[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence":3,"chapter-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-122":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Warlord: Starting with Daily Intelligence",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2338585,4572,"Chapter 122","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-122",122,"\u003Cp>The next morning, all useful supplies from Resurrection Island were loaded onto the ships, and Gervas and his party began their return journey.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, they took away nearly three hundred refugees, along with over a hundred pirates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They spared the pirates instead of killing them because Gervas had foreseen the coming conscription order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With only a hundred or so men, they would never be enough for the battlefield, so these pirates were perfect for filling the ranks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, they were utterly wicked; using them as cannon fodder caused no moral harm whatsoever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, they now had three ships altogether, allowing them to transport so many people at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides being packed with Resurrection Island’s supplies, each ship carried an average of over one hundred fifty people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the warship was no exception.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the warship’s hull was streamlined and sat high in the water,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>it was still a combat vessel—this number of men was far from its limit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The same went for the other two merchant ships; the Birdshit routinely hauled several tons of guano at a time, so its carrying capacity was still considerable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, this warship is incredibly fast!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Migen and others stood at the rail, exhilarated beyond words by the warship’s cutting through the waves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just moments ago, when Gervas ordered full speed to test the warship’s true velocity, it left the two merchant ships far behind in mere minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With such a vessel, pirates could easily catch any merchant ship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had the Skulls’ nest not already been raided by other pirates, it likely held plenty of treasure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, once his strength grows, he might consider claiming it someday.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord! We found something strange in the hold!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Allen fantasized about seizing future dominance of the seas, Lei Meng hurried over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What strange thing?” Gervas asked, puzzled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, it’s something very similar to the crossbow you made—but much, much larger!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Similar to a crossbow, and much bigger? A ballista?!” Gervas exclaimed in shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ten minutes later, Gervas returned to the deck, his expression unreadable, carrying with him a ballista with a three-meter-long bow arm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a fixed ballista; the original mounting spot had been found—a perfectly fitted recess on the ship’s central bow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, can this giant crossbow actually fire?” Migen and the others stared wide-eyed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had seen the small crossbows their lord had the blacksmith make—each as powerful as a longbow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this giant weapon surpassed their wildest imagination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It can fire—and with tremendous power!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was indeed a ballista from another world; Gervas was certain now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though it had only a single bow arm, its power likely fell far short of the double- or triple-arm ballistae from his past life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And its stringing mechanism lacked a winch—only a large iron hook remained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this was a technologically backward world; the only large ranged weapon Gervas had ever heard of was the trebuchet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the difficulty of stringing it, if he didn’t want to waste too many men, he could have a titled knight assist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That way, the stringing speed would certainly not be slower than with a winch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas now wanted to see the ballista’s true power, so he ordered Lei Meng to draw the string.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a soft grunt, Lei Meng’s aura flickered faintly, and with a sharp snap, the bowstring slid effortlessly into the latch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, he had Migen and the others load the massive bolt, and under everyone’s curious gaze, he pulled the linen cord on the trigger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a thunderous crack, the bowstring released, the ballista shuddered violently, and the bolt—thick as a baby’s arm—shot forth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the bolt was so enormous—two and a half meters long—the shaft visibly wobbled under the immense stress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, the massive bolt plunged into the sea over two hundred fifty meters away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though it had lost nearly all its kinetic energy by that distance, Migen and the others stared in stunned silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This… this…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Impressive, isn’t it?” Gervas smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, my lord! The longest range of a longbow is barely over a hundred meters!” Migen and the others nodded vigorously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a pause, they asked, curious and awed, “By the way, my lord, aren’t you surprised at all?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Little did Migen and the others know, this ballista was nothing to their lord—a man from another world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, Gervas had crafted the small crossbows partly to gain experience, preparing for the eventual construction of a ballista.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He simply hadn’t expected that ballistae already existed in this world—even if their technology seemed crude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was still a major advancement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, two guards brought forward a pirate lieutenant who knew something of the ballista’s origins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ballista and the warship were a matched set, both originating from the Duke Hernalde family of the kingdom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The former Skull boss had been a first mate in Duke Hernalde’s naval fleet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later, after embezzlement was exposed, he seized the warship and fled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This ballista was designed by the Hernalde family’s chief master bowyer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas had never heard of it because the Hernalde family kept it tightly secret.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or perhaps, another possibility: Gervas’s rank was too low for such information to reach him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, the Skull boss had stolen the warship five years ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In five years, unless the ballista had never been used, there must have been rumors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“M… Master!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the evening, Gervas had returned to the castle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Six Resurrection Island villagers were brought into the parlor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, these villagers were now slaves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I hear you are jewelers?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Master!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These men were indeed the jewelers mentioned in the intelligence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After bringing back the islanders, Gervas had ordered Old John to tally their skills.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To his delight, the proportion of craftsmen aboard was surprisingly high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among them: eighteen shipwrights, five carpenters, six jewelers, and twelve navigators.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scarcity of shipwrights, carpenters, and navigators needed no explanation—especially shipwrights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a transmigrator, Gervas understood the importance of naval dominance; even as a mere baron, he must plan for the future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of these craftsmen, the jewelers were currently the least useful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But remembering the high-quality crystals Catherine had given him, Gervas had an idea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I need you to polish a batch of crystal slabs—polish them perfectly smooth, without a single scratch, like this glow pearl. Can you do it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master, we can!” To Gervas’s delight, the hardworking craftsmen gave a firm affirmative.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good! If you work hard, earning amnesty and becoming serfs is not beyond reach!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Gervas handed them the drawings he had sketched from memory of glass lenses from his past life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Ding! Daily intelligence has refreshed…】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Intelligence One: A messenger from Iron Wolf City will arrive today, bearing the King’s conscription order.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Intelligence Two: After more than ten days of excavation, Viscount Beckter failed to discover any new ore veins in his family’s iron mine.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Viscount Beckter was deeply disappointed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet he did not wish to let the mine lie idle; instead, he planned to squeeze out its last value.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That is, conceal the mine’s depletion and sell it as still productive, swindling a substantial sum in gold coins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Viscount Beckter did not know that, if he dug just ten more meters ahead along his current vein, he would uncover a far larger iron deposit.\u003C\u002Fp>",1211,"2026-06-20T22:44:01.160Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","2e92efa20fd21a60b0ae09565bc9fbc641a809a223c3e42ba28275f008f0a5bb","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-123","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-121",521,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-cover.jpg"]