Sudden Unknown Danger

As Loren was enthusiastically researching how to upgrade the Arrow Tower, the construction department quickly came up with a repair plan after surveying and discussing it.

"My Lord, this Arrow Tower is a standard three-story structure. The second and third floors are attack levels, each capable of holding 15 combatants when fully staffed, for a total of 30 people across both floors.

The advantages of this type of Arrow Tower are its low construction cost and ease of building.

Its disadvantages are a single attack direction, limited capacity, and relatively weak defensive strength, unable to withstand siege weapon bombardment.

Given the extent of this Arrow Tower's damage, if you can dispatch 50 people, we are confident we can complete the repairs within 7 days.

Rebuilding the other completely destroyed Arrow Tower will take 15 days."

Loren looked at the middle-aged man reporting to him and slowly nodded.

"Rebuild this Arrow Tower first. We'll deal with the other one later." He needed to get his hands on the Elemental Tower blueprint first. He didn't have enough resources to invest in another Arrow Tower right now.

"The construction department currently has thirty people. I will assign another 20 to you. In 7 days, I want to see a brand-new Arrow Tower."

Upon receiving the promise, the middle-aged man and his companions immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, my Lord. We will do our utmost to fulfill your will."

Loren nodded with satisfaction. He was truly looking forward to seeing the effect of upgrading the Arrow Tower.

After arranging the Arrow Tower construction task, he had less than 120 residents available. Excluding those without labor capacity, the number of usable laborers might be less than 100.

Looking at the Arrow Tower, Loren turned his gaze to the city walls. Arrow Towers could be enhanced with Soul Power; could city walls be the same?

As the thought crossed his mind, the system's prompt sounded.

"Ding~ Do you wish to consume 10,000 Soul Power to upgrade the Wooden Wall to a Grey Soil Wall?"

"Ding~ Insufficient Soul Power, upgrade failed."

"Ding~ Grey Soil Wall has not been established, upgrade failed."

Loren's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the system's prompts.

Upgrading the wall required 10,000 Soul Power? That was 10 times more than the Arrow Tower.

However, like the Arrow Tower, the wall needed to be built before it could be upgraded.

Did this upgrade even make sense?

Or was it that the system's Soul Power consumption for upgrades was akin to enchanting the wall, giving it territory-like attributes?

After thinking for a moment, Loren shook his head. There was too little information for him to make an effective judgment. He could only wait until the Arrow Tower was rebuilt and upgraded to see the results.

By the time everything was finished, the sky had already darkened.

Just then, a clamor suddenly erupted from outside the city walls—the troops who had gone out to explore the surrounding territory were returning.

After the guards on the city wall confirmed there was no danger, they immediately notified the soldiers below to open the city gates.

The wooden city gates were opened, and the imposing figure of the Barbarian Chieftain Yas was the first to appear in Loren's sight.

The burly Barbarian was like an iron tower; his movements even caused the ground to tremble slightly.

He was a true warrior, powerful and fierce.

Following closely behind was Sim, the Kobold Bloodline Mage, draped in a black cloak, looking incredibly flashy.

The Spellcaster held his head high, his gaze dismissive of his surroundings.

Behind the two were two squads of Kobolds and two squads of Barbarians, with 10 people per squad, totaling 40 individuals.

The armored Barbarians were two heads taller than the Kobolds beside them, making the contrast extremely stark.

Even more striking was that some of the troops were carrying over ten snow-white wild deer with horns on their heads.

These deer emanated faint magical fluctuations, clearly not ordinary beasts.

"Good day, Lord Loren!"

Yas, upon seeing Loren, excitedly approached him and saluted.

He said in a deep voice, "Today, we scouted a three-kilometer radius around the territory and discovered over ten Sharp-horned White Deer gathered downstream from the lake..."

The Kobold Bloodline Mage Sim continued Yas's words, proudly stating, "Lord Loren, Sharp-horned White Deer can control wind elements and are extremely fast. If it weren't for me using magic to mask their senses, today's hunt would have been impossible."

Yas glared at Sim, the Kobold in the ridiculously flashy black cloak.

That damned Kobold, always trying to steal the credit in front of the Lord.

Loren slowly nodded.

"Besides the magical beasts, were there any other discoveries? Are there any dangers around the territory?"

The Endless Wasteland was no safe place. In this mineral-rich region, it wouldn't be surprising to encounter a greedy dragon even in a cave.

Especially with the presence of the nearby lake, Loren dared not be careless.

Food was not abundant in the Endless Wasteland, and water sources often meant food, attracting large numbers of magical beasts.

The existence of ferocious Frogmen in the lake was the best example.

As Yas spoke, his expression grew more serious.

"Lord Loren, we found something strange in the downstream area of the lake."

Loren's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Are there beastmen downstream?"

Yas shook his head.

"No, the further downstream we go, the fewer magical beasts there are. In fact, in some areas, we can't even find ordinary wild beasts."

Loren raised an eyebrow.

Magical beasts should be plentiful near a water source. For an area to be devoid of them, there could only be one reason: it was the hunting ground of a powerful race or magical beast.

A few kilometers was too small an area. With the City of Brilliant Moon's influence, a collision between the two sides was inevitable.

"Can you determine what race it is?"

Sim's black cloak fluttered behind him as he grinned and eagerly answered.

"Lord Loren, I smelled Boarman, Lizardman, and Berserk Brown Bear in that area."

Boarman? Lizardman? Berserk Brown Bear?

Loren's mind immediately conjured up related memories.

Boarman were the most numerous among the beastmen, omnivorous, eating anything, and capable of bearing over a dozen offspring at once. Their reproductive capabilities were astonishing, and they could be found everywhere in the Endless Wasteland.

Berserk Brown Bears were extremely large magical beast bears. Legends said they were descendants of hellish brown bears, possessing a portion of evil power within their bodies, making them powerful and brutal, impossible to tame.

Lizardmen, on the other hand, needed no further introduction. They were the Silver Moon Kingdom's greatest enemy and also a public enemy of Humans.

In the Endless Wasteland, Humans and Lizardmen would attack each other without hesitation upon meeting, engaging in the bloodiest of battles.

"Tomorrow, expand the search range. Besides that area, we cannot neglect any other locations.

We must identify all potential threats."

This sudden, unknown threat put Loren on high alert.

Boarman didn't have the capability to drive away all wild beasts from an area, so they could be ruled out first.

Berserk Brown Bears were manageable; while powerful magical beasts, they could be dealt with.

But if there was a Lizardman territory near the City of Brilliant Moon...

The outcome would be uncertain.

War could break out at any moment.