171: Steam Age

When the novice protection period ended, a fog rose from the sea.

Immediately after, blue flames emerged one by one in the mist.

Accompanied by a series of clattering sounds, Skeleton Soldiers wielding bone knives walked out of the mist.

Li Feng glanced at them; there weren't many, only 20.

This was much easier than the difficulty of the novice assessment.

Of course, this was just Li Feng's thought.

For the other three, their faces all changed drastically.

Without any Troops, relying on some simple traps, they weren't sure if they could stop 20 first-tier monsters.

The only thing that comforted them was that the Skeleton Soldiers moved relatively slowly, and their attributes were much lower than ordinary first-tier Troops.

Compared to the three, including Akayera, who were facing a formidable enemy, Li Feng's expression was much more relaxed.

He had made hundreds of crossbow bolts out of wood.

This was unlocked simultaneously when the ballista was crafted.

They could be made from wood or bronze blocks.

Wooden crossbow bolts were naturally not as powerful as bronze ones.

After crafting four ballistas, Li Feng's reserve of bronze blocks was insufficient.

So he could only settle for the next best thing and make crossbow bolts from wood.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Under Li Feng's personal operation, crossbow bolts flew through the air.

The Skeleton Soldiers hit by the crossbow bolts were directly pierced through, and the ghost fires in their eye sockets instantly extinguished.

The crossbow bolts were not satisfied after piercing the Skeleton Soldiers in front; they continued to pierce the Skeleton Soldiers behind them before shooting into the sea.

Instant kill!

Using such a powerful weapon against first-tier monsters was overkill.

Li Feng received 20 gold coins, and nothing else.

This was not a novice assessment after all, so there weren't so many rewards.

This was the inheritance assessment of a true god; to gain benefits, one had to seek and fight for them oneself.

On the first day, all four safely passed.

Time flowed slowly.

In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days had passed.

In these more than twenty days, Li Feng had advanced from the initial Stone Age to the current Steam Age.

His territory had been expanded countless times and had become a large-scale city.

Within the city, various factories were scattered everywhere, and the rumbling sounds and rising steam could be heard at all times.

The drawback of the Steam Age was its loud noise and significant air pollution; to solve this problem, one had to enter a higher level of technological age.

Inside the city, more than a hundred thousand Gran lived.

They were the cornerstone of this city; the Steam Age was also the age of workers.

It was an era with highly developed productivity, but it could not achieve intelligence and could only rely on a large number of workers to operate machines.

In the very center of the city, there was a skyscraper with more than a dozen floors.

This was the tallest building in the city, and also the most heavily guarded.

Here, every floor was guarded by a large number of Forest Elves armed with muskets.

This was the brain and central nervous system of the city.

All commands concerning this city were issued from within this building and passed down layer by layer.

At this moment, Li Feng stood in the office on the top floor of this building.

In front of him was a transparent floor-to-ceiling window.

Glass was a product unlocked after entering the Steam Age, processed from river sand.

Beside Li Feng were four beautiful Forest Elf maidens dressed in transparent gauze dresses with graceful figures.

At this moment, one was massaging Li Feng's shoulders and back, one stood by with a fruit platter, another fed peeled fruit into Li Feng's mouth, and the last one held a telescope to Li Feng's eyes.

Through the telescope, Li Feng saw an intense battle.

Across the sea, an endless stream of Undead creatures poured out, launching an attack on Li Feng's city.

Dense Skeleton Soldiers covered the ground, along with Ghouls, Abominations, Gargoyles, and more.

A group of Liches, cloaked in black robes and holding skull staves, stood in the distance, continuously casting various spells.

"Fire!"

On the city wall, a Gran general in silver-white armor roared.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

Above the city wall, the ready-to-fire cannons immediately launched.

Shells landed among the Undead army, and the violent explosions, while sounding, also reaped the lives of groups of the Undead Race.

"General Ada, the Lich Troops in the rear are constantly casting spells to interfere with us and continuously resurrecting the Undead. The mobile unit requests to depart and deal with them."

Just then, a branch of the Orc Race—an Eagleman general—walked up to the Gran in silver-white armor and loudly requested to be dispatched.

"Granted!" Ada nodded, then said in a deep voice, "Be careful; pay particular attention to the Gargoyles' petrifying shock."

"Yes!" The Eagleman general straightened up, saluted Ada, and then led his subordinates to fly out of the city.

"Bomb them for me, especially those damned Gargoyles! Provide fire cover for the mobile unit!" Ada roared his command.

The order was quickly relayed, the cannon barrels were raised, aiming at the Gargoyle Troops responsible for protecting the Lich Troops in the distance.

Shells were pushed into the barrels, then fired after the fuses burned out, exploding among the Gargoyle Troops and causing them to panic.

"General, the Berserker Legion requests to go into battle and let us eliminate these low-level Undead skeletons."

Just then, a small giant over three meters tall came to Ada's side and requested permission.

These were Highlanders, all of them mighty in stature and incredibly strong.

Paired with excellent equipment, they could easily slaughter even fourth and fifth-tier monsters, let alone first-tier ones.

"Granted!"

Ada nodded.

"Understood!"

The Highlander general looked excited, led his Berserker Legion to leap from the city wall, and clashed head-on with the Undead army.

Just then, Vampires flew towards the city.

"Marksman Legion, not a single Vampire is allowed into the city; shoot them all down, or face military law!" Ada ordered.

"Yes, General!" A fully armed Forest Elf's eyes sharpened upon receiving the order.

Arrows flew through the air, accurately hitting these sixth-tier Vampires.

These arrows, made of special materials, were the bane of the Undead Race.

The hit Vampires immediately let out a shrill scream, then fell.

The Forest Elves were all expert archers, and arrows precisely hit each Vampire, not allowing them to cross the line.

The Marksman Legion lived up to its name.

Li Feng took all of this in, nodding slightly.

Compared to Troops without any intelligence, Li Feng preferred to use these intelligent and independently thinking slaves.

As for the difference in individual strength, it could be compensated with weapons and equipment.

Just like those Forest Elves, who were originally ordinary people, but could still kill a sixth-tier Vampire with a single arrow.

The situation of this war was becoming clearer and no longer needed continuous attention.

Withdrawing his gaze, Li Feng turned his attention to the beautiful Forest Elves beside him, revealing a heartfelt smile.

The night was long... (Knowing you don't like the content that follows, I won't write it.)