Many children, many blessings; a stunningly beautiful wife is given to you right from the start.

The rear of the Qi King's camp.

Unlike the deathly silence of the front camp, this place was bustling with noise and chaos.

Thousands of conscripted craftsmen are hammering and tinkering around hundreds of huge siege machines.

Wood chips flew everywhere, and sweat mixed with dust carved muddy furrows on everyone's faces.

The sounds of metal clanging, wood cutting, and foremen's shouts mingled together, almost turning the leaden sky upside down.

King Xia Yuan of Qi stood with his hands behind his back in the center of this bustling scene.

He was dressed in a dark gold royal robe, his face cold and stern. He was deaf to the ear-piercing noise around him, and simply swept his cold gaze over the busy figures in front of him.

"Faster! Faster!"

A burly foreman was brandishing an oil-soaked leather whip, lashing the back of a craftsman who was moving a little slower.

"Snapped!"

With a muffled thud, a bloody gash instantly appeared on the craftsman's back.

"His Highness's patience is finite! All the 'Sky Ladders' must be upgraded by tonight! Otherwise, your heads will all be hanging at the top of the ladders!"

Xia Yuan's expression remained unchanged; his attention was entirely focused on those ferocious war machines.

Three days ago, when his 400,000-strong army was at the city gates.

When he first saw the towering walls of Heishui Pass, even he, with his strong will, was truly awestruck.

That wall is too high.

It was so high that it seemed otherworldly.

No wonder, no wonder that little bastard Lin Mo was able to take over the entire Northern Territory in just a few months.

Did they receive help from some extraordinary person or person? Or did they encounter some kind of miraculous adventure?

It doesn't matter.

unimportant.

After the initial shock, Xia Yuan quickly calmed down.

So what if the wall is high?

He immediately ordered the army to halt its advance and remain in place.

He did not choose to fill that insurmountable gap with human lives, but instead immediately summoned all the top craftsmen accompanying the army and gave them an order—

Based on the high wall before him, immediately modify all the siege equipment he brought.

Now, three days and three nights have passed, and under the threat of whips and death, these war behemoths are finally about to reveal their new fangs.

Looking at these completely renovated giants in front of him, Xia Yuan finally showed a hint of satisfaction on his face.

The originally ordinary ladder was spliced ​​and lengthened, more than doubling in height, and even a huge iron claw was added to the top, gleaming coldly.

To support this terrifying height, a wider base and dozens of heavy iron wheels were added to the bottom of the ladder, making it look like a steel centipede, ferocious and terrifying.

The giant siege crossbow next to it was also disassembled and reassembled. The crossbow arm was replaced with a more resilient century-old ironwood, and the bowstring was made of the tendons of hundreds of ferocious beasts twisted together.

Xia Yuan gave it a new name—Shattering Cloud Crossbow.

He believed that this crossbow bolt would be enough to blast a large hole in the bricks and stones of the Blackwater Pass city wall.

Hmph, Lin Mo, you brat.

A smug smile appeared on Xia Yuan's lips.

Do you think that building a high wall will make you worry-free?

Before my 400,000-strong army and brand-new siege weapons, your proud city walls are nothing more than a slightly thicker piece of tofu.

But just as Xia Yuan was immersed in his fantasy—

"Snap!"

A sharp, cracking sound of wood breaking suddenly rang out.

Xia Yuan's brows furrowed instantly.

Not far away, a craftsman, distracted by three days of continuous labor, momentarily lost his focus.

His huge saw veered off course, accidentally cutting a deep, bone-revealing crack in the main support beam of the nearly completed "Sky Ladder".

The craftsman was instantly jolted awake. Looking at the colossal mistake he had made, the color drained from his face in an instant.

All the sounds of hammering and cutting around them stopped abruptly at that moment.

The air seemed to freeze.

Everyone looked at him in utter terror.

"Thump!"

The craftsman's legs went weak, and he tumbled and crawled to his knees, desperately kowtowing in Xia Yuan's direction.

"Your Highness, spare me! Your Highness, spare me!"

His voice was choked with sobs, filled with extreme fear.

King Qi Xia Yuan's temper was well-known throughout the army.

He was notoriously ruthless and brutal, with his military discipline being abnormally strict. Any minor mistake by his subordinates would result in extremely cruel punishments.

"Your Highness, I... I didn't mean to!"

The craftsman wept uncontrollably and spoke incoherently.

"I haven't closed my eyes for three days and three nights, I'm just... just too tired, and I momentarily lost my focus!"

As he spoke, he slammed his forehead against the ground, drawing blood quickly.

"Your Highness, please forgive me this time, for I have an eighty-year-old mother to support and a crying infant to feed!"

"I will serve you like a slave, and even in my next life I will repay your great kindness!"

He portrayed himself as incredibly pitiful, trying to elicit a shred of sympathy.

However, Xia Yuan just looked at him expressionlessly, as if he were looking at a noisy ant.

He simply raised his hand and slowly began to speak.

"Drag him away and tear him apart by chariots."

Five simple words pronounced the craftsman's death sentence.

The craftsman's wailing stopped abruptly; he froze, seemingly unable to believe his ears.

Two heavily armored guards stepped forward and, like dragging a dead dog, lifted the limp craftsman and carried him out.

"No!!!"

"Your Highness! No! I was wrong! I was really wrong!!!"

The craftsman finally realized what was happening and let out a pig-like scream and begged for mercy.

Xia Yuan found it a bit noisy and waved his hand impatiently.

He never believed in benevolence.

He firmly believed that only absolute fear could forge absolute loyalty.

Only then can these lowly people be made to obey him like dogs.

The craftsman's desperate cries gradually faded into the distance, soon to be replaced by a chilling scream that was abruptly cut off in the distance.

The surrounding craftsmen were all silent with fear, cold sweat dripping down their foreheads, their hands and feet icy cold.

"What are you standing there for? Continue."

Xia Yuan's voice rang out again.

"Tonight, all the equipment must be completed. Anyone who delays my important business will suffer the same fate as him."

He paused, his tone seemingly softening somewhat.

"Of course, if the project can be completed ahead of schedule, I will never be stingy with my rewards."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Upon hearing this, the craftsmen dared not be negligent in the slightest. They were all as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and they all responded loudly.

The clanging and banging sound started again, several times faster than before.

Although they hadn't slept for three days and three nights, at this moment, the fear of death overwhelmed all their exhaustion.

No one is after that vague and unattainable reward.

They were simply afraid—afraid that they would be the next ones to be torn apart by five horses.

Fear is spreading.

Xia Yuan nodded in satisfaction.

He raised his head again, his gaze passing over the bustling workshop and looking towards the towering city walls.

Once Blackwater Pass is breached, his 400,000-strong army can advance unimpeded and become unstoppable.

At that time, the entire North will be his!

Lin Mo, Lin Mo... do you even deserve to be my enemy?

It's really a big joke in the world!

But just as he was feeling smug...

"call--"

A deep, muffled whistling sound suddenly came from the very high sky.

The sound was strange, like some heavy object cutting through the air at high speed.

Xia Yuan looked up in confusion, gazing in the direction from which the sound came.

But there was nothing in the sky except for leaden-gray clouds.

"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—"

Immediately afterwards, not just one, but hundreds and thousands of the same howling sounded simultaneously from all directions!

This time, not only him, but everyone heard it!

All the craftsmen, overseers, and even the patrolling soldiers in the workshop stopped what they were doing, looked up at the sky with surprise and uncertainty.

Then they saw it.

Above the leaden sky, patches of black dots suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.