Chapter 211: Upgrades

Unchaste Love for Men???

Mutual Affection???

What the heck were these attributes? Mutual affection my great grandma’s feet!

A dark cloud settled over Su Lun’s face. He promptly left the building.

“Tear down this worker dormitory!” Su Lun ordered grimly. If this stupid building stayed up much longer, every worker inside would turn into khemen. They might as well rename Mirror Lake City then.

A crew of artisans moved in immediately, wielding various tools to dismantle the structure. The dorm was crudely built and easy to put up, so tearing it down was even simpler. After a clanging, banging commotion, the building soon became a pile of rubble.

“Burn all the wood! Haul the dirt away and dump it! Then build a new worker dormitory!” Su Lun commanded.

While the reconstruction started, Su Lun went to inspect the attributes of the remaining employee dormitories. Thankfully, there were no more strange attributes like ‘Unchaste Love for Men’ or ‘Mutual Affection.’

The newly built worker dormitory looked unchanged. It still featured bunk beds. But this time, without those bizarre attributes, it displayed: [Employee Dormitory: Comfort +9, Stamina Recovery +10, Cleanliness +5]

Once satisfied all buildings were normal, Su Lun continued arranging matters in Mirror Lake City. He left military affairs in Aydin’s hands. For city construction, he picked a promising junior official named Han Fursen. Han Fursen was in the first graduating class of Zhenbei City’s basic school and the hardest-working student there. His excellent grades earned him the favor of several scholars.

[Name: Han Fursen; Loyalty: 90

Occupation: Junior Official / Beginner Scholar

Strength: 8

Agility: 7

Spirit: 7

Constitution: 8

Charm: 8

Command: 45

Traits (Talent): Disciplined, Diligent, Sharp, Managerial, Studious, Insightful

Skills: Quick Recording, Zhenbei City Laws, Basic Sword Arts, Persuasion, Proficient Math

Specialty: Beginner Scholar

Weapon Proficiency: Sword-type Weapons 56, Horsemanship 47, Archery 61]

Su Lun put Han Fursen in charge of Mirror Lake City’s construction work.

After dealing with Mirror Lake City, Su Lun returned to Zhenbei City. After over a month, Zhenbei City had grown busier and livelier. Numerous construction sites were still active throughout the city. Work on the residential district and the commercial area wasn’t finished yet. At the heart of Zhenbei City, on Sunrise Avenue, the Triumphal Arch was being built against the clock.

Construction on the Triumphal Arch never stopped. The area was filled with stacks of pristine white marble. Over a thousand slaves and artisans worked diligently. In one month, the foundation was complete, but finishing the whole Wonder Building would still take several months.

Back in Zhenbei City, Su Lun went for a hot spring bath first. Though he’d washed in the lake during his roughing-it month at Mirror Lake City, the wild outdoors couldn’t compare to the comfort of home.

Angela and Anna stood by as maids. Both wore thin gauze garments. The Half-elf had a tall, slender figure, a waist as slim as a willow branch, and curved hips. Full bosom, slim waist—graceful curves. The thin gauze hinted at pale jade-like limbs. Their delicate faces even looked somewhat similar, like a pair of twin flowers. After Su Lun’s attention, they had gained a charming aura of young matrons.

Now, one stood on each side, massaging his body. The gauze quickly became damp from the hot spring’s steam. Su Lun lay back comfortably in the pool, enjoying their service.

After a night of fierce life-or-death battles, Su Lun—the War God, Plasma Cannon God—strode refreshed from the room.

The morning air carried a hint of warmth. Summer was spreading across the Northern Wasteland.

Construction in Zhenbei City had already begun. At daybreak, overseers organized refugees and slaves to grab tools and head for work sites or to clear wasteland. Thanks to the Harvest Altar, the Territory’s land around Zhenbei City yielded excellent crops.

Many refugee farmers and slaves eyed the fertile land covetously. Such prime land was beyond their wildest dreams before. Once they worked here for five years and earned enough labor credits, they could exchange them at the City Hall for their own plot.

Watching the city buzz with activity filled Su Lun with pride. In less than a year, he’d built this city from nothing in the Wilderness.

After a quick breakfast, Su Lun went to the Triumphal Arch site. He needed to fuse the marble pieces for this Wonder Building using Turn Stone to Mud. The Triumphal Arch used massive marble blocks. After transport from the Lotas Mountains, stonemasons shaped and smoothed them before master carvers added their artistry.

The carved marble sections were labeled and installed according to their designated numbers. The Triumphal Arch featured eight large relief panels, along with countless carvings of flowers, birds, angels, and monsters—over a hundred statues in total. Every master carver in Zhenbei City worked here. Su Lun had even arranged for partner caravans to seek, at high cost, more master sculptors from the Northern Provinces.

The Triumphal Arch wasn’t just a simple arch. The blueprints included halls, staircases, exhibition rooms, and more. This would become a place to honor Zhenbei City’s warriors—both contributors and the fallen. The Battle Soul Stones would also be housed here.

According to the Wonder Building blueprints Su Lun possessed, the Triumphal Arch was meant to coordinate with a Hall of Heroes. Sadly, Su Lun lacked that blueprint. These two Wonder Buildings were designed to complement each other.

After fusing the already placed marble sections, Su Lun moved on. Though most basic construction was finished, many parts of Zhenbei City still needed upgrading.

Take the Military Camp and Training Ground. Protecting Zhenbei City’s prosperity required strong defensive forces. Without security, everything was at risk—a beautiful illusion easily shattered.

After several troop expansions, the Military Camp was getting overcrowded. Now that Zhenbei City had leveled up, the camp could be upgraded too.

The camp upgrade wasn’t too difficult. Su Lun gathered one hundred artisans and five hundred slaves to start construction. They upgraded barracks, camp grounds, latrines, armories, bathhouses—everything.

He expanded the adjacent Training Ground, adding loads of equipment. Su Lun even brought in devices inspired by his past life: balance beams, uneven bars, parallel bars, a horizontal ladder, an obstacle course, a spear practice field, a shooting range, and an arena.

“Boss, what is all this stuff? Is it useful?” Jushi, standing next to Su Lun, eyed the balance beam, parallel bars, and obstacle course obstacles skeptically. The stone weights and wooden poles for strength training made sense, but these?

“It’s amazing gear,” Su Lun said smugly. “The balance beam trains soldiers’ sense of balance. The obstacle course teaches them how to overcome barriers quickly. The ladder—”

“Something that simple can be so effective?” Others nearby looked equally unconvinced.

Centuries of scientific training methods were nothing to sneeze at. Su Lun gave them a sidelong glance and didn’t bother explaining. Experience would show them.

[Training Ground: Challenge Intensity +20, Technique Proficiency +13, Limit Break +5, Training Results +16, Training Addiction +15]

The upgraded Training Ground completely outclassed the old one. The stat boosts were substantial. But what really surprised Su Lun was the ‘Limit Break’ effect. What did it do? Help soldiers break past their limits and become Hero units? If true, that would be a huge jackpot.

“Want to see how effective it is? Try it yourselves, you’ll know,” Su Lun challenged them.

“All right.” Johnson nodded. He led a group of soldiers into the training area.

Zhenbei City’s troops ate well. Even new recruits were strapping young men, never mind the veterans. The camp consumed way more grain and meat than anywhere else in Zhenbei City.

Many armies didn’t splurge like Zhenbei City did. Ordinary soldiers in the Northern Provinces might get two meals a day. Besides personal guards, many soldiers were conscripts or hastily recruited farmers, thrown into battle with minimal training. Only elite units ate three daily meals, and even then, meat might appear only occasionally.

Daily meat rations? That was Nobles’ elite guard treatment. Most towns relied on farmer conscripts—peasants handed spears when needed, basically cannon fodder.

Any soldier from Zhenbei City was elite—Hero material, by Su Lun’s reckoning. Their commanders? Minor boss templates.

After Su Lun briefed them on the equipment, the soldiers started training. Chants echoed. Su Lun settled into a lounge chair in the shade, leisurely watching the soldiers drill.

They quickly discovered these ‘simple’ exercises weren’t easy at all. Upon entering the Training Ground, they felt pressure, almost as if gravity increased.

Following the training steps sequentially, the soldiers soon loved this regimen. They trained tirelessly in groups.

Before long, the ordinary soldiers were exhausted. Yet, they pushed to keep going.

Seeing this, Su Lun sensed something off and halted their training.

“Boss, why stop us? We haven’t finished training!” Johnson said, still buzzing with energy.

“Look at those soldiers! Can they really go on?” Su Lun glared at him while thinking, That training addiction effect was pretty strong?