Chapter 558: Improving The Fort
Translator: TYZ Editor: X, TYZ
"Ai Hui created the pagoda cannons and snow lava. However, the one who truly promoted and developed pagoda cannons was his good friend, Qian Dai. Qian Dai, who was timid and hated close combat, had an exceptional talent with pagoda cannons. Not only did he become the first Pagoda Cannon Master, he also relentlessly improved the pagoda cannons relentlessly. The pagoda cannon craze that he single-handedly promoted had an extremely deep impact on the war back then. These two laborers from the Wilderness joined hands to start a brand-new era. In the history of pagoda cannons, no other invention’s glory could be compared to theirs. We have benefited from both of them, we are trapped by them, and we can’t escape from them.
--
Fatty was enjoying the limelight and the respectful looks he received. He was curious and hopeful, feeling as if something in his body was leaping, boiling, and bursting forth. This was a very unfamiliar and new experience for him. He had never experienced this feeling before.
He coughed softly and said, "When the Division Leader asked me to improve the pagoda cannons, I actually already had a few design plans in mind."
A few soft laughter broke out in the crowd.
Fatty became worried in an instant. He replied, "Hey, hey, hey, I am not boasting! I came up with those design plans when I had free time. There were even a few of them. However, eventually, I felt that these pagoda cannons should be equipped on the God-subduing Peak. I have looked through a few design plans, but I was not really satisfied with them. Therefore, I decided to come up with another new design."
Everyone was very quiet as they listened to Fatty attentively.
Fatty also gradually went into a zone as he continued to talk. His plump face had a glint that radiated . "I have never been on a God-subduing Peak. After I boarded it this time, I realized that the God-subduing Peak is really a treasure. It is an air fort that can fly in the sky. Since it is an air fort, what attributes do the pagoda cannons equipped onboard need? The first attribute I thought of was long range. The longer the range of the pagoda cannons, the safer we are. Since there is so much space in the sky, we should make good use of it."
Everyone nodded their heads. This logic was simple to understand.
"The next one is high attack speed. The God-subduing Peak will definitely be surrounded by enemy forces. Since the enemy forces will surround the God-subduing Peak, we will be attacked from all directions. If the attack speed of the pagoda cannons are too slow, they will be useless to us.
"The third attribute is area-of-effect attacks. Since the God-subduing Peak was destined to be surrounded by enemy forces, we will have to fight many enemies at once. If one shot only kills one person, how many shots will we have to fire? This will not have too much of an impact on the overall battlefield either. Actually, I was inspired by the previous battle. The last shot was rather effective. If we can’t kill an enemy soldier with a single shot, we can compensate with a huge number of shots. After all, the God-subduing Peak has a huge surface area and we can equip it with a sufficient number of pagoda cannons."
Zu Yan was overwhelmed with shock. Was this really Fatty?
Fatty’s explanations were clear and precise. Every part was well thought out. Furthermore, he explained with assurance, looking as if he had become a completely different person. Was this the same Fatty that kept on yelling he was tired and hungry whenever they went out to scout?
An absolute silence descended upon the room. Everyone was listening to Fatty attentively. Everything he said had substance.
A look of surprise flashed across Shi Xueman’s eyes. She had only casually mentioned improving the pagoda cannons and had not placed too much hope on Fatty. She hadn’t expected for Fatty to give her such a huge surprise.
"What everyone is looking at now is a scaled-down version," Fatty smiled.
Everyone cried out in alarm. The size of the pagoda cannon they were looking at now had already exceeded the size of any pagoda cannons they had ever seen before. This was considered the scaled-down version? How big would the actual Beehive Heavy Cannon be?
"As for the actual version, everyone will get to see it in the future." Fatty kept everyone in suspense. "Let’s try this out."
"Master Fatty! Show us a thing or two!" someone yelled.
Shi Xueman, Jiang Wei, and the rest felt anticipation. Being the first ever Pagoda Cannon Master, no one doubted Fatty’s talent with pagoda cannons. After Fatty bragged so much about the might of the Beehive Pagoda Cannon, everyone was looking forward to it.
After pouring the snow lava into the fire reservoir, Fatty stood behind the pagoda cannon.
His facial expression was solemn and his legs were spread apart. His plump and huge body was a fleshy mountain. Using his shoulder to support the back of the pagoda cannon, he then placed both his hands on the cannon barrel. In an instant, the snow lava in the fire reservoir was sucked dry.
The surroundings were so quiet that one could even hear the sound of a pin dropping on the ground. Everyone held their breaths while widening their eyes. They were afraid to miss out on any details.
Fatty’s stance began to change. His left leg extended forward while his waist was lowered, forming a bow stance. Elemental energy was inserted into the pagoda cannon from Fatty’s palms. The beehive-like inner chamber of the pagoda cannon began to spin rapidly.
It was only at this moment that everyone noticed the new pagoda cannon was double-layered. The inside of the pagoda cannon could actually rotate.
The beehive-like inner chamber spun faster and faster. It was like steel heated by fire, emitting a bright-red glow. If one looked inside the cannon barrel, he or she would see the dazzling red light in the center of the beehive-like inner chamber gradually becoming white in color.
Hiss, hiss, hiss!
A sound that resembled countless snakes hissing together was produced by the pagoda cannon, causing everyone’s hair to stand on end.
A beam of red light shot out from the cannon barrel.
A powerful shock wave erupted from the pagoda cannon. Fatty’s body suddenly sank into the ground. His eyes were angrily dilated, and his muscles became taut with veins popping out, making him looked very muscular. Boiling hot steam engulfed his body.
The beam of red light was spinning extremely fast. On the contrary, its flying speed did not look fast at all.
A disappointed look appeared on many people’s faces. This speed was too slow, and the enemy forces would have enough time to dodge the pagoda cannon’s attacks.
At this moment, the single beam of red light suddenly scattered into countless beams. Densely-packed beams of red light flew in all directions, resembling an enormous red dandelion.
Its diameter was more than 150 meters.
Pop.
One of the beams of red light suddenly inflated and burst, transforming into a streaking tongue of white flame that was more than 60 meters long. Pop, pop, pop.
A sound like that of beans popping could be heard incessantly. The enormous red dandelion exploded all at once! Countless white tongues of fire criss-crossed in the air, forming a gigantic blazing net. It burned for more than 10 seconds before vanishing into the air.
Phew!
Fatty heaved a breath of air. The breath of air he exhaled gave off sparks, making him look like a fire-breathing dragon.
Oh? Can all of you show me some reactions? Where is the round of applause for me? How come there are no reactions at all? Did I mess it up?
Fatty was baffled.
Suddenly, a clamor erupted. Fatty was so scared that he almost threw away the pagoda cannon and ran away.
"Formidable! White hot flames!"
"It looks slightly like the shot that Master Fatty fired last time!"
"The elemental energy undulations are really scary. I thought a volcano had erupted."
"Yes, yes! Master Fatty is becoming more and more powerful!"
...
Jiang Wei’s eyes were brightly lit. He spat out a series of questions in quick-fire succession, "How big is the actual version of the Beehive Heavy Cannon? How large of an area can the explosion cover? Can the range of the explosion be altered? How much snow lava will it consume…"
Upon seeing such strong reactions from everyone, Fatty became pleased with himself in an instant. He coughed melodramatically and replied, "There are so many questions from everyone. I still don’t know the answers to most of these questions yet, but I can tell all of you my opinion on this new pagoda cannon."
Everyone gradually quieted down. The elemental energy undulations from that shot had displayed to everyone the might of the new pagoda cannon.
"Why is it called ‘heavy cannon?’ That’s because it is extremely powerful, far more powerful than other types of pagoda cannon. I have looked through all the other design plans. They don’t have the God-subduing Peak, so they don’t have the advantages that we have. What are the advantages of the God-subduing Peak? It can fly and has a huge amount of space. Therefore, we can make the pagoda cannons equipped on the God-subduing Peak larger. This is why I named it ‘heavy cannon.’ The Beehive Heavy Cannon is equipped with a Zi-Mu fire reservoir. What you’re seeing now is a Zi fire reservoir. A Mu fire reservoir has a larger volume and can contain more snow lava. As for the snow lava, I also have some ideas. I feel that if we purely use snow lava, our consumption of snow lava will be too great. After the previous battle, I realized that the pagoda cannons are more effective if there were more of them. In the future, when we equip a God-subduing Peak with a huge number of pagoda cannons, we will not have enough snow lava. I think we have to look into a new type of fire liquid as well. A mixed one. I feel that a fire liquid blend is the future."
"The fire liquid blend will reduce the power of the Beehive Heavy Cannon, right?" Jiang Wei asked.
"That is for sure," Fatty replied. "However, I think we can split the blood elementalists into two groups and use two different types of pagoda cannons against them. The Beehive Heavy Cannons can be used to deal with ordinary blood elementalists. We can build enough of them to deal with the sieging enemy forces. If we are dealing with blood elementalists who possessed the Ability of God, we can devise a new type of pagoda cannons and use pure snow lava. However, we don’t need too many of this type of pagoda cannons. Snow lava is so expensive that only those blood elementalists who have high statuses deserve it!"
Everyone burst out laughing.
"I will leave the new type of pagoda cannons to you then," Shi Xueman said.
"Division Leader, what about my reward?" Fatty intentionally put a pitiful look on his face.
"No problem," Shi Xueman replied bluntly. Then, she added, "I will have Ai Hui pass it to you."
Fatty shivered in fear. Immediately, he spoke with a solemn tone, "I was just joking! I was just joking! As a member of the Spear of Heavy Cloud, it is my responsibility to shoulder the honor of the Spear of Heavy Cloud! This is my job! Furthermore, what does the Spear of Heavy Cloud’s business have to do with the Sword of Lightning?!"
Shi Xueman nodded her head and replied, "I will also tell him what you said."
"Big Sister, Boss, Great Aunt, please let me off." Fatty looked like he was going to cry soon.
Everyone laughed heartily. Shi Xueman could not help but smile too.
Everyone, especially those from the Central Pine Faction, saw with their own eyes how Fatty was tortured by Ai Hui in the past. The shadow cast on his mind was as dark as the night.
Subsequently, Fatty returned to his usual self and continued, "The Beehive Heavy Cannon is powerful, but its consumption of snow lava is huge too. We need to replenish our stores of snow lava. Moreover, the Beehive Heavy Cannon needs more people to operate. According to my estimation, one Beehive Heavy Cannon will need at least 20 people to operate. Only the main gunner needs to be a fire elementalist. The rest of the crew can be of any elemental type. One God-subduing Peak will need at least…"
Fatty tilted his head and thought about it for a while before continuing, "50 Beehive Heavy Cannons?"
Ssss!
Everyone gasped. All of them were shocked by this number!
Fatty’s plump and sweaty face smiled. He did not seem crazy at all. However, everyone knew how crazy this number was. Right now, the Spear of Heavy Cloud only had 12 pagoda cannons. If both God-subduing Peaks were to be equipped with 50 Beehive Heavy Cannons, they would need a total of 100 Beehive Heavy Cannons.
100 Beehive Heavy Cannons!
The terrifying, blazing, white flame net just now was a scaled-down version… Wouldn’t 100 full-sized, blazing, white flame nets… form a sea of fire!
When everyone imagined the sight of a sea of white fire covering the sky, they became extremely excited.
"100 Beehive Heavy Cannons need 2,000 men. We need increase our manpower then," Sang Zhijun was already doing the calculations.
Fatty continued, "That’s right. We have to make some early preparations or else it will be hard to recruit people at the last moment. If we have too many empty positions, it will create another issue."
Fatty looked at Shi Xueman.
"Speak," Shi Xueman said.
After witnessing the might of the Beehive Heavy Cannon, she had already decided that they needed to equip the God-subduing Peaks with Beehive Heavy Cannons no matter what. If they really equipped the two God-subduing Peaks with 100 Beehive Heavy Cannons each, they would look like two enormous porcupines. The enemy forces would not know how to deal with them.
She knew that this plan was not easy to implement. However, she had a decisive and determined character. Once she decided to do something, she would do it at all costs without fearing the difficulties. Since she already made up her mind on equipping the God-subduing Peaks with Beehive Heavy Cannons, she would overcome any obstacles along the way.
"Not only do we have a problem with the manpower, we also have a problem with the number of smiths. Old Li alone is not enough. We need to recruit more smiths. Otherwise, I don’t know when can we finish equipping the 100 Beehive Heavy Cannons for each God-subduing Peak," Fatty said.
After thinking about it for a while, Shi Xueman made a decision and said, "Skyheart City has allowed us to conscript elementalists from any local places to replenish our manpower. Jiang Wei, Zu Yan, both of you bring some men and go to the surrounding cities to recruit elementalists and smiths. For the elementalists, follow the usual procedure. As for the smiths, tell them we have the conscription authority first, and then give them some snow lava in exchange for their service."
"We will set off immediately." Jiang Wei was filled with admiration toward Shi Xueman.
By telling the smiths that the Spear of Heavy Cloud could conscript them by force first and then giving them snow lava in exchange for their service, they would not make things too difficult for the smiths.
As for Zu Yan, his task was to hold the line. Without a Master among them, people would not take them seriously.
Shi Xueman turned around and said to Fatty, "I shall leave the new type of pagoda cannons to you. Time is running out. In the future, you will be responsible for anything that has to do with pagoda cannons."
An unprecedented feeling extended throughout Fatty’s body like an electric current. His face flushed as he replied emotionally, "I will do my best!"
This was the first time he had been entrusted with such a heavy responsibility in the Central Pine Faction.
At this moment, his eyes became slightly red. It was a pity that Ai Hui wasn’t here. The fatty who shivered with cold in the pool of mud, the greedy demon who liked to steal money, the coward who hid behind Ai Hui, the lazy bum who did not like to train or bear hardships had finally been entrusted with a heavy responsibility. He could finally stand tall and proud in front of everyone.
The cowardice, laziness, and shame had become a page from yesterday. The new page was shining brightly.
Life was like flipping through a book. Every page was different. It always waited for a better version of itself to appear.