novelODS Chapter 15 Forest Cannon Tower
Chapter 15 Forest Cannon Tower
Liu Huasheng opened the strategic map, where the location of the engineering shop had been marked, and the monster strongholds were also marked with large red dots.
"This big red dot is deep in the forest. The strongest Stonehammer leader, along with the ogre mage and ogre warrior, all seem to be melee monsters. If these monsters don't damage the trees, then we can go deep into the forest and build a tower where they can't attack. Perhaps a single Tier 1 tower could take down this big red dot..."
Liu Huasheng felt that this was worth a try.
However, it is not easy to venture deep into the forest. The forest is so dense that it is like an invisible wall, and you can't even climb in!
After thinking for a moment, Liu Huasheng built a logging camp 50 meters away from the big red dot, next to the woods.
After the logging camp was completed, Liu Huasheng hurriedly drove his donkey cart back to gather the laborers. After a half-day of work, he brought 18 laborers with him.
These 18 laborers were newly recruited, so Liu Huasheng built three more houses for them, leaving Chaos City with only 255 gold coins in reserve.
After the migrant workers were in place, Liu Huasheng directed them to precisely "fell the trees".
Timber is not an infinite resource. The practice of migrant workers harvesting timber, or logging, is not entirely accurate, but once a certain amount of timber is collected, the trees will disappear.
Liu Huasheng observed carefully that the migrant workers used small axes to chop down trees, and they could get one point of wood for every 100 chops. A large tree could only provide about 10 points of wood.
Through observation, Liu Huasheng discovered that a migrant worker could cut down a large tree in about half an hour, which meant he could harvest 10 points of timber!
"It seems the laborers' workload isn't too heavy. At their current efficiency, five hours of logging should be enough to reach their daily target of 100 wood points. They won't need to work the rest of the time..."
Liu Huasheng rubbed his chin, thinking to himself that he might have to work overtime tonight to make sure that the 18 farmers could dig a narrow passage through the woods, and that a level 1 defensive tower could be placed at the end of the passage.
As night fell, Liu Huasheng told Donkey King Afu to continue selling goods. He didn't go back to the city to sleep that night, fearing that if he wasn't on-site to direct the work, the laborers might make a mistake while logging, and if they widened the passage, wild monsters could squeeze in, and the tactic would fail!
Finally, after working until 6 a.m. the next day, the 18 laborers felled a total of 180 trees and dug a narrow passage 40 meters long!
This passage is only wide enough for one person to pass through, and Liu Huashan estimated that given the size of that big red-dot monster, it probably wouldn't be able to get in.
At its end, the straight-line distance from the engineering store is approximately 50 meters.
Unsure whether the monsters would damage the trees, Liu Huasheng made two preparations. The passage had two exits, and he prepared an escape route so that he could run away immediately if things went wrong.
After arranging for the migrant workers to return to the city, Liu Huasheng waited for them to recover their strength before starting to build the tower.
It was eight o'clock in the morning, and the Demon Sound Tower started broadcasting again. At first, it was still "Song of the Day," and the song sent by the system was Tu Honggang's "Loyalty to the Country"!
Amidst this "heroic and stirring" music, Liu Huasheng began building a tower in the forest!
As soon as his defensive tower was built, the monsters that had been dozing off suddenly woke up. They roared and howled, as if their base had been raided, and paced back and forth anxiously like ants on a hot pan!
Liu Huasheng's gamble paid off. Although these wild monsters had a long range of vigilance, they would not damage the trees at all; they were just raging helplessly through the woods!
"Hahaha, you're all so big, but you can't even get in, huh? Get ready to get beaten up!"
Liu Huasheng felt extremely pleased at that moment.
Before long, the tower-building animation ended, and a dark red iron tower appeared in front of Liu Huasheng. Its top resembled a large teapot with a short cannon barrel, like the spout of a teapot.
This is a Tier 1 [Cannon Turret]!
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Name: Cannon Turret
Rank: 1
Durability: 2000
Attack: 20
Attack type: Physical
Attack range: 100 meters
Attack Speed: 0.2
Attack Effect: [Flame Splash] The turret fires a heavy howitzer shell. When the shell lands, it explodes in flames, dealing equal damage to enemy targets within a three-meter radius. The flames continue to burn for five seconds, dealing 5 points of burning damage per second.
Mysterious Ability: [Samadhi True Fire] There is a very small chance that the shells fired by the cannon turret will generate Samadhi True Fire. Samadhi True Fire is a kind of innate divine fire that cannot be extinguished by conventional methods. It can burn the physical body, soul, equipment, evil spirits, and even non-physical things such as the void and spiritual energy!
Samadhi Fire burns continuously for three seconds, during which it can deal (tower level × 1000) points of true damage per second and instantly destroy the target's defense. The extreme pain will render weak targets unable to fight!
Note 1: The cannon turret cannot attack air units!
Note 2: The text on the pagoda is inscribed with the section on the Samadhi True Fire from the "Collection of Teachings of Zhong Lü".
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"Holy crap, they even unleashed the Samadhi True Fire! That's incredible!"
Liu Huasheng thought to himself that the alien players probably didn't know how awesome Samadhi Fire was. Even though his cannon tower was only a Tier 1 tower, as long as it could produce Samadhi Fire, it could be called a divine tower!
"Wait a minute, what if the cannon turret ignites the trees and starts a fire...?"
Liu Huasheng felt a renewed sense of unease, and the artillery turrets' attack had already begun.
Its teapot-shaped turret on top rotated, aiming the muzzle at the location of the Stone Hammer leader and other monsters. Then, accompanied by the buzzing whistle of an air-dropped missile, a grenade flew out of the cannon barrel, tracing a parabola as it slowly fell!
Three or four seconds passed before the grenade struck the Stone Hammer leader's head with a loud bang, exploding into a large burst of flames.
The flames flowed onto the ground like lava, quickly injuring the cannibalistic mages and ogre warriors next to the Stonehammer leader.
Liu Huasheng ran to a high point in the distance to observe, thinking to himself that the cannon turret's attacks looked really impressive, but the actual damage...
A small damage number appeared above the Stonehammer leader's head: "-1"!
It only lost a little health, walked a few steps, and the flames couldn't deal any damage. Before the turret could attack again, the little bit of health it lost was naturally restored!
The cannibal mage lost 12 health points due to the splash fire, and the subsequent fire burn could deal 3 points of damage per second!
The ogre warrior's defense was clearly weak; he lost 20 health points from the splash fire, followed by burning damage from the flames, which took 5 health points per second.
The flames did not ignite the trees, and the fire that Liu Huasheng had feared did not occur.
"The cannon turrets' attack speed is too slow, only one shell every five seconds. It's fine for taking down demon warriors and tree demon axe throwers, but it's a bit difficult to kill cannibal mages, and the Stonehammer leader is practically unkillable!"
Liu Huasheng frowned, thinking to himself that whether his forest artillery turret tactic would succeed depended on the Samadhi True Fire!
Just then, the turret fired another grenade.
The grenade looked ordinary, still flying in a parabola towards the Stone Hammer leader's head, but the moment it exploded, it was like a thunderclap, and a bright, crimson flame, like a thunderbolt, bloomed like a flower, instantly engulfing the Stone Hammer leader's upper body!
"-1000!"
A huge golden damage number appeared above the Stonehammer Leader's head, and the monster jumped up on the spot, letting out a heart-wrenching roar.
The bright flames burst forth, instantly scorching the two cannibalistic mages and the ogre warrior.
The cannibal mage also immediately lost 1,000 health points, while the cannibal warrior, with only 500 health points, was instantly killed by turning into a white light!
That's not all; the Samadhi True Fire can burn for three seconds, dealing 1,000 points of damage per second.
So, just a breath later, the two level 5 cannibalistic mages with 3000 health points fell to the ground, and the giant stone hammer leader also lost 3,000 health points!
Moreover, its defenses were completely destroyed. When the turret fired another grenade, it obediently gave up 20 health points. After that, it was burned by the flames and had no resistance. It lost five health points per second!
"How can a mortal body withstand divine fire! Samadhi True Fire is truly awesome; two more shots and even this level seven Stone Hammer leader will be done for!"
Liu Huasheng was thrilled, as if he could already see victory waving to him. He wondered what benefits he would get after taking down such a powerful monster stronghold.