Chapter 209: Ambush

Zhenbei City was already quite experienced in how to enslave Kobolds and Goblins. Some Kobold overseers and Goblin overseers were chosen from among these slaves and given slightly better treatment. These privileged individuals would then help Zhenbei City exploit the other slaves.

With over ten thousand labouring together on the construction site, the project’s progress was reasonably good. Mirror Lake City’s walls were built using rammed earth, reaching only six meters in height. The taller a rammed earth wall gets, the wider its base needs to be. A ten-meter wall requires more than double the workload of a six-meter one.

A six-meter wall could already block the vast majority of creatures roaming the wasteland. For the few that such a wall couldn’t stop, even a ten-meter one probably wouldn’t hold them either. Hence, they decided on six meters. Building rammed earth walls to this height was not particularly easy.

The wall base was made of rock. Su Lun used the Turn Mud to Stone spell to directly transform the rammed earth foundation into solid rock. Creating the foundation stones for a four-kilometer perimeter wall was a significant task, but fortunately, it wasn’t done all at once.

The rammed earth used for the walls wasn’t just dug up anywhere. The excavated soil needed to be screened first, with stones and other debris removed, and then the cleaned dirt was steamed. This was done to kill any grass seeds, insect eggs, and similar things within it.

Then, this steamed soil was compacted layer by layer. The resulting wall, while not as strong as rock, was still very hard.

In his past life, Su Lun had read historical records about ancient city building. One such city, called Tongwan City, took an extraordinary approach to its walls during construction: glutinous rice juice, kaolin clay, sand, and slaked lime were mixed in specific ratios with steamed soil and then compacted together.

Even more chilling was how strict the city’s construction supervisors were. During inspections, they ordered soldiers to drive iron awls into the walls. If an awl pierced the wall by an inch, the builders of that section were executed, their corpses buried within the wall itself. If the awl couldn’t penetrate, the soldier stabbing the wall was killed. As a result, Tongwan City became famous for its impregnable walls in that era, lasting so well that even a thousand years later in Su Lun’s previous life, much of the city’s ruins still stood.

Of course, this mighty fortress didn’t save the dynasty. Tongwan City was captured by a rival kingdom just nine years after its completion.

Naturally, Mirror Lake City’s rammed earth walls couldn’t be so extravagant. Su Lun had no large quantities of glutinous rice for construction. However, a shipment of lime did arrive from Zhenbei City, so lime and steamed soil were mixed in a specific ratio for building.

While the city walls were being built, the soldiers were not idle. Though the Mirror Lake area had been cleared once, surrounding tribes kept migrating towards it. This provided constant opportunities for the soldiers to hone their skills and capture more slaves for Mirror Lake City.

Apart from leading the soldiers to raid a few tribes during the first days, Su Lun didn’t go out again. Battles of that level were too trivial and unchallenging. He simply left them for the soldiers to handle. Instead, he had craftsmen build him a small boat to go fishing on Mirror Lake.

But his leisurely life was soon interrupted.

“You say a wolf pack attacked slaves from Mirror Lake City?” Su Lun handed two fish to the Guard beside him.

“Yes, my Lord. And it’s happened more than once,” the Drow Elf answered, nodding. “At first, we thought it was just a few stray wild wolves or other beasts picking off solitary slaves. But these attacks have been happening constantly for several days now.”.

“Has the attacking wolf or beast been found?” Su Lun frowned as he asked.

“My Lord, we’ve deployed all our Scouts to search. But there’s no news yet.”

“Dispatch some Scouts from Zhenbei City. Broaden the search area. I don’t believe those beasts just appeared or vanished into thin air,” Su Lun said, his eyes cold.

“Yes!”

“Also, send more Soldiers to guard the Mirror Lake City construction site. Tell the workers and slaves not to travel alone and to report anything unusual immediately.”

Following Su Lun’s orders, Zhenbei City promptly dispatched a team of Scouts, led formally by Aydin. With the larger scouting force, the search range expanded again.

However, shortly after the order was issued, Mirror Lake City was ambushed once more!

And this attack was far worse than any previous one. Not only did slaves and workers lose their lives, but Zhenbei City Soldiers sent to guard the area also suffered casualties.

Four Zhenbei City Spearmen were killed in the beast attack. Furthermore, the string of deaths was seriously hindering construction progress at Mirror Lake City.

The situation had become grave. During the clearing of so many tribes around Mirror Lake City, no Zhenbei City Soldier had died. Yet, they were now being killed by mere beasts.

Su Lun’s face was cold as frost.

Initially, Su Lun had thought these were just ordinary animal attacks. Now, four of his Soldiers had died. Since Zhenbei City’s victory over the Orcs, no one – nor any other creature – in this Wasteland had dared to challenge Zhenbei City. This was an affront to the city’s bottom line.

Su Lun was prepared to deliver the harshest punishment possible to these creatures.

Construction at Mirror Lake City couldn’t halt, so Su Lun dispatched some Barbarian Warriors and Heavy Spearmen for defense. These warriors were far more powerful than ordinary Soldiers. With them guarding the site, the attacks finally stopped.

The attacking beasts seemed to sense the strength of the Barbarian Warriors and ceased their ambushes. The Barbarian Great Axe Berserkers, being Third-tier Professionals, were incredibly potent. Each Barbarian Warrior, forged in brutal, bloody combat, was an elite among elites.

While they tended to go Berserk in battle and disregard orders, their premonition of danger was very strong, possessing the Intuitive Dodge talent. Though they always Charged in berserk fury, very few foes could actually harm them.

While deploying the Barbarian Warriors for defense, he also sent more Scouts to scour the surrounding area.

At the Mirror Lake City construction site…

Work resumed as slaves busily carried the prepared steamed soil up the sections of wall. The fastest section was already three meters high. They steadily compacted the earth.

A minor official responsible for this section hurried over.

“Lord!” A man in his thirties, the section manager, arrived and bowed deeply.

Without pausing, Su Lun gestured for him to rise. “Where was the attack? Take me there!”

“Right this way, please,” the official replied respectfully.

Near the wall construction site stood a simple wooden hut. The group quickly walked towards it. This was likely a resting place for foremen and soldiers.

They soon entered the hut. Inside the small room, the bodies of four Spearmen lay to one side.

Su Lun’s expression was icy as he approached and pulled back the white cloth covering one body, revealing the mangled remains beneath. The corpse was relatively intact but bore savage wounds. The Iron-Reinforced Leather Armor was torn open in a large gash, and the neck was a mess of blood and flesh.

“Sharp claws and teeth. Favors ambush,” Su Lun said grimly after examining the bodies. “Though Iron-Reinforced Leather Armor isn’t as tough as Iron Armor, for a beast to inflict this much damage, it must possess enormous strength.”

“Ordinary beasts lack such power. And these Soldiers didn’t even manage to fight back. Clearly, the attackers are excellent at concealment and ambush, and they’re very fast. Four Soldiers killed in a short span? The attackers likely weren’t alone.”

“It seems we have some Magical Beasts among us.”

Su Lun wasn’t overly concerned about Magical Beasts. While powerful, possessing magic, and very dangerous, killing them brought significant rewards. Magical Beast meat had special properties, their pelts were valuable, and other parts were useful – essentially, every part was a treasure.

Therefore, humans often organized hunts for Magical Beasts, an occupation far more dangerous than Mercenaries.

In this world, Magical Beasts were plentiful. Some were naturally born that way through generations, while others were ordinary beasts that had mutated. Mutated beasts might grow much larger, gain elemental control abilities, or both. Su Lun wasn’t worried about Magical Beasts. If any Magical Beast dared come near him, he was confident he could kill it.

As a Legendary Power, he had the confidence.

After eating a quick meal, Su Lun dispatched even more Scouts to investigate. He himself remained on the construction site, waiting silently.

Soon, the Scouts sent back updates.

Some wolf packs were spotted in the forest northeast of Mirror Lake, but these were ordinary beast packs. Night fell quickly. All workers and slaves retreated to the camp. Some, finding no room inside, had to sleep behind Mirror Lake City’s partially built walls.

While night shifts had once rotated workers, they’d been cancelled entirely since the attacks began.

The presence of the Barbarian Warriors kept the assailants at bay, indicating the attackers were highly intelligent. Catching them wouldn’t be easy. If the Barbarian Warriors remained on guard constantly, the attackers likely wouldn’t show themselves. Su Lun had no intention of keeping them posted there indefinitely.

So, he decided to have the Barbarian Warriors withdraw. He would stay there himself and wait for the attackers to appear.

The Barbarian Warriors left. Su Lun concealed himself in a sheltered spot behind the wall, closing his eyes and feigning sleep. Time crept by, but the attackers didn’t come. Su Lun didn’t rest; his physique allowed him to go days without sleep.

The night deepened. The wind whistled, a low moaning sound. Some campfires sputtered and died. It was nearly 2 AM, the hour when humans wearied most and defenses slackened.

Suddenly, Su Lun’s eyes snapped open. A flash of Lightning Glow sparked momentarily within them.