Chapter 66: Laborer Fang Shi: Weapon Dilemma

(PS: There’s another chapter coming during the day.)

“Brother, settle the account!”

Fang Shi pushed his cart and shouted.

“Coming, coming!”

Several Jianwutang disciples swiftly began inspecting the black bear corpse on the cart.

“One slash to the head, no extra wounds, fur intact.”

“No excessive fright before death, meat quality perfect.”

“Weight: 2064 jin, quality: Qi Refining early stage.”

After a while, the lead outer-disciple said: “Fang Shi, credited 206 contribution points. Any objection?”

Fang Shi smiled: “No objection, no objection. Brother, could you move the bear away quickly? I’ve more cargo to deliver.”

“Sure, no problem. Rare to see such a diligent younger brother.”

Once the brothers moved the bear corpse, Fang Shi hurriedly pushed his cart and dashed off.

There was no choice—Fang Shi only realized a fatal problem after killing the bear.

He still had to transport the corpse.

A large black bear weighed a ton.

Fang Shi could barely lift it to waist height with all his strength; moving it without tools was pure fantasy.

Helpless, he sprinted back and fetched a cart to haul the giant bear.

In the end, the giant bear was gone.

No one knew which beast from the Demon Valley had dragged it away.

“Really, waste of time. If not for Senior Brother’s order, I wouldn’t do this crap.”

Fang Shi still respected Senior Brother, even though he violated regulations by assigning him this month’s task.

He did it—definitely not because Senior Brother was powerful or gave him favors.

…

Ancheng, Lin Yuan Community.

A Firewing Bird descended from the sky, diving toward the bait.

But ten meters above ground, an arrow shot from a building struck it dead.

It crashed to the ground with a thud.

The bait stood up, revealing a muscular frame—it was Zhang Di.

He shouted toward the nearby building: “Jiang Xian, your archery’s getting sharper.”

On the fourth floor, a woman with a longbow slung across her back leapt through the window and landed on the ground with a few bounds.

Jiang Xian said coolly: “Collect the Firewing Bird corpse, then move to another spot.”

“Otherwise, those cowardly beasts won’t dare come again.”

Zhang Di nodded, grabbed one Firewing Bird in each hand, and tossed them into nearby buildings.

Jiang Xian stood silently, using breathing techniques to ease the ache in her arms.

Since their separation at the Trial Tower, Fang Shi vanished.

The Huáguó side couldn’t find him no matter how hard they searched.

Had his name not still appeared on the stele, they’d assumed he was dead.

With no choice, Officer Li informed Jiang Xian and the others of some details.

He told them to quickly locate the Ancheng regional contact.

Jiang Xian and the others met Officer Li’s expectations and completed the mission successfully.

Afterward, Jiang Xian, due to her outstanding potential, was heavily cultivated by the Ancheng region.

She was trained until Level 3, capable of solo-killing Firewing Birds, before being allowed to hunt freely in low-to-mid-risk zones.

Low-to-mid-risk zones were areas classified by the number of spatial portals and Firewing Bird density.

Generally, the number of spatial portals had no absolute disparity.

Low-to-mid-risk zones formed mostly due to excessive Firewing Bird killings.

Residual pheromones from dead Firewing Birds repelled most others.

High-risk zones were typically unrecovered territories or man-made traps designed specifically to hunt Firewing Birds.

Jiang Xian, through this killing spree, reached Level 4 by the twentieth day of the apocalypse—today.

Zhang Di, benefiting from Jiang Xian’s presence as her dedicated bait, also reached Level 3.

Among Ancheng survivors, they ranked among the upper-middle tier.

“Jiang Xian, how long until you hit Level 5?”

“Still far off.”

Zhang Di sighed: “Even so, you’re way stronger than me. I’m Level 3, but I can only bully zombies.”

“Nowadays, zombies are almost wiped out—except maybe in some remote corner—everyone with red eyes has already killed them.”

“I don’t know where those cowards got the courage—first they hid, trembling.”

“Then they saw zombies like Tang Seng ’s flesh—every extra second a zombie lived was pure profit.”

As Zhang Di hauled corpses, he ranted nonstop, recounting all the bizarre things he’d seen these days.

Jiang Xian remained silent, listening quietly.

Besides her natural disposition, her current state was also partly why.

“Enough talking? Then let’s go.”

“Don’t rush—I’ve one more left, just one. And I see your hands are shaking. Why not rest first?”

Jiang Xian dismissed it: “I’ll steady my aim when I shoot.”

Zhang Di panicked: “Brother—no, Sister—I’m not just worried about you, I’m worried about my own life! If you miss, I’m dead!”

“Then switch? I’ll ask Officer Zhao for a Wanderer. You’re too fat—this baiting’s too hard on you.”

“No! No! No! I’m still fine! Wanderers? Pfft—I’ve maxed defense, shield user is invincible!”

Jiang Xian was speechless: “Don’t you know in the 3D world, defense can never outpace offense?”

“Where did you get that theory?”

“I won’t bother explaining—you wouldn’t understand anyway.”

With that, Jiang Xian walked off, covering great distance in a few strides.

“Hey, hey, wait up!” Zhang Di sprinted after her. “How long are you going to train?”

“Until I reach that person’s level.”

“Damn, Fang Guwen’s a monster—he could fight Level 1 back then. Now it’s been nearly ten days—no telling how strong he’s become.”

“I don’t care. That’s my goal.”

“Sigh,” Zhang Di sighed, finally catching up. “No matter your goal, you’ve got to wait for me.”

“Mm.”

…

Ancheng, Peace Avenue.

Twenty large crossbow carts lined the battlefield.

Just ahead, five spatial portals were densely clustered.

But no matter how many portals, it made no difference—any Firewing Bird that charged the line was instantly shot dead.

Even if it dodged the arrows, it faced a barrage of spells: slow, animal confusion, animal immobilization, blindness.

Then soldiers rushed in and hacked it to pieces.

Afterwards, they cleansed the ground with spells to purge the pheromones left by dead Firewing Birds.

This lured new Firewing Birds back into the trap, until the portals vanished.

A young man said: “Captain Qian, how’s the crossbow cart performance?”

Qian Cheng nodded: “Decent. Too bad the production cycle’s too long.”

“Push the Engineering Department—make them speed up.”

The young man sighed: “It’s not that easy—it’s not the industrial age anymore.”

“Handmade, mixed with magic—under pressure, getting this many is already a miracle.”

Qian Cheng frowned: “Is it really that hard? Isn’t it just some iron sheets and nylon ropes, just assemble them?”

The young man was speechless: “If one iron sheet guaranteed power, ancient armies would’ve used crossbows exclusively.”

“Do you know what material makes the best bow stave? What for the bowstring? Why use composite and recurve designs? How do you ensure precision?”

“Most importantly, power and speed—do you know how fast Firewing Birds react?”

“Unless you fire at six or seven meters, they dodge easily. What if you miss then? How dangerous is that?”

“And if you don’t hit a vital spot, the dead man is you.”

“Or you rely on numbers—everyone fires together to block movement.”

“But Firewing Birds aren’t that stupid—they’ll retreat if outnumbered, then summon more.”

Qian Cheng countered: “Then fight a positional battle—like now.”

The young man said: “That’s exactly what the higher-ups want—but it’s useless after ten days.”

“The later monsters react faster. Without the right materials, the power will always have a ceiling.”

Qian Cheng said: “So you’ve come up with a bunch of useless junk.”

The young man blushed slightly: “What do you know? This is called technological reserve.”

“When the right materials become available, we can manufacture crossbows with high power and precision.”

“Also, do you want it or not? If not, I’ll give it to someone else.”

Qian Cheng’s eyes darted, but he finally choked out the word “yes.”

Although it had many drawbacks, it was at least a ranged weapon with threat potential.

Watching Qian Cheng’s expression, the young man swore inwardly: he would definitely create new gunpowder.

Drop them all in a single volley, or it’s just too frustrating.