Chapter 147: New Crossbowmen Unit?

Even with another level up, my skill points wouldn't be enough to build a technology research institute! Jia Zengjin sighed as he looked at his skill point allocation page.

A technology research institute required a power plant, a workshop, and circuit knowledge first, but all of these unlocks were far down the tree unless one could manage to obtain blueprints.

Mechs... Although light mechs were merely auxiliary equipment strapped to various parts of the human body and classified as special gear, they were the starting point for stepping into the field of robotics.

Medium and giant mechs, on the other hand, were the true synonyms of the mech era.

However, thinking about these now was futile; it was all too far away...

Still, Jia Zengjin remembered the creature known as the Iron-Scaled Turtle and its weakness. This thing lived in deep pools, and ordinary attacks were practically ineffective against it, yet it could not withstand the paralytic effect of the giant centipede venom!

Of course, the sheer volume of venom required to kill a single Iron-Scaled Turtle was terrifying! Even after collecting nearly a month's worth of venom and pouring it all in, it had still threshed about for quite a while!

At the very least, now that he knew a weakness, Jia Zengjin immediately organized a squad of Kobold patrollers specifically to search for more giant centipede nests within the Magic Beast Forest.

Furthermore, his train of thought had expanded. Perhaps it wasn't just the Iron-Scaled Turtle; many ferocious beasts and magic beasts in the Magic Beast Forest ought to be vulnerable to venom, shouldn't they? If he could stockpile a sufficient quantity of centipede venom, would it be possible to capture even stronger Tier 2 or even Tier 3 magic beasts?

Formulating a venom-collection unit seemed imperative!

Any new blueprints he obtained would be taken home and stored safely first; these things were absolute treasures.

"Lord Keane!" Jolma was extremely excited upon receiving his new equipment. The steel battle-axe was even heavier than his previous giant axe, and its power was greater as well! Combined with the steel armor and helmet boasting astonishing defense, he was now raring to go. "I feel like I could easily defeat a Tier 1 magic beast!"

Emerging from the residential building, Jia Zengjin thought to himself: with two Excellent-grade and one Fine-grade item, if you still couldn't beat a Tier 1 magic beast with such great gear, I would truly have to admit defeat! After all, these three pieces of equipment had multiplied Jolma's combat power several times over!

"Lord Keane, shall we go out and find a magic beast to test it out?" Jolma twirled his steel battle-axe around, spinning it like a giant industrial electric fan.

"Our main task right now is to build the outer city wall and expand the city's boundaries as quickly as possible!" Jia Zengjin said, looking at the smug Jolma. "Once the outer city wall is built, there will be plenty of time to go hunting!"

"Understood!" Although Jolma felt a bit regretful, he remained quite obedient.

Thus, Jia Zengjin led Jolma, Volf, and Carl back to the outer city wall promptly to join the construction efforts.

Over the next two days, Jia Zengjin focused his main energy on building the outer city wall. He finally succeeded in expanding the city's area by about double. The outer city wall enclosed several food and mineral resource sites, while also leaving more open space for future buildings.

However, since defensive structures like arrow towers had not yet been set up on the outer city wall, the villagers still lived within the inner city, while the outer area was temporarily used for constructing necessary facilities such as windmills and stables.

Due to the high-intensity work of the past few days, busy building the city wall from morning till night every single day, Jia Zengjin was utterly exhausted. Therefore, once the outer city wall was completed, he finally had the time to return home and soak in a comfortable wooden barrel bathtub to enjoy some rare relaxation.

"Keane," Tina, acting as a loving wife, gently poured the heated water for him. "Is the temperature all right?"

"Ah, wonderful!" Jia Zengjin sat in the wooden barrel bathtub, stretching out his hands and legs in pure bliss.

"You must be exhausted from these past few days, right?" Tina put down the wooden bucket and gently massaged his head.

"Yeah! But now that the outer city wall is built, things will be easier from here on out." Jia Zengjin closed his eyes, enjoying his wife's massage. "Besides, starting tomorrow, we should have some successfully tamed Tier 1 magic beasts available for use."

"Taming magic beasts... I've never even heard of any country doing that before!" Tina said happily while continuing her massage. "Keane, you're truly amazing!"

His wife's praise made him feel very happy. "Once all four Tier 1 magic beasts are tamed, I'll see if I can use them to hunt even stronger Tier 2 and Tier 3 magic beasts."

"Keane." Tina leaned over and spoke softly near his ear.

"Hmm?"

"Today, quite a few young men from the village sent representatives to see me," Tina said softly.

"Oh?" Jia Zengjin asked with his eyes closed. "What did they want?"

"These young men want to form an army and pledge their loyalty to serve you!"

"If they want to serve me, couldn't they just join the town guards?" Jia Zengjin yawned. "Besides, untrained people have even less combat effectiveness than the Kobold troops!"

"Keane," Tina hurriedly said, "these young men are very persistent and determined! It's just that when they tried to join the town guards, they couldn't grasp the basics of swordsmanship. I suppose this group of people isn't suited for learning the sword, since talents differ after all! However, they are all skilled at hunting and have a wealth of experience in that area. So someone suggested: could they form a new crossbow troop distinct from the Kobold army?"

"A crossbow troop?" Jia Zengjin opened his eyes. "That actually sounds quite good. How many people do they have?"

"About 120 people!" Tina whispered.

"Who was the one who proposed it?"

"It was Amber..."

"Oh! Amber, that childhood friend of yours?" Jia Zengjin thought for a moment. "He's always been quite loyal to me, and for a while, he kept pestering Volf to learn combat skills. But it seems he didn't learn much, so he wants to try playing with crossbows instead?"

"Yeah!" Tina asked with a hint of worry, "You aren't going to be angry, are you?"

"Angry? Why would I be angry?" Jia Zengjin asked.

"My mother said women shouldn't casually interfere in internal affairs like this," Tina said while gently massaging her husband. "I only passed along the message because of Amber's request. You aren't upset, right?"

"Why would there be anything to be angry about?" Jia Zengjin looked up at Tina's worried expression and couldn't help laughing. "As long as it's a good suggestion, anyone—man or woman—can put it forward! I don't have that many rules here, nor do I have a requirement that internal affairs can only be handled by men. Your suggestion just now was quite good, actually! I'll consider it."

"Keane, thank you!" Touched, Tina leaned down and kissed him passionately.

"Hey!!" The next moment, she was pulled forcefully into the bathtub by her husband, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck in a fluster.

"Haha! Come on, let's bathe together," Jia Zengjin teased his wife with a mischievous smile. "This is called a mandarin duck bath!"

"Wait a minute! My clothes are getting wet..." Tina's pretty face blushed slightly.

"It doesn't matter! You won't need to wear them in a moment anyway!"

"Ah~~" A series of hurried, heavy breaths echoed from within the bathroom.