Nie Yan speculated that even if Bloodthirsty War Blades possessed Ironclad Catapults, the number would not be large, likely only a few. The construction of each Ironclad Catapult required massive amounts of both materials and labor.
If there were only two or three Ironclad Catapults, although they could potentially breach the fortress walls, the threat they posed would not be significant.
Ironclad Catapults only became truly formidable when deployed in large numbers. A concentrated volley could instantly wipe out clusters of players. Iron cannonballs engulfed in flames were essentially instant-kill attacks when they struck any player. Unless a player was over level 100 and wearing a full set of legendary gear, they could endure only a few hits at best.
If Bull Man Tribe’s Goblin Magitech Cannons were completed, they might be able to destroy the Ironclad Catapults from a distance. However, the Goblin Magitech Cannons were still in the urgent production phase for now.
This was only the early stage of the fortress war, yet advanced weapons from various guilds were already beginning to show their strength.
In addition to developing advanced weaponry, Bull Man Tribe also needed to enhance the fortress’s defenses. Having provoked Bloodthirsty War Blades, Mage Alliance, Holy Guardians, and Angel Dominion, the Bull Man Tribe’s path ahead was clearly full of obstacles.
With powerful enemies approaching, Nie Yan understood the critical importance of funds for the Bull Man Tribe at this moment.
“You guys hold out for two more days,” Nie Yan said. Once he returned, Bull Man Tribe would receive a large influx of funds. This time, he was sure to obtain at least one million gold coins, which could accomplish a great deal.
“Two days should be manageable. I’ll dispatch five branch guilds to go there. Even if we can’t kill many enemies, we can at least harass them a bit and delay their progress,” Guo Huai replied. It would take Bloodthirsty War Blades at least a full day to capture a fortress, not to mention the time required for travel. Within two days, Bloodthirsty War Blades could at most capture Blackstone Fortress. If things really went south, they would have to temporarily abandon Blackstone Fortress and reassess. After all, Blackstone Fortress would still remain there. Once Bloodthirsty War Blades failed to achieve results in this battle and withdrew from Carol City, Blackstone Fortress would still belong to Bull Man Tribe. The only loss would be the initial investment made in Blackstone Fortress.
There was no problem in delaying the final battle for two days. Two days later, Nie Yan would return to the surface.
Nie Yan discussed specific strategies against Bloodthirsty War Blades with Guo Huai. He also instructed Guo Huai to start cultivating more engineers, alchemists, blacksmiths, and miners immediately. Waiting until after the battle might be too late. Since Bloodthirsty War Blades had already developed Ironclad Catapults, Bull Man Tribe needed to accelerate its progress. Otherwise, falling significantly behind in technological development would have severe consequences. Bull Man Tribe was certainly not lacking in alchemists. Star Pharmacy branches were everywhere. Currently, the number of alchemists in Star Pharmacy had already reached more than 600, including thirteen high-level alchemists. Such a large alchemical force was extremely rare and could fully meet Bull Man Tribe’s potion needs. However, the numbers of other production professions were still quite low.
Guo Huai was assigned the task of allocating at least 100,000 gold coins for developing these professions. Finding engineers and alchemists would be more difficult, but Nie Yan had already provided him with a list, so he could simply follow it. As for miners, it was slightly easier. They could easily gather a team of five or six hundred miners. Unfortunately, with the impending battle, organizing mining activities was not possible.
Generally, mining required first clearing an entire map of monsters, then establishing a mining camp before assigning miners to work.
Everything required money, and war preparation was no exception. Nie Yan needed to fully utilize the power of the Dark Preachers.
“Finish your tasks and come back as soon as possible. Also, the gem artisan you asked me to find has already been located,” Guo Huai said.
“Okay,” Nie Yan nodded. He had previously asked Guo Huai to find a high-level gem artisan because he had five Luminous Gems in his backpack, which could be used to upgrade special items.
They chatted for a while before ending the conversation. One advantage of the game pod was that it enabled communication between the real world and the game. Whenever Guo Huai wanted to contact him, Nie Yan could first log out of the game and then communicate with Guo Huai, thus avoiding the awkward situation where communication between Lawful Good and Chaotic Evil maps was impossible. This way, Nie Yan could remotely control the Bull Man Tribe.
Nie Yan refocused his attention on the group of Flame Lava Beasts ahead. He began studying their movement patterns, trying to find some regularity in their complex routes.
After extensive observation, he remained puzzled. Was it necessary to completely eliminate all the Flame Lava Beasts here to reach the distant rocky high platform?
As he was thinking, Nie Yan suddenly noticed some water flowing beneath the thick layer of rock below. Above was a thick rock layer, but below was an underground lake, quite amazing. The terrain design in Faith always managed to surprise. He slowly climbed down through a crack, immersed his hand in the water, and found that the water temperature was not high. He dove in and began swimming deeper. Light beams projected down from above, creating a dreamlike and surreal scene.
Nie Yan swam forward. Through some cracks, he could clearly see the Flame Lava Beasts moving above. He swam approximately 150 yards forward, passed through a crack, and gradually approached the central rocky high platform.
Crawling out from a rock crevice, he noticed a few Flame Lava Beasts nearby. He quickly activated his vanish ability and used stealth to approach the edge of the rocky high platform. Using the skill from the Ring of the Crawler, he began climbing toward the top of the platform.
After a while, Nie Yan finally reached the top of the rocky high platform. There was a stone pillar about one yard high. Floating quietly at the top of the pillar was an eye—it was indeed an eye, resembling an emerald gemstone. Its pupil still radiated a dazzling glow and occasionally rotated, as if it were still alive.
This was the Eye of the Spider Queen Phinas!
This was already the second quest item Nie Yan had obtained. Just as he was about to reach out and take it, he paused, placing the Detoxification Pearl in his accessory slot before reaching for the Eye of the Spider Queen Phinas. Suddenly, its pupil rotated and locked onto Nie Yan. Nie Yan felt as if struck by an electric shock, hit by a strange force. His skin turned pale and bluish.
This was the effect of a high-level toxin!
Nie Yan immediately felt his entire body stiffen, paralyzed to the point where even moving his hands was extremely difficult. A string of poison damage numbers, ranging from 300 to 400, floated above his head. He quickly used the Detoxification Pearl’s ability on himself.
A gentle force entered his body, and the toxin effects gradually faded away.
Nie Yan’s body finally regained mobility. Taking advantage of the lingering effects of the Detoxification Pearl, he reached out and grabbed the Eye of Phinas nearby. The Eye of Phinas violently trembled as if trying to escape Nie Yan’s grasp. After struggling for a while, its glow gradually dimmed and it transformed into an ordinary round pearl.
Nie Yan examined the attributes of this Eye of Phinas.
Eye of Phinas: Quest item, Spirit Item. When striking an opponent, poisons the target, reducing movement speed by 30%.
Another Spirit Item! The poison effect of the Eye of Phinas was quite impressive. Nie Yan checked his quest status.
Quest Progress: Retrieve Phinas’ Poison Sack, Spirit Item 2/3.
This quest had only one step remaining. He wondered what kind of reward completing the quest would bring. Whether this quest would end here or continue further remained uncertain for now.
Nie Yan put away the Eye of Phinas. It seemed the quest ended here, but Bennett’s Spirit still floated forward, leading him onward.
Looking around, Nie Yan noticed a crack beneath the platform. He jumped high and dove headfirst into the water within the crack, swimming forward. Bennett’s Spirit floated ahead, guiding him.
Looking downward, the deep water was unfathomable, with red-hot magma at the bottom. Bubbles frequently rose, blurring his vision.
Following Bennett’s Spirit, Nie Yan reached the edge of a rock wall. After searching for a long time along the wall, he discovered there was another cave inside.
The time he had to hold his breath underwater should be sufficient. He entered the cave, moving forward along its passage. He found signs of artificial excavation inside the cave. Could someone actually live here?
With these questions in mind, Nie Yan continued deeper. Strange runes were carved along the rock walls, drawn in black ink, forming eerie patterns leading further into the cave.
Nie Yan kept exploring until he found a stone chamber. Faintly, he saw a figure moving inside. If there were a monster or an NPC here, it would be at least level 80 or higher.
He needed to be careful!
Nie Yan entered stealth mode and slowly approached. The stone chamber was about 50×50 yards in size, completely empty. Standing at the center of the chamber was an NPC, wearing tattered and incomplete clothing. Sitting at the center, lines of incantations radiated outward from his position like ropes.
These incantations were seals binding him!
Nie Yan looked at the NPC’s face and saw a snow-white skeleton, with red flames flickering in its eye sockets.
It was an Undead NPC!
Nie Yan’s heart leaped with surprise. At that moment, the Undead NPC lifted his head and looked directly toward Nie Yan’s location. Under his gaze, Nie Yan was completely exposed.
“Human, why have you come here?” The Undead NPC spoke with a stiff, hoarse voice, using the ancient common tongue of humans.
The modern-day Granlan Empire no longer used the ancient common tongue but the current common tongue. This Undead NPC must be an ancient figure from the Co-Rule Era!
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