Chapter 211: Recuperation and Arrow Tower Placement
After dealing with the matters of the [Market], Zong Shen returned to the Lord's Courtyard.
He began upgrading the Territory Storage Box. As the fundamental storage space of the territory, the upgrade difficulty and resource consumption of the Territory Storage Box were not considered high.
Zong Shen easily upgraded the Storage Box to level 5 in one go, and with the level 2 [Storage Shed Type I] technology, the territory storage grid's capacity reached as much as 220 grids.
After occupying 58 storage grids in the Storage Box, Zong Shen successfully stored 57,864 units of iron. His personal storage grid and backpack storage grid were finally re-organized.
Then, he rushed to the [Tier One Territory Technology Research Institute], upgrading [Defense Studies Type I] to the second level, further increasing the durability value of territory buildings.
Technology research takes some time, and once Zong Shen confirmed the upgrade by consuming resources, he could ignore it for a while.
Once all these trivial tasks were completed, Zong Shen finally had time to tend to his wounds.
He arrived at the Hot Spring Cottage, removed the heavy [Tiroka's Bear Armor], and carefully untied the [Ordinary Hemostatic Bandage] wrapped around his waist, noticing that his wound had noticeably tightened.
The bandage had a pale yellow moist stain, indicating signs of infection in the wound, although it wasn't severe.
After observing the wound's condition, Zong Shen used hot spring water to gently wipe the area around the wound, then poured some Moon God Spring to wash the wounds on the front and back of his body again.
This penetrating wound was not easy to heal, thanks to Zong Shen's robust physical attributes and the healing divine water like the Moon God Spring.
Otherwise, even in the Endless Continent where lords descended, it would normally take several days of rest along with healing medicine to recover.
After cleaning his body and wound, Zong Shen took out another [Ordinary Hemostatic Bandage], wrapped it tightly under his ribs, securing the wound. Tighter bandaging helps with the recovery of wounds that initially had heavy bleeding, preventing further bleeding and tearing.
After tending to his wounds, with bandages wrapped around him and armor in hand, Zong Shen walked out of the Hot Spring Cottage.
At this moment, those farmers were busily constructing the houses, and San Pang had begun counting the food, preparing for distribution.
Frontline food and water would also be transported by the Wolf Cavalry.
Dutra and its tribesmen were curiously looking around, observing the situation within the territory.
The fourteen Kobolds who were the first to join the territory were introducing their life and experiences in the territory over the past days, using "Dogman Language".
Those Kobolds occasionally let out bark-like exclamations.
As the sky began to darken, the moon hung high in the sky, scattering its silver brilliance.
The crowns of the Ancient Guardians began emitting a silvery-white light, echoing the moonlight above.
The supplies Zong Shen had previously purchased in Sitanos Village were enough to feed over 200 people for half a month. But now, with the addition of over 200 Kobolds, it might only sustain them for a little over a week.
However, there were still quite a few cattle and sheep in the territory, which could be slaughtered if necessary.
Additionally, those two or three dozen dairy cows had begun to produce milk.
Specialized farmers in charge of the pasture collected it, totaling about two barrels, roughly 60 liters by yesterday.
The fresh milk carried a milky scent that Zong Shen didn't particularly enjoy, so he let San Pang distribute it all.
Yesterday, before the Kobolds joined the territory, 60 liters of milk were enough to give everyone a small bowl. The boxed milk on Earth was 250 milliliters in capacity.
Zong Shen stood at the courtyard entrance, shook his head, took out a piece of [Refined Wheat Bread], and casually took a bite before entering the Lord's Small Tower. He went straight to his room on the second floor, removed all his equipment, and lay down on the bed to start resting. He planned to take a nap first.
It was just after 7 o'clock in the evening, leaving enough time for a nap.
He first needed to make sure his injuries healed well, preparing himself in the best condition for any explorations and challenges.
The territory and the Burrow Frontline both had stable plans, and no problems were expected in the short term, only varying degrees of battle pressure.
Zong Shen yawned, planning to visit the frontline after waking up, while placing those defense buildings in appropriate positions, just to enhance the defense intensity of the Burrow Frontline once more.
This was a win-win situation; even if the pressure on the Burrow Frontline surged, making it hard to hold, Zong Shen could transfer those defense buildings back with Wenresa and Dutra.
After a whole day of intense battle, Zong Shen felt extremely fatigued; besides his injuries, he had too much to worry about. In combat, he was the main attacker, and in the territory, he was the Grand Steward.
The faster the territory developed and the larger its scope, the more complex the tasks became. Even with support from heroic-level talent, as the territory expanded, more heroic-level individuals were necessary, or else development would hit a bottleneck.
Of course, this was because Zong Shen's development pace was too fast. In nearly a week's time after landing, the territory had taken a preliminary shape, with a population of hundreds. If, like other lords, the usual scale was just a small plot of land, there wouldn't be today's worries.
Fatigue quickly sent Zong Shen into a deep sleep. As his steady breathing filled the air, even the moonlight seemed to soften.
...
Just over four hours later, at nearly dawn, Zong Shen awoke leisurely.
After a night's rest, his physical condition had significantly improved. The piercing wound he sustained was healing as muscle regenerated and tightened, and the skin and muscle were nearly closing up.
Once it closed up, it would start to scab over. Such a healing speed would surely be a medical miracle on Earth, but in the magical and alien world of the Endless Continent, this was not considered extraordinary.
Zong Shen rubbed his eyes, rolled out of bed, and dressed himself in his full gear before descending from the Lord's Small Tower. Standing beside the courtyard, he saw that the newly constructed grass huts and houses had all been completed.
Currently, the territory comprised 35 Tier One Grass Huts, 21 Tier Two Houses, and 10 Tier Three Stone Houses.
The kobolds were smaller in stature and tended to huddle together to sleep. A house meant for six farmers was somehow crammed with 12 kobolds.
No wonder in the mines, these kobold huts, though not large, could hold several resting kobolds.
The warriors of the territory were still on patrol and had not rested. Zong Shen summoned them to assign patrol teams and shifts, allowing them to rest in turns.
The current combat load of the territory was quite heavy. The warriors who accompanied Zong Shen for exploration during the day faced intense battles. If adequate rest times were not arranged, issues would inevitably arise.
For tomorrow, he had no exploration plans but intended to organize hunting squads to actively hunt Burrow Monsters around the territory and the Burrow Frontline, earning points and alleviating the pressure on the territory.
With the ability of Demon Deterrence, if used skillfully, he could maneuver through the Burrow Monster Swarm adeptly, dispersing large groups and eliminating small ones on the spot.
This allowed him to manipulate the Burrow Monster Swarm artificially, an additional strategic option.
After resolving the warriors' rest rotation issue, Zong Shen began preparing for the placement of the Arrow Towers.
Currently, there were eight Tier One Elemental Arrow Towers in the territory and the frontline, with seven in the territory and one on the Burrow Frontline.
The single Tier Two Elemental Arrow Tower was located in the center of the courtyard, being the first Elemental Arrow Tower constructed in the territory, often referred to as Tower One.
Additionally, there were four Ancient Guardian Tree Spirits gathered on the western side of the territory, whose positions had not yet been adjusted.
Because the Ancient Guardian's maximum range of 1500 meters was sufficient to cover the current territory's building range, providing effective protection, no special adjustments were currently required.
Now, having exchanged some points, Zong Shen had six Tier One Arrow Towers, three Tier Two Arrow Towers, and one Tier Three Arrow Tower. After some thought, he decided to place four Tier One Arrow Towers at the four directions within the territory for supplemental defense, leaving the remaining two Tier One Arrow Towers to strengthen the frontline.
Since the Tier One Arrow Tower had a range of only 500 meters, they needed to be evenly distributed in different directions.
Of the three Tier Two Arrow Towers, two were placed in the territory, built on either side of the Lord's Courtyard, corresponding to the east and west directions while overlapping some north-south coverage.
As for the single Tier Three Arrow Tower, Zong Shen positioned it beside the Tower One in the courtyard's center. Zong Shen also had a Tier Three Arrow Tower Construction Blueprint, acquired from the Silver Treasure Chest in the office area, and intended to upgrade the central Tower One to Tier Three with some resource expenditure.
The Tier Three Elemental Arrow Tower boasted a maximum range of 1000 meters, with two Tier Three Elemental Arrow Towers standing in the courtyard center, sufficiently providing strong internal defense to the courtyard.
Once everything was in place, the construction blueprints exchanged for points began automatic construction, one of the advantages of complete buildings.
As for Tower One in the center, after being upgraded to a Tier Three Arrow Tower, it would still require the farmers to spend more than ten hours finishing its construction. Zong Shen went ahead to overlay the building's silhouette, so once the farmers awoke, they could begin the construction.
After arranging the Arrow Towers in the territory, Zong Shen headed to the stables, waking the soundly sleeping Pigsy and riding it to the Burrow Frontline.
Along the way, a Stone Gargoyle Swarm occasionally flew by overhead, momentarily blocking the moonlight, casting shadows on the ground and adding an eerie atmosphere to the night.
With no hunting organized tonight, the density of the nearby Burrow Monster Swarm was noticeably higher, causing Zong Shen some concern about how to handle the forthcoming days.
With Pigsy's galloping, Zong Shen reached the Burrow Frontline in six or seven minutes.
Some of the warriors were already resting, while others continued to battle.
Especially the long-range soldiers, who faced immense combat pressure, as the appearance of the Stone Gargoyles required them to handle more combat tasks than the close combat soldiers.
Zong Shen frequently witnessed Dragon-kin Rangers shooting sharp arrows at the sky or Water Mages chanting Water Arrow Magic.
There were also three Burrowing Demons, occasionally spitting out Strong Capture Nets to pull a Stone Gargoyle from the sky to the ground.
The intensity of the battle was far beyond that of the previous night.
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