"Huh?"
Han Huohuo hadn't seen a single boat on the river. So wide a river, so fine a waterway — why were there no boats?
A question rose in his mind, and he turned to ask Hua Mulan, "Why are there no boats on the river?"
"Because along this stretch through the Hundred-Thousand Mountains, the river holds terrifying giant pythons that can rip apart the sturdiest warship, so the shipping route is severed here. Otherwise the Wang family wouldn't have insisted on transport by land!"
Hearing there were giant pythons in this great river too, Han Huohuo's heart died even more thoroughly.
Damn it! Snakes are what I fear most!
Forget it — that black stone mine across the river was not meant for this Chief.
He turned to head back.
A broad valley floor spread out before him, the land level, the green grass like a carpet.
His heart stirred.
The riverside here was valley terrain, a great plain in the middle, peaks layered all around, a mountain pass in the distance, and a great river at the back.
In the Hundred-Thousand Mountains, terrain like this was extremely rare.
This was absolutely a fine place for farming!
The Hundred-Thousand Mountains actually had one real drawback — they were unsuited to farming. Such a large stretch of valley was hard to come by.
A blessed plot of land!
Right now everyone's armies were still small, but once development reached a certain scale, food could decide life and death.
For Han Huohuo, that meant it could be exchanged for a lot of money!
And there was only one mountain pass ahead. Build a checkpoint at the pass, and defending it would be all but foolproof.
In the future he could build a sub-city here!
Han Huohuo checked the map and committed the location to memory.
"Let's go!"
With Hua Mulan protecting him, the trip was very safe — just too far, and Han Huohuo couldn't walk fast, so he didn't get back to his camp until the afternoon.
Poor Han Huohuo's feet were covered in blisters, even bleeding.
He'd never walked such a long road in his past life.
On the map it was only a tiny distance, yet walking it ran his legs ragged. The farther black stone mine was completely out of the question — far too distant.
But this trek also stunned Han Huohuo with the vastness of the Hundred-Thousand Mountains.
So this region was this big?
And he'd only crossed a few peaks!
Set on Earth, the Hundred-Thousand Mountains region was about the size of a regional great power — of course not comparable to the Dragon Nation, but surely a bit larger than Britain.
Terrifying!
Han Huohuo soon began pondering another problem: if he really was to conquer the world someday, he certainly couldn't rely on his own two legs — at the very least he'd need a fine thousand-li steed.
Liu Qiang boiled hot water and prepared a big basin.
The moment Han Huohuo put his feet in, he let out a pig-being-slaughtered scream.
Pain!
Tears came pattering down.
Han Huohuo had never suffered such hardship!
For a while he was utterly piteous and miserable.
Liu Qiang sighed and advised, "Chief, leave grueling chores like this to us servants from now on. There's no need to do everything yourself."
Han Huohuo sighed. "I'd like to, but this matter was too important. If I didn't go in person, I couldn't set my mind at ease."
In the end, Han Huohuo couldn't bear to use the black stone after all; he decided to keep it for producing Floaters.
All his resources were in surplus now.
Especially wood and stone.
But no matter how much more he gathered, he couldn't cross a whole great era within seven days. An Ancient-Era Main Base, even upgraded another tier, was of limited use — better to recruit a few more soldiers.
Liu Qiang helped Han Huohuo back to his room to rest, then took his leave.
It was a day with no major events; all work proceeded in due order — only Han Huohuo's feet suffered.
The fifth day!
Overcast, strong wind!
The wind had risen, the temperature kept dropping.
Han Huohuo climbed out of bed, aching all over, washed up, and ate a little something.
He wiped his face with a large leaf.
There was no paper yet, much less toilet paper. Everyone used coarse leaves for paper, and once winter came and the leaves were gone, they'd have to use bamboo slips, wood chips, and bark for paper.
Actually, that was how ordinary commoners in ancient times got by. Paper was precious in antiquity and couldn't be used in daily life.
Living conditions were extremely crude.
Han Huohuo didn't mind. Things would slowly get better.
After eating, he went out to look at his Herb Garden first.
The herbs had grown out, a dripping emerald green, growing well. Only then did Han Huohuo relax. At this growth rate, in a few more days they could be harvested — surely in time before winter arrived?
Privately he wasn't sure either, and could only keep comforting himself.
Ding-ding, clang-clang!
The smithy was forever filled with the sound of hammering iron. Liu Hu really was conscientious — he started work first thing in the morning.
Liu Qiang had recruited a few more farmers and specially assigned Liu Hu a helper, raising the iron-smelting efficiency once again.
Very strange — yesterday the sky had been full of paper cranes, but today, looking up, there wasn't a single one.
Their magic exhausted?
Or had they finished scouting and all flown back?
The traffic conditions in the Hundred-Thousand Mountains were actually quite good, because winding, level dirt roads connected every stronghold.
Like a village-to-village network.
But who had built these roads?
Shouldn't bandits be waging guerrilla warfare in the wild mountains? That was what made bandit-suppression hard for the soldiers — duck into the hills and you could dodge them.
With roads built, were they just waiting for the army to march in along them?
Or had these roads been built by the Great Qian Dynasty in the first place?
Han Huohuo couldn't make sense of it however he thought.
He turned to study the terrain of his own stronghold.
The three rear directions were all cliffs and deep gullies; attacking from there wasn't realistic.
The Rattan Armor Soldiers summoned wild wolves, not monkeys. Even if they climbed up from behind, they'd probably wear themselves half to death.
So the enemy's main line of attack had to be the front of the stronghold. The front had a gentle slope, and along the slope's path you could quickly reach the great road on the valley floor.
Han Huohuo gathered twenty workers and began laying out the battlefield.
Floaters were a ranged force and could hover in midair, firing out from within the camp.
So all the obstacles in front of the camp had to be cleared.
Whether big boulders, weeds, or dead wood, all of it was leveled, opening up a wide expanse before the camp.
An archer's strength was indirect, arching fire, so low obstacles didn't matter much; but Floaters fired straight, easily blocked by obstacles, so battlefield preparation was crucial.
Just as everyone was working away in full swing —
Gou San suddenly came running from afar, shouting loudly, "Chief, Chief, look what I found!"
Han Huohuo turned and saw Gou San running over clutching a wooden treasure chest again.
He was instantly astonished!
What was with this guy? How had he picked up another chest?
By his stats alone, Gou San was absolutely the worst in the whole world — but did he have some hidden stat, like maxed-out Luck?
This was too absurd!
Gou San ran over panting and presented the chest to Han Huohuo.
"Chief, I was peeing in the little woods and suddenly saw a chest hidden in the bushes, so I hurried to bring it to you."
"Isn't there a toilet?"
"...Haha... I just feel... the little woods... are more convenient?"
Gou San grinned awkwardly.
Han Huohuo was speechless. These bandits — simply impossible to train. A wild boar couldn't appreciate fine bran.
He opened the chest, and Han Huohuo froze for a long while.
【Spiked Barricade】: a defensive device that can block the advance of infantry; cannot block ranged attacks.
【Build】: 20 wood; must be crafted in the workshop by a craftsman.
Struck hard on the head by happiness, Han Huohuo's eyes were full of little stars.
What was this?
This was a timely rain!
Even the way Han Huohuo looked at Gou San changed. This guy was absolutely a treasure — he'd have to protect him well from now on.
Sure enough, an extraordinary man must have an extraordinary gift!
Good thing he'd spared his little life back then; he'd nearly finished him off.
Say what you will — this starter bandit the system gave him really was unlike the others.
"Gou San is our model bandit. I hereby announce a reward of ten gold coins for Gou San! Everyone, cheer him on!" Applause broke out all around.
Gou San was moved to tears of excitement, thinking, the boss has praised me countless times before, but this is the first time he's given me money!
Money really was more substantial.
"Have Liu Long stop all production of living facilities and tools at once, and put everything into crafting spiked barricades for me. I want to lay them from the mountaintop all the way down to the foot!"
"Yes!"
Everyone immediately split up and got busy.
"Chief, is there anything else you need me to do?" Seeing Han Huohuo assign so much work but nothing for himself, Gou San couldn't help asking.
"It's fine, you just go patrol around!"
"You got it, leave it to me, I'll definitely do it well!" Having gotten his ten gold coins, Gou San was in high spirits and thumped his chest with a clatter.