Creak, creak — the sound of the woodworking saw rang out in the workshop.
Liu Long had taken on the task and begun mass-producing spiked barricades.
Han Huohuo had once thought of buying a blueprint for this kind of defensive installation, but a look at the trade channel showed there was none for sale at all — everyone wanted to barter, either for a top-grade treasure or for a C-grade or higher barracks.
He didn't have either of those!
Every stronghold in the Hundred-Thousand Mountains was frantically conscripting and training armies. The price of iron soared. From time to time people still sold scrap iron to Han Huohuo — at a fair price he'd buy, too high and he'd pass.
Han Huohuo wasn't really short of iron now.
He hadn't checked the forum in a while. Having arranged the work, he opened it for a look, viewing only the Hundred-Thousand Mountains' messages, wanting to know how everyone's preparations were going.
"Haha, I've recruited a dozen-some longbowmen — should be fine now, right?"
"Jealous. Longbowmen are best for defense. I never did get that barracks."
"Same. In a fit of rage I trained a bunch of catapult troops. Anyone who dares attack — watch me crush them to death!"
"I recruited a lot of wild wolves and wild oxen. My Taming skill is Tier 2 now — no idea how strong they'll be in a fight."
"Let me show you my treasure: ding-ding-ding, an Arrow Tower!"
"Holy crap, how'd you get an Arrow Tower blueprint?"
"Luck!"
"One Arrow Tower's worth ten longbowmen — that thing's the invincible defense!"
Looking at the Arrow Tower blueprint, Han Huohuo was envious too, but not having it meant not having it, nothing to be done — no one would sell an Arrow Tower blueprint at a time like this anyway.
Scrolling down, he suddenly saw an important message, stopped at once, and read it carefully several times over.
"Brothers, my stronghold is on the outermost mountains of the Hundred-Thousand Mountains. From my place you can even see Wanqing City. Outside the city is an enormous military camp, a dark mass of soldiers, terrifying! How do I feel like there's no way we can hold them off?"
"Are you stupid? Those soldiers are going to attack the whole of the Hundred-Thousand Mountains, not just you. If they were only attacking you, you might as well go reincarnate now."
"This brother makes sense. Put that way, I feel a lot better."
......
Han Huohuo checked — this fellow was called Wang Dali. He immediately rang his private chat.
"Brother, you there?"
"Huh, isn't this big bro Han Huohuo? I don't have any scrap on hand, and I'm not an old lady either, so what do you want with me?"
That remark left Han Huohuo a bit choked up, but intel was important, so he endured it.
"Brother, you're on the front line — can you see what troop types are in that camp?"
"I'm scared half to death, I don't even dare look closely. I'm hiding in my Main Base now, don't even want to go out. I have nightmares whenever I sleep."
"Go take a look. Know yourself and know your enemy — at least we can be a little prepared!"
"All right, hold on, let me go look."
......
Han Huohuo waited a while, and Wang Dali replied.
"Big bro, I see a lot of warriors in strange plant armor, a shield in one hand and a saber in the other, huge numbers — can't see the edge of them at a glance..."
"Mm, those should be the Rattan Armor Soldiers. Look again — any other troops?"
......
"Big bro, there are also some shieldmen and spearmen training at another camp farther off..."
"Just those?"
"Hold on... I think I also see some strange people, very ornate caps on their heads, ornate robes too — they look kind of like religious types?"
"Are there many of these strange people?"
"Not many, I only see a few, and they're not training — they're chatting in a corner with a few people who look like generals."
"All right, anything else?"
"That's all, just those!"
"Thanks!"
"Big bro, don't go — I'm stuck on the front line, I see the clearest. The soldiers are too terrifying, scary as hell. Got any way to help me out?"
"Help you?... How about this — I'll sell you some spiked barricades, and you give me some scrap-iron junk."
"Spiked barricades? Are they useful?"
"Of course. Look at those troop types — there's no flying unit among them, and the only ranged ones are the monks; the rest are all infantry. Spiked barricades are the best defensive installation for blocking an infantry advance. Oh, and remember to recruit more archers."
"Big bro, you're amazing — I'll do as you say!"
He'd finally gotten firsthand intel.
It was even more detailed than what Liu Qiang had given him earlier.
Han Huohuo actually relaxed.
All infantry, only a handful of monks — his defense was practically an iron bucket; it should be no problem.
Before long, Wang Dali brought a pile of scrap iron to trade for spiked barricades with Han Huohuo.
The moment he stepped out, Han Huohuo gave Liu Qiang an order. "Go recruit a few more refugees, assign them to Liu Long, and put everything into producing spiked barricades for me."
Liu Qiang was surprised. "Chief, we don't need this many spiked barricades."
Han Huohuo chuckled. "I have another use for them. Go prepare it right away!"
Liu Qiang didn't know what the Chief was scheming, but didn't dare disobey. He hurried off to arrange it and quickly assigned Liu Long five refugees in one go.
"Chief, one of the refugees recruited this time has a special skill. Do you want to take a look?" Liu Qiang, over at the workshop, had found one of the workers had a special talent and hurried to lead him out, trotting in little steps up to Han Huohuo.
Behind him followed a young man, his face caked with mud.
【Bandit】: Pang Muzhi
【Stamina】: 100/100
【Combat Power】: Strength 4, Defense 1, Endurance 4, Intelligence 6.
【Traits】: Literate, Alchemist, Botanist, Physician.
【Food Consumption】: one unit per day
【Loyalty】: 50
Huh?
An Alchemist? A physician?
Wasn't this exactly the talent he most lacked right now?
By the name, this wasn't someone an ordinary family would come up with — clearly a man who'd read books.
"Pang Muzhi?"
"Chief, that's me!"
"Your name has quite a profound ring. How did you fall to begging?"
Pang Muzhi cupped his hands, neither haughty nor servile. "I report to you, Chief: I come from a hereditary family of medicine. Later, when the realm fell into chaos and banditry ran rampant, my family was robbed many times and at last fell into ruin, and so I drifted here."
Han Huohuo laughed heartily. "Then you're fine now. You're a bandit too — from now on you'll only rob others; no one will come rob us."
Pang Muzhi looked a bit sorrowful; from his expression he didn't seem to much approve of Han Huohuo's reasoning.
Han Huohuo set him straight. "This is a chaotic age. To survive, you need extraordinary means. Play the good little boy and you might as well be a dead man. If you're not fierce, others will be fiercer than you, and you'll die without a scrap left. Understand?"
Pang Muzhi fell silent and sighed.
"Go tend that Herb Garden well. In the future I'll build you a clinic, and you can take up your old trade again."
"Thank you, Chief!"
Hearing he could resume his old trade, Pang Muzhi finally grew excited, hurried to bow his thanks, and then Liu Qiang took him off to the Herb Garden.
With Pang Muzhi settled.
Han Huohuo turned and headed to the workshop. Inside, Liu Long was leading four apprentices, processing spiked barricades.
With helpers, production efficiency had risen sharply.
Wood -20
Spiked barricade +1
Wood -20
Spiked barricade +1
Wood -20
......
"Work hard — make more, and the Chief will give an extra reward!"
"Chief, rest assured, we absolutely won't hold up our stronghold's defenses!" Liu Long laughed and promised.
"It's not just my own defenses I'm after — I also want to..."
Han Huohuo had been about to say he held all the world's living souls dear and wished to help the other Lords jointly resist the wicked soldiers.
The words reached his lips, then he swallowed them back, thinking this world was a bit uncanny, and saying the wrong thing could easily get you struck by lightning.
"I also plan to make a killing off this! If I don't squeeze a fortune out of that bunch of idiots now — every one of them sly as a ghost — when will I ever get the chance? Keep it up! Spiked barricades are definitely good business!"
Liu Long roared with laughter. "That's our Chief — honest, not a bit hypocritical! Rest easy."
Spiked-barricade production rose 20%.
Back at the front of the stronghold, on the road from the mountaintop down to the saddle, all obstacles in between had been cleared, not a single sapling left. The whole climbing path now lay within the Floaters' firing range.
The workers were placing spiked barricades on the road one after another.
Per Han Huohuo's instructions, they were arranged extremely densely.