I Became the Progenitor Vampire Chapter 221 – Chapter 221: Chapter 222 Idea of Creating a Super Heavy

Chapter 221: Chapter 222 Idea of Creating a Super Heavy-Armored Warrior

After half a month of interacting with the dwarves, Lide returned to Dawn City.

By then, it was August 7th, in the year 3522 of the Era of Glory.

Players had been around for over a month, but the influence they had caused was much smaller than he had imagined.

Having seen the players' struggling gaming careers on the forums, he also came to a realization.

The hardcore nature of “Glory” really exceeded most people's expectations, and it was Lide's first time realizing how miserable life at the bottom really was.

Upon arriving in Glory, he had become a Vampire Ancestor, and openly held the title of Baron in the Nolan Empire, a disciple of the Great Mage Spark, and was even acclaimed as a genius mage.

This status was not just beyond commoners, but also surpassed that of ordinary nobles.

Thus, he never experienced what true bottom-tier civilian life in Glory was like, having immediately lived the dream life of a noble, free from concerns about food and drink and wielding great power.

It was only after a detailed understanding of the players' survival status that Lide realized why the citizens of Dawn City were so grateful to him.

Compared to the players' tragic experiences, the residents of Dawn City were practically living a life indistinguishable from that of nobles.

“Good morning, Clan Leader.”

“Good morning, Harrison. Any progress on the frontier?” Lide asked, seated on a gray sofa in his third-floor office in City Hall, eyes intensely fixed on Harrison sitting across from him.

It had been over half a month since he heard the news of the Secret Silver Vein and spread all his forces to seek it, but unfortunately, his method of locating the Secret Silver Vein, though better than finding a needle in a haystack, wasn't much better.

The border area was too vast, making it difficult to see results in a short period.

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As expected, Harrison shook his head.

“Clan Leader, although Audis took most of the Bloodline with him, it's still too difficult to find the dwarves possibly hidden in some inconspicuous mountain range within such a vast area.

We need time.”

Lide nodded, a thoughtful glint in his eyes, “Have the dwarves still not spoken?”

Harrison shook his head with a strange expression; the dwarves had been persisting in their “labor reform” at the smithy, but none of the three had spoken.

The stubbornness of the dwarves gave Harrison a headache; dealing with these beings of unusual body structures, whose minds seemed to be filled with stones, was baffling.

To beat them, owing to their body structures, dwarves had a very high resistance to pain. If a normal human's pain response is 100, then for dwarves, it might only be 10; thus, harsh interrogations were ineffective on these stubborn individuals.

To use magic, as sons of the earth, dwarves were incredibly dull to magical responses.

The Dwarves in the Glory World were one of the rare races lacking any magical talent; even despised races like Kobolds and Ratmen had spellcasters, but among the dwarves, not a single spellcaster could be found.

Magic seemed to not exist for dwarves; their slow reaction to magic manifesting as an inability to cast spells, but they also had high resistance to mind and soul spells, making ordinary soul-based spells ineffective on them.

Thus, neither beating them nor using magic worked. Coupled with the dwarves' stubbornness, which was more headache-inducing than stone, Harrison found no way to deal with these dwarves.

“Don't pin your hopes on the dwarves.

We need to take matters into our own hands.”

Lide shook his head, his tone calm; he was never one to passively wait, and the matter of the dwarves not speaking must be pushed forward.

The value of the Secret Silver Vein was enough for him to make some investments.

Searching for the vein was like a venture investment; despite needing to invest some initial cost and bear risks, the high returns once successful could turn anyone green with envy.

“Moreover, even if the dwarves agree to cooperate with us, it might not necessarily be a good thing,” Lide said with a profound look and a suggestive tone.

“The Secret Silver Vein is very precious, but there's more valuable stuff within the Dwarf Tribe.

Harrison, do you understand what I mean?”

This statement made Harrison slightly startle, then realization dawned on his face.

“Are you talking about the dwarves?”

Lide just smiled faintly and changed the subject.

“Be careful about the situation on the frontier with Audis. Although the Frost Month is still a few months away, the Barren Wasteland is not a peaceful place.

The Beastmen are always a significant threat.”

Harrison nodded knowingly, “Audis has been on the frontier for such a long time, I believe he can return safely.

But about the Secret Silver Vein…”

Lide waved his hand, “This matter is not as urgent as you think,” he said, pausing briefly, his expression revealing a trace of playfulness.

“Do you think the dwarves' current actions resemble those of a tribe struck by catastrophic destruction?”

Hm?

On hearing this, Harrison was slightly startled, then recalling the recent reports of the dwarves' actions from his subordinates, he decisively shook his head.

“No, although the dwarves are angry, they don't seem to be in a hurry about this…”

“That's right,” Lide picked up the gilt glass teacup from the round wooden table in front of him and took a gentle sip of the red tea to moisten his throat.

His dark eyes gleamed with sharpness.

“No one can remain indifferent when facing the threat of extinction, especially not the dwarves, who value their tribe so highly.

Although the Dwarves are currently seeking allies, from their behavior, one could infer that although the Dwarf Tribe had fallen into a predicament, the crisis they faced was not so urgent.

Or to say, the Dwarf Tribe was not facing an imminent crisis of destruction.

They were not yet desperate and still had options.

Thus, even though these few Dwarves were essentially confined in Dawn City by me, they could maintain enough calmness, stubbornly refusing to reveal any information about the Secret Silver Vein.

Because, they knew that the Dwarf Tribe would not face any significant danger in the short term, and that was why they could repeatedly decline our good intentions.”

From the actions of the Dwarves, Lide quickly discerned the true situation of the Dwarf Tribe.

He placed the Dwarves in the blacksmith shop of Dawn City not only to vent his frustrations but also to test these Dwarves.

If the tribe was facing a huge crisis and might be destroyed at any moment, these three Dwarves, who couldn't contact each other, would certainly try every means to get in touch and use all their wits to escape from Dawn City.

If that were to happen, then he would firmly control the initiative since the other party would be desperate and need immediate reinforcements.

However, from the Dwarves' recent actions, although they were confined, their desire to forcefully escape was not that strong.

This could reveal quite a bit of information.

The three Dwarves working in the blacksmith shop could hardly imagine that by doing nothing, they were already close to having their situation guessed by Lide.

“Moreover, when the Beastmen attacked the Dwarf Tribe, apart from looting, I think it is very likely they were also interested in the Dwarves themselves.

What are Dwarves most famous for?”

“Forging weapons?” Harrison seemed to realize suddenly.

“Exactly, the Beastmen not only lack food, but they are also short on such a precious resource as weapons, and Green City has always banned weapon sales to the Beastmen.

If I were a Beastman, having captured these Dwarves capable of making excellent weapons, I would definitely not kill them but enslave them to forge weapons for me…”

The thread of the whole situation had become very clear to Lide by now.

The Beastmen had discovered the existence of the Dwarf Tribe, possibly for wealth, food, or weapons, and they had launched an attack on the Dwarves.

The Dwarves were unable to withstand the vast numbers of Beastmen and soon the whole tribe was overrun, except for a small portion that escaped, the rest were all taken captive.

The Beastmen didn't kill the captive Dwarves but enslaved them, making them forge weapons and provide food among other things.

The Dwarves who escaped carried important information–a yet-to-be-mined Secret Silver Vein and sought forces that could repel the Beastmen.

But this Secret Silver Vein was too precious, and the Dwarves were reluctant to use it wholly for trade.

Just then, Laurent, a trader who had previously cooperated with the Dwarves, entered their sight, backed by the recently fame-risen Crimson Mage Tower because of the magic scrolls.

And notably, the Crimson Mage Tower was supported by Spark, the Great Mage.

Thus, many things happened due to both timely and fortuitous reasons.

“The Dwarves won't face any considerable danger shortly, and we also have enough time to search for traces of the Dwarves, Harrison, don't worry too much…” Lide said with an encouraging look.

Harrison breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, as Lide's initially urgent mood had put a lot of pressure on him.

In Dawn City, Lide's decision dictated the direction in which the entire city moved, not to mention searching for traces of Dwarves at the border; even if he declared war against the Beastmen, Dawn City would immediately prepare for it.

However, the barren wasteland was too vast, and the interior side of the Far Mountain Range was also too broad. Although the Bloodline's numbers were not considered few, it was difficult to see any results in a short time.

“Clan Leader, I believe Audis will bring us good news.”

“Hmm.”

For now, the major projects in Dawn City had been completed, and there were no other projects that needed focused efforts, so now he could allocate a large portion of his energies to the task of finding the Dwarf Tribe.

Lide nodded, looked down at the tea cup, and watched the tea leaves slowly floating and sinking, his thoughts gradually shifting towards the development of Dawn City.

Dawn City had achieved much in the past half-year.

In agriculture, the wheat had already been harvested and stored, with winter wheat to be sown at the end of September, giving a buffer of over a month.

The breeding farm had already been put on the right track, already running at full capacity, and due to manpower issues, it could not expand in the short term.

The training of Magic Language Bats would see results by September; currently, they just needed to provide enough food and wait for the results.

In terms of city construction, Dawn City Mage Tower had been completed and started training Mages, this place being the future production area for Mages of Dawn City.

While the expansion and repair of houses in the southern district were not yet finished, with the construction department managing and planning uniformly, the idling residents had been attracted by silver puke to join the construction effort, foreseeing that more houses would be built in another two months.

In summary, the first phase of Dawn City's construction, taking nearly a year, had been initially completed.

The cultivation of farmland, establishment of Mage Tower, construction of breeding farms, expansion of the southern district, construction of the blacksmith shop, and the bustling streets in the central city area were the fruits of the hard work done during this period by everyone in Dawn City.

Lide already had a preliminary draft in mind for the second phase of construction in Dawn City, but he was not planning to commence a new round of construction for now.

He needed to give Dawn City some buffer time, to ease after intense building, and also to prepare for the upcoming depopulation during Frost Month.

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that most of the work he planned for Dawn City this year was in preparation for depopulating during Frost Month.

The large vacant houses in the southern district were uninhabited, vast lands in Moonlight Plain were unfarmed, and the growth of Dawn Sect's believers had also hit a bottleneck.

It could be said that without a sufficient population, Dawn City could only maintain its current scale; to continue expanding, more humans needed to join.

After much thought, Lide smiled and shook his head, reining in his scattered thoughts.

Just as he was about to speak to Harrison, who had been silent, he suddenly noticed the fleeting silhouette of a One-eyed Giant passing by the window.

The question Lide intended to ask changed at once, “Harrison, how is our iron ore reserve now?”

After mining the ores in the Giant Valley, the astronomical needs of Dawn City for steel had greatly eased. Due to the high efficiency of the One-eyed Giants, they even managed a small surplus of ores.

“Clan Leader, the blacksmith shop has stored thirty tons of steel, which can be used at any time if needed.”

Only thirty tons of steel reserves for a city?

Lide shook his head slightly with amusement; this would be laughable if mentioned on Earth.

However, considering current productivity, being able to save up tons of steel after supplying a city was not bad at all.

“Thirty tons might be less, but it's usable. Can these few dozen tons be used to build a water system?”

Lide's yearning for a water system persisted. Despite as the city owner, enjoying every service possible, the lack of basic infrastructure like running water still made his life inconvenient.

Taking a bath in hot weather without turning on a faucet felt restricting.

To install a water system throughout the entire city would require much more steel than a few dozen tons, which might not even make a dent.

This world lacked plastic, so for durability, steel pipes were the only option.

“Clan Leader, a water system isn't urgently needed for Dawn City now. Moreover, when the Frost Month arrives, more people will join our city; I think it would be better to construct it then.

Plus, the few dozen tons of steel could perhaps be used somewhere more useful…”

Lide nodded slightly upon hearing this. Building now seemed a bit rushed. A water system was no armory; a day early or late didn't greatly impact the broader situation.

He shook his head, temporarily abandoning the idea of the water system, but was curious about what Harrison had left unsaid.

“More useful places?”

“Of course,” Harrison said with excitement in his eyes, “We have an ace army that needs better heavy armor.

I heard the blacksmith shop has developed a new alchemy formula in recent days, increasing the strength of the smelted steel by threefold!!

If we used these few dozen tons of steel to manufacture armor, we might create an extremely powerful ground force.”

“Ace army?” Lide raised his eyebrows; in the whole of Dawn City, there was only one force that could be clad in heavy armor.

“One-eyed Giants?”

“Yes, exactly,” Harrison nodded affirmatively.

As a dominant force on the ground, Lide had never doubted their combat prowess; these giants, towering six or seven blades high, were more imposing than armored tanks.

With their exaggerated physiques, One-eyed Giants had a crushing advantage over ordinary human soldiers.

Robust physical condition, massive size, immensely formidable strength.

Even the charge of cavalry could not shake these behemoths.

“Clan Leader, the armor the One-eyed Giants wore during the ambush of the Northern Warriors was hastily forged, not of high quality.

Even so, they crushed those high-level professionals.

If we protected them with the sturdiest armor, they might unleash a combat strength beyond what others could imagine.”

Hearing this, Lide stroked his chin, thoughtfully nodding.

The greatest talent of the One-eyed Giants was their massive bodies and mountain-overturning strength, but their enormous size resulted in low agility, making them easy targets.

If they really were equipped with more solid armor, they could fully leverage their advantages, turning these six, seven blades high behemoths into invincible beings on the battlefield.

Previously, Grot from the air had dived down, slashing the 15-level One-eyed Giant leader, Kosar, into severe injuries; his armor split in two.

While Grot's formidable strength and sharp greatsword played a role, the poor quality of Kosar's armor was also a factor.

For Dawn City to have fashioned such massive armor for a dozen One-eyed Giants in such a short time was a feat; as for armor quality, relying mainly on thickness for defense, one could imagine the outcome.

It was fortunate though that One-eyed Giants bore the bloodline of ancient giants, possessing freakishly strong physiques, otherwise, it truly would have been untenable.

“But now it's different, Kosar has now a stronger Bronze One-eyed Giant bloodline, if we could truly equip him, turning him into a human-shaped mecha…”

Thinking of Kosar in heavy armor, wielding a wolf fang club taller than a building and rampaging through enemies, Lide was quite moved.

The combat prowess of the armored One-eyed Giants displayed during the ambush was noticeable; without Kosar's presence, they might not have won that grueling battle.

Now changing to more solid armor, and already upgraded to Bronze One-eyed Giants, how much could Kosar's combat strength improve?

Thinking this, Lide unconsciously reached his hand to touch the warm-breathing little bat at his chest, tapping his head with a bit of amusement, almost forgot his own personal bodyguard.

Castro, this nascent monarch skilled enough to brawl with Kosar–if he too were to be equipped.

What kind of scene would occur with this nascent king swooping down from the sky to the ground??

On the ground, giants stand seven blades high, clad in heavy armor so thick that even siege crossbows couldn't penetrate, rampaging through the enemy ranks, their massive wolf fang clubs sweeping aside dozens of lives with each stroke, blood and dirt flying, leaving only emptiness in their path.

Above in the sky, a terrifying beast wrapped in steel, with 16-blade-span bat wings diving down, wings outfitted with weapons sharper than sword blades, cutting through dense armies like a knife, the enemy falling crazily like mowed wheat.

Thinking about this scenario excited Lide especially now that acquiring the Secret Silver Vein was imminent, potentially facing tens of thousands of Beastman armies directly, enhancing one's own battle capabilities was undoubtedly crucial.

Besides, Lide always had a keen interest in such matters.

“Bring Kosar from Giant Valley to the blacksmith shop. Let's go see that Dwarf Forging Master together.”

“I need to forge a new suit of armor for Castro, I want this bronze One-eyed Giant to become the true dominator of the ground, the Gundam of the magical world, the most formidable Human-shaped Mecha…”

Looking at Lide's excited expression, Harrison didn't understand what his boss was talking about, but it all sounded very impressive.

“Yes, Clan Leader, Castro will surely become the Sharp Blade in your hands, slicing through the enemies' throats.”

“No, he will be the War Hammer in my hands, smashing the enemies' heads.

They are my super heavy-armored warriors!!”

Lide was enthusiastic.

One Sunshine Hour later.

Blacksmith's shop.

Master Valen looked at Lide with a very complex expression.

As a Dwarf who had lived for three hundred years, Valen had seen too many miraculous and incredible things in his lifetime.

But no matter how unbelievable, nothing in these past few days had baffled him as much as what he had seen.

This city, ruled by Vampires, had managed to achieve a discrimination-free coexistence between two rival races.

It was utterly illogical.

You are Vampires, after all, isn't killing, brutality, and blood-drinking your nature? And yet you get along with humans so well, it's simply unbearable.

“Should I refer to you as Lord Ilo or the Kachar City Lord??” Although Lide had not transformed into a Vampire, Valen still recognized him.

He didn't even need to see Lide; the respect in the surrounding blacksmiths' eyes was enough to deduce it.

Lide gave a slight smile to this big-bearded Dwarf dressed in sackcloth, bound with Magic Prohibition Chains, whose beard was braided into two little plaits, prompting him to take a few extra glances.

“In Dawn City, call me Kachar, Valen, you are a clever dwarf…”

Valen shook his head, interrupting Lide, “Kachar City Lord, regarding the Secret Silver Vein, I think we won't have an opportunity to cooperate, you needn't continue…”

Lide shook his head, “Don't rush, I'm not here today to discuss the Secret Silver Vein.”

After saying that, his tone carried a hint of significance, “This matter no longer requires your help.”

Valen was startled but before he could ask, Lide gestured with his hand to stop him.

“Valen, no need to say more about this.

Today, I came to ask if there is any armor that Dwarfs cannot forge? Of course, I'm not referring to Divine Artifacts…”

Valen looked deeply at Lide, filled with immense admiration for this Vampire; this dark creature was truly too clever, his words had already flustered him.

Shaking his head without thinking too much, the initiative was still in his hands, as long as the other party hadn't discovered the Secret Silver Vein he had nothing to fear.

But the Secret Silver Vein was so hidden, it wasn't something that could be easily found; even the Dwarfs had almost missed it once.

“Kachar City Lord, as long as it's not a Divine Artifact, there will be no problem.

Even I dare say, if Dwarfs can't forge the armor, no other race in this world can,” Valen temporarily set aside the doubts in his heart, raising his head proudly towards Lide.

The concept that Dwarf products are top-grade had already become a consensus throughout the Glory World, no one would question this, just as no one would question the strength of a giant dragon.

Lide nodded in satisfaction upon hearing these words and turned to look towards the nearby street.

Valen was slightly taken aback and followed Lide's gaze.

Then, in his view appeared a giant beast seven blades high, its muscles appearing as though they were forged from steel, its entire body covered in wrinkled gray-white skin and on its hairless head was a huge eye.

One-eyed Giant.

“Master Valen, I want to have an indestructible suit of armor forged for him.”

Seeing that massive body and holding a hammer, Valen's hands involuntarily trembled, his face a bit stiff.

“Kachar City Lord, do you want me to forge armor for this One-eyed Giant?”

Lide shook his head, and just as Valen slightly relaxed, he pulled out a palm-sized bat from his pocket.

Then, under the shocked gazes of everyone.

In just a few seconds, the palm-sized Castro transformed into a terrifying giant beast, four blades tall with a wingspan surpassing sixteen blades.

The dark red patterns on its wings exuded dignity and mystery, its metallic body reflected the light, appearing like a beast forged from bronze.

Lide gestured towards Castro, his tone carrying a hint of amusement.

“Not just the One-eyed Giant, but also him–the king of Dawn Bats, Castro.

I need you to forge two suitable suits of armor for them…”

Watching the two beasts, each as thick as his own thigh, clang, Valen's hammer slipped from his grasp and smashed onto the ground.

At that moment, this once so proud Dwarf Forging Master had a paleness spread across his face.

For some reason, the blacksmiths around felt a mysterious sympathy for this Dwarf Forging Master for a few seconds.

How long would this one person need to forge?

Chapter end