Chapter 269: Failed Design.
The two men carried the Iron Wolf Glaive over.
With a clang, they set it on the ground.
"Boss!" The two greeted, handing the Iron Wolf Glaive to Qiangzi, then left.
Qiangzi held the Iron Wolf Glaive with one hand, scratched his head with the other, and said, "It's a bit different from the original sketch. The previous version was too heavy, so we reduced the number and length of the branches, and it ended up like this."
Wu Heng took a careful look.
One main spear had nine iron branches.
Calling it an Iron Wolf Glaive, it now looked more like a spiked wolf-tooth club.
It was entirely different from the original draft.
"Let me test the weight."
"It's pretty heavy." Qiangzi said, handing it over.
Wu Heng picked it up and swung it twice in the empty space ahead.
Qiangzi, standing to the side, widened his eyes in disbelief as he watched Wu Heng wield the Iron Wolf Glaive.
What took two people to carry was being swung like a wooden stick.
"It's too heavy to be useful." Wu Heng stuck the Iron Wolf Glaive into the ground and said.
It wasn't that he found it heavy, but the skeletons would.
Even with his 34 Strength, it felt heavy, so equipping it on regular skeletons to fight the zombie horde would be even more strenuous.
"This isn't practical; it looks cool as a decoration though. How about this, have the workshop produce more tridents with sharper blades." Wu Heng said directly.
"Alright, I'll get it done when I get back."
Qiangzi agreed without any resistance.
He set the Iron Wolf Glaive aside, then pulled out the previous draft, saying, "Take a look at our research on drake equipment."
Wu Heng leaned in, "Alright."
"We made two guesses based on the drake's characteristics: the first is to let the drake drop bombs, like a plane dropping bombs, and the second is to mount weapons on the dragon's claws."
"Tell me about both."
Qiangzi pointed at the blueprint.
It depicted a drake with several bombs underneath, "Bone Drake can have its chest cavity designed as a bomb bay to drop bombs. Of course, we don't have bombs, so our idea is to drop short arrows or chunks of iron or rock."
Designing the chest cavity as a bomb bay wasn't an issue.
But dropping arrows had low damage, while chunks of iron and rock were heavy and couldn't be carried in large numbers.
Neither was ideal.
"What's the second plan?" Wu Heng continued to ask.
Qiangzi turned another page, and the design was even more exaggerated.
Blades extended from the dragon's claws, like Wolverine's claws.
"We've mounted hooks on the dragon's claws, so it can swoop down and hook zombies into the air, then drop them to their deaths, or sweep through the zombie horde with mounted machetes, slashing them down."
Uh…
Wu Heng looked at the drawing, frowning slightly.
Qiangzi asked, "How is it?"
"Not good." Wu Heng said, "For the first hook, what if it gets caught on a building? The zombies could pull the drake down. The second one, with machetes on the claws, wouldn't be able to land."
Wu Heng thought for a moment and continued, "Focus on the bomb-dropping direction; it feels more reliable."
Qiangzi nodded, "Alright!"
...…
As the two were talking, Li Yanhong came over from the front, carrying a bag.
"Sister Hong!" Qiangzi greeted.
"What are you guys talking about?"
"Just reporting some work to the Boss, I won't disturb your conversation." Qiangzi said, turning to leave.
Li Yanhong handed the bag over, and inside were some gold and silver jewelry.
She said, "The amount of gold that the shelters can trade is getting less and less. After some time, they might not have much more to offer."
In the apocalypse, gold wasn't worth much.
But the shelters still needed gold to trade.
In safe areas, they might find some by scavenging or killing lone zombies.
But once these are exchanged, it's hard to find new sources of gold and silver.
Wu Heng was aware of this and asked, "Any solutions?"
"There are only two options: clear the roads to allow more shelters to come and trade, or enable survivors to have continuous opportunities to acquire gold and silver."
In other words, either clear the roads leading to other directions,
allowing more survivors to trade safely.
Or provide them with weapons and equipment so they can clear zombies and scavenge for more gold.
In the modern world, many people wore gold and silver jewelry, and as long as they had the means to kill zombies,
they could earn their share.
Shifting their focus to killing zombies for gold and silver could also prevent shelters from becoming desperate and turning their attention to the auto repair shop.
"What kind of equipment do you think would be good to provide?" Wu Heng asked.
"Currently, the best sellers are crossbows and arm guards; they both have good markets." Li Yanhong thought for a moment and said.
Suddenly, it seemed like the world was gradually evolving into something like another realm.
Crossbows and armor had become necessary items.
"Bows and arrows, can you use them?" Wu Heng took out a wooden bow and arrows from his space ring.
Li Yanhong took them, drew the bow, and nocked an arrow.
With a snap, the bowstring vibrated loudly, but the arrow didn't fly. It slipped from her hand and clattered to the ground beside her foot.
It almost pierced her foot.
Li Yanhong looked at the arrow on the ground and said awkwardly, "It's not like on TV; maybe I need some practice."
Bows and arrows were indeed not as easy to use as crossbows.
Wu Heng nodded, "I'll find a way to provide crossbows and armor. When trading, loosen the conditions a bit so each shelter has the chance to exchange for more."
"Alright!"
Wu Heng smiled, "Let's go, let's head over to the skeletons."
...…
The two headed to the area where the skeletons were stationed.
Wu Heng handed over the 500 wooden bows and arrows he had bought from the gnome to the skeleton warriors.
Li Yanhong arranged for wooden targets to be set up in the area.
Five hundred archers began training.
The sound of bows tightening and the whistling of arrows filled the air, striking the targets.
The scene was quite impressive.
Unlike Li Yanhong, the skeletons could shoot arrows, though their accuracy was poor.
Most missed the targets entirely.
They needed time to practice.
After watching for a while, Wu Heng took Li Yanhong and headed back.
"Tomorrow morning, we'll go to the plaza to clear more zombies and push forward." Wu Heng said.
"Okay!"
...…
Late at night, the temperature dropped slightly.
Wu Heng got up and closed the open window.
Li Yanhong, half-asleep, woke up and murmured lazily, "What's wrong? Can't sleep?"
"Just closing the window."
Wu Heng finished speaking, got back under the covers, and gently stroked her smooth back.
With a slight turn, he gradually pinned her beneath him.
"This late, aren't you tired?" Li Yanhong's arms rested lightly against his chest, her legs naturally wrapped around his waist.
"Are you tired?"
Li Yanhong smiled, turned her head aside, and said, "As long as you're not tired, it's fine. I don't have to do the work anyway."
"Mm."
Li Yanhong's breathing grew heavy, her arms tightened slightly, and she nestled into his embrace.
She extended her red tongue, gently licking like a cat drinking water.
...…
The next morning.
According to yesterday's plan,
today they would continue clearing zombies along the way.
Gold-Silver Island was relatively stable, but their levels still needed to increase.
Li Yanhong's bus was parked outside, and Wu Heng boarded with several special skeletons.
Since it wasn't far, only about two kilometers,
they didn't plan to bring a convoy.
"Bring the skeletons out; get ready to move out." Wu Heng said directly.
Clatter~!
From a nearby area, dense footsteps echoed as a mass of skeletons emerged.
They surrounded the bus.
"Let's go!" Wu Heng said.
The bus started, slowly moving forward.
The skeleton army on either side sped up to a jog, following in the middle.
Their bones rattled loudly.
...…
After about half an hour,
the army reached the previously cleared 'Bifeng Life Plaza.'
Up ahead, a large number of zombies began to appear.
Roars rang out continuously as zombies surged from the alleys and shops on both sides, converging like rivers.
Wu Heng opened the bus door, looking at the dense horde ahead.
He said directly, "Archers, volley!"
Whoosh~!
A dense volley of arrows shot into the sky.
In this situation, accuracy wasn't necessary.
As long as they shot forward and not at their own people, they were likely to hit the target.
Thud, clink, clatter!
Arrows rained down like a storm.
The charging zombies were instantly skewered like porcupines, their bodies twitching violently from the impact before collapsing in waves.
Before they could get back up and continue charging, they were trampled down by the surging zombies from behind.
Large portions of the horde tripped and tumbled into heaps.
The arrow rain continued to fall, and wave after wave of zombies kept collapsing.
The damage from the arrows was still limited.
Even with their bodies pierced, the zombies were not significantly hindered.
They continued attacking with arrows stuck in them.
The horde closed to within 300 meters.
Wu Heng issued another command, "Javelin throwers, throw!"
Whoosh~!
Iron javelins rained down, bringing down another swath of zombies.
After several rounds of ranged attacks, the horde's numbers were nearly halved.
The next second~!
The horde crashed directly into the skeleton ranks, with a heavy thudding sound.
Both sides engaged in close combat.
The sounds of the melee echoed throughout the area.
Ding~!
During the battle, a sudden system notification appeared.
[Your level has increased to Level 11, Intelligence +1, Perception +1.]
[Feat Unlocked: Spellcasting Acceleration.]