Volume One: First Arrival Chapter Twenty-Three: The Enclosed House

The pool of water was only five or six miles from Li Family Village, and they arrived quickly.

Their group of over a dozen people included Meng Xingchen, Ye Feng, Xiao Yun, as well as the flight crew members Li Changfeng and Xu Jingya. They were also joined by Zhai Yao, Yuan Jinglong, Wei Si-yuan, and a middle-aged man with a receding hairline.

The middle-aged man, Liang Junyi, had been a construction engineer before crossing over, and he had awakened a talent for construction afterward. It was clear that the choice of location and the construction of their camp would require the expertise of this professional. Because of the specific requirements of this area, the farmland had to be within the protective range of the camp, meaning Yuan Jinglong’s input was also essential. As for bringing Wei Si-yuan along, the hope was that they might encounter more wild bulls at the pool; a single bull would certainly not be enough to support over a hundred people through farming.

Upon inspection, the terrain near the pool was indeed relatively open and flat, but the distance from the riverbank to the mountain forest was less than one hundred meters. This depth was far from sufficient to build a camp and cultivate enough farmland. Furthermore, the camp's construction had to account for defense; it could not be like Li Family Village, where all the houses were lined up without any defensive capability. If the houses were built against the mountain, the mountain itself would act as a natural height advantage. If the camp were attacked by intelligent or semi-intelligent races, the enemy could simply occupy the mountain and rain down attacks from above, leaving the camp in a passive defensive position.

Suddenly, Liang Junyi cast his gaze toward the opposite bank. Jutting out from the mountain on the far side and extending into the pool was a small mound that looked like a turtle’s head. While it was called a small mound, that was only in comparison to the massive mountain behind it; the top of the mound was roughly the size of two or three football fields.

After observing for a while, Liang Junyi pointed excitedly at the mound protruding into the water and said, "This is a natural foundation for a camp!"

Seeing the confusion on everyone's faces, Liang Junyi asked, "Are you familiar with the walled houses in the coastal regions?"

Meng Xingchen nodded. Although he had never been to the coast, he had seen documentaries about the architectural complexes in Guangdong and other coastal areas known as "walled houses," which integrated both defensive and residential functions. Looking closely, if the mound were leveled slightly, it would be the perfect place to build a circular walled house.

Although the flat land between the mountain and the riverbank on the opposite side was even more limited and unsuitable for large-scale farming, they could easily cultivate the farmland on this side of the river.

Yuan Jinglong clearly shared Meng Xingchen's thought. He pointed to the relatively narrow, flat area on the opposite bank and said, "We can cultivate our staple crops here, while using the opposite side for vegetable gardens and other smaller-scale crops."

Li Changfeng expressed some concern: "If we build the camp on the opposite side and cultivate the fields here, won't we be unable to protect the crops if they come under threat?"

Zhai Yao observed the distance between the two sides and replied, "That won't be an issue. If we build the walled house on that mound, we can place bolt-shooters on the top level. The distance from that mound to the foot of this bank is less than two hundred meters, which is well within the effective range of the bolt-shooters. If we develop more farmland, we can also build arrow towers along this bank to extend our defensive reach."

With his idea supported, Liang Junyi became even more animated. He pointed to the ridge connecting the small mound to the opposite riverbank, which resembled a turtle's neck, and said, "Not only that, the mound is already surrounded by water on three sides. We could dig through that ridge connecting it to the bank and channel the river water through, giving our camp a natural moat."

He walked along the riverbank, gesturing to estimate the distances. "As Mr. Zhai said, we can build arrow towers on this bank, placing them within the firing range of the bolt-shooters on the walled house. This will increase the area of farmland we can protect while enhancing the defensive capabilities of the house itself. Since the distance from the mound to this bank is only twenty or thirty meters, we can easily build bridges to connect the towers to the camp, allowing for rapid support when necessary."

Zhai Yao added, "By mounting smaller bolt-shooters on the arrow towers and building four or five towers along the bank, we could protect a stretch of farmland eighty to ninety meters wide and nearly a kilometer long. That should be enough food for all of us, right?" He directed the final question at Yuan Jinglong.

Yuan Jinglong confirmed, "It will be enough. In fact, if we grow rice, the hydrological conditions here could allow for three harvests a year. We would only need about thirty acres of land to feed our hundred-plus people."

He then pointed to a narrow stretch of the river about forty or fifty meters upstream. "We can build a small dam there to solve the irrigation problem."

This area had formed a pool because the river channel upstream narrowed to only four or five meters wide, with exposed rock on both sides. The channel also had a drop of nearly ten meters into the pool, but the connection was a relatively gentle slope rather than a sheer cliff, so no waterfall had formed.

Liang Junyi nodded firmly. "Building a dam there will not only solve the irrigation for the farmland but also our water supply. The walled house only needs to be three stories tall; we can use pipes to bring water directly from the dam into the house. We won't need any pressurization devices; the elevation difference alone will provide running water. We can also build water mills and water-powered trip hammers using the current."

Li Changfeng asked, "Building a walled house requires bricks and tiles. Given our current conditions, can we fire them?"

Liang Junyi replied, "It would be even better to have cement. Bricks and tiles are easy to fire; we can dig earth kilns and use wood as fuel. Cement is more complicated. The simplest cement requires limestone, clay, and iron ore, and it needs temperatures of over a thousand degrees, which is hard to achieve with just wood."

At the mention of iron ore, Meng Xingchen thought of the gnoll lair. He looked at Wei Si-yuan; perhaps they could subjugate the gnolls, providing them with miners.

Meng Xingchen spoke up, "I will handle the iron ore. As for the high temperatures, we have aviation fuel and a fire-controller, so that shouldn't be a problem. Clay should be easy to find, right? That leaves the limestone."

Liang Junyi looked around. "Even though this is another world, the basic material structure here isn't much different from Earth. Clay and limestone should be easy to find."

Li Changfeng summarized, "Then we have three urgent tasks: first, dig the earth kilns and collect wood to fire bricks and tiles; second, find iron ore, limestone, and clay; and third, manufacture crossbows to arm ourselves."

Meng Xingchen said, "I’ll head into the mountains immediately. Master Wei will come with me. If all goes well, we can resolve the iron ore issue today." He turned to Liang Junyi. "Engineer Liang, come with us to see if we can find limestone."

Zhai Yao said, "If we can find iron ore, we definitely need to find limestone as soon as possible. Not only is it needed for cement, but it’s also required for iron smelting. I’ll go with you to see if I can find other ores."

Meng Xingchen shook his head. "You need to lead some people to collect wood while preparing the materials for the crossbows. Engineer Liang, you recognize limestone, don't you?"

Liang Junyi laughed, "A construction man who doesn't recognize limestone? That's impossible."

Zhai Yao agreed, "Fine, then. But you must leave the girl, Tongtong, with me. Most of the crossbow components can be made of wood, but some critical parts require metal casting. With her, my work efficiency will be greatly improved."

Meng Xingchen nodded and turned to Li Changfeng. "Then I'll trouble Captain Li to assign some people to help Zhai Yao collect wood, while you organize the rest to dig the kilns."

Li Changfeng replied, "No problem, but I'll need Engineer Liang's help with the site selection and construction of the kilns."

After a moment's thought, Meng Xingchen asked, "Captain Li, would you mind sharing your three-dimensional attributes?"

Li Changfeng answered directly, "Spirit 7, Physique 7, Agility 6."

Meng Xingchen's expression stiffened slightly before he consoled himself inwardly, "He is a pilot, after all. Even for a civilian airliner pilot, it's normal for his physical fitness to be better than the average person."

He pulled the Rock Snake's beast core from his pack and handed it to Li Changfeng. "Absorb this; it’s enough to get you to level four. I suggest adding the three free attribute points to Spirit to bring it to ten. That should enhance your wind-control ability. You can distribute the remaining point as you like, though I suggest Physique."

Li Changfeng took it, looking at Meng Xingchen with some confusion.

Meng Xingchen explained, "I am heading into the mountains to secure the iron ore. Although the goblins on the other side haven't made any moves yet, we must strengthen our side just in case."

He turned to Zhai Yao. "When you return, work with Tongtong to craft a half-body alloy shield for Captain Li. If the goblins attack, having Captain Li at the front, supported by the other ability users, should be enough to hold them off, provided it's not a massive assault."

Ye Feng watched with envy as the Rock Snake's beast core slowly lost its luster in Li Changfeng's hand, eventually crumbling into powder.

A moment later, a breeze swirled around Li Changfeng, faintly forming a pair of pale cyan wings on his back. Li Changfeng ran along the riverbank in excitement; as the wings flapped gently, a strong gust of wind swept up, and he dashed forward with incredible speed.

His speed was no longer inferior to a gnoll's. With a light leap, the pale cyan wings spread out, helping him glide nearly eight meters.

Returning to the group, the usually mature and steady captain couldn't help but say excitedly, "I feel that if my ability strengthens further, I'll be able to fly. For now, I can fire three wind blades at once, and their attack power is much stronger than before."