The system suddenly issued two consecutive worldwide broadcasts — at last, other Lords had upgraded to a Tier-2 Main Base.
【Congratulations to Lord Hong Tianxiong, the second to advance to a Tier-2 Main Base. Reward: one treasure chest!】
【Congratulations to Lord Hong Tianxiong, the second to advance to a Tier-2 Main Base. Reward: one treasure chest!】
【Congratulations to Lord Hong Tianxiong, the second to advance to a Tier-2 Main Base. Reward: one treasure chest!】
......
【Congratulations to Lord Cold Blade, the third to advance to a Tier-2 Main Base. Reward: one treasure chest!】
【Congratulations to Lord Cold Blade, the third to advance to a Tier-2 Main Base. Reward: one treasure chest!】
【Congratulations to Lord Cold Blade, the third to advance to a Tier-2 Main Base. Reward: one treasure chest!】
......
That Cold Blade was the third Lord to advance his Main Base this time. As for this Hong Tianxiong, no one knew who he was — quite a surprise that he'd be the second to advance.
In the early game, a Lord's personal level wasn't all that important — clearly nowhere near as important as the Main Base's tier — so a Main Base upgrade caused a far bigger stir.
"Holy crap, this many people leveled up already?"
"You up there, are you blind? Only three Lords have upgraded total — where do you get 'this many'?"
"Hey, the number-one big shot's gone into hiding again. You think — could it be the same one as the first Lord to level up?"
"Who knows? From now on let's just call that mysterious guy Mr. Hidden."
"Haha, you've got a real knack for nicknames."
"Ugh, others are leveling up while we're still struggling. Yesterday we were just short on food; today we're short on everything."
"Enough talk, back to work. My back's about to break — this labor is so damned exhausting."
......
The number one was in hiding, and the number two clearly couldn't generate much heat either. Soon the forum returned to its buying-and-selling cries.
A big shot's legend was just a story; your own work was life.
Anywhere you went, ordinary people were the vast majority.
Because trades were taxed, resource trading on the whole had grown sparse — mostly treasures, skill scrolls, and certain special items changing hands now.
Han Huohuo had no need of any of that for the moment, and closed the forum outright.
Having been through that ordeal, Han Huohuo grew ever more cautious. He sent the mechanical workers to mine iron ore, dispatched three giant mechanical wolves to hunt, and kept two giant wolves patrolling near the camp.
The camp must never be left empty — there had to be sentries patrolling and guarding at all times!
This was a dangerous world, with no rule of law and little peace.
Seeing he still had time, he upgraded the wall a level too.
【Tier-2 Wall】: an upgraded wooden palisade, denser and sturdier.
【Build】: 100 wood, 50 stone; prerequisite building, Tier-1 Wall.
The Tier-2 Wall was a bit taller than the Tier-1, the palisade denser, and ordinary wild beasts could no longer easily leap over it.
His sense of security increased greatly.
It was just that the camp gate was still that same rickety gate, now the focal point of the camp's defense.
There was a watchtower at the gate, and Han Huohuo had already assigned Zhang Xiaoping to relieve Gou San and keep watch.
An ordinary person could see only three kilometers, but Zhang Xiaoping's Sight trait doubled his detection range to six kilometers of enemy movements — including all the nearby mining activity, and even the giant mechanical wolves' hunting fell within his lookout range.
If any danger appeared within his field of view, there'd be time to pull all the troops back to camp to defend.
Only once this was arranged did he relax.
He returned to the Main Base.
The Main Base inside was now completely different. Zhang Xiao'an had forged him plenty of furniture — having a craftsman really was nice. With a folding screen he'd partitioned off a corner just for sleeping.
In the center sat a stove, and beside it a writing desk and chair, where he could brew tea and do business.
Liu Qiang worked here by day and only went back to rest at night.
It already had a bit of the feel of a field command tent.
Han Huohuo took out the map, spread it on the table, and studied it carefully.
This map was absolutely a treasure, bearing detailed markings of the Hundred-Thousand Mountains — ore deposits, lairs, and roads.
Twin Dragon Stronghold was the closest to him, and he'd already wiped it out. A bit farther, his mechanical workers had also scouted out a Vicious Wolf Stronghold and a White Snake Stronghold; those two were close to each other, and a little distance from him.
Scouted areas were automatically marked on this marvelous map.
Han Huohuo tapped the map.
"Chief, have you got a taste for it and want to go rob these two as well?" Liu Qiang read his expression and asked carefully.
"Nonsense. Yours truly leads a righteous army — how could I just go around slaughtering others?" The words were barely out when a thunderbolt suddenly crashed from the sky, setting the whole camp humming.
Liu Long, still in the workshop, jumped in fright, wondering which scoundrel was running his mouth and provoking heaven's wrath.
Han Huohuo's lips went white with fright. He thought: no good — this world is strange and uncanny. Better not to talk nonsense from now on.
"Here's what I'm thinking. Look, we're only a Tier-2 camp; even at max recruitment we can field just 200 units. There's no wiping out every stronghold in the Hundred-Thousand Mountains. If we grab too much of the spotlight and anger everyone, and they band together to send troops, even a god couldn't hold off a wolf pack. So the early game isn't the time for brazen expansion. Low profile — keep a low profile!"
A thunderbolt had jolted Han Huohuo awake, and the guy finally spoke the truth instead of his usual high-sounding nonsense.
"Excellent — that's exactly right. The stronger you grow, the more you must keep a low profile. As long as we can develop quietly and grow strong, the later game will be ours!" Liu Qiang nodded over and over.
Han Huohuo felt rather smug. Turns out I'm no idiot.
His self-assessment was rather high.
Once he'd rested up enough, he went to the smithy again.
Liu Hu was there forging iron.
Iron ingot +1
Iron ingot +1
Iron ingot +1
......
This guy was a skilled blacksmith with extremely high forging efficiency, and since Han Huohuo hadn't assigned him to make tools or weapons, only to smelt ore, he was already in a smooth groove.
Smelting ingots on his own, he could keep pace with 28 workers mining ore.
"Brother, eat more meat — that's how you get the strength to work!"
"Liu Qiang, write it down! Give brother Liu Hu a raise — double it!"
"Yes, Chief!"
This was a damned key position, and Han Huohuo wasn't the least bit stingy. The original wage of just five gold coins a month, Han Huohuo bumped straight to ten.
Loyalty +20.
Nothing raised Loyalty faster than a straight raise. Liu Hu threw himself into it, swinging his arms hard, and his efficiency jumped another 30%.
A strapping blacksmith!
Looking at Liu Hu's muscular frame, Han Huohuo nearly drooled.
He couldn't bear to watch any longer and hurried off.
He went to check on Gou San again, having meant to give him a little reward too — but one look showed the guy's Loyalty was already at 100.
Forget it. Since you're this loyal, yours truly saves his gold coins.
"Chief!"
The instant he saw Han Huohuo, Gou San was beside himself with excitement.
"Recover well! Our stronghold can't do without you!"
The words were barely out before Han Huohuo hurriedly looked up at the sky — luckily, no thunder fell.
So praising others was fine, but praising yourself was dangerous! That scoundrel of a heaven had some standards after all.
Han Huohuo had begun to work out a pattern.
A Lord, after all!
You had to look the part of a Lord — your job was to wander around and inspect everyone's work.
A day passed without incident.
By dusk, he'd finally gathered a full thousand iron ingots!
The biggest contributor was Liu Hu. After replenishing two workers, he now had thirty mining ore while Liu Hu alone handled the smelting. Han Huohuo's heart ached for him and hurried him off to rest — this was a technical backbone, and must never be allowed to fall ill. Then he dashed to the Mecha Workshop to upgrade it.
【Tier-2 Mecha Workshop】: can manufacture higher-grade mechs.
【Build】: 1,000 iron ingots; prerequisite, Tier-1 Mecha Workshop.
【Confirm upgrading the Mecha Workshop? Iron ingot stock detected: 1,076. Tier-1 Mecha Workshop present. All conditions met!】
"Confirm!"
The Mecha Workshop began upgrading.
Clinking and clanking nonstop. The Tier-1 Mecha Workshop had gone up in a flash, but Tier 2 was different — there was a build time.
Zhang Xiao'an ran over to help on the side, speeding construction considerably.
Han Huohuo paced back and forth around the workshop, extremely nervous.
About an hour later.
Ding!
The brand-new Tier-2 workshop finished upgrading, its exterior still in steam-age style. Han Huohuo's heart pounded; he almost didn't dare look at what new mechs were inside.
So nerve-wracking!
He'd poured every last resource of Black Wind Stronghold into forcing this Mecha Workshop's upgrade!
If it was full of useless junk inside, he'd want to die.
Clutching his chest, he took a look at the new mech types in the workshop.
【Mecha Workshop (Tier 2): special barracks. Within the workshop you can manufacture all kinds of mecha warriors. Upgrading to the next tier requires 10,000 iron ingots and 2,000 black stone.】
Seeing that the next tier needed ten thousand iron ingots, he sucked in a cold breath. This was too damned absurd — no way he'd manage it within seven days.
Whether he could hold off the soldiers' suppression came down entirely to what was in here!
He opened the Mecha Workshop and found two new build targets.
【Tier-1 Floater】: 20 iron ingots, 10 black stone.
【Combat Power】: Strength 13, Defense 5, Endurance 6, Intelligence 10.
【Special Skill】: Hover, ranged attack
【Power Source】: one action lasts up to two hours; when the power runs out, it returns to the Mecha Workshop to recharge.
【Loyalty】: always 100.
The stats were average, actually about the same as a giant mechanical wolf — just a bit more attack, with lower defense and endurance. But the Floater was a ranged unit, and it could fly, which changed the meaning entirely.
This thing could focus fire!
On a battlefield, once troop numbers reached a certain scale, ranged output was absolutely ten or a hundred times more terrifying than melee.
This was a battlefield mainstay unit.
【Charging Station】: 100 iron ingots, 50 black stone.
【Special Skill】: charging; continuously consumes black stone — each Charging Station uses one black stone per day.
Good news: there really was a Charging Station!
Bad news: what the hell was black stone?
Han Huohuo stood frozen for a long while. Just as he'd predicted, the Tier-2 Mecha Workshop did indeed have the means to solve charging — but where was he supposed to dig up this black stone?