The next day, Gale told Hange about Historia's appearance and characteristics.
"Of course, even if we find her, this is not the right time to bring her here.
Historia is being watched. Bringing her here ahead of time would only alert the enemy. Her appearance will only be necessary when we fight the central government."
Ian and Hange secretly contacted Hannes and drafted a decree for him to help recruit workers and build an iron factory, ostensibly for the purpose of smelting iron and steel to manufacture new iron agricultural tools.
Gale showed Hannes the design drawings for an iron plow, and Hannes believed them immediately, thinking things were truly that simple and that the iron was being smelted to make farming tools.
The recruitment of workers went smoothly. Hannes promised every worker who participated in the construction that they would receive the equivalent of one and a half people's worth of food per day, and that no special skills were required—only physical labor.
With only two months left before the harvest, many people were still struggling to get enough to eat, and a considerable number of people signed up.
Privately, Gale convinced Hannes that, for the sake of justice, it would be better to gather a few people from each settlement so that those who were truly starving could get enough food.
In reality, the goal was to avoid attracting the government's attention by relocating too many people at once.
Although the frontier lands were still largely undeveloped, it was still easy to notice if a large number of people suddenly left.
In short, with the help of the garrison soldiers, the factory recruited two hundred strong adult men in just one week.
With the help of the Scout Regiment, these men were secretly taken to a desolate location to begin construction of the factory.
The initial iron ore, the materials and components needed to build the blast furnace, the fuel, the food for the workers—everything was provided by the Scout Regiment.
Thanks to the fact that Paradis Island was rich in natural resources, it also possessed an energy source that Gale's original world had never had: Iceburst Stone.
This mineral was used as fuel for the mechanisms of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment. It could burn with great stability and was far more efficient than coal for iron smelting.
Half a month later, the first blast furnace was finally completed. Due to the lack of technology for heat-resistant materials, its lifespan would not be long, but that didn't matter. As long as it could quickly produce a batch of high-quality steel, it was more than enough.
That day, Gale and Hange watched together as iron ore was thrown into the blazing furnace.
Eren, Armin, and Mikasa were also there, handling minor tasks. All of them were covered in soot and sweat.
At the beginning, the factory was in constant chaos: heavy labor, metallic noise, and problems appearing one after another. Every time something went wrong, Gale or Hange had to step in personally to solve it.
Finally, the first blast furnace went into operation.
Gale prepared the prefabricated molds for the weapon parts, following the designs that Hange had refined.
The precision required for a Kalashnikov was not much higher than that of the Vertical Maneuvering Equipment.
As a researcher who had improved that equipment for years, Hange was more than capable of manufacturing mechanical components using those blueprints.
She and her team used the molten iron to create the first modified AK-47 rifle of this world. The parts were cooled and polished one by one.
Ian's steel formula proved astonishing: the material far surpassed the pig iron they had used before, both in hardness and durability.
Hange enthusiastically laid the parts out on the table.
They hired a carpenter to craft the stock and wooden components, assembling metal and wood like a perfectly calculated puzzle.
Finally…
Almost a month after Hange had first seen the blueprints, the weapon became reality.
The metal magazine and wooden receiver displayed a design several eras ahead of any flintlock weapon that existed within the walls.
Through their efforts, they successfully replicated the AK-47 in this world.
With eyes shining, Hange loaded the new bullets and aimed at the target.
"Ready…"
Bang, bang, bang!
The barrel spat out smoke. As she pulled the trigger, several deep marks clearly appeared on the target.
Within the walls, the first automatic rifle capable of continuously firing lethal bullets had just been born.