Chapter 224: Anchor Link |
He took out a new function card.
[Insight Card] Anchor Link.
[Activated Function: Level 2 Anchor Link]
[Authority Increase, Current Authority: Level 3 Authority (6/8)]
[Level 2 Anchor Link: After locking a target residential complex, you can set a permanent Anchor Point in that complex. Through the Anchor Point you can travel within the Home to that complex. Current lockable count: 21
This Anchor Point can lock a residential complex?
What’s the point of locking a complex, isn’t the Home already located in the complex?
Wait—Qin Ziwen suddenly thought of a possibility.
This locked complex doesn’t seem to be limited to being his own complex.
Reversing the logic, if other complexes’ residents have also unlocked the Anchor Link function, could they lock onto his complex?!
If every complex is an isolated island traversing different worlds,
then with this Anchor Link function, it would be like building bridges between those islands!
Of course, given that the Home already has Challenge and Safe House functions,
Qin Ziwen could reasonably infer that besides anchoring, there might also be a "counter-anchor" function.
In the end, it would probably come down to authority.
But Qin Ziwen was confident about authority.
Unless encountering a senior complex that crossed over earlier than his,
there shouldn’t be many contemporaries with higher authority than him.
After upgrading his authority, Qin Ziwen was about to get up.
He saw Tao Fu rushing over in a hurry.
"Master, the keel ship has taken shape now. Do you want to take a look?"
Since this involved an important transport for the next map, Qin Ziwen followed him,
and arrived at the shipyard.
On the open ground sat the frame of a wooden boat seven or eight meters long, the whole hull inverted on the dry dock.
Between the ribs along the outer edge, many planks had been fitted; overall, the silhouette of a boat could already be seen.
"How long until completion?"
"Should be finished within seven days." Tao Fu gave a rough estimate.
"Hmm." Qin Ziwen knew this pace wasn’t slow; it owed a lot to the shipyard’s building boost effects and assistance from the Armory Department.
[Level 1 Shipyard: Level 1 Shipbuilding Efficiency Boost, Level 1 Worker Efficiency Boost]
But he was still unsatisfied.
Counting the previous time, it would take about eight or nine days to build one boat, and it was only a seven- or eight-meter skiff.
Such a boat basically couldn’t go into deep sea conditions; it could only operate in nearshore waters.
Given the total time available on the next map—forty-five days—they could at most build five small boats.
For ordinary people that might suffice; these small boats could barely fish in the near sea and make ends meet.
"What limits our shipbuilding speed?"
Tao Fu said, "Manpower, shipyard scale. Mr. Jia borrowed a few assistants from the Armory Department. For this boat the manpower is temporarily enough, but if we expand production, the new ships will still lack workers. Ideally we need more experienced shipwrights; these assistants are green at shipbuilding and will need my own training."
"Understood." Qin Ziwen nodded, checked his cards, turning them over, and eventually found only one ordinary building enhancement card that might help the shipyard.
The Ordinary Building Enhancement Card’s effect is to unconditionally raise any ordinary building below level 5 by one level.
Using it on a level-1 building felt wasteful.
After all, raising a level-4 building to level 5 requires eight identical level-1 building cards.
"I’ll think of something else." Leaving the shipyard, Qin Ziwen pondered for a moment, and a thought flashed through his mind: does the absence of a specific building card truly mean you can’t make the corresponding tools?
That made no sense.
At worst it would just be slower.
He found Jia Liangcai. "What about your inquiries last time, any talents for shipbuilding in the complex?"
"Reporting, Master, none found so far. The complex was not previously a coastal city, so there aren’t many such talents. Most people related to the ship trade are procurement or marketing—they’re not frontline workers."
When Jia Liangcai used the words procurement and marketing, Qin Ziwen realized he had conducted a proper investigation.
"If there are no shipwrights, experienced carpenters with relevant skills will do." After thinking, Qin Ziwen continued, "Also increase searches around the Tavern and Porridge Shed."
"Yes."
Watching Jia Liangcai walk away, Qin Ziwen called after him, "Liangcai, if you’re swamped, you can recruit two clerks to assist. Don’t exhaust yourself."
Then he summoned Du Yu, Qin Ziwu, Cao Biansheng and the others.
He gathered the Core Hunting Team members.
He noticed a bit of restlessness in the air; he wasn’t sure when it began.
Maybe it was when Du Yu first made his breakthrough and the Qin Alliance produced a Superhuman, or when the Crowned Eagle advanced, or perhaps after they successfully hunted the Giant Rock Dragon.
"It seems everyone’s been pretty confident lately. All right, I’ll show you something good."
A smile appeared on Qin Ziwen’s face, "I won’t participate. I’ll just watch how you perform."
Qin Ziwu frowned, sensing that things weren’t simple.
From his understanding of his elder brother, when his brother put on that kind of smile, it usually meant trouble.
Led by Qin Ziwen, the group arrived outside the Blood Sand Gladiator Arena.
They looked at the blood-stained building in front of them that radiated a heavy, murderous atmosphere.
Qin Ziwu felt his heart drop.
Cao Biansheng asked curiously, "Guild Leader, what is in there?"
"This place is for courage."
"Courage?"
"That’s right. This building is called the Blood Sand Gladiator Arena. It’s a place that lets you know yourself and forge your resolve."
When Cao Biansheng heard that death wouldn’t be real, his eyes lit up.
But the name is 'Gladiator Arena'—what are we supposed to fight? The Crowned Eagle?
Harboring heavy doubts,
Du Yu led Cao Biansheng and the others into the Blood Sand Gladiator Arena.
"!"
Behind them, the gate thundered shut.
Inside the empty arena there were no stands for spectators, only tall stone walls and the hard-packed earth beneath their feet.
Qin Ziwen took out the Giant Rock Dragon summoning card and embedded it in the arena.
As the light faded,
a Giant Rock Dragon stood opposite them, four meters tall at the shoulder and ten meters long,
the summoned Giant Rock Dragon stood motionless like a mountain.
Qin Ziwen noticed an important detail: the summoned Giant Rock Dragon lacked the faceted crystal columns on its back; instead it had a layer of gray-brown outer mud armor resembling rocky plating.
The Giant Rock Dragon gave a low roar.
"Bou—"
In an instant, the ring of mud kings gathered in front of them within a ten-meter radius suddenly collapsed into mush, and most people were taken by surprise, their knees sinking directly into the mud pit!
Only a few reacted in time and escaped.
Du Yu’s expression hardened; from the brief clash just now,
he keenly sensed a difference between this summoned Giant Rock Dragon and the one from the previous large hunt: its abilities manifested faster, and the affected range seemed much larger!