.

The flame supply device was designed to also provide heat for warming during the extremely cold nights of the new continent.

Currently, it could only supply heat to the port city and its surrounding areas, but the dwarves’ ultimate goal was to provide heating throughout the entire new continent.

Knowing this well, the technician felt that the success of everything depended on this test operation.

“Alright, let’s prepare for activation!”

“Yes, sir!”

The technician assigned the test operation preparations to his assistants, who moved around preparing the flame supply device for its test run.

“Senior Technician! Only one device’s fuel supplier is filled with flame stones, while the rest only have about one-tenth filled!”

Just then, one of the assistants discovered that only one of the five devices was fully loaded with flame stones and reported this to the technician.

“Is that so? I guess Dwell forgot to fill the flame stones while working. Go and fill all devices with equal amounts of flame stones.”

“Yes, sir!”

The technician didn’t realize that Dwell had deliberately put fewer flame stones in the devices.

Instead, he assumed that Dwell had forgotten to fill them sufficiently because he was exhausted from installing all five devices.

“Hurry up. We should show Dwell that the devices are operating normally when he wakes up.”

The technician could already picture Dwell’s delighted face upon seeing all the devices working properly after waking up.

For this reason, he was determined to make this test operation a success.

After the remaining four flame supply devices were filled with flame stones, the technician personally pulled the lever on the central flame supply device.

This opened the air intake connected to the combustion chamber of the flame supply device, using atmospheric oxygen as a primer for the initial flame combustion process.

Next, he pressed the red button, and flame stones began to be supplied into the combustion chamber.

Seeing the flame stones drop into the combustion chamber, he turned the key inserted in the device.

A spark flickered from the ignition artifact inside, and soon the flame stones caught fire.

“Central flame supply device operating normally!”

“Now supplying flame stones to devices 2, 3, 4, and 5!”

After seeing the central No. 1 flame supply device operating normally, the assistants opened the air intakes of the combustion chambers and began supplying flame stones.

When they pressed the ignition devices, the flame stones caught fire, and all five flame supply devices began running smoothly.

“Success! The flame supply devices have started up normally!”

The technician was delighted that the flame supply devices had started up properly.

The successful startup meant that the full-scale operation of the flame supply facility was about to begin.

But at that moment, one of the assistants turned pale.

“Hey. Did you have a nightmare last night? Why are you trembling like that?”

“The temperature… isn’t it too high?”

Where the pale-faced assistant was pointing, the temperature of the heat being supplied from the flame supply device was displayed.

[1450 degrees]

“1450 degrees? It’s high, but is it really a problem?”

Another assistant didn’t understand why he had turned so pale.

But the pale-faced assistant had good reason.

‘Listen, rookie. The flame from the supply device should never exceed 1300 degrees. If it goes higher than that, the filters inside the flame supply pipes, which were made thin to reduce weight, will break down. If that happens, the flames will have nowhere to go… and there will probably be a massive explosion followed by a tremendous fire sweeping through the area.’

‘Why did you design it that way?’

‘Because I’m going to adjust the amount of flame stones in advance so that the test operation flame temperature won’t exceed 900 degrees anyway. If by any chance even a little more flame stone gets in… the temperature will probably soar tremendously. The more flame stones there are, the hotter the heat they emit. So we need to prevent it from exceeding 1300 degrees, but it seems I’ll have to make that device separately after the flame supply device installation is complete.’

The temperature limit of the filters installed in the flame supply pipes was 1300 degrees.

But now the temperature of the flames burning inside the supply pipes was showing 1450 degrees.

This was hot enough to melt the filters and block the supply pipes…

“E-Everyone evacuate! There’s going to be an explosion!”

It was as good as saying an explosion was imminent.

But even though the assistant called for evacuation, no one else understood why.

Naturally, they didn’t know about the filters installed inside the flame supply pipes.

Nor did they know about the 1300-degree temperature limit of those filters.

“Everyone evacu—!”

Just as the assistant tried once more to call for evacuation, the central flame supply device exploded.

The shockwave and pressure created by the central device’s explosion destroyed the other four supply devices and even triggered additional reactions with the several bags of flame stones brought for refilling.

The only fortunate aspects were that the flame supply facility was located outside the port city, and that the port city was protected by a powerful barrier.

Someone who witnessed the explosion at the flame supply facility began ringing the emergency bell, and flames engulfed the port city’s barrier.

The endless flames that consumed everything were burning all things on the ground, but they couldn’t burn through the port city’s barrier.

And the port city’s administrator looked at the mage in charge of communications and shouted:

“Contact the Western Continent! Tell them it’s an emergency situation!”