In this way, on the first day of the new year, in addition to Galileo's scientific laboratory, Copernicus and Vesarus's medical laboratory, the third metal laboratory under the control of Serra was also established next to the blast furnace of the hydroelectric factory. At the same time, Duke announced that the entire hydroelectric plant will fully cooperate with Serra's metal experiments until the most suitable metal alloy ratio is found.

At the same time, as the scale of Storm Castle expanded again, Duke sounded the horn of the monster counterattack, and the first step was to let the previously retreating patrol line press to the edge of the monster valley, so that the figure of the storm castle sentry appeared near the monster valley for the first time!

And with the telescopes massively equipped with sentinels, the Storm Sentinels are now much less dangerous to patrol, making Duke's plan forward. When the storm sentinels in full armor marched towards the Monster Valley with the Storm Battle Banner in their hands, even a small patrol made many people and warriors cheer.

Because Storm Castle has been suppressed by monsters for a hundred years, and even breached the fortress several times, they finally let them come to their Storm Cavalry, march towards the Monster Valley, and finally see the Storm Battle Banner and appear on the edge of the Monster Valley, which is a victory for the residents of Storm Castle!

However, unlike Duke's prediction of an encounter, the monsters in these monster valleys seem to have all disappeared, even if the patrol range of the storm sentinels is pressed forward, there is still no trace of the monsters, which is completely different from the previous crisis when the monster army is about to invade and the war is about to break out.

Duke didn't understand what was going on behind the scenes, but it wasn't a bad thing, as long as the monsters didn't attack this winter, and as Stormcastle further strengthened, they would lose their chance until next winter unless the gates of hell opened as Hera said.

The crisis situation in Stormfort has been alleviated, but other shortcomings have also become apparent with the vigorous development, the most prominent of which is the shortage of human resources.

With a total of only 30,000 or 40,000 people, almost all the young adults have used it, but in the face of Duke's plan, it is still far from enough. For example, Duke plans to build another blast furnace and a hydraulic hammer forging machine to produce manganese steel alloy weapons that will be developed by Serra in the future. And the previous two blast furnaces, as the Storm Castle armor is about to be fully equipped, one of the blast furnaces will also be transformed into a well-produced agricultural equipment, after all, spring is coming soon, spring plowing is the top priority of Storm Castle, and it is time to take care of the civilian.

Moreover, the previous crazy three-shift mode will also be gradually equipped with the Storm Warframe, slowing down to the normal two-shift. After all, this overtime model is very stressful and damaging for both workers and witches, and it is impossible to continue to operate.

As for Duke's long-term goals of mine development, road construction, urban renovation, etc., they all need to be completed by people, not to mention that Duke and the sea tribe still have an agreement to open up sea lanes, and the shipbuilding industry is a big project.

In the face of such a shortage of manpower, Duke also felt a headache, and he even asked the city hall to go to Alpine City and Andorra City to announce that as long as they were willing to join Storm Castle, they would be provided with high salaries, food, clothing, housing and transportation guarantees. However, except for the people of Alpine City, who saw the strong military strength of Storm Castle, the people of other parts of the French Empire still believed that Storm Castle was a dangerous place that could be breached at any time, and except for some bankrupt farmers who tried their luck, no one else was willing to come.

But even so, there are still thousands of people in Alpine City and some other people who have come to Storm Castle, at least for the upcoming spring ploughing, alleviating the manpower crisis.

At the same time, along with the arrival of this group of people, there is also a group of people that Duke is very much looking forward to, they are the witches who went to Andorra la Velle before, and the James Watt who can be said to have improved the driving force of the first industrial revolution!

"Welcome, Lord Watt. Duke stood at the gate and greeted with a smile. Because the blonde youth in front of him will open a revolutionary prelude to the future Storm Castle, and from then on, the history of manpower being replaced by mechanical power will be staged, and Duke naturally attaches great importance to it.

"And thank you, Stormcastle will remember your contributions. Duke also sincerely thanked the dusty witch next to him, he knew how risky it was to go to the Inquisition in the Royal City of Andorra to save people this time.

"That's what we should do, my lord. The witches put their right hands on their chests and bowed deeply to Duke, even Hera. On the one hand, this is a public place, and it is necessary to ensure the authority of the lord. On the other hand, both Hera and Gandalf are now unconsciously subservient to Duke's lordship.

On the other side, Watt returned the salute and said, "Thank you for your welcome, Lord Duke." ”

Watt's family is also a noble family, his father has the title of viscount, and he was also made a baron by the French Empire because of his status as an alchemist. Originally, his admiration of machinery was not enough for the Inquisition, and it was because of the influence of his identity that the Holy See decided to make an example of him.

After the two sides greeted each other, Duke found that there was a strange person in the crowd, about 1.4 meters tall, but he was extremely strong, and his red beard was very eye-catching.

"Who is this?" Duke asked, pointing at the strange man.

"I'm the Alpine Dwarf Copperbeard!"

Before Hera could reply, Brass Whiskers reached out as if he wanted to shake hands.

Seeing the dwarf's bronze beard, Duke was very surprised, because there has not been a handshake etiquette in this world, because the nobles and commoners are not equal, so the relatively equal way of greeting handshakes naturally did not appear.

Over time, Duke himself forgot that there was such a thing as shaking hands, but he didn't expect that this dwarf actually reached out his hand.

Watt was a little nervous in the face of the dwarves' move, because the races on the continent were hostile to each other, especially the aristocratic class, who believed that the dwarves, orcs, and sea tribes were all barbarians who had not entered the civilized world. He didn't want to have any contact with them at all, let alone physical contact like shaking hands, would Duke be willing?

If you don't want to, with the dwarf's fiery temper, it is impossible to stay in Stormcastle even if you don't turn your face on the spot, and Watt will be in a dilemma at that time.

To Watt's relief, however, Duke did not resist the dwarven etiquette at all, but shook hands with a smile on his face. It seems that the witch named Hera did not deceive, and the Storm Lord was an enlightened lord who was receptive to different races and ideas.

"Welcome, my friend. Duke said with a smile.

But soon the smile on his face froze, because the hand strength of this dead dwarf was so strong, Duke felt that his right hand was clamped by a pair of iron tongs!

But that's not all, Brass was obviously very happy, he hugged Duke, and patted Duke's back with his hand and said excitedly: "I like a lord like you, and you will accept the most loyal friendship of the dwarves!"

The smell of sake lees came to his nose, and at the same time, the hand that slapped his back because of excitement felt like a hammer, and Duke felt that it was not a handshake, but a hammer to break himself. If Duke had to choose again, he would never shake hands with this dead dwarf!