Preparations for War

After saying a word to Falrodan, Li Wei wasted no time and turned back to the castle to start organizing supplies.

With permission granted, Falrodan curiously stepped inside the wall, following behind Li Wei and looking around.

Li Wei went straight to the castle's smelting room, retrieved the smelted Iron Ingots from a row of furnaces, and crafted them.

He opened a chest marked [Minerals].

A full five stacks of Iron Blocks lay quietly inside, along with various other ores—among them, one stack of Sulfur and forty-three Saltpeter.

Level: 35.

This was the fruit of a month's worth of constant mining.

"How do you plan to handle this?" Falrodan couldn't help asking as he watched Li Wei tallying the supplies.

Taking the chance to walk in, the experienced Ranger also surveyed the interior structure of the wall, and his observations made him frown.

The defensive works of this wall—if they could even be called that—were practically nonexistent.

It was nothing more than a pure stone wall, with only a few ladders to climb up. Once up top, it was bare, with no cover at all. Standing there basically made you a live target, with nowhere to hide.

He really couldn't figure out how Li Wei intended to hold this place with such a bare wall and a gate that looked like it would shatter at a touch.

With sorcery?

"Just defend it like this," Li Wei gave an ambiguous reply.

As he spoke, he pulled out over a dozen stacks of Cobblestone, made several trips back and forth, and in just a few tens of minutes raised the wall by a full five meters.

Falrodan watched the whole process, dumbfounded.

What kind of sorcery was this?

How did those massive stones stick together as if glued, without a hint of movement? And where did all these stones come from? It seemed like he just pointed at the air and conjured them out of nothing.

Staring at the wall, which looked like a single seamless whole with no trace of joints, the Ranger was baffled.

This kind of construction ability was practically like a creator god descending to earth.

If any nation could gain his service, it would be a qualitative breakthrough—this was far more useful than ten thousand city defenders...

"Now I know why you're confident you can hold this place."

The Ranger quickly recovered and said, "But your defenses are a bit crude. Listen to me, do this..."

As Li Wei listened, his eyes gradually lit up.

As an architecture-minded MC Player, he always built for aesthetics over practicality—whatever looked good, he went with.

Now, hearing Falrodan's advice, everything suddenly clicked.

In half an hour, the general defensive works of the castle—their structure and purpose—were explained clearly. Li Wei's eyes sparkled as he listened, and he immediately started making modifications on the spot.

Falrodan guided him in real time, telling Li Wei what to do, where to build cover, where to leave arrow slits, and where to place obstacles to prevent wall-climbing.

They worked like this all afternoon.

Under the dusk, another simple Watchtower was completed. Li Wei took a big bite of beef jerky and handed a few pieces to Falrodan.

"Try my cooking—System-brand Secret Beef Jerky."

Though he had no idea what this "system" Li Wei mentioned was, that didn't stop Falrodan from taking a few bites.

One bite, and the fragrance hidden within the jerky burst through its surface, exploding in his mouth.

"Delicious. Even the finest dishes from the top royal chefs are no match for this."

Loyal system food fan +1.

Seeing that the castle had truly become a real castle—both aesthetically pleasing and defensively sound—Falrodan had no more ways to help.

Everything was ready; now they just had to wait.

As dusk was about to pass, Li Wei turned and asked, "Aren't you leaving? If your intel is accurate, that Warg cavalry squad will be attacking tonight."

Falrodan took another bite of jerky, swallowed, and then said, "I'm not leaving. I want to see how you handle them."

"And besides, one more person can always help a bit, right?"

Though he said that, the Ranger had other motives.

A direct confrontation was definitely out of the question—that was a cavalry squad over a hundred strong.

He had already planned: if Li Wei ultimately failed and couldn't hold the castle, he would just grab Li Wei and run, so Li Wei wouldn't die here clinging to his castle, or get captured by the Orcs—that would be a real shame.

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Fighting and killing are things I go through every day."

Falrodan looked unconcerned.

Li Wei sucked in a breath.

Damn, he got to show off.

"Fine then. If you insist on staying, take these—consider them a gift."

Li Wei pulled out a set of Iron Armor and an Iron Sword, placing them on the ground. Falrodan's eyes went wide instantly.

Such exquisite armor, such a sharp longsword—could this man actually be a master smith?

"Put it on and see if it fits."

The moment he donned the armor Li Wei had given him, Falrodan immediately felt the difference. This set of sturdy, silver-white armor, once worn, didn't hinder his movements in the slightest, nor did it feel particularly heavy. One couldn't help but marvel at the ingenuity of its craftsmanship.

"You always manage to surprise me, Li Wei."

He liked this armor a lot.

"Looks like I'll have to put in a bit more effort tonight."

Dusk faded in an instant.

Night fell.

The sky wasn't particularly clear.

In the forest that could be seen at a glance, pairs of scarlet eyes stared fixedly at the castle that had sprung up out of nowhere in the distance, along with the walls that had seemingly risen overnight.

Even though orcs generally weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, they still knew that powerful beings existed in this world—wizards, elven lords, and, of course, the master behind them.

What if whoever was inside those walls was a similar kind of powerful existence? Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?

Yet more than ten days had passed since they first noticed this strange human. The castle kept getting more complete, the farmland more extensive, the walls taller and longer. It seemed that aside from his impossibly fast construction speed, there was nothing else special about him.

"This castle can be ours!" a short orc scout reported back to the relatively burlier leader. "And the wargs caught the scent of meat—there's definitely plenty of fresh meat inside..."

Meat... fresh meat...

Hearing this news, many orcs lost control.

"I'm sick of moldy stale bread and maggots—I want fresh meat!!"

"Meat! Human meat!"

"Shut up!" The burliest orc bellowed, slamming his fist hard into a large rock beside him.

Seeing the cracks in the stone, the surrounding commotion quickly died down.

"Everyone, get ready. Now, move out immediately! Tonight, I'm eating roasted human meat there!!"

The leader gave the order.

Growl—

The wargs couldn't help but snarl, and the orcs began to cheer.