NOVEL NEXT chapter 48 - Long Live the King! (4/4)
The starkly different styles of the two barracks made for a rather impressive sight. Wu Chi took a closer look at their attribute panels and his face immediately darkened.
"A thousand crystals a pop?"
"Are you fucking insane?!"
"Who the hell can afford this!!"
Wu Chi felt the urge to vomit blood. But, you get what you pay for. The massive cost difference between them and the Steel-Plated Wild Boars meant that the "Qin Sharpshooters" and the "Moon Palace Cultivators" were bound to be incredibly powerful.
"Void Crystals are one thing, they're easy enough to earn. But I can't just pull the Void Essence Stones needed for upgrades out of my ass."
"I'll summon the [Qin Sharpshooters] first. I'll scrape together some more today and then summon the Moon Palace Cultivators."
After a moment of thought, Wu Chi made his selection. He spent 10,000 [Void Crystals] and recruited ten Qin Sharpshooters.
The next moment, the doors to the barracks, which radiated an aura of grim lethality, opened. Ten tall, beautiful women, dressed in sharp, black attire with their hair tied back in single ponytails, walked out. Their delicate faces were set with an expression of intense resolve.
Of course, Wu Chi's attention wasn't on their looks, but on their equipment. A Qin sword at their waists, a Qin crossbow on their backs, and a long halberd.
"Your Majesty!" They walked over, knelt on one knee, and performed a kowtow, their left hand pressed over their right on the ground.
The women's voices were cold and aloof, like a winter wind, sending a chill through the heart.
Wu Chi was moved. "Rise," he said.
"From now on, a simple hand clasp will suffice when you see me."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The soldiers all rose, their pretty faces all turned towards Wu Chi, as if awaiting his command.
[Qin Sharpshooter]
Level: 1 (0/50)
Quality: Purple.
Talent: [Army Formation].
Bloodline: [Black Bird].
Constitution: 150
Skills: "Army Formation: Great Wind" (Level 1), "Army Formation: Unrivaled Under Heaven" (Level 1).
Description: The unrivaled elite troops of the Qin Dynasty!
[Army Formation]
Talent Quality: Purple (Excellent).
Attribute: Grants access to army formation skills.
Currently Unlocked: Great Wind, Unrivaled Under Heaven.
Description: When more than two Qin Sharpshooters are present, a formation can be formed to use army formation skills. The more people, the more powerful the skills.
[Black Bird]
Bloodline Quality: Purple (Excellent).
Attributes: Movement Speed +50%, Attack Speed +50%, Luck +1.
Description: It is said that the people of the great Qin possessed the bloodline of the Black Bird, which allowed them to unite the world.
[Army Formation: Great Wind]
Skill Quality: Purple (Excellent).
Level: 1.
Attribute: When activated, increases the movement and attack speed of all Qin Sharpshooters by 100%.
Duration: 600 seconds. (Base value of 60, multiplied by the number of people.)
Description: In war, speed is everything!
[Army Formation: Unrivaled Under Heaven]
Skill Quality: Purple (Excellent).
Level: 1.
Attribute: When activated, increases the attack power of all Qin Sharpshooters by 100%.
Duration: 600s. (Base value of 60, multiplied by the number of people.)
Description: The sharpshooters of Qin fear no death and are unmatched in valor!
Ten drop-dead gorgeous women stood before Wu Chi, yet his heart was calm. This was their unique charm. Every movement was precise and orderly. Standing before the grim barracks, they were like a row of drawn, deadly blades. Just being in their presence, Wu Chi could feel a sharp, cutting aura.
And their stats were worthy of an excellent-tier troop. High attributes, powerful skills—far more important than their pretty faces and figures. Of course, that was a sentiment only Wu Chi could afford to have. After all, his territory's trait of "100% Beautiful Women" was enough to make other lords weep with envy.
"I'll upgrade them first."
Wu Chi thought for a moment. Upgrading a single Qin Sharpshooter to Level 5 wasn't that expensive, but to unlock the level cap, he had to upgrade the barracks. And the barracks was ridiculously expensive.
"Let's see, Level 2 costs 500… son of a bitch, it's another 5000-stone sinkhole!"
Wu Chi's face twitched. He checked his inventory. After upgrading all his defense towers, he only had "10,822" [Void Essence Stones] left.
In one go, he upgraded the [Barracks] to Level 5, and then quickly upgraded the ten Qin Sharpshooters.
[Qin Sharpshooter]
(Details omitted)
Constitution: 230
Spirit: 100
After reaching Level 5, the Qin Sharpshooters' stats had skyrocketed. They were now comparable to a Level 1 Lin Daiyu. Of course, a simple data comparison was meaningless. A real battle would depend on many other factors.
At the same time, their skills also reached Level 5. Their auras became even colder, a faint killing intent swirling around them. They could clearly feel their own increase in power.
The group of beauties' spirits lifted. A look of joy on their faces, they clasped their hands and bowed.
"Long live the King!"
"Long live the King!"
"Long live the King!"
Let me tell you, there is no feeling quite like the crippling, soul-crushing despair of realizing that your new army of genetically-engineered super-soldiers costs more to recruit than a small, third-world country. A thousand crystals a pop. I actually felt my wallet physically wither and die in my pocket. But, as my dear old grandpappy used to say, "You want an army of supermodel amazons with the mythical blood of a magic bird? You gotta pay the magic bird tax."
So I paid it. I dumped ten thousand crystals into the sleek, obsidian death-barracks and held my breath. The doors hissed open, and out marched ten women who were so beautiful it was actually a little bit offensive. They were tall, they were gorgeous, and they were armed to the teeth with the kind of pointy things that make you re-evaluate your life choices. They moved with the kind of grim, purposeful stride that said, "Yes, I am a 10/10, and yes, I can and will kill you with this halberd."
They marched up to me, dropped to one knee, and bowed. "Your Majesty!" they said in unison, their voices so cold they gave me goosebumps.
I felt a little flutter in my chest. "Rise," I said, trying to sound regal and not at all like a man who had just spent his life savings on a squad of warrior-babes. I checked their stats. And then I had to check them again, because they were frankly, utterly, and gloriously bullshit. They had a hive-mind battle formation ability. They had a mythical bird bloodline that made them faster and luckier than a leprechaun on a cocaine bender. They were, in short, a walking, talking, and exceptionally attractive cheat code.
And because my life is a surreal, nonstop fever dream, they were all, of course, supermodels.
"Right," I said, my voice a little shaky.
"Upgrades. Everyone gets upgrades." I dumped the last of my Void Essence Stones into the barracks, then into the soldiers themselves, watching in real time as my net worth plummeted to approximately the value of a half-eaten sandwich. Their stats shot through the roof. Their auras went from "mildly terrifying" to "oh-god-please-don't-kill-me." And then, a genuine, honest-to-god smile broke out on their previously stoic faces. They could feel the power.
They turned to me, their eyes shining with a newfound, fervent, and frankly a little bit scary loyalty, and bowed.
"Long live the King!" they chanted. "Long live the King! Long live the King!"
And in that moment, as a chorus of supermodel super-soldiers who could probably punch a hole in reality itself chanted my praises, I had to admit… it was probably, almost, maybe worth the crippling debt.