Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 472: Trapping Drill
Deep in the frozen wasteland, there is an ice sea exploration base.

Harvey controlled the soul puppet and led the members of the exploration team here again.

Compared to more than two months ago, the base as a whole has changed a lot - three large energy-gathering arrays stand in the middle of the base, and several long-distance one-way transmission arrays are set up in a row of iron sheds, continuously transporting various war supplies to the base.

Currently, only one magic circle capable of bidirectional transmission and transport of personnel can be built. Without the support of a planetary-level energy-gathering array, the base's own stored magic energy is only enough for centralized transmission once every two weeks.

Along the edge of the huge pit in the Eternal Night Ruins, a semi-circular defensive wall several miles long was built. The engineering team manipulated the alchemy beasts to use local materials and cut the hard and thick ice into neat giant ice bricks. It took less than a week to build the outermost defensive fortifications.

The entire base is backed by the edge of a pit. In addition to the outer ice wall, a number of outpost bunkers have been repaired within the nearby one-kilometer warning range. They are also constructed by directly digging the ice layer, which is much more convenient than building with steel and concrete.

The interior of the base was well planned, with temporary living areas for soldiers, workers, and technicians, food and material storage warehouses, and alchemical weapons and equipment depots. At the edge of the only pit where no ice wall was built, three elevators controlled by alchemical power devices were operating around the clock. The research mages and alchemists stationed from the Academy of Magical Sciences and the Alchemical Laboratory were almost tirelessly following Harvey's instructions, carefully excavating and exploring along the periphery of the Eternal Night Ruins.

Harvey brought his men here early, naturally intending to conduct some drills near the base first to ensure that the plan to trap the alien enemies was foolproof.

……

"My Lord, I don't understand..." Eye of Illusion's face was somewhat dejected. "The first encounter with the enemy was with members of our exploration team. Why aren't we allowed to participate in the trapping plan?"

He turned to glance at the astrologer, trying to use his eyes to force him to speak for him. "Although our response was hasty and there were many missteps... at least we had no problem protecting ourselves."

Harvey and Duncan exchanged a glance, shook their heads, and laughed, "A fisherman wouldn't use himself as bait. You have additional tasks to perform, so you can just sit back and watch the trapping plan for now!"

After saying that, he nodded to his personal guard Tommy, who immediately stood up with a team of bloodline warriors, followed by two huge wolf spider beasts - the latest wolf spider type 3 developed by the military factory. This new type of wolf spider beast belongs to the category of heavy weapons. The magic core carried in its body provides extremely strong energy. When the internal magic power is fully released, it is not even inferior to the fluctuation caused by a full-strength attack of a high-level spellcaster.

In addition, its design is known for its strong armor and flexible mobility. Even in urban combat with complex and narrow terrain, it can move freely like a fish in water. Harvey originally planned to officially put it into use in urban combat in the southern border, but later shelved it temporarily considering the load capacity and transportation difficulties of ironclad ships.

Right now, it is the perfect "magic bait" to lure foreign enemies.

"My personal guards will be fully responsible for this entrapment operation. Besides the wolf spider beast, we'll also deploy a floating airship as a cover. We'll also set up a camouflaged temporary camp near the artificially excavated sea estuary, simulating the entire scenario the exploration team encountered the enemy."

Harvey briefly outlined the preliminary arrangements for the plan, then patted Captain Tommy on the shoulder. "Next, Captain Tommy will explain the specific arrangements and precautions for Operation Ice Fishing." Tommy showed no signs of nervousness, his usual nonchalant smile plastered on his face. He bowed to Harvey and spoke aloud, "According to intelligence, the dense forest and wasteland where the exploration team encountered their target is less than fifty miles from the edge of the frozen sea. Based on this, we infer...their landing activities won't stray too far from the frozen sea. Their outpost...must be deep in the sea near the edge of the frozen sea!"

Small sea vents are not like the sinkholes in the Eternal Night Ruins, which always maintain a state of tidal surges and back-and-forth of seawater. Because the openings are too small, each time the seabed erupts and breaks through the ice, the hole can only last for a few days, and then it will gradually freeze over due to the tide's return.

Therefore, Harvey speculated that the skinned monsters must be patrolling the edge of the ice sea all the time. Once they found a sea estuary that could be used for temporary landing, they would immediately go ashore, conduct a quick reconnaissance of the land situation, and then return to the sea before the sea estuary froze after time ran out.

Tommy continued confidently, "The Royal Guard will be divided into two combat teams. One team will be armed with magic guns and ambush in the camouflaged camp, waiting for the target to land and then attack... The other team will hide directly near the artificial sea vent. Once the enemy reaches the shore, they will immediately blow up the ice cave and block their only escape route."

The blood warriors of the Royal Guard are not comparable to the "carbine monsters" of the exploration team. Most of them were members of the militia team that Harvey originally formed. Although not everyone's marksmanship can catch up with several battalion commanders, they can basically hit the target wherever they point at within medium and short distances.

Duncan couldn't help but say, "The personnel arrangements and plans for both the frontal battle and the blocking of the retreat are perfect...but the question is how do we capture them alive?"

There is no doubt that the magic gun has a killing effect on the skinned monsters. Penetrating their strange skin or directly detonating the black water tank can kill the opponent on the spot, but if you want to catch them alive... obviously these two methods cannot be used.

Tommy rubbed his hands and explained, "The target looks similar to us humans. I think the limbs other than the head and chest are definitely not vital parts. We will try our best to break their limbs and make them lose their ability to resist..."

Harvey interjected at the right moment, "Considering that breaking their limbs might damage their skin, causing them to release the strange red light [Self-Destruction Program] like before, it would be best to use a specially designed trap to directly trap and transport them back."

The Eye of Illusion asked curiously, "Is there a special trap device?"

"Of course, with the city lord's permission, the military factory rushed to produce three frozen cages."

After that, six bodyguards pushed over three hexagonal barrel columns that were one person tall and had pulleys at the bottom. Duncan and the Eye of Illusion hurried forward to check and found that the iron barrels could just fit one person, and there were densely packed rune arrays engraved inside.

"When Mr. Duncan was engaged in direct combat, he used the ice wolf's icy breath during his transfiguration spell to freeze one enemy, but he ultimately discovered the enemy wasn't killed outright, merely temporarily incapacitated... So, we're using this barrel pillar imbued with freezing magic to trap the target, ensuring they don't die directly from their shells rupturing or self-destructing."

As for how to make the target fall into the barrel column buried in the ice in advance and used as a pit... naturally it depends on the deliberate guidance of those new wolf spider beasts.

(End of this chapter)