Chapter Ninety-Five: The Bronze Necklace

The kobold warrior spent an hour piling a vast quantity of firewood and dead leaves beneath the hive, enough to reduce it to ashes once lit.

Of course, they did not forget to clear the surrounding ground as well, carving out a firebreak to keep the blaze from spreading.

The queen bee could not leave the hive, so there was no need to fear her attack.

Jia Zhengjin ordered the kobold warrior to return and bring back as many kobold artisans and miners as possible. By now, they should have finished repairing the city. The corpses of those twenty or thirty thousand giant bees could not be wasted, nor could the body of the Flame Python; what they recovered would be raw meat and honey, vital resources for survival!

He used a fire-breathing skill to ignite the firewood stacked beneath the hive, and the roaring flames began to devour everything in a frenzy.

The hive had been built of highly flammable materials to begin with, so once the fire grew strong enough, it spread without restraint!

Such a massive hive burned for more than two hours before finally turning to ashes. The sky had already darkened, and stars had appeared overhead.

They had to return to the city at once; the forest at night was far too dangerous.

Of course, before leaving, Jia Zhengjin did not forget to search through the ashes of the hive, and in the end he succeeded in finding the charred corpse of the giant queen bee.

[Message] You have obtained the hive construction blueprint!

[Message] You have obtained the Honey Ham Recipe Book!

[Message] You have obtained the Honey-Glazed Roast Duck Recipe Book!

[Message] You have obtained the Watermelon Honey Cake Recipe Book!

[Message] You have obtained the Chef’s Profession Set!

[Message] You have obtained royal jelly!

[Message] You have obtained unidentified plant seeds!

[Message] You have obtained watermelon seeds!

He had never expected that the loot from the queen bee would be so closely tied to the kitchen. Only the hive construction blueprint was different!

[Hive Construction Blueprint] To build a hive, you must first recruit one queen bee, then a certain number of worker bees, then a certain number of drone bees, and only after that can you recruit bee soldiers. Required materials: 50,000 firewood, 30,000 fiber, 5,000 clay.

[Honey Ham Recipe Book] Learn it to cook delicious honey ham!

[Honey-Glazed Roast Duck Recipe Book] Learn it to cook delicious honey-glazed roast duck!

[Watermelon Honey Cake Recipe Book] Learn it to cook delicious watermelon honey cake!

[Chef’s Profession Set] Once equipped, you can make higher-quality food.

[Royal Jelly] Taking it instantly removes all negative statuses and restores you to normal!

[Unidentified Plant Seeds] Plant them, and who knows what will grow.

[Watermelon Seeds] Plant them, and watermelons will grow!

After gathering the spoils, nearly half of the giant bee corpses had still not been carried back to the city.

As darkness deepened, Jia Zhengjin had no choice but to order the kobolds to stop hauling and withdraw to the city first.

The night was too dangerous; it was better to stay within the city walls. Besides, it was not yet the night of the full moon, so there was no need to worry about any change in the corpses.

In truth, Jia Zhengjin was not even sure whether the giant bees would turn into undead creatures.

If they were lucky, they could continue hauling them tomorrow in daylight. If not, those corpses would likely be eaten clean by the strange creatures of the forest! So long as no even more terrifying tribe appeared, that would be enough!

Upon returning to the city, everything inside and out had already been restored to good order, with no trace left of the dreadful assault it had suffered.

What had once been reduced to ruins beneath the giant bees' attack now stood anew in pristine buildings.

"Tina, you and Perlyn should go back and rest first!" After returning to the base, Jia Zhengjin said to Tina, who was weak from having used Flame Impact and then running out of mana.

"And you?" Tina asked with concern.

"I'll make a few things first, then I'll come home," Jia Zhengjin told her. "You two get some good rest."

"Oh!" Tina actually wanted to stay with Jia Zhengjin. But she truly was weak right now, and there was nothing for it but to let Perlyn support her into the rebuilt residence.

After Tina and Perlyn returned to rest, Jia Zhengjin sent the kobold troops back to their den as well, then took only Wolf with him to the clearing near the mining area to inventory the materials.

There were enough materials to build a factory, so he immediately found an open space near the mine and constructed one on the spot. Afterward, he moved all the tool benches that had been set up outdoors into the spacious factory building.

With this factory, the speed of making any tools or equipment would increase by 10 percent. It was unquestionably an excellent building!

Since he had built a factory, he might as well learn the Bronze Necklace Crafting Blueprint.

[Bronze Necklace Crafting Blueprint] Consumes 5 copper ingots to forge a bronze necklace with random attributes.

Jia Zhengjin could not wait to move the furnace into the factory as well, then took a large amount of copper ore from the warehouse and threw it into the furnace to begin smelting.

With nothing else to do in the meantime, he casually planted the unidentified seeds and the watermelon seeds in a field, then returned to the factory to wait.

Once five copper ingots had been smelted, he immediately took them out and made bronze necklaces.

[Inferior Bronze Necklace] Strength +1.

An utterly trash-tier attribute...

Jia Zhengjin looked at the first piece and felt thoroughly depressed.

When another five ingots had been smelted, he brought them over and forged again.

[Inferior Bronze Necklace] Health +30.

This one was a bit subtle~~

[Inferior Bronze Necklace] Attack Power 1-2.

The king of trash!

[Inferior Bronze Necklace] Physical attacks have a 1 percent chance to absorb 10 health.

It was actually a skill, but the life-steal chance was far too low! Still, let Wolf wear it for now.

[Inferior Bronze Necklace] Magic Attack 3-3.

Not very good!

[Inferior Bronze Necklace] Mana increased by 30.

An item that increased mana was just what Tina needed right now, but with only 30 points, it did not seem as good as the one she was already wearing, which boosted magic attack.

Jia Zhengjin became absorbed in crafting bronze necklaces, and before he knew it, a great heap of junk necklaces had piled up beside him.

His jewelry-making skill had risen to above level 2, and a large amount of copper ore had been consumed.

Although there was still plenty of copper ore, he was feeling somewhat tired. After all, he had gone through two battles during the day, and the drain had been enormous. Even with honey restoring him, his mind would still grow weary.

"One last one. After that, I sleep!" Jia Zhengjin decided to make one more bronze necklace. No matter what trash attribute it had, he no longer cared. Once it was done, he would head back to his room and sleep.

Perhaps because it was the final one, his luck suddenly surged.

[Bronze Necklace] Physical Attack 10-15, sword damage increased by 20 percent, and physical attacks have a 5 percent chance to inflict bleeding on the enemy!

This was a bronze necklace of ordinary quality, yet it possessed three attributes, and all of them were quite good!

Unfortunately, this necklace suited Perlyn more than Jia Zhengjin himself.

Still, considering that Tina had obtained several pieces of equipment and skill books today, and that Perlyn was at least his woman, giving her a necklace was only right.