Even with day-and-night, non-stop travel, by the time these dwarves reached the Dragon's Lair Tribe, six days of the ten-day period demanded by Gorgin had already passed.
Since it was a crucial and unyielding order, Kolber, together with the available female dwarves and the hundred goblin craftsmen, had been working around the clock for these six days.
They even kindled huge bonfires at night to work overtime.
On the first night, Gorgin was so irritated by the noise that he couldn't fall asleep and was on the verge of flying into a rage.
However, he then remembered that it was he who had set the ten-day deadline...
and also that he had said he only cared about the result, not the process...
Suddenly, his anger subsided.
Chief Gorgin, a chief who always honored his words, could do nothing but lead the equally sleepless ogres to the oasis.
He was truly in a helpless predicament.
But with so many people working through the night because of his order, what else could he possibly say?
On the afternoon of the sixth day, the travel-weary jackals, astride their rock goats, brought the dwarf craftsmen.
Although these dwarves weren't the most robust and strong ones, they all had exceptionally rich craftsmanship experience.
When they saw the unhurt young dwarves frolicking and laughing in the camp, the dwarves finally felt reassured and threw themselves into the work with renewed vigor.
The addition of this new and capable workforce greatly eased Kolber's workload. He let out a long sigh of relief.
After meticulously explaining the plans and blueprints to the newly arrived dwarf craftsmen, he returned to the camp and almost immediately collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep.
The dwarves and goblins, who had been laboring intensively for six days, skipped dinner and slept soundly until the next morning.
With more workers, all of whom were seasoned dwarf masters, the overall work progress more than doubled.
Gorgin watched in awe as the airship underwent astonishing changes at a noticeable speed.
Considering the resource and material constraints, the basic framework and deck of the gondola were made of iron, while other parts were constructed from wood and the main stems of thorns.
The oasis harbored trees. It was far from the kind of oasis that the Blue Star people had imagined, which was just a small pond with a few scattered trees.
Think about it: the three cities of the Hot Sand Consortium and Giant Sand City each had a population of nearly ten thousand.
The water supply for such a large number of people relied entirely on the oasis.
If it were just a tiny pond, they would have died of thirst long ago.
The oasis was expansive.
The smallest oasis, that of the Third City of the Hot Sand Consortium, was as large as a village with several thousand residents.
The Dragon's Lair Oasis was three times the size of the oasis of the Third City of the Hot Sand Consortium!
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Otherwise, how could it have provided enough food for nearly a hundred ogres during the prime of the Dragon's Lair Tribe?
Of course, going out to rob caravans was also an important source of supplies.
Who knew which caravan they had robbed?
Not only did they gorge themselves until they were stuffed, but they also seized the caravan's wine.
There were indeed fruits and even rice in the oasis, but in limited amounts.
The quantity of wine that could make a large group of ogres drunk might well be the accumulated savings of a large city over many years.
...
The airship gondola adopted the design of a steamship, an idea proposed by Gorgin.
At the bow, there was a huge ram, seamlessly integrated with the keel.
This ram was shaped like a gigantic one-horned ogre's head. Twenty meters above it was the huge airbag.
The dwarves had a furnace that could extract a gas similar to hydrogen from water, yet it wasn't as easily ignited as hydrogen.
Gorgin didn't understand the principle behind it, and the dwarves themselves couldn't explain it clearly either.
Anyway, it was a method passed down from their ancestors.
After a series of steps and countless dwarves losing their lives during the exploration process, they had finally figured it out.
Don't ask why; just follow the steps.
Even constructing the furnace wasn't overly difficult.
Two large boilers were placed at the tail of the gondola, with a propeller blade on each side for propulsion.
On both the gondola and the huge airbag, on the left and right sides, simple drawings of the Dragon's Lair Tribe's symbol were painted with black charcoal.
A main gun extended from the second layer below the ogre ram, and its caliber was more than twice that of the guns on the sides of the airship's body.
This was a genuine breech-loading cannon.
On this airship, the main gun, along with three side guns on each side, were all breech-loading cannons.
Even a dog would despise the dwarves' muzzle-loading cannons, let alone Gorgin.
The goblins had mastered the technology of breech-loading cannons.
Since both races were there, they had to integrate their technologies for Gorgin.
Any disobedience would not be tolerated.
Of course, while incorporating the goblins' technology, the dwarves' emphasis on safety also needed to be taken in.
Otherwise, with goblin technology, it was quite common for them to blow themselves up before harming the enemy.
A large canopy was set up on the gondola deck for Gorgin, offering protection from the wind.
“Chief, everything is ready!”
The intense ten-day work had exhausted the dwarves and goblins, making them look rather haggard.
Even Kolber seemed drained.
Nevertheless, he summoned up his energy to report to Gorgin.
Gorgin lazily rolled out of his bed and stepped outside.
Even for an ogre of his enormous size, the airship was an impressive sight.
Despite having witnessed its transformation, Gorgin couldn't help blurting out:
“Kirov reporting！！！”
Kolber, Coin, and Captain Dog were left looking puzzled.
After saying that, Gorgin burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! It looks truly splendid! Can you ensure its safety?”
Kolber said solemnly, “Chief, please trust the dwarves' craftsmanship. Every single screw on this airship was made by me and my fellow dwarves!!”
“Great! This is excellent!!!”
“In that case, you assemble the airship operators, the gunners, gather the supplies, and come with me!”
Gorgin nodded in satisfaction.
Finally, he could see something in his own tribe that combined elements of technology and the might of the ogres.
Indeed, to make Gorgin even more satisfied, Kolber had even modified the designs of some minor details.
Although the interior was still a combination of dwarven craftsmanship and goblin technology.
There was even a huge and fierce pattern of a gaping mouth painted in front of the airship's airbag.
“This pattern is wonderful. It really suits my fancy. Whose idea was it?”
The more Gorgin looked at it, the more pleased he became.
“Actually, chief, I found someone to design it, and the dwarves painted it,” Captain Dog said, raising his hand from the back.
“Oh?? Who could you have possibly found, you sly dog??”
Gorgin was quite surprised.
Captain Dog smiled sheepishly.
“It was actually a group of rabbits that had been living in the oasis. I offered a meat bone as a reward, and they designed it.”
“ Both the tribe's symbol and the airship's painting were their creations.”
“Hahaha!”
Gorgin laughed heartily.
“Look at this! This dog is really embodying the spirit of the Dragon's Lair Tribe. He even knows how to conduct business now. ”
“Excellent! You've made remarkable progress!”
Captain Dog showed an obsequious smile, and his tail wagged so vigorously that his whole body shook.
Since he had the courage to reveal the truth, he wasn't worried about being punished at all.
Moreover, he had indeed completed the chief's task.
“Nu! Grab your weapons and follow me!”
“Kolber and Captain Dog, you're coming with me.”
“Coin, when I return, I want to see a thirty-meter flagpole in the center of the tribe, with the flag of the Dragon's Lair Tribe fluttering on it.”
“Now, let's board the airship!”
