Chapter 159: Magma Weapons

[Iron Crafting Table Crafting Recipe]
[Magma Ingot Crafting Recipe]
[Magma Sword Crafting Recipe]
[Magma Axe Crafting Recipe]
[Magma Spear Crafting Recipe]
[Magma Arrow Crafting Recipe]
[...]

Setting aside the temptation to study the crafting recipes, Mo Fangyuan questioned Fang Yanling, the mod consciousness, about the sudden change in Zhang Lingyun.
Judging by her mod's functions, it certainly wasn't capable of turning Zhang Lingyun from a boy into a girl, from a little brother into a little sister.
"Uh, I refuse to take the blame for this. It was the work of a mod called the [Maid Mod]..."
Fang Yanling had no intention of keeping secrets and immediately sold out a mod Mo Fangyuan had never heard of.
"The Maid Mod? But Zhang Lingyun said you were the one who changed her gender..."
Remembering the name [Maid Mod], Mo Fangyuan pressed on.
Zhang Lingyun had claimed that the [Magma Weapon] right in front of him was what turned him into her. Was there any connection to the [Maid Mod] Fang Yanling mentioned?
"Of course—though if you don't want to tell me, that's fine, except Zhang Lingyun might come looking for you herself..."
Knowing that Fang Yanling was terrified of Zhang Lingyun, Mo Fangyuan played his trump card.
"Don't, don't, don't!"
Fang Yanling recalled the terror of being dominated by Zhang Lingyun's gaze.
That icy, emotionless stare fixed on her for an entire month had left Fang Yanling with psychological trauma to this day.
Violently shaking her head, Fang Yanling replied to Mo Fangyuan with an awkward expression.
"It really was the [Maid Mod]'s doing, it has nothing to do with me..."
"...It all started back then..."
"What on earth are you and how did you get here?"
Extremely bored in the lava lake, the colorful experience bar curiously stared at the pink triangular entity that had suddenly appeared before it.
"I am your kind!"
The pink entity stated something profound with a not-so-profound body.
"What kind?"
"A mod, of course!"
"Oh, what kind of mod?"
"The universe-conquering, supremely awesome [Maid Mod]!"
"Huh, never heard of it..."
"How can you not have heard of it when I'm this amazing?!"
"Why would I need to have heard of it?"
"Hmph! I'll give you something good. Once a Blockhead comes along and you use it on him, you'll see just how incredible I am..."
The entity chuckled.
"Remember, that Blockhead needs to have a lower-body protrusion, not an indentation... If you want to make it even more exciting, you can infuse your fire abilities into this thing... It's going to be so much fun, hehehe..."
"..."
"Stop, stop, stop!"
The more Fang Yanling rambled off-topic, the faster Mo Fangyuan cut her off.
"So a thing called the [Maid Mod] gave you an item that could channel its abilities, and then you infused your own fire abilities into it and used it on Zhang San, turning him into Zhang Lingyun?"
"Um... I suppose so..."
Seeing Fang Yanling's reluctant demeanor, Mo Fangyuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Then why on earth did you use the item given to you by the [Maid Mod] on Zhang Lingyun?"
Mo Fangyuan asked after a moment of contemplation.
"I was just bored..."
Fang Yanling twirled a lock of her hair, swaying from side to side.
"Clearly, the truth has come to light..."
A wise and brilliant light shone in Mo Fangyuan's sharp eyes.
"You, Fang Yanling, out of pure selfishness, intentionally harmed Zhang Lingyun's body. You are the mastermind behind the cruel act that robbed Zhang Lingyun of his little brother! The Maid Mod provided the murder weapon, making it the accomplice!"
Mo Fangyuan slammed down his verdict, implying she had committed intentional assault and demanding to know how she would atone.
"I choose to have Zhang San take the fall for me..."
"..."
To unravel the mystery surrounding Zhang Lingyun, he would have to track down the elusive Maid Mod somewhere out there. Matters were only getting more complicated.
For now, the Block Kingdom simply couldn't afford to deal with that.
"Therefore, under the charge of intentional assault, I sentence you to twenty years of forced labor. However, considering your tender age and lack of clear subjective intent... I shall have you follow me to receive proper education and build a sound moral framework. Do you accept this judgment?"
"Waaah, no way~ I accept~!"

Having been thoroughly sweet-talked and manipulated by Mo Fangyuan, Fang Yanling quickly wailed, "I accept!"
"Very well, you may go out and rest now. I'll assign you tasks later!"
After Fang Yanling left, Mo Fangyuan picked up the stack of crafting recipes to inspect the fruits of his hard work from the previous night.
There were 17 crafting recipes in total. Subtracting the prerequisite [Iron Crafting Table] and [Magma Ingot], there were 15 magma-variant combat weapons.
These weapons had lower durability than iron ones, slightly higher damage, but possessed a natural burning effect that scorched enemies upon impact, making them naturally enchanted weapons.
"Only..."
While magma weapons sounded exceptionally impressive, the crafting requirements were enough to make Mo Fangyuan stamp his feet in frustration.
Take the magma sword, for instance: the prerequisite was for a [Cold Weapon Pyromancer] to stand before an [Iron Crafting Table], place an iron sword right in the center grid of the crafting table, and surround it with four [Magma Ingots] on the top, bottom, left, and right.
After a 30-minute crafting process, it would finally become a magma sword with an attack power of 8 and a built-in burning effect.
However!
The most crucial point was that crafting a magma sword required a finished iron sword to be combined with magma ingots in the crafting process; you couldn't just use a stick and two magma ingots to craft one directly!
The Block Kingdom possessed the crafting recipe for iron swords, and materials were plentiful, so that wasn't an issue.
But what about the other weapons?
Magma spears, magma handaxes, magma broadswords...
All these weapons required their respective iron-tier crafting recipes as prerequisites. Did the Block Kingdom have them? Of course not!
Carefully calculating, the only weapons the Block Kingdom could actually craft right now were the magma sword, magma axe, magma bow, and magma arrows—just these four...
"Something is better than nothing!"
Having experienced plenty of hardships, Mo Fangyuan wasn't upset by this predicament. Anyway, these magma weapon recipes belonged to the Block Kingdom; even if they lacked the prerequisite recipes to craft them now, they would acquire them in the future. It wouldn't be too late to craft them then.
"Ajie, take these three [Class Transfer Protocols] to the Ministry of Industry and Politics. Have them select three suitable candidates to transfer into the relevant professions, and establish a team dedicated to managing and producing magma weapons..."
"Also, notify them to craft these weapons... start with a hundred of each weapon, a large wooden chest of magma arrows, and store a small chest of magma ingots as well..."
Handing the targets and the three [Class Transfer Protocols] to Jie Weirong, who was studying nearby, he instructed him to notify the staff at the Ministry of Industry and Politics to handle the matter.
"And have the Ministry of Civil Affairs inform those blacksmiths who are about to advance that upon advancement, they must transfer into [Cold Weapon Pyromancer]... Tell them it is a sacrifice for the greater glory of the motherland..."
Mo Fangyuan methodically arranged the subsequent plans for the [Magma Weapon] mod, compressing the workflow to be as efficient as possible.