A Hospital in Another World?
Chapter 367: The Big Hammer Eighty, The Small Hammer Forty

Garrett looked at the dwarf woman Genna with admiration.

Being a medical student himself, his understanding of mechanics, structures, transmissions, and various other things was equivalent to "I’ve heard of them." Not to mention doing it himself, even if asked to draw a mechanical blueprint, he had no model in his mind.

However, this dwarf lady was simply too impressive. Garrett would gesture and say something like, "I think we can set up a transmission structure to connect the forging hammer to the steam engine," and she would swiftly draw up plans, tinker models into existence, and hammer out the actual item!

Gears, levers, chains, these items were, frankly, not lacking in the mines. Genna selected parts of the right size, skillfully assembled them, made a few adjustments, hammered in places where the fit wasn’t perfect, and switched between heavier and lighter hammers—

And it worked!

Bang, bang, bang, bang. The hammer head went up and down, smashing large pieces of ore into smaller chunks, and the small chunks into fragments. With Prince Roserga’s clout to borrow a steam engine (which was allowed, as the rules of the king’s election strictly prohibited external help), and with Genna’s mechanical assembly, the only thing left for everyone to do was physical labor:

Carrying ore, unloading ore, adding water to the steam engine, maintaining the machinery...

Though busy, compared to wielding a huge hammer and smashing hundreds to thousands of pounds of ore into tiny pieces, this work was already a breeze. Everyone glanced at each other, smiles on their faces, or gave Genna a thumbs-up:

Girl, you’re incredible!

Garrett was even more idle. While others exerted themselves and sweated, after he had finished brainstorming, he just sat on the side, idly propping up his chin:

"The big hammer eighty, the small hammer forty... The big hammer eighty, the small hammer forty..."

"You’ve mined so much ore?" A head peeked in to look. Garrett didn’t recognize him, but Gavin dropped the ore he was holding and ran over:

"Yes! We mined very quickly! The mage sir helped a lot..."

He gestured and talked non-stop, after talking about mining, he drew people in to see the forging hammer. Garrett sat aside, watching as two groups of people passed by, and quietly pulled on Genna:

"Is it okay to let people see?"

"Of course!" Genna looked at him surprised:

"What’s there to hide in an election? It’s about letting everyone see! That," she raised her chin towards Roserga, who was moving ore blocks under the hammer, sweating profusely:

"What the candidate does, what the people in the team do, all the tribes see it! Only then can the best king be chosen!"

Alright, alright... So, no thoughts of keeping it a secret. Well, that’s okay, the situation of each team is transparent to the other six teams, no one can take advantage of anyone!

The steam forging hammer banged and roared, from afternoon to deep night, and from deep night to dawn. The next morning, when Garrett arrived at the site, he saw Gavin vigorously sieving ore while enthusiastically talking:

"Ingvar and them just finished mining, they rushed back last night. Looking at their ore, it should only be enough to make an axe;"

"Max and his team haven’t even finished mining, but the mine they drew produces cloud gold and redstone, their weapons will be tough to deal with;"

"Tanla and his team have also finished mining, they’re selecting ore on-site, probably planning to bring back refined ore powder..."

It looked like every tribe was keeping up. Garrett was more concerned about the Radiant Church and eagerly asked:

"How’s the Blackrock tribe doing?"

"The Blackrock tribe—pah!" Gavin immediately showed disdain and spat to the side:

"They don’t mine properly, just use burrowing worms! It’s said that the worm has already eaten through half a mine tunnel, and just yesterday, they’ve already chipped off half of the worm’s shell!"

It’s said that the chipped-off part is directly metal—perhaps even an alloy. Garrett frowned, not wanting to speak, but Prince Roserga stood up smiling, patting Gavin on the shoulder:

"No worries, we just need to do our own part. With everyone’s effort, and the mage sir’s help, we’re already four days ahead, aren’t we?"

His face was streaked with sweat mixed with dust, yet he smiled radiantly. After saying this, he wiped his forehead with his sleeve and quickly went back to work.

Garrett followed to see. The ore they had hauled back yesterday had already been smashed to pieces, and several people were squatting on the ground selecting ore. From Prince Roserga to Miss Genna, everyone was covered in dirt, making it hard to tell men from women just by their beards.

Garrett had no concept of ore selection and had no ideas for optimization. Watching the site enveloped in dust and smoke, a perfect recipe for pneumoconiosis, he pinched his nose and went around casting Bubble Spells on everyone...

I’m sorry, but this is all the help I can offer.

After casting his spells, he turned and left. He squatted at the entrance, focused, continuing his work with a medical procedure on a rabbit’s lung. Filling one lobe, pulling out, filling again, pulling, filling, and pulling...

Anesthesia was needed, muscle relaxants, blood oxygen monitoring, and continuous oxygen supply from the ventilator. Garrett concentrated intensely, wishing he had eight hands, even summoning silver skeletons and invisible servants to assist, as beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

A large-capacity pulmonary lavage could be done 8 to 12 times on a single lung lobe. A rabbit could keep him busy for half a day.

Keep it up, Garrett! Today, forty procedures on two rabbits, surviving this is a victory!

"Garrett, are you done? We’re leaving!"

Prince Roserga called from behind. Garrett turned to see five dwarves and Bernard lined up in a single file, each pulling a small cart filled with sand:

"Where to?"

"To the great furnace! The ore selection is complete, it’s time for smelting!"

Alright then. Garrett stood up, and Bernard had already quickly come over, grabbing his rabbit and placing it on the cart. Prince Roserga called from the front:

"Hurry up! Move faster! We’re going to replace a good furnace!"

After the crushing and ore selection processes, the remaining sand was much less than the ore they had mined, so Garrett didn’t need to transport the sand. Hands in his pockets, he leisurely followed the small carts. Along the way, he tilted his head to examine the rabbit:

It seems to be in good shape, should be strong enough to survive...

As the glowing lights of the great furnace became visible, Garrett stopped, casting Heat and Cold Resistance on himself, Bernard, and the rabbit on the cart. Just as he finished casting and moved forward, he suddenly heard Gavin’s familiar loud voice arguing with someone:

"What are you doing hogging the furnace mouth!"

"First come, first served. We got here first!"

"You haven’t even finished mining! Why do you get to occupy the furnace mouth!"

"Who says we haven’t? Look, we’ve already brought it here!"

The great furnace, though blazing with flames, wasn’t uniformly hot everywhere. The lava flowed, with temperatures varying, naturally, the hotter places had higher efficiency in smelting ore, and the refined iron produced was of better quality. Some spots even frequently ejected high-temperature gases, flaring up flames, known as "furnace mouths."

Only such furnace mouths allowed the best craftsmen among the dwarves to forge weapons and armor that would be legendary.

This election battle, seven forging rooms were made available in the great furnace for candidates to smelt and forge. Among these seven rooms, there was only one furnace mouth, first-come-first-served—naturally, rushing the mining and ore selection was your own problem.

The team hurried, the steam hammer worked through the night, and they had just finished the preliminary procedures. And now, to arrive here and replace the furnace mouth occupied?

Wouldn’t that mean their hard-mined ore would go to waste?

"You’ve only brought a small part!" Gavin was fuming, ready to start a fight:

"This little bit of ore isn’t even enough to make a hammer!"

"Who says?"

The argument grew louder, and more people gathered outside the forge. Suddenly, the door creaked open, and a bearded dwarf stepped out:

"What’s going on?—Ah, Prince Roserga, I’ve heard a lot about you!"

It was Kai from the Blackrock tribe! Garrett paid full attention from the back. Kai, however, didn’t look at him but smiled and extended his hand, grasping Prince Roserga’s right hand:

"I’ve always heard of your bravery as a warrior, may I have the honor of learning from you?"

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