Preparing for the Siege

"I see. Your choice isn't wrong."

Chen Ning had no objections.

Now, Ye Qian is truly in control of this territory.

There's nothing we can do; this little girl's contribution is immense. We don't know why her buff is so outrageous; a mere Water of Purification has completely changed the economic situation of our home.

That's not all; she also has a buff that increases drop rates. With this bonus, everyone's advantage becomes more and more obvious over time.

"In fact, our army is very large now. During the time you were away, I sent the troops here out to fight a battle and they gained a lot." Ye Qian said with a sweet smile, "The army has over ten thousand men."

"Puff--"

Chen Ning was startled on the spot.

"Tens of thousands?"

"Indeed, we have a lot of money, so we recruited slightly more cavalry and Spearman, but a large portion of the money was still used for construction. On the other hand, I sent more farmers to learn blacksmithing. With a large number of people, there are now at least 600 novice blacksmiths. As for Intermediate Rank... none have been born yet, but there are some with very high talent who may break through soon."

Hearing this, Chen Ning was speechless for a moment.

He was naturally unaware that the so-called tens of thousands of people were actually only a small part of the main force of the army.

Right now, in the Kalu World, they've made a fortune.

However, in Ye Qian's view, that much money was still far from enough.

Why do I say that?

Because high-level units are very expensive, and their blueprints are also very difficult to obtain.

"In fact, I have a guess about this world. The rules of this world allow things to drop. And treasure chests are more likely to be placed by the system... Of course, this is just my idea."

At this moment, Ye Qian briefly shared her thoughts on the world.

"I've thought about this question too, but it's hard to verify."

"Um."

Ye Qian recalled how her system-related items were instantly listed for sale before, and she understood the role the Player System played here.

However, nothing is absolute, and one cannot make arbitrary judgments before being truly certain.

"What I'm considering is that it will definitely be necessary to cultivate extraordinary troops in the future. This world can't let us develop so peacefully." Ye Qian still showed a hint of worry. "Our current location should be like a beginner's village. Everyone, think back to that... warrior from the Holy See you encountered back then."

"Indeed."

Chen Ning also expressed his agreement.

"What are your plans?" Lan Xinyu's gaze fell on Ye Qian's face, somewhat anticipating her decision. "Anyway, I'll support whatever you do."

"Okay, damn it..."

After spending more time with her, I inexplicably found Lan Xinyu to be quite cute. Am I hopeless?

"The next plan is to continue infiltrating human territory. We can't defeat the Gnoll for now, but we can fish in the forests and find Goblin to fight. Then we can send our troops to the mountains in the northeast. The wild beasts there are very strong. Although killing one might result in the loss of a lot of troops, the probability of getting good loot is quite high."

"Ye Qian is right. We can't expect to sell useful items in the shop. Most players won't sell good blueprints they need; they'll have to find them themselves." Chen Ning nodded in agreement.

"Then let's proceed with this plan. We've already prepared quite a few cannons and ships, and we currently have 20,000 silver coins. As for the territory's defenses, the number of Auto-Guided Arrow Tower is much greater than before. In addition, I've increased the laying of railway tracks, so there are now at least two railway lines connecting different territories. Correspondingly, the vehicles are also divided into three types: long trains, short trains, and ordinary Iron-Clad Cart that can be driven directly. Long trains have 30 carriages, short ones have 10, and the Iron-Clad Cart are all separate and can be loaded onto the tracks when necessary."

After giving a general overview, everyone got to work.

Ye Qian assigned the tasks.

Chen Ning went into the forest to hunt monsters, but he had to avoid the direction where the Gnoll were as much as possible.

Lan Xinyu's mission was to send troops to search for high-level wild animals in the mountains of the northeast.

Of course, she would bring Amia along.

Ye Qian, along with the ancient hero Italin, arrived at the edge of a lake 30 kilometers southeast of the territory.

Ten medium-sized, 40-meter-long magical multimasted warships were neatly arranged on the shore.

After investing hundreds of silver coins, the port had already reached a certain size.

The first batch of 30 100mm Magic Crystal Cannon have been installed on the ship.

The reason it was able to move so quickly is due to the large investment of manpower.

"Not bad, pretty fast."

The current ship hull is not incapable of being used for amphibious operations.

Ten ships, with nothing else on them but equipped with three cannons, can each carry 200 people.

More is not impossible, but it would be extremely dangerous if there were any major storms or during artillery battles.

Standing beside Ye Qian, Italin gazed across the lake and said, "Lady Ye Qian, there are four gun emplacements at the port across the lake. Because their positions are relatively fixed, it might be a bit difficult to sink them."

"Yes, I'm already trying to investigate the situation on the other side, such as the caliber, range, and power of their artillery. If we know the specifics, we might be able to take targeted action."

Ye Qian smiled slightly, which made the blonde girl next to her stare blankly for a moment.

As a summoned hero, she never imagined that her lord would possess such charm.

At this moment, Ye Qian was actually contacting Cherie.

On the opposite bank of the lake, a boy draped in a black robe arrived at the city gate.

The guard frowned, finding it rather strange.

Why is a child dressed up so mysteriously?

It doesn't look very safe.

Moreover, the city is already under a ban, and under normal circumstances, people are not allowed to enter.

Thinking about all this, he wanted to take the initiative to go up and stop the child.

To everyone's surprise, the other person took out a black bag from under their clothes and handed it to them.

His pupils contracted instantly upon seeing what was revealed inside the bag.

A lot of money.

They were all silver coins.

That's equivalent to how many months' salary of mine?

"Is the city entry fee enough?"

Just as he was thinking, a man's voice came from behind him.

"I see."

He realized that the man was the one who really wanted to enter the city, and the child was probably just his servant.

"Of course you can, although theoretically you shouldn't be allowed in. But if I turn a blind eye, it's not impossible."

After accepting the money, the soldier stepped aside.

"Hurry up, quite a few people have seen this."

Thank you.

The man nodded to him and went inside with the child.

Two other children followed them in, which surprised the soldier.

But when he thought about how incredibly much money the other party was offering, he no longer cared.

In reality, the man was an elite archer disguised as a farmer.

The boy was actually one of Cherry's subordinates.

This trip into the city was somewhat risky. If the soldiers tried to rob us of our money or refused to let us in, and instead arrested us, then everything would be in trouble.

However, Cherry insisted on doing so anyway.

Before this, many children had secretly observed from a distance and determined that this particular soldier, when guarding the city, would basically let people pass if they were given enough money.

After this matter was reported, Ye Qian immediately increased her activity budget to 500 silver coins.

This is no small amount. Many player teams have to save even a single silver coin. If they knew that this place was spending so much money on a small intelligence agency, they would probably be extremely annoyed.

After entering the city, the archer and the three children nodded to each other and then parted ways.

His main task was to protect the children secretly, and he rarely interacted with them.

Cherry's intelligence network has long since expanded beyond children; adults have joined in some areas.

Putting everything else aside, even if the adults knew that the leader of the organization was a child, they wouldn't actually have any thoughts about it.

After all, with so much money at his disposal and so many obedient followers, even an infant would probably have to call him "boss."

In a sense, the fact that the leader is a child actually makes the organization more cohesive.

Having arrived at a safe place, one of the three girls, a trusted confidante whom Cherry had recently promoted at Ye Qian's behest, took off her hood.

"Our next task is to go to the port. The first step is to find out the approximate data of the coastal defense artillery here."

The girl's slightly childish voice reached the ears of the two little boys in front of her.

"I heard the port is very strictly controlled. How can we obtain it?" the little boy on the left asked doubtfully.

"That's none of my business. Anyway, the task is yours." Saying this, the girl glanced at the man on her left and suddenly grinned, "You like me, right? How about this, if you complete this task, I'll reward you with a kiss, how about that?"

The little boy's eyes lit up immediately, and then he nodded shyly. "Yes, Xiaoyou, you must keep your word."

"Certainly."

"What about me?" the boy on the right suddenly asked anxiously.

"If you can do it with him, I'll reward you too."

The boy got excited too. "Then I want a kiss."

"Okay, kiss, both of you."

"Yay!"

Children may seem unreliable most of the time, but they often demonstrate extraordinary intelligence when doing certain things.

More than ten minutes later, at the port, the captain of the guards, who was idly watching the water, suddenly heard a sound not far away.

Two children were arguing.

"No, I don't believe it. How could this cannon possibly shoot that far? I think 100 meters is the maximum."

"Hmph, that's why I say you're stupid. My dad said that this kind of cannon can shoot thousands of meters away. There's no cannon that can only shoot 100 meters away."

"Impossible! I don't believe it! How could a cannon be so powerful?"

"If I say so, then it is."

The two children argued as they approached the captain of the guard.

Because they had changed into better-made and relatively clean clothes, they gave the impression of being children from wealthy families.

Therefore, the captain of the guards did not drive them away.

He looked at the two children, and suddenly saw one of them say, "This big brother must know how far this cannon can go. If you don't believe me, ask him."

The captain was taken aback.

Then he noticed that both children were looking at him expectantly.

"That cannon," the battalion commander said, glancing at the distant gun emplacement.

The entire port has only four gates, and each gate is identical.

"A range of 6 kilometers, which is farther than you think."

"Wow, that's so far?" The younger child exclaimed, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Hmph, I told you, but you didn't believe me." The older child proudly puffed out his chest. "Besides, I heard that the cannon can rotate, so it can hit everything around it."

Hearing this, the captain didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"It can turn, but only 60 degrees; the rest are blind spots."