Above the mage!

Chapter 588 Inspection
The secret teachings emphasize that the core of taming snow wolves is not to force them with commands, but to follow their instincts and then guide them.

Trainers utilize the snow wolves' innate desire to chase moving objects, suspending animal hides or meat on long poles and moving them irregularly, allowing the boy and wolf cubs to chase and pounce together.

After the wolf cub successfully pounces on its "prey," the boy will immediately step forward, divide the meat into two portions, and share them with the wolf cub.

This is both a reward and a way to subtly establish a hunting relationship with the wolf cubs.

Meanwhile, through countless joint hunting drills, a signal system based on sound and gestures was established to induce conditioned reflexes in the snow wolves.

It is important to note that the principle of "the leader is the wolf" should always be emphasized during training.

After each hunt, the food must be distributed first by the human trainers.

Even the wolf cub's favorite offal must be handed to it by its trainer before it will eat it.

If wolf cubs exhibit food aggression or aggression towards humans, the trainer will immediately suppress them with a stern growl and sharp gaze.

If necessary, they may even pin them to the ground, mimicking the submissive actions of the alpha wolf in a snow wolf pack to clearly define the hierarchical order.

But from beginning to end, there will be no meaningless abuse, and no magic will be used to harm the wolf cubs.

"Do not defy nature, but follow its course; do not be a beast tamer, but a alpha wolf of a different race." Gao De's gaze shifted from the last sentence of the secret manual of wolf taming, a sense of amazement filling his heart.

This is the wolf-taming method by which the Frostwolf Clan rose to power.

Their strength lies not in some supernatural power, but in their unparalleled patience and wisdom in understanding and respecting the nature and social structure of snow wolves, and in cleverly integrating themselves into it.

The Frostwolf tribe members are not like beast tamers, but more like the alpha wolves of the snow wolves.

This complex system, based on profound understanding, systematic operation, and supported by the entire clan culture, is the core that other tribes can never replicate.

Those tribes only saw the results of taming snow wolves, but ignored the decades of observation, trial and error, and accumulation behind the Frostwolf Clan. No wonder they failed repeatedly.

"The rise of the Frostwolf Clan was indeed not due to luck."

Gao De put down the secret manual in his hand and gave his approval. He also acknowledged the war mother Helika of the Frostwolf Clan, saying, "Helika's decision to surrender and immediately offer up the secret manual shows not only sincerity and decisiveness, but also foresight."

The Frostwolf Clan has always been known for its fierce and warlike wolf-like nature. As the War Mother, Helica was able to set aside the clan's inherent stance and see the general trend of unification and development in the North. This vision far surpasses that of ordinary tribal leaders.

He turned his gaze to Sunefa and asked, "Is she in Phoenix now?"

“Yes,” Sunefa nodded, seemingly having guessed what Gaudy meant, and added, “I specifically entrusted her with leading the Frostwolf Clan’s migration.”

"During this period, she not only settled the tribe in an orderly manner, but also solved many problems in the allocation of supplies and route planning during the migration. She acted steadily and meticulously, and did not show any disloyalty. On the contrary, she always put the overall situation first."

"Furthermore, they actively mediated conflicts between the tribes who migrated to Phoenix and the native Phoenix inhabitants."

“In that case,” a hint of approval flashed in Gao De’s eyes. After thinking for a moment, he further inquired about Sunefa’s opinion: “I’m planning to establish a new department in the city hall. I think Herika is qualified to be the head of this department. What do you think?”

"Her abilities should be fine. As a war mother who leads the tribe, she must possess extremely strong organizational and coordination skills and decisiveness. Her loyalty is also sufficient for now."

Sunafa gave an objective assessment, then asked curiously, "My King, what is this new department you're talking about?"

“Ministry of Transportation.” Gao De got up and walked to the window, looking out at the increasingly prosperous streets of Phoenix and the avenue stretching into Vallar Bay in the distance, and smiled slightly.

"Although the northern border has been initially unified, inconvenient transportation has always been a key bottleneck restricting development. In fact, after unification, the importance of transportation has become even greater."

"The northern border is vast and rich in resources, but the lack of roads makes it difficult to effectively develop these resources."

More importantly, in the event of disaster or external enemy attack, the slow arrival of reinforcements and supplies is a fatal flaw.

"A department specifically responsible for transportation is needed,"

"The core function of the Ministry of Transportation is to coordinate the planning, construction and management of all major transportation routes in the North, and even to undertake most of the city hall's material allocation tasks."

Previously, road construction was assigned to the Ministry of Construction, which was merely a stopgap measure taken when conditions were not yet ripe.

"Because transportation is a major public works project."

Besides the two major events concerning the North's power structure—the minting of coins and the submission of the Frostwolf Clan—there was another event, not insignificant, that occurred during the three months that Gaode was away:
The tunnel project in the Valar Mountains is nearing completion.

Gaode has been eagerly anticipating this for a long time.

In fact, the Valar Tunnel project has been in full swing for nearly a year since its inception.

But throughout that year, the construction team was practically battling against the elements:

The complexity of the snow-capped mountain's geology far exceeded expectations, making the construction project one of the most challenging in the northern region.

The Valar Mountains are mainly composed of permafrost and glacial till.

This special soil is a mixture formed during the glacial period, containing a large amount of sharp-edged gravel and ice layers. In the sub-zero temperatures of the North, the soil and rocks freeze into hard blocks.

Not only is its hardness comparable to steel, but it also generates severe frost heave, which can easily crack the tunnel lining.

In addition, the North was already short of manpower, and skilled construction workers were even scarcer, making the transportation of supplies extremely difficult due to impassable roads.

All of these factors have significantly slowed down the construction progress.

Therefore, although the project's progress is not exactly worrying, it is proceeding slowly, causing many people to be on tenterhooks.

This predicament only took a major turn for the better when Gaode Maps opened up the route between Phoenix and the Blue Flame Islands.

The opening of the air route brought a large number of [Rapid Digging] spell potions to the North, which in turn trained dozens of professional "Digging Technicians" who mastered [Rapid Digging].

With the power of magic, the excavation technicians can break through the hard frozen rock relatively easily and efficiently clear the glacial till.

The construction of the Valar Tunnel immediately accelerated, with the construction progress being five or six times faster.

According to the real-time progress report from Construction Minister Pierre, the Warar Tunnel, which will connect the two places, will be fully completed within five days.

With the tunnel completed, the first true transportation artery in the North was naturally formed.

At that time, if you take the Snow Wolf, you can reach Vallar Bay from Phoenix in less than half a day.

According to Elsa, this transportation route is a landmark project in the North, and since he is "at home," he must personally attend the completion ceremony.

This is both an affirmation of the Ministry of Construction's hard work and a demonstration to all tribes of the rapid development of the Northern Territory.

Gaode readily agreed.

He knew in his heart that the Ministry of Construction's contributions were far greater than what was visible on the surface.

Currently, there are five departments in the Northern Territory, among which the Ministry of Construction receives the least attention from Gaode Maps.

After all, education, agriculture, public security, and office work are more directly visible and more likely to attract attention.

But when it comes to the daily workload, the hard work, and the long-term contributions to Phoenix and the entire North, the Department of Construction is by no means lacking.

In terms of sheer hardship, it might even rank first. It's just that infrastructure projects have always been like this.

It is a cause that "benefits the present and future generations." It is not as spectacular as a military victory, nor does it bring immediate benefits to the people like a people's livelihood policy. Most of the time, it remains unknown.

Being unknown does not mean being unimportant; it is the cornerstone of the North's rapid development.

When a major project is completed, a grand completion ceremony should be held to let the public see the efforts of the Ministry of Construction.

That's how the matter was settled.

Since Gaode rarely came back, during the five-day break while waiting for the completion of the Valar Mountain Tunnel, Elsa didn't intend to let Gaode be idle, so she dragged him to Ironforge again.

Firstly, Ironforge is a branch city named by Gaode, and it is also the only branch city of Phoenix at present.

As the King of Phoenix, it's somewhat unreasonable that he hasn't been to the stadium yet.

Another point is that the Ironforge mint is extremely important.

Elsa felt she needed Gao De's approval before she could finally relax and allow the mint to ramp up production and start full operation.

As a hands-off manager, Gaode was always quite guilty about this, so he naturally put on an act of being accommodating and "obediently" followed along to Ironforge.

A biting north wind swept across the frozen ground outside Ironforge, carrying fine snowflakes.

Three snow wolves, pure white with fluffy fur, trudged through the snow, their paws landing on the newly paved gravel road with a steady "crunch".

It was Gao De, Elsa, and Sunafa.

Sunefa sat upright on the wolf's back, her eyes sweeping over Ironforge, especially the newly built walls, and said softly to Godde beside her, "It looks much better than last time I came. It seems that Eldrin has put a lot of effort into it."

Gao De nodded slightly, his gaze falling on the branch city built on the old site of Winter's Hammer.

What attracted his attention most was the white smoke rising from the city.

This is a symbol of industry!
As they spoke, the three of them arrived at the entrance to Ironforge.

Governor Aldrin had received news of Gaud's impending inspection via Ethernet well in advance and was already waiting there with two deputies.

When he saw God and Sunefa on the snow wolf, a hint of awe flashed in his eyes, and he quickly stepped forward to bow: "Welcome, my king and war mother!"

“No need for formalities,” Gao De said, raising his right hand slightly. The snow wolf obediently stopped. “Take us directly to the mint. I want to see the actual production situation.”

“Yes,” Aldrin replied.

The moment you step into Ironforge, a faint smell of sulfur wafts through the air, mixed with the cold, hard scent of cooled metal.

The stone houses on both sides of the street are arranged in neat rows, and the craftsmen, dressed in uniform gray work clothes, push carts full of materials in an orderly manner.

Over the past three months, Ironforge has undergone significant changes compared to three months ago, though not drastically.

The most striking change is that a more orderly rhythm has replaced the rough and ready nature of tribal production.

“Back in the days of Winter’s Hammer, the artisans had very flexible work hours. Now, we have specific start and end times based on the work schedule you set, replacing the previous rough, tribal production,” Elsa explained from the side.

Soon, seven interconnected stone workshops came into view.

On the dark blue-green rock walls, one can still see the forging marks left by the Winterhammer tribe.

The two workshops on the far west side are quite different.

The original separate doors were opened up and merged into a spacious archway, with a brand-new sign hanging above the door.

Seven large, golden characters were branded on it using a quenching process:

"The First Mint in the North".

The sunlight shone on it, making one's eyes slightly blurry.

"This is the mint." Elsa patted the snow wolf's neck, and the snow wolf stopped knowingly.

She pointed to the exhaust pipes on the workshop roof that were twice as thick as the other chimneys and laughed, “Minting coins requires a stable high temperature, and the original earth furnaces were a great help. We didn’t have much trouble transforming them into furnaces for melting alloys.”

Gao De and Sunefa jumped off the snow wolf's back together.

As soon as they entered the workshop, a burly middle-aged man came to greet them.

It was Thorfinn, the former chief craftsman of Winter's Hammer and a fourth-tier alchemist.

This was Thorfinn's first time meeting God, but before that, he had heard too many stories about the king of the North, each one a legend.

This gave him many preconceived notions about Gao De's image, and he never expected that this king of the North would be so young, even about the same age as the youngest apprentice in the workshop.

Moreover, there was no trace of arrogance on his face, and his eyes were gentle.

Various thoughts flashed through his mind, but Thorfinn bowed respectfully and said, "Greetings, Your Highness, Mother of War!"

“No need for formalities, get up,” Gao De said in a friendly tone. “I heard that you were in charge of setting up and debugging the entire mint process. Thank you for your hard work. Show me around.”

Thorfinn was taken aback, not expecting Gao De to specifically bring up his work, and his initial awkwardness instantly dissipated.

"Please follow me," he said hastily, leading everyone to a large machine not far away.

The machine was as tall as three or four people. At the bottom of the machine was a fire channel leading to the earthen furnace, and at the top was a long, narrow mold slot.

The end of the mold slot was aligned with a cutting device with precision calipers, on which fresh metal shavings remained.

"Your Highness, this machine, built according to your original ideas, is indeed far more efficient than manual cutting; there's simply no comparison." Elsa exclaimed, both impressed and admiring.

As they were talking, a craftsman pushed a cart full of alloy ingots over and put the ingots one by one into the feed inlet next to the machine.

Thorfinn personally demonstrated it to Gaud, walking up to the machine and turning the cranks on the side with both hands.

As the crank turns, the hot air from the furnace flows into the machine through the fire channel, and the sizzling sound of melting metal soon comes from the mold slot.

The alloy ingot gradually melts at high temperature, turning into a silvery-white liquid that flows slowly down the mold groove.

In less than a quarter of an hour, a long metal rod with a light golden luster and uniform thickness was sent out from the end of the mold groove and got stuck in the slot of the cutting device.

With a soft "click," the cutting device automatically descended, precisely cutting off a round blank that landed in the receiving tray below.

Gao De picked up a piece of raw material, weighed it in his hand, and nodded repeatedly.

Whether it is thickness, diameter or weight, it is exactly the same as the specified standard.

(End of this chapter)