"Leave these matters to you, Rovi." Stormrage shook his head and handed the battlefield memorandum back to Robert: "Within our capability, we can hasten the preparations; if not, then let it be."
The Beman chief of staff snapped a salute and stepped aside.
Xiao Kong carefully carried a jade basin about the size of a washbasin to the old man’s side and placed it on the fur-cushioned ground.
"Is this really the ’Wealth God Jade Basin’?" A large crowd gathered around, chattering and passing judgments.
This was a uniquely shaped jade basin, with a dull emerald color, round mouth, and domed bottom, supported by three stout feet. To Stormrage, the warty protrusions on its surface looked like resistors on a circuit board.
The jade basin also had two large, lustrous ears, which seemed to bear the traces of years of handling.
The interior walls were covered with many sesame-sized warty bumps, unnoticed unless looked at closely.
The bottom of the basin was engraved with a strange finned creature that was neither a pufferfish nor a rat, drawn in comically crude lines.
"Oh, so it’s the most basic ’Jade Wash’; this is only used by impoverished families among the jade people of the East," Tan Ya found it quite challenging, as she had to make the terminology understandable and convey the core idea, which was indeed troublesome.
Translating between two civilizations is not an easy task, and even more so when Tan Ya had to translate a highly developed civilization into a less advanced one, making it all the more complicated.
Those around listened with awe, although they didn’t understand what the boss lady was talking about, it was certain that Tan Ya really seemed to be from an ancient otherworldly wisdom race.
"Stop staring at me dumbly, you should understand how hard it is for me to explain this. If you had a camera right now, how would you explain it to your subordinates?" Tan Ya gently rubbed her belly, giving Old Storm a sideways glance.
"Dear writer, I would explain it as a magical box capable of printing magic portraits," Stormrage also replied in Chinese.
"What I’m saying right now is roughly the kind of vague explanation you give for a camera." Tan Ya laughed, "Whether you understand it or not, I’ve done my best; many terms simply can’t be translated."
"Sis, are you saying this thing is the ’Wealth God Jade Basin’?" Kaka widened his eyes: "A magical treasure that can turn one gold coin into a basin of gold coins!"
"Magical?" Tan Ya curled her lip: "Any substance can be transformed into another substance by rearranging the molecules. This ’Jade Wash’ merely uses water as a medium, rearranging the structure of water molecules according to a reference object through frequency vibration, transforming water into the reference object! Furthermore, this ’Jade Wash’ is an obsolete, outdated product that takes a long time to make and still requires manual operation; there’s nothing magical about it!"
"So how does it transform? Do you just toss in a gold coin as a reference, add a basin of water, and the next day there’s a full basin of gold coins?" Old Storm didn’t quite grasp the series of terms Tan Ya was explaining; he only cared about the outcome, which was enough.
Realizing her explanation was futile, Tan Ya decided to demonstrate by having someone bring a bucket of water to pour into the jade basin, instructing Old Storm to vigorously rub the two strings on the side of the jade basin.
Strangely enough, with a gentle rub from Old Storm, the water inside the jade basin began to bubble as if boiling, "gurgling" and turning over.
Strains of melodious music, akin to jade clashing, accompanied by a rhythm, began to echo, vividly animating the strange fish at the bottom of the basin.
Tan Ya said the peculiar fish at the bottom were actually script of the Eastern jade people, but no one believed.
After rubbing for a while, Stormrage released his hands, and the water in the jade basin continued to "gurgle" and bubble, with the music still playing.
Tan Ya, intending to bend down, was thwarted by her own unwieldy belly, smiled wryly at the boy and said, "Freckled boy, help me toss a gold coin in as a reference."
"Stop!" Stormrage stood up, drawing a dagger, and instructed Avril: "Come, Little Ai, hand me your magic wand."
Avril was still transfixed by Tan Ya’s belly, only waking from her daze after Stormrage called out to her thrice. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the novel(ꜰ)ire.net
Like peeling sugarcane, Stormrage used his brute strength to shave off all the ’Ocala Magic Mercury’ plating on Little Ai’s magic wand, compressing it into shavings, kneading it into a black metallic sphere, which he carefully placed into the still bubbling water of the jade basin.
"This blues tune is nearing the end, keep rubbing," Tan Ya reminded: "You must maintain the bubbling of the water source for about... seven or eight hours. By then, the water will be gone and a basin of metal equal to the water’s volume will appear. Remember, don’t let the water stop bubbling, remember the length of that blues music, and rub the basin’s strings as the tune nears its end."
Before the overlord could act, several brawny men immediately rushed forward, jostling to rub the basin’s strings, frightening the overlord, who kicked each of them: "Careful! If anything’s damaged, I’ll skin you all!"