74: Chapter 74: With a thousand crossbows ready, the battle begins, allowing the enemy to rest and prepare.

Below the Floating Island, Orcs drove Goblin cannon fodder to charge against the Servant Army.

The Servant Army used pre-constructed defensive fortifications to begin a frantic war of attrition with the Goblin army.

Xu Xuan stood on the Floating Island, watching the killing and chaotic warfare below; he sat atop the Floating Island observing this epic battle.

After all, these Servant Armies were meant to be consumed, and he watched as they blocked wave after wave of offensives for him.

Xu Xuan determined that in the coming battles, the majority of the battlefield would still be located beneath the Floating Island.

After all, if the Orcs wanted to land on the Floating Island, they would first have to clear out the hundreds of thousands of Servant Army troops below before they could start setting up siege ladders and such.

At this moment, Hu Zi Mei, standing beside Xu Xuan, asked bluntly, "Great King, we've already made a huge pile of ballistae. Don't you plan to use them to support the servants below?"

Standing at the edge of the Floating Island, Xu Xuan waved his hand and said, "The ballistae are my secret killing weapon, and the enemy's main force hasn't arrived yet. Don't waste the ballistae on this cannon fodder."

In Xu Xuan's view, the metal resources on his island were not abundant.

If he used precious ballista bolts on Goblins, it would be as ridiculous as using a cannon to hit a mouse.

Xu Xuan then asked, "Gong Clan, how many ballistae has the Ballista Workshop produced?"

[Gong Clan: Great King, I have mobilized all the workers on the island, plus the ten thousand new citizens who joined today—a total of about ten thousand people—and they are going all out mining, smelting bronze, and casting ballistae. However, the timber resources on the island are almost cut down. Great King, what should we do?]

The trees on the island were almost all cut down? Indeed...

The Floating Island was not large, and any trees that grew were immediately cut down.

"Then right now, how many ballistae do we have in stock?"

[Gong Clan: We already have 359 ballistae!]

359?

That was a bit few; there was still a large gap from the thousand ballistae Xu Xuan had envisioned.

The Floating Island's greatest advantage was its high vantage point and its mobility.

As long as there were enough ballistae, the entire Floating Island would be a mobile battery.

But the island's resources limited production. What could be done?

Xu Xuan thought of a solution: "Scatter Bone Meal! Use all the Bone Meal to plant trees; we need more wood to manufacture ballistae!"

When he heard Xu Xuan voice this crazy idea, Chi You was the first to object.

Although Xu Xuan had not assigned official titles, Chi You was now effectively the minister in charge of agriculture and weapon forging.

Chi You cupped his hands and said, "Great King, wouldn't using Bone Meal to plant trees be a bit extravagant? We still need to guarantee the rations for the over 20,000 people on the island; Bone Meal is our lifeline."

Unexpectedly, Xu Xuan raised his hand and pointed ahead: "General Chi You, do you see those endless enemies? Do you think we are still lacking Bone Meal?"

"Hmm? What the Great King says indeed makes sense."

Upon careful thought, Chi You realized if they lacked Bone Meal, they could just take it from the enemy. With so many Goblins and Orcs below, there was indeed no worry about Bone Meal.

Having opened up a new line of thinking, Xu Xuan began to operate even more boldly.

He summoned the chat group.

[Vassal Chat Group]

[Xu Xuan (Suzerain): Those below, organize personnel immediately to burn the corpses of the Goblins and Orcs. Extract their bone ash to grow more qingzi bamboo. Use the qingzi bamboo to make bamboo spears; it can kill enemies and also purify the air to ensure everyone is safe from plague infection.]

[Jung Jae-soo: This subordinate understands!]

[Takeshita Asuka: Eh? That makes sense!]

Below the island at this time, the lords and the vanguard units composed of Goblins and Orcs had been fighting for half a day, and the weapons and arrows in their hands were becoming fewer and fewer.

Being reminded by the Suzerain, they suddenly realized something.

By scattering Bone Meal on qingzi bamboo, one could see large patches of tender shoots sprouting from the soil. The cultivation method for qingzi bamboo was very simple—it basically grew in entire groves!

With qingzi bamboo as material, the female wildlings in the rear began to use the scarce bronze hatchets on hand to cut down the bamboo and sharpen it, manufacturing bamboo spears and spiked bamboo fences.

Large quantities of bamboo were transported to the front lines, and the Servant Armies, who had been struggling in the fight against the Goblins, began to receive a steady stream of supplies.

The entire process was simple, crude, and highly efficient!

[Kill Enemy] — [Take enemy corpses and burn them into Bone Meal] — [Plant bamboo to create weapons and spiked fences] — [Kill more enemies].

As the process repeated, the entire battlefield became incredibly relaxed.

In just one short hour, the style of the battlefield changed abruptly!

The Bone Meal burned from corpses allowed Jung Jae-soo, Takeshita Asuka, and the others to obtain a massive source of materials, greatly strengthening their combat power.

Furthermore, the rewards for the monsters these people killed naturally all counted toward Xu Xuan.

One could see in the global battle reports:

[Great Xia Lord Xu Xuan: Has killed 32,393 Goblins, 1,843 Orc Elite Warriors.]

[Orcs: Have killed 13,234 Servant Army troops.]

As time went on, the casualties of the Orc and Goblin allied forces grew more and more numerous, while Xu Xuan's Servant Army had already stabilized their position.

Victory reports kept coming from below, while on the island, trees were being cultivated on a large scale, and 10,000 craftsmen were working overtime to rush the production of ballistae.

At this rate, Xu Xuan felt it was hopeful to manufacture over a thousand ballistae before dark.

After all, he had already killed all the large wild animals that spawned on the island. While the amount of leather rope and animal tendons was limited, combined with the resources in the hands of the vassal lords, they could just barely scrape together 1,000 ballistae; it should be possible.

Watching the battlefield below turn into a one-sided affair of waiting for the enemy at leisure, the vassal lords utilized the large amount of bamboo in their hands to create weapons and defensive works.

One could clearly see the people Takeshita Asuka commanded hiding behind bamboo fences, using bamboo spears to stab and kill the charging Orcs and Goblins.

Everyone went from crying for their parents at the beginning to laughing and joking now.

"This is great, brothers! Although this bamboo isn't durable, the output is huge and it's sharp enough."

"Let's get more bamboo to set up a few more lines of defense. Those Orc mixed units will waste a lot of time just clearing the defensive lines."

"The Suzerain's idea is just great. These bamboo arrows made from qingzi bamboo have decent penetration; they can pierce leather armor within 5 meters."

"This is comfortable. No matter how many Orcs come, we'll kill them all!"

Below the island at this time, everyone was beaming with joy.

Who could have thought that just an hour ago, these people were complaining about being abandoned?

And now?

Now they felt they were terrifyingly strong, capable of defeating an enemy force ten times their size!

"Do you see that Orc Mixed Legion! In this first wave of offensive, they can't even push forward anymore, hahaha."

Takeshita Asuka, Kim Hyung-tae, and the others were having the time of their lives fighting for the first time. The defensive lines enclosed with bamboo and the defensive formations composed of bamboo spears were invincible! Too invincible!

The vassals below were almost ready to open champagne in celebration, but only Xu Xuan remained very cautious.

He then asked, "Daji, how is the task I assigned to you?"

Xu Xuan's voice transmitted several kilometers away into the mind of Su Daji, who had transformed into a small white fox.

At this moment, Su Daji was lurking near the Orc Sword Saint.

She communicated with Xu Xuan through her consciousness: "Great King, I have discovered the commander of this batch of Orcs and am planning to take action."