"The cannibals have never come here?" Shen Nong confirmed.
Tiger Roar's answer remained the same: "No."
Shen Nong frowned slightly, somewhat unable to guess what the cannibals were planning. The Salt Tribe had only dared to make empty threats, without taking any real action; frankly, they weren't confident they could defeat them.
The cannibals' unusually gentle attitude towards them was likely one of the reasons why Shiobe was wary of them.
Unbeknownst to them, they had formed a delicate triangular balance.
Compared to any other tribe, the Mu tribe is more like a paradise, free from many disturbances.
Shen Nong drew a triangle on the table with her fingertip. After thinking for a long time, she finally made up her mind.
To achieve development, we must break this precarious balance.
The cannibals planned to raid the salt mountain of the Salt Tribe in three days, and the orcs of the Feather Tribe would return to the Wood Tribe two days later to deliver supplies.
Shen Nong calculated the time difference, preparing to wipe out the cannibals and the Salt Tribe in one fell swoop.
After figuring out the general plan, Shen Nong called over the two captains of the production team and the guard team.
The guards practiced launching ballistae and catapults in the open area every day. Although they are not perfect now, their accuracy has improved significantly since then.
Shen Nong instructed the guards to intensify their training over the next two days and told Yang Lei to keep a close eye on them. He would also check on the training progress.
After Yang Lei left, Shi Xia arrived.
Shen Nong inquired about the production of crossbows and wooden arrows, and how many the tribe had in reserve. After receiving accurate answers, she felt that there were enough crossbows, but a shortage of wooden arrows. So she told Shi Xia to put aside his other tasks and lead the production team to prepare more wooden arrows.
Shi Xia nodded in agreement, but did not leave.
Since Shi Xia came in, Shen Nong had seen that Shi Xia was holding an unidentified object wrapped in animal skin, which she hadn't put down since, as if it were a precious treasure.
He guessed that Shi Xia had something to say to him, so he asked, "What is that in your hand? You've been holding it for so long, and you can't bear to put it down for even a moment."
Shi Xia, who rarely smiled, couldn't help but smile when she heard Shen Nong's question. She walked to the wooden table and just as she raised her arm to put something on it, her wrist was stopped by a strong force.
His arms are muscular and the veins on the back of his hands are prominent, all of which demonstrate his formidable strength.
Shi Xia endured the pain in her wrist and placed the things in her hand into Ze's outstretched hand.
After taking the item, Ze released Shi Xia's wrist. He opened it to check; it was a strangely shaped piece of wood. Seeing that there was no danger, he handed it to Shen Nong.
The conflict between Shi Xia and Ze came and went quickly. Shen Nong didn't react at first, but by the time she did, Ze had already let go of her and quickly checked the things.
I don't know why Ze suddenly became so vigilant.
When Shen Nong saw what was wrapped in the animal hide, he didn't bother to ask about the changes. He happily picked up the animal hide and fiddled with it, asking Shi Xia, "You've made a crossbow!"
When Shen Nong was making the ballista, he mentioned it to Shi Xia briefly, but didn't say much. He himself wasn't very clear about the specific structure, only knowing that it had similarities to the ballista.
He never expected that Shi Xia would actually make a crossbow!
Lionheart moved her wrists without changing her expression, trying to alleviate the pain, but the excitement in her tone was undisguised, "This is the closest to the crossbow you mentioned, Priest, please try it out."
This was the result of her painstaking efforts and countless improvements, and Shi Xia couldn't wait to get Shen Nong's evaluation.
Shen Nong also wanted to test its power as soon as possible. The three of them arrived at the open space where the guards usually trained to shoot the crossbows. Yang Lei was very fast. At this time, there was already a team of people operating the crossbows to fire.
A sizable wooden arrow whistled through the air, followed by a muffled thud in the distance.
The trained beastmen stopped when they saw Shen Nong. "Priest."
Shen Nong waved her hand, "Don't worry about me, you guys practice."
Then, he led Shi Xia and Ze toward the mountainside.
The crossbow made by Lionheart was of a suitable size, and he also prepared ten suitable wooden arrows.
The crossbow has a crossbow arm and a crossbow mechanism, the latter being the core component. It includes a sight, a sniper head, a hook, and keys on both sides that integrate the various parts. This part was made by Lionheart from giant wood. Shen Nong pulled the sight upwards, and the lifting force of the teeth lifted the hook, causing its lower teeth to engage with the sniper head, allowing him to place the wooden arrow into the arrow slot in the crossbow arm.
He recalled the general method of crossbow aiming he had read in the book, tilted the crossbow arm upwards to adjust its position, used the lookout to aim at a tree trunk fifty meters away, and when the target, the arrowhead, and the lookout were in a straight line, he pulled the trigger and fired.
"Whoosh—"
"Bang--"
After the two different sounds rang out, Shen Nong secretly moved her slightly numb arm and ran forward to check.
Shen Nong's shooting accuracy was good; the huge impact caused the wooden arrow to penetrate the tree trunk deeply.
If you attach an iron arrowhead to a wooden arrow, it will be even more powerful.
Shen Nong was very satisfied with the final test results of the crossbow, but it couldn't be used after three days because the time was too short to produce enough samples.
The production team's immediate priority is to prepare more wooden arrows for the crossbows.
As night fell, the orc warriors of the Wood Tribe hunting party entered the dark moonlight and dispersed across the vast forests, delivering the priest's instructions to the seven tribes.
Shen Nong instructed the seven tribes to take advantage of the chaos during the battle between the cannibals and the salt tribe three days later to save their own lives.
There's no need to fear retaliation from cannibals or the Salt Tribe; the Wood Tribe will render them powerless to care about the various tribes.
Of the seven tribal chiefs who received the news, only Songshan nodded in agreement directly; the other six reacted in the same way—with silence.
However, after careful consideration in this silence, whether it was because the tribal priests were in the hands of the Wood Tribe, or because they truly believed that the Wood Tribe had a way to prevent the cannibals and the Salt Tribe from doing anything to their tribes, the chieftains of the six tribes ultimately chose to cooperate with the Wood Tribe.
Rather than watching their tribesmen die as human shields, they chose to trust the Wood Tribe and take a gamble.
What should have been three days of agonizing despair was transformed by the appearance of the Wood Tribe orcs, bringing a glimmer of indescribable hope to their despair.
A note from the author:
Quoting Baidu Baike;
Quoting Baidu Encyclopedia video explanation
Chapter 71
Run!
Three days later.
The shrunken Wood Tribe orcs hid around the Salt Tribe, while the similarly shrunken Feather Tribe orcs disguised themselves as ordinary birds, circling in twos and threes from time to time, watching the approaching cannibals and other tribes.
The Eagle Cliff Orc was of a higher level and more agile. He landed on a tree within the Salt Tribe's territory with another Orc, Magpie Rain, who was of a lower level but flew very fast.
Because he couldn't easily move to inform the Wood Tribe priest of everything he saw, he had to bring a tribeswoman with him and have her report back regularly.
Eagle Cliff carefully concealed himself, finding a good angle to observe the movements inside the Salt Division.
The priest of the Wood Tribe had promised him that each of the Feather Tribe orcs who came to help would receive large pieces of wood, collectively known as "furniture," which were found in the earthen houses of the Wood Tribe members.
The beastmen of the Feather Tribe had long coveted the strangely shaped wooden structures in the earthen houses of the Wood Tribe, especially the wooden beds, which were made of dry grass and covered with soft animal hides. Lying on them to sleep was incredibly comfortable.
Every time I come to the Wood Tribe for trade, I always see some elderly people from the Wood Tribe lying on wooden chairs called reclining chairs, sunbathing with their eyes closed. Every time I see them, I want to lie down on one myself.
Unfortunately, the Wood Tribe does not plan to trade these items for the time being.
Eagle Cliff had asked several times, and the answer was always the same. The reason was that the Wood Tribe itself didn't have enough, and their tribe's furniture production team was already booked until winter.
Moreover, even if the Feather Tribe beastmen don't mind waiting until winter, it won't matter, because the Wood Tribe's production team simply won't make anything for any beastmen other than the Wood Tribe members.
They already have a ton of things to do with their own tribe members, so where would they find the time and energy to worry about anything else?
Even Shen Nong's attempt to trade furniture was futile; there simply wasn't enough stock. The main reason was the lack of manpower—demand was high, but the number of people willing to produce was limited.
In fact, the initial felling and transportation of trees, and splitting the trees into suitable sizes, can be done by anyone with a little strength.
However, due to a lack of manpower, not only the production team but also other teams had to spend a lot of energy and time on these preliminary tasks.
The Feather Tribe members were on high alert to get the complete set of furniture they had been longing for. Finally, the orcs circling in the air noticed countless orcs moving rapidly toward the Salt Tribe in the distance.
They quickly told Shen Nong the news.
The orc Queyu, who was guarding the Salt Department with Yingya, flew over to report the situation inside. She landed on a large rock a few steps away from Shen Nong and looked at it as if it were an ordinary magpie. "Everything is normal inside the Salt Department."
Shen Nong knew what was going on; all they had to do now was wait.
...
The cannibals were getting closer and closer to the Salt Tribe. Wuming looked around and felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"Priest, shall we fight now?"
Wushan called out twice before bringing Wuming back to his senses.
He looked at the Salt Tribe with a grim face and a sinister expression, "Let the Mountain Tribe, Grass Tribe, and Rain Tribe act as human shields and clear the way ahead."
These three tribes are relatively weak, and their orc warriors are low-level, making them the best choice for meat shields in Wuming's eyes.
He told the tribes that he was there to seize the salt mountain, but what he really wanted was the orc warriors.
Previously, under the control of the Salt Tribe, the cannibals were unable to train their own orc warriors. Now that they are no longer under the Salt Tribe's control, the slightly higher-ranking orc warriors in those tribes had long since been taken away by the Salt Tribe.
As long as he can seize high-level orc warriors, he will eventually be able to drive away the old priest of the Salt Tribe who is always on guard against him, as well as the brainless chieftain Manglin.
Last time, he helped the person from Beast City destroy the Ze tribe, and not long after, that person helped him improve his abilities again.
He can now suppress even a level seven orc warrior.
The Salt Department lost four level-seven orc warriors because that idiot Manglin drove away Leopard Autumn's hunting team.
If those four were still around, he wasn't sure he could have suppressed them all.
Ultimately, this opportunity was given to him personally by Mang Lin.
When the tribal chiefs heard that Wushan wanted them to be meat shields, they had already expected it, but they still found it hard to accept when they actually heard it.
But what could they do if they didn't accept it? They had no way to fight back against cannibals.
Their beast-like forms, upon which they depended for survival, were utterly insignificant in the face of the cannibalistic priests.
Sensing the despair in his people, Songshan restrained himself and said, "Don't be afraid."
Upon hearing this, the mountain tribe members visibly relaxed.
Yes, don't be afraid. The priest of the Wood Tribe said he would save them, he definitely will.
Even though they had no idea what the priests of the Wood Tribe looked like, and only recently learned that their tribe had a trade with the Wood Tribe, they realized that the salt that their tribe was secretly distributing actually came from the Wood Tribe.
Even so, they still couldn't help but want to believe that the Wood Tribe could save them.
Because this is the only hope of survival.