Secret Production

Li Zhan selected twelve soldiers from the ranks: Zhao Ming leading five swordsmen, and Zhang Feng leading five archers. The remaining five swordsmen were placed under the full command of Ruo Yan, responsible for daytime patrols in the settlement, while the night patrols were completely entrusted to the seven battle wolves.

At this moment, the missionary was also dragged and pulled into the square by Disco Fish, looking completely sleepy-eyed.

Seeing that everyone had gathered, Li Zhan led the group to the joint workshop. The workshop had already closed for the day, and the courtyard was pitch black. Everyone was baffled as to why Li Zhan had brought them here.

Disco Fish and Ocean Girl had been bored in the settlement and wanted to tag along with Li Zhan for some excitement. Seeing him lead everyone to this gloomy place, Disco Fish could not help asking:

"Old Li, what are we doing bringing everyone here? Are we playing hide-and-seek?"

Li Zhan did not answer. He used the mayor's interface to open one of the warehouses in the joint workshop, had Zhao Ming light an oil lamp inside, and then led the group into the dim warehouse by the flickering light.

The warehouse was stacked with numerous wooden components, farming tools, scaffolding, pulleys, and similar items. Deep in the back of the warehouse was a massive pile of straw.

Looking at the straw, Li Zhan smiled. He glanced at the surrounding group, whose faces were filled with various expressions, and instructed the soldiers to clear the straw away. Receiving the order, the soldiers laid down their weapons and busily tossed the bundled straw aside.

As the large pile of straw was gradually cleared away, the true contents at the bottom were finally revealed—four pristine ballistas accompanied by sixty short-arm-thick bolt spears.

Ballista:
----Attack: 1.5x multiplier
----Defense: Armor 2 / Shield 5
----Accuracy: +1
----Range: 5 (150 meters)
----Durability: 120
----Speed: E (Standard infantry speed is D)
----Propulsion: Manpower
----Additional: Piercing Wound (Attack -2 per person pierced), Primary Catapult Mastery (Catapult weapon attack +3, accuracy +1, range +1)
----Operation: 2 regular soldiers of Level 5 or above (All equipment and machinery have level restrictions for players, but no class restrictions)
----Description: A primary catapult-type military siege weapon with slow movement speed. Can be mounted on designated platforms of military warships. Piercing Wound is its greatest feature, though the attack power diminishes as the number of pierced individuals increases. Performance can be improved through the joint workshop and academy. The next upgrade version is [Heavy Ballista].
----Cost: Wood 30, Gold 5
Bolt Spear:
----Attack: +20 (Can only be used for ballista firing) (Combined with the ballista's 1.5x multiplier: 20 * 1.5 = 30)
----Accuracy: +0
----Range: +0
----Durability: 10
----Additional: Reusable until durability is exhausted. Next upgrade version: Heavy Bolt Spear / Poison Bolt Spear

These ballistas and bolt spears had been completed more than a week ago, secretly manufactured by Wang Hui and two craftsmen, and stored away in the warehouse.

During the production of these ballistas, Li Zhan had unexpectedly discovered that the settlement's military population cap did not increase. In other words, unlike arrow ships, ballistas did not occupy the settlement's military quota.

After giving it careful thought afterward, Li Zhan concluded that this was not a system bug. Since the system rewarded players with ballista blueprints, it would not leave such a glaring loophole. Moreover, the production cost of ballistas was extremely high. Being produced an entire era ahead of schedule, each ballista required 90 wood and 150 gold (standard being 30 wood and 50 gold). Even with Yanhuang Settlement's relatively abundant gold reserves, mass-producing ballistas was impossible, let alone putting such astronomical-priced items on the market for sale. This point alone severely limited the quantity of ballistas.

Even using World Currency to exchange for gold would not allow for mass production. The system enforced a strict limit: each tribe could only consume a maximum of one thousand gold exchanges every three months. Excess exchanged gold could neither be stored nor used for research and production. Furthermore, blueprints were single-use items that vanished immediately upon use, preventing other tribes from repeatedly acquiring the technology detailed on the blueprint. This completely blocked any possibility of cooperative manufacturing.

Once the Castle Age arrived and ballistas became standard ordnance for lord players, the system would naturally incorporate them into the military quota. Prior to that, this was the system's way of intentionally giving a pleasant surprise to all players who acquired similar blueprints, alongside gold recycling. This was likely the true purpose of the blueprint reward.

Li Zhan was not someone fond of hiding things, unless he wanted opponents to remain guessing about his true strength. The reason ballistas had been produced in total secrecy was because Li Zhan originally wanted to give faction leaders like Deaf Crazy a massive shock—if Deaf Crazy had not gone to attack the Thunder Tribe back then, but had instead raided Yanhuang Settlement, they basically would have had no return trip.

At present, Danyang County was peaceful. Yanhuang Settlement occupied a central location, and coupled with formidable military might, villages and tribes from other counties would not easily dare to harbor designs on it. If he continued to hide the ballistas, they might not even come in handy by the Castle Age. Considering that this upcoming battle might be exceptionally arduous, Li Zhan decided to take the four ballistas along with the army.

Disco Fish and Ocean Girl were first struck dumb with astonishment, then relentlessly questioned Li Zhan about the origins of the ballistas. Li Zhan briefly recounted the story behind the blueprints, then instructed the soldiers to wheel the ballistas and carry the bolt spears out through the West Gate toward the dock.

Just as they stepped out of the West Gate, the inn waitress came running over in a panic: Murong Yan was gone.

Over the past two days, under Li Zhan's arrangement, Murong Yan had been staying at the inn. Whenever Li Zhan occasionally caught sight of Murong Yan while inspecting the dye workshop, she would always keep her head down to avoid his gaze, unlike the other villagers who would greet Li Zhan warmly. Although Li Zhan found Murong Yan rather strange, he could not force her to explain the reason, so he had let the matter rest. He had not expected that she would ultimately choose to leave the settlement and resume her wandering life.

The waitress explained that after finishing dinner, Murong Yan had gone out and had not returned since. Feeling suspicious, the waitress checked the guest room and discovered that Murong Yan had neatly folded the yellow cotton-cloth outfit, placed it on the bed, and left two copper coins pressed on top of it.

Li Zhan shook his head and sighed with regret. However, it was pitch black all around—where was he supposed to look for her? Besides, even if he found her, would she be willing to return to the settlement? Furthermore, he had to hurry to E Family Village and truly had no time to deal with this matter.

After the waitress left, Li Zhan had the soldiers push the four ballistas into the two arrow ships and load the bolt spears as well. By the time everyone had boarded, Disco Fish was loitering along the stone path, still failing to reach the dock. Feeling annoyed, Li Zhan frowned and said:

"What are you dawdling around for over there? Hurry up!"

Hearing this, Disco Fish quickly trotted onto the dock, came up beside Li Zhan, and said:

"A few brothers I'm on good terms with just asked me to level up together. When I told them I was going with you to the Central Plains to fight mountain bandits, they all begged me to put in a word so they could tag along too."

Through leveling up over the past few days, Disco Fish had indeed befriended a decent group of brothers who cut quite an impressive figure when clustered around him. Mountain bandits were hostile NPCs, and wandering players were permitted to attack them. Feeling that his own force of soldiers was rather small, Li Zhan was naturally pleased to hear that players were willing to assist. However, feeling somewhat concerned about the quality of these players, he asked Disco Fish:

"What is the caliber of these players? Don't let them end up being more hindrance than help."

Disco Fish replied:

"Don't worry, Old Li. Could my arrangements ever turn out poorly? These players are all above Level 20 with decent strength. I've formed parties with them several times, and their character is solid. They will definitely not cause any trouble for us. As for those low-level players I'm unfamiliar with, I dismissed them with a single sentence and didn't discuss this matter in detail with them."

Li Zhan nodded and asked:

"How many such players are there?"

Disco Fish answered:

"Not many, twenty-four in total. They are all filtered elite members. Shall I call them over for you to inspect?"

Li Zhan said:

"Alright, have them hurry over. We are pressed for time and need to set off."

After a short while, a player contingent led by Iron Lord, Remedy, Chatting and Laughing, and Righteousness Over Clouds assembled at the military dock.

These four individuals represented four of the seven most influential player organizations among the thirty-odd groups currently in Yanhuang Settlement: Iron Alliance, Destiny, Laughing at Wind and Cloud, and Righteousness Over Clouds. The remaining three organizations were Asura Realm (led by Rakshasa), Purple Rose (led by Thorny Rose (female)), and Professional Merchants Association (led by Professional Merchant).

These organizations possessed neither system titles nor corresponding system functions; they were merely temporary gatherings of like-minded players who elected a leader, devised a name, and maintained bonds purely through interpersonal ties. If they wanted to establish a formal organization recognized by the system, they would need to invest a certain amount of prestige (5 points of prestige for a primary guild) and gold (500), and obtain a guild territory provided by their resident settlement (Li Zhan stipulated that any organization whose settlement contribution reached 1,000 would be granted a permanent guild territory within Yanhuang Settlement).

In the moonlight, Li Zhan inspected the wandering players before him. They were all elite members carefully selected by the four leaders, mostly equipped with standard iron swords, short bows, and inferior leather armor. Both their outward demeanor and equipment distinguished them from ordinary players to a certain degree. Quite satisfied with this, Li Zhan had them board a separate arrow ship to follow behind the first two vessels. The three arrow ships then departed from the military port, sailing downstream with the current.

Standing at the bow, Li Zhan gazed at the shimmering river under the moonlight, pondering why Murong Yan had insisted on leaving. What did she mean when she had once told him that she was a harbinger of misfortune? Li Zhan felt that an empire-conquest-style game would not incorporate mystical concepts like destiny and fortune that could disrupt game balance, so what exactly did Murong Yan mean by "misfortune"?

Frowning in thought for a long time, Li Zhan sighed. He had no clue whatsoever, while also deeply regretting Murong Yan's departure.

At that very moment, a woman's urgent cries for help drifted over from the riverbank:

"Help! Help!"