16: Chapter 16 Working as a Logistics Assistant at Home

Watching the troops depart, Lin Tian rubbed his hands together, his eyes flashing with the excitement of "opening a blind box" as he walked toward the "loot mountains."

"Come on, let's see just how bountiful this afternoon's 'harvest' really is!" He reached out and touched the first pile of wild boar corpses, and the gathering light effects lit up one after another.

[Gathering Successful]: Wild Boar Skin × 15, Wild Boar Meat × 150, Spirit Crystal × 45.

"A great start! Pork reserves have increased significantly!" Lin Tian chuckled happily.

Next were the corpses of the Colorful Tigers.

[Gathering Successful]: Tiger Skin × 8, Tiger Meat × 80, Spirit Crystal × 41, Tiger Whip × 8.

"Quite a few Spirit Crystals... Hmm? Wait, Tiger Whips?" Lin Tian looked at the indescribable objects that had suddenly appeared in his hands, his expression instantly becoming extremely colorful.

"Eight of them? Isn't this drop rate a bit ridiculous? System, what do you mean by this? Do you think I, Lin Tian, need this 'like-for-like' supplement? I've been single since birth, living a life of abstinence, and you give me this stuff—are you expecting me to soak it in wine or use it as a whip?"

His mouth twitched, but in the end, he carefully put them away. "Forget it, forget it. It's a rare material after all. Maybe some other Lord will have 'special needs' in the future and I'll be able to sell it for a good price. I'll keep it for now, hehe!"

Then came the piles of Magic Eye Rabbits.

[Gathering Successful]: Rabbit Skin × 30, Rabbit Meat × 60, Spirit Crystal × 90.

"The rabbits may be small, but the quantity is filling! The Spirit Crystal yield is pretty good!"

[Gathering Successful]: Snake Skin × 5, Snake Meat × 5, Snake Venom Fang × 10, Spirit Crystal × 25.

"Venom Fangs? Good stuff! For ambushing... ah no, they might be useful for crafting special arrows. Even if I don't use them myself, I can take them out to trade."

Finally, there was the Heavy Armor Bear.

[Gathering Successful]: Bear Skin × 3, Bear Meat × 30, Spirit Crystal × 18.

After finishing the count, Lin Tian opened the resource panel and looked at the total column, his breath hitching slightly:

Total Spirit Crystals harvested: 219! Other materials: various animal skins, animal meat, and special materials.

"I'm rich! I'm truly rich this time!" He couldn't help but pump his fist, his face beaming with joy. "219 Spirit Crystals! That's enough for me to recruit another wave of soldiers! However... it seems the Barracks are almost out of room again? Sigh, what a happy problem to have."

After the excitement faded, he remembered an urgent matter: fetching water. Now that he had found a river, he couldn't keep having people use skins or their bare hands to scoop it up, right?

He immediately opened the [Trading Platform] and quickly browsed through the blueprint category. Soon, he locked onto his target:

[Wooden Bucket Crafting Blueprint (Permanent)] Effect: Can craft standard wooden buckets with a capacity of approximately 15 liters. Crafting Requirement: wood × 1/each. Price: 2 Low-level Spirit Crystals.

"This is it! An essential item for home and travel, perfect for storing and transporting water!" Lin Tian didn't hesitate and spent 2 Spirit Crystals to buy it. He placed the blueprint into his Lord Core, and the relevant crafting knowledge was instantly mastered.

"We're not short on wood now!" Looking at the ample wood in his resource column, Lin Tian got straight to work. He focused his mind, activated his Lord authority, and selected [Wooden Bucket Crafting].

On the open ground of the territory, a piece of stacked wood automatically flew up. In mid-air, it was quickly cut, planed, and assembled by an invisible force... In just a few dozen seconds, a brand-new, sturdy, fragrant wooden bucket "clattered" onto the ground, with simple leak-proofing treatment on the bucket body.

"Oh? It's semi-automated? That saves me the trouble!" Lin Tian was delighted; this was much faster than crafting by hand. He simply continued to operate it continuously.

wood - 1, wooden bucket + 1. wood - 1, wooden bucket + 1... In one go, he consumed 20 units of wood and crafted 20 standard wooden buckets, neatly stacked on the ground.

"Done!" Lin Tian clapped his hands. Looking at these buckets, he seemed to see clear river water being continuously transported back to the territory. "With these tools, water collection efficiency will double. It'll be convenient for the brothers to drink, clean up, and even set up simple irrigation in the future! Two Spirit Crystals—money well spent!"

After dealing with these, his gaze drifted involuntarily toward the two Silver Chests lying quietly in his storage space. The bodies of the chests shimmered with a soft, silvery-white luster, appearing mysterious and enticing.

"Should I open them now?" It felt like a little kitten was scratching at his heart. "I'm better off now; should I open a chest to celebrate? What if I pull an artifact... Ahem, calm down, calm down. Should I save good things for critical moments? Or should I strike while the iron is hot?"

Rubbing his chin, he fell into a sweet dilemma. In the end, he decided not to open them yet, saving them for the evening.

Lin Tian turned his gaze back to the militia recruitment altar. Since he had resources to spare, he would first recruit ten new Militia to fetch water. He readily invested the Spirit Crystals, a flash of light passed, and ten new Militia appeared before him.

"You few, come over." Lin Tian pointed to the twenty brand-new wooden buckets neatly stacked nearby. "Now, you have a glorious and arduous task: to act as 'porters.' Do you see those buckets? Take them, go in that direction—there's a small river about 500 meters away—fill them up with water, and bring them back. Stay safe, and hurry back!" After speaking, Lin Tian pointed in the direction he had just returned from.

The Militia acknowledged the order, picked up the buckets in pairs, and jogged toward the water source.

Lin Tian checked the time on the panel: 4:30 PM. "There's enough time; I should be able to fill 20 buckets before dark." He calculated, feeling satisfied with the improvement in livelihood logistics.

The setting sun slowly slanted westward, dyeing the horizon orange-red. By the time the water-fetching team finished all their transport and neatly stacked the last batch of buckets filled with clear, cold river water in the territory, the time was approaching 5:30 PM.

Just then, the sound of rhythmic footsteps and the friction of metal armor came from the edge of the jungle in the distance.

Lin Tian looked up and saw the first exploration team led by Lin Yin and Lin Yan returning first.

Although the team had been through battle, their formation was not in disarray, and the soldiers were in good spirits. They were carrying quite a bit of prey: 10 plump Magic Eye Rabbits, 5 Mutated Wild Wolves, and even 1 decent-sized wild boar.

"Lord," Lin Yin stepped forward and reported in a crisp voice, "My team was ordered to clear the area around the water source. We encountered a few monsters and wild beasts, all of which have been eliminated. We suffered zero casualties, and only a few people sustained minor injuries, which are now fine." She stepped aside and pointed to a few Rock Armor Soldiers in the team.

Lin Tian looked closely and saw that, indeed, as Lin Yin said, most of the soldiers were in good condition.

The injured ones were mainly a few Rock Armor Soldiers; their thick, rocky skin had some new claw marks and cracks, but none were deep, and they were self-repairing at a slow, visible speed.

"Thank you all for your hard work!" Lin Tian walked up and patted one of the Rock Armor Soldiers on the shoulder. "Especially you 'Stone Men' who are always charging to the front to take the damage. When we make it big in the future, I'll get each of you a 'Rock Maintenance Package'!" He made a small joke, drawing good-natured chuckles from the soldiers.

"But seriously, your self-repair ability really saves me a lot of worry! It's basically 'sustainable damage resistance'—the cost-performance ratio is super high!"

Not long after he finished speaking, the second exploration team led by Lin Feng returned from another direction, also returning fully loaded: 16 Mutated Wild Wolf corpses and 3 Curved-Horn Rock Sheep.

"Lord," Lin Feng said concisely, "Encountered a wolf pack den while clearing, which has been eradicated. Also discovered a herd of rock sheep and hunted 3 of them. We suffered no casualties."

The two teams, nearly a hundred people in scale, had gone out to clear the area, and not only had zero casualties, but they also brought back such a rich haul of prey. Lin Tian was overjoyed.

What made him even happier was that, with the experience gained from these two battles, the last batch of newly recruited and fused soldiers had all stabilized at the black iron 2-star level. Thus, all 94 of his soldiers were at least black iron 2-star, and the core combat strength had even reached black iron 4-star and 3-star.

"Well done! Everyone, take a rest first." Lin Tian waved his hand and began happily "looting" the corpses.