"Who is Achillia?"
"Young Master Lynn? What did you say?"
"Achillia, have you heard of that name? Is she a deity, or something else?"
Lynn remembered that many city-states in this desert still retained ancient deity worship.
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So he naturally attributed the name to a deity.
He directly asked the maid beside him, but only saw her shake her head blankly.
Seeing this, Lynn had no choice but to give up for the time being, planning to find out more from the female slaves when he had the chance.
"Can these prisoner-of-war slaves be purchased?"
"Do you want to buy these prisoner-of-war slaves, Young Master Lynn?"
The maid looked a little strange when she heard Lynn's question.
After thinking for a moment, he explained,
"Yes, if it's in Lady Charlotte's name."
"However, I don't think any slave owner would do that."
"These prisoners of war, even if they complete the master-slave ceremony, their inherent resistance could frequently trigger the pain caused by the runes."
"To the point that they often can't fulfill their duties as slaves." "
Therefore, the best fate for these slaves is to be branded as slaves and sent directly to the monarch's Originium mine."
Hmm?
There are slaves like that?!
For ordinary slave owners, this would indeed cause a lot of trouble.
It's like buying a bunch of tools that break down frequently, only delaying things.
But for him, it's a different story…
…
Inside the wooden building, there was a hidden world.
The outer ring of wooden buildings was just a framework; inside was an open courtyard.
Luxuriously dressed people were gathered in groups of three or five, the total number approaching a hundred.
Lynn's arrival didn't attract much attention; at most, some who weren't enjoying their conversation would glance at the maids a few times.
"Young Master Lynn, please wait here for a moment. I will find you the royal merchant in charge of those female prisoners of war and slaves,"
the maid said indifferently. Lynn nodded.
In this unfamiliar environment, he naturally didn't want to be too conspicuous.
He simply pretended to casually pass by the speaker, minimizing his movements to avoid attracting attention.
"That slave has three on her chest, but I only spent three hundred source stones to buy her."
...
"I also have an unclaimed slave here, from the city-state of Qini, but I'll only exchange her for desert sheep, no source stones."
...
"No, you're wrong. A whole family of slaves is better. I heard about it in the city-state of Salo."
"Why?"
"If one of them is disobedient, you can torture her child. It's very effective."
"The slave owners in the city-state of Salo are very powerful. They also have breeding slaves there, which can produce good slaves..."
After wandering around, Lynn finally understood the purpose of this gathering.
The so-called social interaction, the trading of unclaimed slaves, and... the sharing of slave owners' experiences that made Lynn somewhat uncomfortable.
The so-called unclaimed slaves were mostly for entertainment, few in number, expensive, and not what he needed.
He couldn't help but feel lucky to have encountered the group of female prisoner-of-war slaves outside; otherwise, this trip would have been a complete waste.
"Young Master Lynn, please follow me."
At this moment, the maid reappeared.
Led by her, Lynn saw a middle-aged man with a worried expression.
His clothes were decent, and his face was clean, though thin.
His face was pockmarked, giving him a weary air, suggesting he had endured much of the desert's sandstorms.
"Do you want to buy those female prisoner-of-war slaves, Young Master Lynn?"
The maid had clearly informed him beforehand, saving him some trouble.
"Yes, how many Originium?"
"996 Originium, Young Master Lynn. After all, it's Lady Charlotte's decree."
"This is the royal court's money spent on buying these slaves; just enough to get by."
Hearing this royal court merchant's words, Lynn was stunned.
Cost price?
"You mean those forty-odd female prisoners of war slaves outside, right?"
"Forty-three, if I remember correctly."
Forty-three, only 996 Originium?
And those female prisoners of war slaves had remarkably defined muscles.
Each slave, on average, only cost about twenty Originium.
In the current slave market, that's truly a bargain.
In a flash, Lynn understood.
It wasn't just because, as a royal court slave trader, there was no entry tax deduction.
Plus, these prisoners of war slaves had no connection to the slave owner's oasis cultivation, so they weren't affected by fluctuations in slave prices.
If that was the case, then these female prisoners of war slaves were practically his "first target for liberation"!
If he could cooperate with these royal court slave traders, he wouldn't have to worry about his slave source.
Lynn looked at the royal court slave trader, suppressing the burning desire in his eyes.
After mentally preparing his answer, he slowly asked,
"What's your name?"
"Me? Young Master Lynn, my name is Rad."
Rad frowned, somewhat puzzled by Lynn's question about his name.
"Rad, how much Originium do you earn by selling these prisoners of war?"
"Earn Originium?"
Hearing Lynn's words, Rad chuckled self-deprecatingly.
"Young Master Lynn, we royal court slave traders don't earn Originium."
"We're just under the royal court's orders, waiting for the royal court's slave officials to distribute Originium before each Blood Moon."
"But the slave officials haven't distributed any Originium for a Blood Moon already."
"And food is so expensive now, many royal court slave traders' families are almost starving."
As he said this, Rad glanced at the noble lords and slave owners chatting and laughing not far away.
As the head of the royal court slave traders, Rad had finally managed to get to this gathering.
His goal was to find a nobleman who knew a slave official and speak to him, hoping to expedite the distribution of Originium.
But the result was predictable.
Rejected and left alone, he was filled with worry.
At this moment, Rad, oblivious to the glint in Lynn's eyes, realized
the difference between royal court slave traders and genuine slave traders.
They were paid by the royal court and obeyed orders.
But now, there was a serious wage arrears situation, pushing even the lowest-ranking royal court slave traders to the brink of survival.
This was his opportunity!
Hearing this, Lynn felt certain that renaming the royal court slave traders "Lynn Slave Traders" would be a sure thing.
"Rad, actually, I can give you Originium."
"For example, if you find the female prisoner-of-war slaves I need."
"Besides giving you the cost price of these slaves, I'll also reward you with one Originium for each female prisoner-of-war slave."
After speaking, Lynn stared at Rad for a few seconds in stunned silence, then his eyes shone with an astonishing brilliance.
"Young Master Lynn, what if we could gather 100 prisoner-of-war slaves? Would you be willing to generously give me 100 Originium?"
"Of course."
100 prisoner-of-war slaves? All like the ones outside?
Lynn naturally wouldn't mind having too many.
As for Originium, it wasn't urgent anymore.
What was urgent was to exchange the Originium for tangible things as soon as possible.
At this moment, Lynn suddenly noticed Rad's hesitant expression.
After a moment's hesitation, Rad awkwardly spoke up:
"Young Master Lynn, please forgive my presumption."
"But as the head of the royal court's slave traders, I must consider my subordinates."
"Their water tanks are almost empty."
"If they could also be gathered for you, would you pay for the cost of these slaves, and would there be a reward?"
Hearing Rad say this, Lynn realized that this was actually the head of the royal court's slave traders.
That was even better, saving him the trouble of further explanation.
"Of course, when you gather slaves, I'll keep those I like, like today, to give to the Royal Court in terms of Originium."
"As for those I don't like, hand them over to the Royal Court's slave officials."
"This! Thank you for your kindness, Young Master Lynn."
Having received Lynn's promise, Rad hurriedly said with delight.
He hadn't expected to achieve his purpose in this way.
...
Outside the house, Lynn looked at the scores on the chests of the female prisoners of war slaves.
The orbrass breastplates were quite ill-fitting, probably uniformly made by some kind of Originium device.
Many of the female prisoners of war slaves had large patches of white "excess flesh" squeezed out from behind their breastplates.
It was hard to imagine how high their scores would be after some training, given their current single-digit scores.
"Young Master Lynn, are these women to be sent to the Oasis of Pleasure as slaves?"
"Slaves? No, I want them to cultivate my oasis."
"Cultivate?"
Hearing Lynn's dismissive reply, Rad hesitated, but finally decided to speak up.
"Young Master Lynn, I'm afraid these female prisoners of war aren't suitable for the fertile soil of the oasis..."
He began to explain, but then saw Lynn had already walked up to the group of female slaves.
"What's your name?"
Lynn asked.
But instead of a reply, Lynn saw the woman seemingly preparing something in her mouth.
He immediately knew something was wrong and quickly stepped aside.
The shackles rattled, and a mouthful of saliva sprayed from the woman's mouth.
Fortunately, he had anticipated this and dodged in time, avoiding getting any on himself.
Unclaimed slaves, if they acted disrespectfully towards an unrelated slave owner, would not be bound by the slave brand.
Now, Lynn was experiencing for the first time the difference between these women who could only be slaves in the Originium mines.
Like a fierce mare, she is difficult to ride.
It seems best to make it a fait accompli first.
Trying to connect emotionally with these unusual slaves now is pointless.
Seeing Lynn about to begin the master-slave ceremony, a female prisoner of war in shackles immediately began to struggle.
Rad, quick-witted, stepped forward and restrained her.
Blood dripped into the brand on the back of the woman's neck, seeping in.
At that moment, Lynn heard the sound of the slave owner's manual turning in his mind,
indicating the ceremony had begun.
But unlike what he had imagined, there was no reaction, unlike Milia or Marina.
This female slave showed no reaction at all?
No!
It wasn't that she wasn't reacting!
Lynn then noticed the woman's body trembling more and more violently.
Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead and temples.
Her face was contorted; she was gritting her teeth and enduring!
And then came an even more shocking scene for Lynn.
He saw that inside the woman's copper genital armor…
"Ah—"
The intense pain from the slave brand had caused the female prisoner of war to lose control of her bladder!
With a painful groan, the female prisoner of war slave could no longer endure it, collapsing to the ground convulsing, her eyes rolling back in her head.
Seeing this, Lynn could no longer remain unmoved.
But he immediately withdrew his pity.
"Young Master Lynn, this…"
Rad was startled, worried that Lynn would refuse to buy these slaves.
His and his men's Originium rewards would be gone.
"It's alright, you'll just have to carry them onto the cart and deliver them all to my oasis." He
then walked without hesitation towards the next slave…
…
"Milia, tell me what you did last night?"
Just before dusk, Marina finally completed the task Lynn had given her and immediately found Milia, asking her question.
A blush immediately appeared on Milia's face.
Even though there was no one outside and the wooden door was tightly closed,
she still shyly whispered in her mother's ear, beginning her story.
Naturally, she couldn't see the growing shock that appeared on Marina's face as she recounted her tale.
"How could you sit on...your face...?"
In this primitive era where even the Indians didn't know where the land was, they were naturally completely ignorant of Red Cliff.
Marina imagined the scenes her daughter had described; almost every gesture was an act of a slave's disrespect towards their master.
Yet
, the benevolent Lord Lynn accepted them all with pleasure. Could it be that Lord Lynn simply didn't understand these things and was just messing around...? This thought
made Marina worry again.
If she couldn't take care of Lord Lynn, then Milia might be abandoned. She herself was in the same boat... If all else failed, she... At this thought, her mind uncontrollably began to replay what Milia had described. Only the person sitting on it was no longer Milia. Her bottom line caused her another pang of pain. Fortunately, the sound of a camel cart outside distracted her. As if remembering something, Marina ran to the window and looked down, where she indeed saw Lynn's figure. "Come here quickly, Milia." Marina pulled Milia to the door and knelt down. This was the etiquette Marina had seen when the concubines and slaves waited for their father's return back in the royal court. "Even when I'm not by your side, remember this, understand?" "Master will have more slaves in the future. If we can't serve Master well, we might not have this kind of life..." Marina felt a pang of sadness as she said this. "Yes, Mother." "Good girl." Hearing the response, Marina raised her hand and stroked Milia's forehead. ... "Eh? Why are you kneeling?" Lynn opened the door and saw Milia and Marina's posture, somewhat puzzled. "Master, we are waiting for your return." Waiting for your return? Lynn was completely confused. It was like when he came home from work, his cat would wait at the door as soon as it heard footsteps. "Marina, have you finished what I asked you to do?" "Yes, Master." Hearing Lynn's question, Marina quickly replied. "Good, now take the things you bought, it's time to go back, my oasis." Everything was ready, and it was just dusk. It was perfect to head back immediately, and he could start his farming plan tomorrow. Lynn naturally didn't want to delay. After giving his instructions, he went downstairs. At this time, the carts carrying the female prisoners of war and slaves had already followed. There were three large camel carts, led by Rad, with two helpers. "We'll set off soon for my oasis." "I will give you the Originium then, Rad." "Thank you for your generosity, Lord Lynn." Rad quickly bowed. Lynn continued, "Also, if you find any slaves in the future, come to my oasis to find me first. Remember the way this time." " After I've selected them, those you don't want, go and report to the royal court." "Remember, only female prisoners of war slaves, at least for now." At this, Lynn couldn't help but sigh at the limitations of this [lustful slave owner]. "Yes, sir." Although he didn't understand why only female slaves were wanted, Rad didn't bother to think about it. After all, when Originium was scarce, all he could think about was how to get it. Suddenly, Rad remembered what he'd heard when he bought these female slaves in the city-state of Saro. His eyes lit up again, and he said, "Sir, if they were from the same place as these female prisoners of war, would you definitely want them?" "Place of origin?" Hearing this, Lynn was stunned for a moment before understanding. "Yes, sir. I bought them from the largest city-state closest to Atreides—Salo." "They come from a city-state called Landis." " This city-state hasn't been conquered by the Salo monarch's army yet." " I estimate there will be even more Landis people enslaved on the next trip." So that's how it is… If they also have potential attributes, Lynn certainly wouldn't be stingy with his Originium. And the same "origin" obviously increases the probability. "Bring them over then. I can't guarantee it, but it's highly likely." At this moment, Marina and Milia had already disembarked. Lynn told Rad to follow them and then boarded the prepared camel cart. The cart carried the supplies needed for this trip. Looking at the sunset on the horizon, Lynn finally felt a sense of relief. Being outside was never as comfortable as staying in the oasis. Now that preparations were finally complete, he could finally settle down in his own territory and develop rapidly— cultivating a legendary oasis!
Marina kept glancing behind her, mentally counting the number of slaves.
Thirty or forty, all female slaves…
She carefully observed the beautiful faces of these female slaves, even noticing a hint of heroism that she and her mother lacked.
Although she had expected it, a sense of unease still welled up inside her…
The four camel carts drove away in a grand procession.
The dust they kicked up made the old slave owner, Nasef, who was walking by the roadside, cough incessantly.
His daughter, Panti, quickly stepped forward and patted Nasef's back to help him catch his breath.
Finally, the coughing stopped, and Nasef immediately began brushing the dust off his clothes.
He looked around, and only relaxed when he saw no one.
If someone he knew had seen him like that, they would surely laugh at him.
"Father, let's not buy slaves. Let's keep the Originium in the inner city."
"You should have listened to me and bought the seeds. That way, the price would definitely go up after a while."
"We could stay in the inner city and wait for the seeds to go up in price, and then..."
"But now when I inquired, they're all sold out."
"Shut up!"
Nasef was furious to hear his daughter bring up this absurd matter again and scolded her.
"We don't even have enough slaves now, why buy seeds?"
"You're a woman. If people hear women discussing the Oasis, they'll laugh at you."
"Father..."
Seeing this, Panti didn't dare say anything more. She
just felt a pang of regret, and the name she'd heard about flashed through her mind.
"Lynn..."
Boom—
his fist felt like it had struck a hard shell. The force of the punch pierced through the shell, followed by the flesh and bones of the Shambling Demon, finally emerging from its back.
A large hole burst open in the Shambling Demon's back, and black liquid sprayed into the air, instantly turning into black mist and disappearing under the torchlight.
"Holy crap!" When
he punched
the Shambling Demon's body, it felt like he'd ripped open a pig's rear end.
The warm, sticky feeling on his fist made him extremely uncomfortable, and Li Wei quickly pulled his arm out and shook it vigorously.
The sticky liquid on his hand evaporated quickly.
Li Wei still felt nauseous. He rubbed his pants hard, then realized he was completely naked, only wearing one pair of pants, which made him feel even more disgusted.
"Shit!"
Fortunately, after taking down the shackled demon following closely behind, the other shackled demons were still some distance away, and he could finally return to the camp.
As the wooden city gate creaked shut, the shackled demons that had followed slammed into it.
Thump—
the wooden city gate made a sound as the shackled demons rammed it, but in reality, the wooden city gate barely shook and caused almost no damage before being destroyed by bullets fired from above.
The sound of crossbows being triggered was incessant, and the sound of gunfire was even more incessant.
Li Wei climbed back onto the gate platform and began firing from above.
Eight men, eight guns.
Except for the first wave when they fired fully automatically, they had started firing in bursts now.
After all, bullets were really not enough.
Before tonight, there were only a little over a thousand bullets, and each person had less than two hundred.
It seemed like a lot of bullets.
But a magazine had 30 bullets, and if it was fully automatic, it could be emptied in a few seconds, and there was no guarantee that every bullet would hit the target.
Moreover, each person only has two magazines; if they run out, they'll have to go to the warehouse and reload one bullet at a time.
The second wave of Shackles was significantly stronger than the first, but it only reached the wooden wall.
Several Shackles ran to the wall, but even after pounding on it, they couldn't leave a fist mark, let alone breach it.
Li Wei was very satisfied with the wall's defensive capabilities; he hadn't expected such simple wooden stakes to have such strong defense.
The second wave of Shackles numbered nearly 30, but they only left behind a pile of strange rocks, posing no threat to the shelter.
The last Shackle was shot dead by the arrow tower and fell at the base of the wooden wall.
Its corpse dissipated, leaving behind a glowing object!
Li Wei's eyes lit up.
Finally, it was his turn to get something good! He
didn't know if it was a rare item or a blueprint!
However, the drop location was farther than before.
Li Wei only thought for a moment before making his decision.
Go!
But before going, he had to do one thing.
He strode to the torch and looked at its panel.
"Upgrade!"
[Original Stone Storage: 48→28]
A large number of white lines erupted from the Original Stone Storage, wrapping around the torch.
Then, a flash of white light, and the torch became a blur.
[Level 2 Torch → Level 3 Torch]
[Level 3 Torch]
[Safety Range: Radius 20 meters]
[Consumption: 1 Original Stone per day]
[Upgrade requires 50 Original Stones]
[Current building's highest level is 3] The
Level 3 torch's radius was a full 20 meters.
Li Wei's idea was simple: upgrade the torch to expand its range.
Last time he upgraded, he chose to enhance the torch's weakening effect on monsters; the Staggered Demons moved slower within the torch's range than usual.
This would increase the time it took for the Staggered Demons to approach, giving him enough time.
Besides, the torch would be upgraded sooner or later anyway; as long as he picked up all the dropped Original Stones along the way, he would definitely get more than 20.
...
[Please select upgrade direction]
[1: Increase safety radius by 10 meters]
[2: Halve torch consumption]
[3: Deal minor, continuous burning damage to monsters within the torch's range]
The first two options are similar to those from the last upgrade, except that the safety radius in the first option has increased from 5 meters to 10 meters.
The problem is, 5 meters or 10 meters are useless for my current shelter; the torch's original safety radius is already sufficient.
Perhaps only shelters with a large number of members need this upgrade direction.
The second option presents the same problem; I don't lack the daily supply of rare stones for torches.
At most, I only need one a day.
Only shelters severely lacking rare stones would need this upgrade direction.
Seeing the third option, Li Wei's heart pounded.
Deal continuous damage to monsters!
And it's a noble area-of-effect damage.
Although it only describes minor burning damage, what if it can be stacked in future upgrades?
Wouldn't that mean we don't even need to attack the arrow towers; all monsters entering the torch's range will be killed by its effect?
Of course, the arrow towers are still necessary.
Moreover, Li Wei felt that this burning damage was somewhat similar to the effect of sunlight shining on the Lumberjacks during the day.
Only the third option was useful to him.
The third option!
After confirming, the white light stopped flashing, and the torch's phantom solidified.
After the torch was upgraded, the base was larger, and the height reached 1.5 meters.
The torch's cylinder first became thinner and thinner from the circular base upwards, and then became thicker and thicker again towards the middle.
Finally, it formed a hollow barrel structure at the top, thicker at the top and thinner at the bottom.
Flames continuously burned at the top of the torch, burning the strange stones placed inside into a bright light.
Boom—
the moment the torch solidified, the circle of light around the edge of the shelter rapidly expanded, enveloping countless monsters lingering in the darkness.
Li Wei only needed to scan the area to spot several Crawlers, as well as more Lumberjacks in the direction of the attack.
As the monsters were enveloped by the torchlight, they immediately began to burn, sizzling loudly.
"Roar!" The monsters cried out in pain; some charged towards the shelter, while others tried to flee back into the darkness.
Chaos erupted instantly.
Li Wei's gaze followed the torchlight into the distance.
Hmm?
As the torchlight reached its maximum range, a massive figure, retreating into the darkness at its last moment, was illuminated by its light.
"..."
This was probably the monster that appeared last night.
Among the chaotic monsters, those rushing towards the shelter were quickly wiped out by the torchlight's heat and the arrow towers' attacks.
Normally, a level 1 arrow tower would require two crossbow bolts to kill a single Shambhala, but after the torchlight had burned its way through, only one bolt was needed.
It seemed the burning damage was quite significant.
Unfortunately, the fleeing monsters were outside the arrow towers' attack range.
Of those fleeing monsters, aside from a few creepers, the burning damage hadn't killed a single Shambhala.
Li Wei stared at the edge of the torch's halo a dozen meters away, opened the wooden city gate, and rushed toward the object emitting white light!
[Stone Storage: 28→30]
As Li Wei charged towards his target, he casually collected the fallen stones back into his storage .
This time, it seemed the monsters had given up trying to stop him; not a single one entered the torch's glowing circle.
Stones were scattered everywhere on the ground. The second wave of Shambhalas, combined with the Shambhalas rushing towards the camp as the torch expanded, resulted in a total of thirty-four Shambhalas and four Creepers falling outside the wooden wall. [Stone Storage...] ... [Stone Storage: 98→100] The shelter panel kept displaying notifications about stored stones, like a screen being flooded with them. Li Wei's lips curled into a smile; the constant harvesting excited him immensely. The stones he had consumed while upgrading the torch had already been recouped. He ran all the way to the fallen glowing objects, and the monsters didn't choose to attack. "Strange, it launched two fierce attacks just now, and now it's given up?" Anyway, at least he got the item. The drop was a parchment scroll. [Blueprint: Watchtower] [Effect: Use at a torch to build a watchtower in the shelter] A blueprint? Li Wei was slightly disappointed; he had expected something rare or unusual. But a blueprint was still better than nothing. The blueprint depicted a towering structure, like an arrow tower, but narrower and thinner. Judging from its height-to-width ratio, it was significantly taller than an arrow tower. Having obtained the blueprint, Li Wei immediately returned to camp. On the way back, he turned to look at the darkness in the distance. Although no monsters had yet chosen to continue their attack, he sensed that the monsters were brewing an even larger and more dangerous offensive. The giant monster he had just seen didn't seem like the type to give up easily after a thwarted attack. Otherwise, it wouldn't have brought so many monsters to attack today after scouting last night. Those two waves of Staggering Demons attacking just now were clearly organized; otherwise, they wouldn't have entered the light circle at the same time. Back at camp, Levi approached the torch and used the blueprint. [Unlocked New Building: Watchtower] [Level 1 Watchtower: Consumes 20 units of Exotic Stone, provides vision 10 meters outside the range of the shelter torch] This building requires 20 Exotic Stones to construct, making it the most expensive building to construct in the shelter. Moreover, the meaning of "providing vision" is unclear. He now has a total of one hundred Exotic Stones, enough to build the Watchtower. He opened the shelter panel and found the Watchtower. "Build." The next moment, white lines bursting from the Exotic Stone warehouse intertwined in the air, forming a tower-shaped phantom. [Exotic Stone Warehouse: 100 → 80] The phantom followed his consciousness, stopping beside the torch. The phantom solidified, and a watchtower appeared, with a base 1 meter long and wide, and a height of five meters. [Level 1 Watchtower] [Effect: Provides vision 10 meters beyond the torch's range] [Upgrade Cost: 40 Exotic Stones] The watchtower is made of wood, square in shape, and roughly the same width from top to bottom. There's a platform of less than one square meter at the top. Furthermore, a ladder for climbing up and down is attached to one side of the watchtower. This means that people can stand on the watchtower. That makes sense; what kind of watchtower is it if people can't stand on it? Li Wei looked into the distant darkness. The moment the watchtower solidified, the ten-meter radius outside the light circle changed from impenetrable pure black to a visible gray. Just like the gray fog he and Jonathan had seen during the day. So that's what providing vision means. Beyond ten meters, it was still normal dark fog. In the visible gray fog, Li Wei finally saw the enormous monster lurking around the shelter. It was humanoid, but far larger than a normal human, easily five or six meters tall, with arms as thick as two giant logs. But... Li Wei glanced at the Shackled Demon beside him, then at the enormous monster. It seemed like a magnified version of a Shackled Demon. Moreover, this enormous Shackled Demon was covered in a large amount of black carapace. It must be the leader of the Shackled Demons; no wonder it could command so many to attack the sanctuary. Li Wei's gaze swept around. Beside this enormous monster, countless Shackled Demons had gathered. They stood densely packed, with new Shackled Demons constantly joining them from the darkness in the distance. Li Wei felt a chill run down his spine. Just that one enormous Shackled Demon seemed capable of leaping over the wooden wall, let alone the unknown number of Shackled Demons. Li Wei's expression turned grave. If it weren't for the watchtower that illuminated the monsters in the darkness...
He probably thought the Slugger had exhausted its strength after two attacks.
Now it seems, it wasn't exhausted at all; it was clearly preparing to gather all its power and break through the shelter in one fell swoop!
Li Wei looked at the remaining 80 stones in the stone warehouse.
Compared to the ordinary Sluggers, the biggest threat was that giant Slugger.
He didn't even know if the level 2 arrow tower's attack could break through the giant Slugger's defenses. He
had to upgrade the level 2 arrow tower immediately!
He took a deep breath and looked at the level 2 arrow tower in the center of the camp.
[Upgrade Cost: 40 Stones]
"Upgrade!"
[Stone Warehouse: 80 → 40]
Half the stones in the warehouse were gone, but Li Wei didn't care about the loss. As long as he could withstand the monster's attack tonight, these stones would come back sooner or later.
White lines formed from the stones wrapped around the arrow tower, turning it into a phantom.
Fortunately, Jason had moved from the arrow tower's roof to the watchtower when it was built.
Otherwise, he would have fallen when the arrow tower turned into a phantom.
The phantom of the arrow tower shifted.
[Level 2 Arrow Tower → Level 3 Arrow Tower]
[Level 3 Arrow Tower]
[Attack Range: 20 meters]
[Upgrade requires 100 Exotic Stones]
Upgrading again requires 100 Exotic Stones!
Based on previous upgrade costs, level 1 to level 2 required 20 Exotic Stones, and level 2 to level 3 required 40.
Unexpectedly, after level 3, the upgrade cost wasn't 80, but 100 Exotic Stones.
However, there might be other changes after the upgrade
...
[Please select upgrade direction]
[1: Increased crossbow penetration]
[2: Crossbow bolts explode upon hitting a target]
[3: Fire two crossbow bolts at once]
Li Wei looked at the upgrade direction panel, narrowing his eyes in thought.
The first upgrade direction increased penetration, which is to say, increased the crossbow bolt's armor-piercing effect—a simple increase in power.
The second direction was somewhat different; although it would also increase crossbow bolt damage, it was a clearly different upgrade direction from the first.
Moreover, he didn't know what the actual effect of the explosion would be.
The third option wouldn't increase the damage of a single crossbow bolt, so it was disregarded for now.
However, seeing the black carapace covering the giant slumper, he knew that what he needed most right now was for the crossbow bolts to break through the monster's defenses.
After much deliberation, Li Wei ultimately chose the first upgrade option.
With the upgrade direction confirmed, the illusory image of the level 3 arrow tower rippled and solidified in place.
Compared to the level 2 arrow tower, the level 3 arrow tower was half a meter taller.
The crossbow mechanism, originally made of wood, had been transformed into an iron structure reflecting a metallic luster.
The crossbow bolts also featured numerous patterns, reflecting a cold, sharp light under the torchlight.
"Not bad,"
Li Wei said, satisfied with the upgraded arrow tower.
Compared to the level 1 arrow tower on the wooden wall
, the level 3 arrow tower was far superior, even just in appearance.
At that moment,
a wandering Slugger broke into the sanctuary from the other side of the gate.
The torch's safe radius had increased to 20 meters after the upgrade, while the wooden wall's radius was only 6 meters.
Therefore, the level 1 arrow tower's 5-meter attack range was insufficient to hit the Slugger. A low hum resonated
from
the level 3 arrow tower's crossbow mechanism, like a colossal beast about to awaken, preparing to roar at the world.
In the blink of an eye, the crossbow was ready, and with a roar, a bolt as thick as a fist was fired.
The Stagger had just entered the light circle, its body not yet burning, when the sound of air being pierced grew louder and louder, appearing instantly before it.
Boom—
the bolt struck, and the outermost layer of armor on the Stagger's body cracked and shattered like paper the moment it made contact.
The bolt pierced through its body and disappeared into the darkness in an instant.
A large hole appeared in the Stagger's body.
"Such strong penetrating power."
The upgrade panel had only described the increased penetrating power of the crossbow bolts in words.
Without any actual effect demonstration, Li Wei didn't know how strong it was.
Now it seemed that compared to a level 2 arrow tower, the level 3 arrow tower's penetrating power was more than twice that of a level 2 arrow tower.
Of course, there was a problem.
After upgrading the penetration power, the attack speed seemed to have slowed down.
But this was acceptable, since the upgrade path had already separated attack speed and attack power.
It wasn't over yet.
There were 40 rare stones left in the warehouse, enough to upgrade a level 1 arrow tower to level 2.
They needed to maximize the shelter's defenses before the third attack from the Shattered Demons.
While the Shattered Demons gathered, everyone had already come down from the arrow tower roof and the wooden gate platform.
They were taking turns replenishing their ammunition in the warehouse.
Li Wei looked at the arrow tower panel next to the wooden gate.
"Upgrade!"
[Rare Stone Warehouse: 40 → 20]
[Level 1 Arrow Tower → Level 2 Arrow Tower]
Li Wei was taken aback.
The upgrade options on the panel were the same as when he first upgraded the arrow tower.
It seemed that
the three upgrade options for each building were fixed.
As the arrow tower was placed on the wooden wall, Li Wei planned to upgrade it for high attack speed, useful for clearing mobs.
"Second upgrade option! Increase arrow tower firing rate!"
A flash of white light, and the arrow tower solidified.
The tower's body was the same as when he first upgraded it to level 2, but the crossbow hadn't become larger; instead, it was much lighter.
Just then—
"Watch out! The Sluggers are attacking!"
After the watchtower illuminated the area, Taylor had been keeping a close eye on the Slugger horde's movements.
Levi looked towards the east of the camp, where the Sluggers, who had been silently gathering, were now slowly moving towards the camp.
Although they hadn't yet entered the light circle, the sound of footsteps could already be heard outside the camp.
One.
Two.
...
An endless stream of Sluggers poured into the light circle.
After the recent ammo replenishment, everyone was now basically fully replenished.
The Sluggers had just entered the light circle, before they even reached the range of the arrow towers on the wooden wall, when the rifles opened fire first.
Bang bang bang—
Faced with the dense rifle fire, the Sluggers fell one after another.
However, it was just a drop in the ocean.
Levi controlled the level 3 arrow tower in the center of the camp, not letting it attack.
He had just discovered that the arrow tower's attacks consumed a lot of gem energy; just one attack had consumed one-fifth of the gem's energy.
Moreover, there weren't enough Sluggers yet, and he couldn't waste the arrow tower's firepower.
Once more Shackles entered, a single crossbow bolt could wipe out an entire line of Shackles.
*Sizzle*
—the Shackles began to burn, emitting white smoke.
Finally, the swarm of Shackles entered the range of the newly upgraded arrow tower.
The crossbows on the towers lit up, quickly aiming at the Shackles that had entered range. *
Rat-a-tat-tat*
—the rate of fire was rapid.
The crossbows no longer hummed, but made a much quieter sound.
Bolts rained down, and in just a few seconds, the Shackles that had entered range were gone.
The arrow tower's range was like an invisible death line.
Any monster that crossed this line would die on the spot.
For a short time, not a single Shackled Demon could break through.
"Impressive!"
Li Wei nodded secretly, looking at the upgraded arrow towers with their increased attack speed.
The extraterrestrial stones were definitely worth the investment.
However, the attack speed was too fast; continuous firing would consume a lot of extraterrestrial stones.
Although Li Wei could have the arrow towers cease fire, allowing the torches to inflict maximum burning damage before reopening them once the Shackled Demons approached the camp,
the risk was too great. If the arrow towers failed to clear the Shackled Demons, a large number of them could attack the wooden walls.
While the Shackled Demons had caused limited damage to the wooden walls in the first two attacks,
that was because their numbers were small.
Once a large number of Shackled Demons approached, Li Wei couldn't guarantee how long the wooden walls would hold.
If the wooden walls were breached, the unprotected torches would face the monsters directly, and the shelter would be doomed.
Moreover, a giant Shackled Demon was lurking in the distant gray fog, ready to pounce.
As more and more Sluggers poured in, the kills from the level 2 arrow towers couldn't keep up with the influx, and the invisible death line was finally breached.
The Sluggers' main attack direction was east.
Levi looked at the other three level 1 arrow towers, preparing to move them to the front.
However, Sluggers were also appearing from other directions, though their numbers were pitifully small compared to the east, easily handled by the arrow towers on the wooden walls.
"It seems that giant Slugger is intelligent and knows how to attack from multiple directions, preventing me from deploying all my defenses at the front."
The number of Sluggers breaking into the shelter was increasing.
Levi actively controlled the level 3 arrow towers, firing at the densest area of Sluggers.
Boom—
a thick crossbow bolt shot out from the center of the camp, crashing straight out of the camp and carving a straight line through the Slugger horde.
In the same spot, all the Sluggers in that line had gaping holes of flesh and blood, billowing black smoke.
Through the holes, gray mist rolled in the distance.
This single arrow killed five Sluggers!