58: Han Huohuo's first encounter with giant python

This had the biggest impact on some rare mineral deposits, such as Black Stone Mine.

Expanding to the limit, they only found three Black Stone Mines, all located very far away. Fortunately, thanks to Mu Jiu's super internal affairs, these three Black Stone Mines were equivalent to six Black Stone Mines belonging to others.

But collecting twenty thousand black stone was still a difficult task.

The base output of each Black Stone Mine was 300 units/day. With the bonuses from Mu Jiu and the wheels, it could reach 780 units/day. With three Black Stone Mines producing at full capacity, they only produced 2340 Black Stone Mines per day.

They had been producing for ten consecutive days, and some were consumed in making Floating Turret and charging piles.

Finally, they gathered enough black stone.

It was too difficult.

Han Huohuo even began to miss the grand scene before the bandits suppression, where all the banditss in the Ten Thousand Mountains collected black stone for him. Relying solely on his own collection, even with high productivity, resource acquisition was limited.

If he eliminated Nine Dragon Mountain and became the overall leader of the Ten Thousand Mountains, that wouldn't be impossible! Then he could have everyone help him mine?

Han Huohuo began to ponder this matter, and a wicked smile gradually appeared on his face.

The wanton slaughter by Nine Dragon Mountain wasn't necessarily a bad thing; they had already scared all the Lords.

Han Huohuo's desire to eliminate Nine Dragon Mountain grew more fervent by the day.

However, Wanqing City was still sending reinforcements into Nine Dragon Mountain, so eliminating them didn't seem easy. But, he also had a powerful backer; he shouldn't waste the opportunity.

Han Huohuo wrote a letter and sent it to the Barbarian King.

The Barbarian King had a liaison officer permanently stationed in Tongtian City, equivalent to a diplomatic envoy. He was an old Orc who loafed around all day, constantly complaining that there wasn't a drop of wine in Tongtian City.

When the old Orc received Han Huohuo's letter, he didn't dare to delay and quickly sent it to the Barbarian King. He kept a strange northern flying bird at his residence, which was faster than carrier pigeons and safer because it flew extremely high.

The amount of black stone was sufficient ahead of schedule, so Mu Jiu focused all her efforts on collecting iron ore.

By the next day, the iron ore was also just enough.

Han Huohuo went to a hidden place and upgraded the Mecha Workshop.

[Upgrading the Mecha Workshop requires 100,000 iron ingots and 20,000 black stone. Resources are sufficient. Are you sure you want to upgrade?]

"Confirm!"

A black light shot into the sky, and an even larger Mecha Workshop appeared before his eyes. Looking at it now, it no longer resembled a workshop; it already had a bit of the imposing atmosphere of an Armory.

[Mecha Workshop (Level 4) Special Barracks. Various mecha warriors can be manufactured within the workshop. Upgrading to the next level will transform it into a true Mecha Factory, requiring 1,000,000 iron ingots, 200,000 black stone, and 20,000 black oil.]

Taking a look at the requirements for the next level, Han Huohuo's vision went dark. Well, there was no hope of upgrading again for several years. The resource requirements were too outrageous. Why was the difference so huge for each level?

Moreover, even the name changed for the next level; it was no longer a workshop but an Armory.

Obviously, the scale was going to become larger.

Then he looked at the new mechanical units inside the Level 4 Workshop.

As usual, there were still two new types of mecha.

[Level 2 Flamethrower]: 100 iron ingots, 4 black oil.

[Combat Power]: Strength 18, Defense 12, Stamina 12, Intelligence 10.

[Special Skills]: Self-propelled unit, flamethrower range ten zhang, medium unit (2 population).

[Power Source]: Can last for four hours per action. Returns to the Mecha Workshop to recharge after the power is depleted.

[Loyalty]: Always 100.

These attributes were completely inferior to the Plasma Cannon. It was a melee unit, a close-combat warrior that could spray flames.

It was particularly effective against clustered soldiers.

The only drawback was that this unit also required black oil.

[Level 2 Mobile Charging Vehicle]: 2000 iron ingots, 100 black oil.

[Combat Power]: Strength 0, Defense 30, Stamina 30, Intelligence 10.

[Special Skills]: Simultaneous charging (20 units), Fast charging (saves 50% time).

[Power Source]: Infinite power.

[Loyalty]: Always 100.

This charging vehicle finally solved the biggest problem in the attack of the mechanical soldiers, which was power supply.

Apart from being expensive, it had no drawbacks.

Holy crap, black oil again!

The Mecha Workshop was indeed powerful, but the resource requirements were also too outrageous.

In a fit of anger, Han Huohuo built several more exploration vehicles and sent them out to search everywhere for black oil.

Returning to his residence, he thought for a moment and then went to the Tulip Merchant Guild.

The Tulip Merchant Guild was wealthy and powerful. After securing the land, they were building everything themselves and did not require Tongtian City to provide resources.

Even if they needed wood or stone, they would pay to purchase it directly from Tongtian City, not ask Han Huohuo for it for free.

Progress was fast. Although the entire merchant guild hadn't been fully built yet, a temporary office had already been completed.

Han Huohuo walked in and saw Yan Yun inside, studying the merchant guild's building blueprints.

"Oh dear, why has the Lord come? My apologies for not welcoming you."

Yan Yun quickly got up, bowed, and welcomed Han Huohuo into the room. He then quickly brewed tea for Han Huohuo to drink.

The Tulip's tea was much better than Tongtian City's wild tea. It had a rich aroma and a golden color. Han Huohuo took a sip; it was truly a good thing.

After they exchanged pleasantries for a while, Han Huohuo suddenly asked, "Does your Tulip Merchant Guild sell black oil?"

Yan Yun nodded, "Of course, we Tulip have everything. However, black oil is extremely rare and quite expensive. It is usually only needed by the Mo Family; they use black oil to build large puppets. Others rarely use this material. Does the Lord want to buy some?"

Yan Yun suddenly thought of this mysterious Lord, who himself had a massive puppet army. He speculated in his heart whether Han Huohuo had any connection with the Mo Family.

"Are the people of the Mo Family a single family? Do they all have the surname Mo? Do you know the Mo Family?" Han Huohuo asked.

Yan Yun laughed heartily, "The Lord must be joking. It seems the Lord is not familiar with the Mo Family. The Mo Family is a union of puppeteers, unrelated to surnames. They revere an ancient person, named Mo Tianxia, who was a Puppet Master and the ancestor of puppetry. That's why they call themselves the Mo Family. Among the current Mo Family, I haven't heard of any prominent figure having the surname Mo."

Han Huohuo felt awkward. As expected, lack of education would lead to being ridiculed.

"However, Lord, I do know a few people from the Mo Family. Let me write a letter to help you ask if they sell black oil."

"Then I shall trouble Mr. Yan Yun."

"You are too kind, you are too kind."

The Tulip Merchant Group was indeed resourceful and had connections even with exceptionally detached sects like the Mo Family. Yan Yun sent the letter and had to wait for a reply. After saying goodbye, Han Huohuo went to check on the construction of the inner city wall.

The foundations had already been built, and the mechanical workers, like diligent worker ants, were meticulously beginning to lay the bricks for the city wall.

This was the reserved second line of defense, a defensive system prepared in case Yanmen Pass fell or if enemies landed from the mountains or the river.

Once this city wall was needed to face the enemy, it would actually be a moment of extreme danger for Tongtian City.

He hoped this city wall would never be needed.

Unconsciously, he walked to the riverside.

Looking at the surging river water, Han Huohuo thought to himself, they say there are ancient giant pythons in this river, but he had never seen one before.

Strangely enough, as soon as this thought crossed Han Huohuo's mind.

In the middle of the great river, waves suddenly surged, and a giant creature appeared in the middle of the river, swimming past Han Huohuo's eyes.

It was too terrifying. This giant creature was at least a hundred zhang long. Because it was in the water, he couldn't see its full appearance, but looking at the surging waves, he could imagine how massive this monster was.

Just as Han Huohuo was trembling with fear, the giant python swimming in the river, perhaps sensing something, poked its head out of the water, turned to look towards the shore, and happened to see Han Huohuo.

The terrifyingly huge python head, with its crimson snake eyes, glanced at Han Huohuo, discovered he was just an insignificant little ant, lost interest, and continued swimming into the distance.

Only after the giant python disappeared into the distance of the river did Han Huohuo remember that he could still breathe; he had almost suffocated just now.

He coughed violently.

He slumped onto the ground.

Holy hell, was this the monster he wanted to eliminate a few days ago? This guy was too terrifying, wasn't he?

Hearing Hua Mulan say that there were probably not just one or two of these pythons, but an entire nest of them.

Let's reconsider, let's reconsider.

It's still better to be friendly with the neighbors!

Han Huohuo made up his mind. Unless absolutely necessary, he would never offend this thing. Just one look from afar had scared his soul away.

How could there be such terrifying creatures in this terrifying world?

But it was also fortunate that there was this thing in the river, as it severed the water connection between the Barbarians and the Great Qian Dynasty, reducing many water battles.

Was this thing really a natural born monster?