Chapter 279: Chapter 252: Advanced Resource Points

"A hundred? How about two hundred?" Qin Ziwen asked directly.

Li Tieshan was shocked but quickly agreed. "Yes! Absolutely!"

"Good. I’ll give you the men, but make sure the iron plating production doesn’t fall behind. By the way, the plates for the ship’s hull should be thicker. We don’t want them to crack after just one hit from a Sea Beast."

"Rest assured, My Lord! Just leave it to me!" Li Tieshan boomed, thumping his chest in assurance.

As for the men, the Qin Alliance had plenty of able-bodied youths.

Besides, they were all stuck on this reef. Other than foraging for small seafood at low tide, most people had almost nothing to do on a daily basis.

Most of the labor force was idle and going to waste.

Having them join the Military Equipment Supervisor would give the energetic young men something to do with their pent-up energy, while also putting their labor to good use and increasing shipbuilding efficiency.

It was now afternoon. The weather by the sea was hot, and the tide was slowly rising again, submerging the tidal flats.

"Bro, I got some good stuff. Want a bite?" Qin Ziwu said, returning from outside with a basket in hand.

"What is this?"

Qin Ziwen craned his neck for a look and grimaced in disgust.

For anyone with trypophobia, the contents of the basket were a total nightmare.

They were densely packed, looking like a monster’s fingers.

Just a single glance was enough to completely kill his appetite.

"Don’t be fooled by how ugly they look. I hear they’re quite delicious. Someone gave them to me, but I didn’t just take them—I traded some meat for them," Qin Ziwu said, lifting the basket with a grin.

Du Yu, who was passing by, glanced over. His brow furrowed, and he silently quickened his pace.

"I think I’ll pass. If you like them, you can eat them yourself. Just remember to check for poison first."

Qin Ziwen wanted no part of it.

"Aw, come on, just try them! These are goose barnacles. I hear they’re pretty expensive back on Earth—a high-end delicacy, even. The guys found them on the reefs and scraped them off at low tide."

Qin Ziwen waved his hand dismissively. He suddenly asked, "Are there any sea cucumbers?"

"Of course! The best part about being by the sea is all the free seafood," Qin Ziwu said with a chuckle. "The ecosystem here is amazing."

And since it’s never been developed, it’s full of all sorts of exotic seafood.

But being stuck on the reef without proper diving equipment meant they could only forage along the shore during low tide.

"And look at this! A giant mussel, as big as a shoehorn!" Qin Ziwu rummaged through the basket and finally pulled out a mussel that was even bigger than a mango.

Qin Ziwen was astonished. ’This thing’s practically a monster, isn’t it?’ He had eaten mussels back home, but they were only palm-sized. The one before him was nearly as big as a shoe.

"How much does it weigh?"

"Over three pounds."

"Go heat it up in the kitchen."

Qin Ziwen then went to his Home and found an empty space.

He took out his Cards.

Speaking of which, this haul had been quite fruitful.

Besides the Advanced Enhancement Card, the other three Cards were a [Resource Card] Level 1 Copper Mine, a [Resource Card] Level 1 Iron Mine, and a [Building Card] Level 1 Iron Mine.

Adding the Level 2 Residence he had acquired earlier...

...he had a total of four Cards.

It was the perfect time for a wave of upgrades to his Home.

First, he found an empty plot of land, took out the Level 2 Residence Card, and chose to use it.

Next to the Level 1 Residence, a new building with a larger footprint appeared.

The Level 1 Residence felt a bit crowded with four people.

The Level 2 Residence was much more spacious.

Its footprint increased from 4x3 to 4x5.

First was the exterior: the wooden door was replaced with a thick, iron-plated door.

The open-hole windows on the sides were now fitted with coarse hemp paper and openable wooden shutters. An extra layer of thatch and clay covered the roof, several neat bundles of firewood were stacked in a corner, and a chimney jutted out from the back of the house.

Stepping inside, he saw that the heated brick bed platform had been widened and was now covered with a finely woven reed mat. Low wooden partitions had been added between the bed spaces, turning them into semi-private cubicles.

The number of beds had increased from four to five.

The bedding at each berth had been replaced with quilts made of thick, coarse cotton. The wooden pillows were planed smooth and even had small, new square towels resting on them.

The entire house felt spacious and tidy.

[Level 2 Residence: Level 2 Settlement, Level 2 Cold Resistance] (Settlement Quota: 0/5)

This added five resident slots to his Home.

After a moment of thought, Qin Ziwen moved to another spacious area nearby.

First, he used the Level 1 Copper Mine card.

He chose a spot next to the existing stone and iron mines, connecting all the mineral veins into a single cluster.

Soon, a semi-open-pit Level 1 Copper Mine with a 10x10 footprint appeared next to the original mineral veins.

Next, he combined the two Level 1 Iron Ore Cards to create a Level 2 card. Qin Ziwen then built this new mine next to his original Level 2 Iron Mine and used the Advanced Resource Enhancement Card on it.

[After Enhancement, this Advanced Resource Point will have a 30x30 footprint. Please confirm you have sufficient empty space.]

"Upgrade."

An enormous light enveloped the area and then spread outward.

In its place, a massive, fortress-like building appeared.

Qin Ziwen was stunned.

The entire 30x30 area, nearly a thousand square meters, was completely taken up by this fortress-like structure.

It rose abruptly from the ground like a small hill inside his Home.

Its surface looked as if it were cast from a coarse mixture of earth and metal shavings.

On its face was a dark, gaping entrance nearly five meters high and five meters wide.

[Advanced Resource Point · Level 1 Wailing Fortress: Level 2 Automatic Mining, Level 2 Ore Hardness Increase, Level 2 Ore Weight Reduction] (Special Effect: Metal ore mined from the Vampire Fortress can automatically heal by consuming blood.)

’What the hell is this?’

Qin Ziwen felt that these resource points were getting more and more bizarre.

’Isn’t this supposed to be a resource point? How did it turn into a building?’

But then he remembered that the Healing Spring also took the form of a fountain, and it made sense again.

Still, the Wailing Fortress’s enhancement effects were brutally simple and effective. A normal iron mine would just increase ore purity, but this directly strengthened the ore itself.

Increased hardness, reduced weight.

This was perfect for the iron plating on the ship’s exterior.

Since the ore was lighter, they could fit thicker armor on a ship of the same size, allowing it to withstand more impacts from Sea Beasts.

He walked up to the Wailing Fortress. The entrance was sealed by a pair of heavy, tightly shut iron doors.

He placed his palm on one of the doors and gave a gentle push. With barely any effort, the door swung open.

A mixed smell of damp earth and rusted metal rushed out to greet him.

Every few meters along the walls on either side, a dim, yellow ore-lamp cast a faint glow.

As he walked inside, he heard a CLINK-CLANK-CLINK coming from deep within the cavern.

It sounded like pickaxes striking rock.

Mixed in with the noise was a kind of low, repressed wailing.

Curious, he followed the downward-sloping passage for a few dozen meters. After rounding a corner, he saw a large, square hall.

Inside, dozens of skeletal "humanoid creatures," dressed in rags that had been reduced to mere strips of cloth, were raising their pickaxes and tirelessly striking a mineral vein.

The low wails were coming from their empty chest cavities.

Even the arrival of him, the Lord of the Homeland, didn’t affect the work ethic of these Skeleton Miners. They kept their backs to him, swinging their pickaxes at the mineral vein without pause.

Qin Ziwen was speechless. ’So, *this* is "Automatic Mining"!’

’Speaking of which, why is it that ever since I got to this Island, all the Advanced Buildings and Advanced Resource Points I’ve activated have been so damn creepy?’

’First Ghosts, now skeletons. Can’t I get something a little more... normal?’

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