Chapter 14: 13. Water Flow Phalanx

13. Water Flow Phalanx

"Hello there. I lived on this island ten years ago, and I even chatted with some people back then."

Li Ang wanted to strike up a rapport with the villagers.

"Ah, I remember you. So it really is you—the person who came from nowhere and ran off to nowhere."

A villager suddenly stepped forward.

Ten years had passed, and Li Ang did not recognize him at all, yet the man remembered Li Ang, which left Li Ang quite surprised.

It seemed this village was too isolated, with days passing exactly the same for decades, so memories from ten years ago were not being overwritten by fresh ones.

There were several others just like this villager.

"You still remember me? I'm truly honored," Li Ang said politely.

In the outside world, a long-awaited reunion might call for a good long chat, but Satus Island truly had no contact with the outside; the villagers were not skilled at conversation, and after exchanging only a few words, they dryly asked Li Ang why he was here.

"I'm looking for the blacksmith shop."

As soon as he spoke, the villagers' expressions turned unnatural.

At the same time, they looked toward Zoe behind Li Ang; the young girl was currently bowing her head, her face hidden by her drooping chestnut hair.

Li Ang did not know the situation, and the scene instantly fell into silence.

"Uh, her—I haven't done anything to her."

He felt he should explain first.

A villager leaned in and whispered, "Well done."

Hm? What did that mean?

"This girl is a weirdo, and her parents were terrifying too. None of us dared to provoke them. To be able to make her cry, you've really got talent."

Did Zoe's parents have a grudge against the villagers?

Li Ang glanced at the girl; upon hearing the villagers' words, she hunched her shoulders, took a few steps back, turned, and ran into the narrow alley between two nearby houses.

Seeing the girl run off, the villagers did not find it strange; instead, they seemed to have let out a sigh of relief.

"Who were her parents?" Li Ang asked.

"Weirdos. Always doing strange things."

After some effort, Li Ang finally got a clear answer.

It turned out that as soon as Li Ang left ten years ago, Zoe's parents brought her to the island—it was almost back-to-back.

They lived on the island for two years before leaving; at the time, Zoe should have been only seven or so.

In the eyes of the villagers, if people came, they came; after all, it was easy to clear a field on the island and be self-sufficient. The fields of the Newbis world were incredibly fertile and never needed to lie fallow, so naturally, the two sides would not have any conflicts.

But not long after, people on the island began to go missing. The villagers suspected they were being murdered and wanted to investigate, but when they approached their house, they heard huge, strange noises and saw peculiar lights, scaring them so much they never dared to go near again.

Later, before the two left, they even went door-to-door threatening the villagers, forbidding them from bullying their daughter after they were gone.

Murder? Threats?

Although Zoe was sometimes a bit mischievous, even if wicked parents left early, it would affect the child; she did not look like the child of such parents at all.

After saying goodbye to the villagers, Li Ang used the system's overhead map to find the location of the blacksmith shop.

It was located at the other end of the village, but it stood some distance away from the other houses. It was a detached building with a yard; the long-unused furnace and anvil were in the yard, with a shed erected above them.

On the other side of the yard was a small cottage surrounded by flowers and plants, and there was a yard in the back where the edge of a field could be seen.

The blacksmith shop was no longer open, but someone still lived here.

Just as Li Ang was feeling puzzled, he saw Zoe open the door and come out of the house.

"Li Ang," the girl called his name softly.

"Is this your home?"

"Mm."

"So, the blacksmith was actually your father?"

"Dad used to hammer away here every day, turning stones into swords and knives and such, so I thought you would come here too, and I came here to wait for you first."

After the battle just now, Zoe was much quieter; she was neither at a loss like when they first met, nor giggly like she had been before today.

And it was precisely this demeanor that allowed one to notice she was actually a stunning beauty.

Her skin was naturally perfect; running wild outside in the wind and sun only added a healthy flush to her delicate, powder-snow-like skin, not only failing to lower her attractiveness but instead filling her with the aura of youth.

"Then I'll borrow your family's forge and anvil."

"Okay, but I don't know if they can still be used."

Li Ang didn't understand these things before, and he knew even less now.

After he walked closer, he saw that this furnace was a magic furnace; mechanisms using the same principle could be seen in many places, the most common being the engine rooms of various airships.

He found the dim energy-storage crystal behind the furnace, channeled magic into it, and the flames soon roared to life. The other tools also appeared to be complete.

He opened the equipment manufacturing panel, and the system prompted that preparations were complete and he could begin manufacturing.

[Required tools detected, materials [Iron Ore] [Water Mist Stone] detected, blueprints can be selected]

Li Ang selected [Blueprint: Basic Standard Iron Sword].

[Blueprint confirmed, material [Water Mist Stone] can be added, add it?]

It was the observation information provided by the system that let Li Ang know the Water Mist Stone could also be smelted. He wanted to see the effect, so he chose to confirm.

The system also prompted that the materials from the Wyvern could be smelted, but he was afraid of wasting them and decided not to add them yet.

After pressing the option to start manufacturing, his mind became completely clear, and a series of knowledge flooded in. This knowledge was not a combination of words but directly became his experience; he immediately understood how to forge.

The feeling of directly acquiring knowledge was wonderful; he felt like a skilled blacksmith of many years, picking up the tools and beginning the work.

Smelting iron ingots, heating, hammering...

He placed the Water Mist Stone into the magic furnace; the magic flames quickly burned away its impurities, and before the water element could escape, Li Ang skillfully and precisely added it to the iron blank...

Time passed gradually, the iron sword took shape, and after quenching, the finished sword blank was finally obtained.

After polishing and using some materials left behind by Zoe's father to make the handguard and hilt, the final result was presented.

[Standard Iron Sword [Clear Spring]]

[A sword crafted through a standard process; due to the addition of materials containing water elements, attacks carry a water attribute]

[Tier: 1]

[Category: One-handed Sword]

[Equipment Skill: Water Flow Phalanx [Torrent]]

Water Flow Phalanx?

[Skill: Water Flow Phalanx [Torrent]]

[Activation Method: Cooperative Units 5]

[Raindrops gather into streams, streams merge into rivers, rivers surge into the sea; when water gathers together, its power is unstoppable]

[Effect: When activated, weapon tier increases by 1]

When he got the sword, Li Ang thought he had misread it.

Equipment did not necessarily carry skills, nor did it mean that equipment with skills was always top-tier; the final result depended on the tier and the effect of the skill.

He did not expect to be able to craft equipment with a skill, but because he was already accustomed to the system's power, he was not very surprised.

What truly surprised him was this skill.

Or rather, the "Phalanx."

Equipment with Phalanx skills was called Phalanx equipment; as the name implied, when multiple individuals formed a phalanx, their power would receive a bonus.

This was a skill highly favored by various air cavalry regiments; if one could collect weapons with the same skill and use them together, everyone's power would be enhanced.

A top-tier group Li Ang knew of equipped Phalanx weapons on a large scale, achieving twice the result with half the effort when fighting in teams.

But equipment with the same skill was not that easy to find, and some people viewed it as a useless burden.

But if Li Ang could mass-produce Phalanx equipment...

"In that case, if I arm my team, we will surely be invincible."

His heart burned with excitement, and he immediately prepared to put the remaining ore into forging to see if there could be any new discoveries.