I Became the Progenitor Vampire Chapter 267

Chapter 267: Chapter 269: The End of the Closed Beta, a New Era is Approaching (6400 words) Chapter 267: Chapter 269: The End of the Closed Beta, a New Era is Approaching (6400 words) Compared to the grandiose King's Blade, the establishment of Dawn Wings seemed somewhat calm.

Because the members of Dawn Wings were all reassigned from the King's Blade.

Or it could be said that the King's Blade governed Dawn Wings.

The King's Blade was more like the military headquarters of Dawn City.

With a Security Department and patrol teams responsible for internal security, and now a newly established Dawn Wings.

According to Lide's plan, the King's Blade would even manage all military forces except for the Bloodline.

In the future, the composition of the King's Blade wouldn't be limited to humans; it could also recruit quality combat power from other races.

For example, the One-eyed Giant, or the Beastman…

This army, which had sworn allegiance to him, would be his sharp blade, which was why it was named King's Blade.

The edge of this army's sword would carry a deadly aura, gliding towards the throats of all enemies.

However, at the moment, the power of the King's Blade was still weak, and a lot of investment would be needed for it to form effective combat power.

Armor, equipment, training, and even actual combat, these warriors with their currently low average level, had to reach at least level 5 or even level 7 to be truly formed.

But for now, these new soldiers had a minor impact on the overall situation, especially the warriors of Dawn Wings, who were more engaged in cooperation with the Magic Language Bats in combat, with fewer instances of close-quarters contact with the enemy.

They mostly performed airdrops.

Moreover, the single combat ability of Magic Language Bats wasn't strong; in Lide's expectation, Magic Language Bats, once equipped with Alchemy Bombs, would serve mostly as bombers rather than fighters in combat.

“If that's the case, maybe we can, based on Earth's experience, design two types of armor–one for bombing and one for combat.”

Thinking thus, Lide suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

“The combat armor will be responsible for fighting, and the bombing armor will be responsible for dropping bombs. We could even go one step further and transform it so that after releasing the bombs, it could directly engage in combat…”

“However, all these have to wait until the armor is designed. Later on, we can develop in this direction. For the short term, we should focus on getting the first batch of bomb release capability sorted out.”

“At this rate, a real Air Force might not form until the spring of next year… It still needs time.”

Lide was somewhat emotional but not too anxious about it.

Building an army that had never existed before was definitely not simple; all kinds of supporting measures needed to be perfected bit by bit, and it wasn't just about slapping an Alchemy Bomb into a frame and calling it a day.

The beginning is always the hardest, but as long as you start well, the following development can be done step by step.

Knock knock knock~
The knocking on the door interrupted Lide's thoughts.

“Come in.”

“Good day, Clan Leader…” Harrison appeared before Lide, looking somewhat weary, as the City Hall Speaker, even as a Bloodline, was not lightly burdened this month.

Behind Harrison, a petite figure also stepped into the room–a girl in a blue Priest robe, smiling and curtsying to Lide.

“Good day, Kachar City Lord.”

Lide nodded at the two with a smile, “Harrison, you've been working hard these days.

Nicole, Dawn City is at a crucial period of development. This is a precious opportunity–study well, as you'll have to shoulder more important responsibilities in the future.”

Nicole's big eyes whirled around, her small face filled with animation. Now, this not yet seventeen-year-old, slightly thin girl was a big shot in the City Hall.

Many policies were handed down through her, and every word and action could change countless people's fates.

Nicole's demonstrated talent in governance had made Lide increasingly value her; she was so talented that he made a significant gesture to train her as Harrison's successor.

Of course, as a Bloodline, Harrison didn't need a successor. As long as he didn't actively seek death in battle, he could live for thousands, if not tens of thousands of years, as easily as playing a game.

“I understand, Kachar City Lord~”
Nicole giggled, her two cute little fangs poking out, with a young girl's playful innocence on her face.

The girl looked somewhat similar to his Divine Priest Nilo but possessed a unique vivacity of her own. After enduring countless hardships, she managed to maintain it, which was truly valuable.

“Do you have any matters to report?”

Lide looked amusedly at Nicole, whose eyes were busily roving around; unlike others, she rarely seemed restrained in his presence.

“Kachar City Lord, the Dawn Festival is in a few days–should we hold a grand celebration?”

Nicole spoke with bright eyes, her tone full of longing.

The Dawn Festival; in the Frost Month of last year, Lide held a heroes selection contest to recruit the first batch of Bloodlines.

The contest ultimately chose 12 winning residents and bestowed upon them the title of the twelve heroes. He made them Bloodlines in front of all residents and awarded them the Dawn Medal.

Now, statues of those twelve heroes still stood on Dawn Square, at the end of the main street where the final point of the hero selection contest was held.

Dawn Festival was a holiday specifically established by Lide to consolidate public spirit, declaring December 31st each year as Dawn Festival, symbolizing the welcoming of new hope.

A city's morale wasn't something that could be easily united–a common slogan, a shared belief, a joint festival, a shared language…

Each one could add a certain degree of morale, and when all of these were brought together, the city would become as solid as steel.

In this regard, Lide's actions had already laid a foundation last year.

“Of course we should; this will be our first festival,” Lide replied with a slight smile, “Issue my edict: by law, the Dawn Festival will be established, with a week off starting three days before the Dawn Festival and ending on January 4th of the new year.”

“These seven days are a holiday for all the residents of Dawn City, and, aside from essential departments like the Security Team, the City Hall doesn't need to work either.

And all the residents will receive their normal pay.”

Upon hearing this, Nicole's eyes lit up, and her little face filled with joy, making her small fangs look even cuter.

To think we get to take a seven-day break?? And still get paid??

“This is simply awesome!! Praise be to you, Kachar City Lord~”
At that moment, the little girl seemed just like those office workers on Earth who hate their jobs, getting excited at the mere mention of a break.

Lide found this quite amusing. These folks, who work themselves to the bone with a 996 schedule, only enjoyed this kind of true holiday once a year.

Moreover, everyone was incredibly grateful to him, for they could take one day off every week, which was quite… luxurious.

A festival like this could ease the recently tense atmosphere of the city slightly and wouldn't affect the construction progress too much.

Besides, the boost in morale this event would provide certainly couldn't be compared to the losses incurred by stopping work for a few days.

“Is there anything else?”

“Yes~” Nicole came back from her joyful reverie, her big black eyes blinking as she looked at Lide.

“The first phase of the weapon factory has been completed. Master Valen conducted a forging test this morning. They've just sent word that they've successfully passed the test and can now officially start production.”

Oh? The weapon factory can start production now?

Lide's eyes shone.

The Alchemy Factory and the weapon factory had been his top priorities lately. Because of the need to consider safety factors, the Alchemy Factory's construction had been somewhat slow.

But the weapon factory didn't need as many considerations, so its construction could proceed much faster.

The concept of the weapon factory was something Lide taught to Master Valen, the Dwarf Forging Master, and he had provided a lot of material from Earth for reference.

However, exactly how to construct the factory and how to design the forging steps within were decisions left to the dwarves themselves.

Lide didn't have much interest in weapon forging and wasn't familiar with the dwarves' workflow, so he let them take charge of their own construction.

After all, beings used to mining all day likely had construction skills that were no less impressive than their forging skills; they could figure it out themselves.

“Let's go, let's take a look together,” Lide said, brimming with enthusiasm.

Every time a new building was completed within Dawn City, it gave him an indescribable sense of accomplishment.

The weapon factory was situated on the western side of Moonlight Plain, not far from the Steel Refining Furnace. This area had been designated as a restricted zone, off-limits to outsiders.

The city of Dawn was located in a canyon, where the wind blew through the middle and dispersed to the sides, so the steel factory's emissions were blown straight into the sky, not affecting the residents' normal lives.

This had been considered when selecting the site.

When Lide and his party arrived at the front of the weapon factory, where the surroundings had been neatened and laid with bluestone floors, the informed Master Valen rushed out to greet them.

“Kachar City Lord, our weapon factory has been built!!”

Seeing Lide, the Dwarf Forging Master was extremely excited. “The quality of weapons forged this way is very stable, and their attributes are almost as good as those forged solely by dwarves…

The weapon factory is simply a stroke of genius!

By the Forge God above, you must be a treasure bestowed upon us by the Forge God…”

Lide twitched the corner of his mouth hard; mmp, that's not what you said before.

Didn't you say that the weapon factory didn't conform to the dwarves' forging habits and that it couldn't produce good equipment??

Calling someone Mrs. Cow before, and now calling them Little Sweetie…

Even face-changing isn't as fast as you.

“Have you started production?”

“Yes, Kachar City Lord, we forged a batch of weapons this morning to adjust the process, but we didn't expect the assembly line effect you described to be surprisingly good.

Everyone being responsible for only one step of the process certainly won't produce high-level equipment, but it's divine for forging Rare Level equipment and below!!

You are truly great!! You must have been endowed with great wisdom by the Creator God!!”

Valen said, again launching into praise for Lide.

Watching the excited Valen, Lide didn't know whether to laugh or cry. How much of a shock had this guy received??

“Take me to see your achievements.”

“Yes, you will be amazed!” Valen replied extremely happily, leading several people into the weapons factory enclosed by tall walls of bluestone.

Harrison and Nicole followed Lide with curiosity into this newly risen building.

The weapons factory area had few superfluous decorations; it was all built of stone and exuded a strong dwarven style.

When Lide arrived at the warehouse and saw the piles of equipment scattered messily due to the lack of weapon racks, he finally understood why Valen was so excited.

The piles of equipment, which looked like small hills, included weapons of Common, Rare, and Rare Level qualities, numbering four to five hundred pieces.

“This is what you've forged in half a day??” Lide was also surprised by the sight. Wasn't it said that the factory was just completed and fired up this morning? How did they manage to forge so much by noon?

Valen nodded with proud expression.

“Yes, and this was just our first attempt.”

The factory began forging, and by just one morning, over five hundred pieces of equipment had been created, and this was merely the output of fifty dwarves.

Though the attributes of the equipment produced in this manner might seem ordinary, unable to compare with the perfection of a dwarf working solo.

But I was confident that with changes in technology later on, we could forge equipment of more than adequate quality.

Moreover, our production speed could continue to rise…”

Compared to the assembly-line production of the factory, the previous method of a single dwarf forging a weapon, though possibly yielding better attributes, was far too inefficient.

An assembly-line of fifty dwarves could produce over a thousand weapons in a day, but if each dwarf forged separately, managing to forge two or three each would already be considered highly efficient.

And although the attributes of the weapons forged on the assembly line might have dropped slightly, they remained entirely within an acceptable range, something Valen couldn't help but marvel at.

Such a simple operation directly multiplied the productivity of the dwarves by five or ten times.

And as they became more familiar with their zones of the forging process, their production efficiency was bound to skyrocket.

“We could vigorously train those young blacksmiths; the high-intensity forging of steel in the factory would surely rapidly enhance their strength and finesse!

The weapon factory is truly a stroke of genius, Kachar City Lord, praise be to you!”

Lide shook his head with a smile at the sight of Valen overtaken by enthusiasm.

“Finalize the production processes of the weapon factory as soon as possible.

I want to arrange for you to produce weapons of whatever level I request, and you should be able to do it.

The weapon factory is just starting out, still far from the state I want it to be.

From now on, you will be fully in charge of managing Dawn City's weapon production, with the help from City Hall.

The weapon factory will be responsible for forging low-level weapons, while the High-level Equipment Forging Department will handle crafting equipment of a higher level that the weapon factory cannot produce.”

Lide made his demands of the dwarf forging master without mincing words.

“The weapon factory can be divided into three production factories, Lower-level blacksmiths mainly arranged at the common equipment production factory, intermediate blacksmiths at the rare equipment, and advanced blacksmiths focused on the rarer equipment.

These blacksmiths can be promoted to the next level of production factory each time they advance, increasing their compensation… until they finally move into the High-level Equipment Forging Department.”

Lide even made a more detailed division of labor, aiming to achieve the state of producing equipment of any specified level as desired.

Stability is a very important indicator for a factory.

“Valen, I'm leaving this to you, don't let me down.”

He placed great hope in the weapon factory.

Not even slightly less than in the alchemy factory.

Alchemy bombs might be powerful indeed, but weapons forged by dwarves would certainly not fall short; after all, this was a magical world, where strong armor could completely withstand alchemy bombs without a scratch.

Moreover, he wasn't planning to trade alchemy bombs with the outside world in the short term; he reserved this mighty weapon for his own use.

But the weapon factory was different, in Lide's plan, it was meant for export.

Just like what was sold to the Centaur Tribe.

One for domestic sales, another for earning money through foreign trade, using the profits from foreign trade to support the domestic project.

“Rest assured, Kachar City Lord, dwarves will not let you down!

In the field of weapon forging, dwarves are the strongest glory!”

Valen held his head high, his face filled with pride and confidence, the small braids on his long beard especially eye-catching.

In terms of weapon forging, dwarves indeed had plenty of reasons to be proud.

In fact, as the dwarf forging master said, dwarves were universally recognized as the best weapon forgers in the Main Plane, without any contention.

The group followed Valen to the newly built weapon factory to have a look, which was very much what Lide had expected–assembly-line operations, filled with intense magical flair.

After the inspection, Lide didn't pay much more attention to it. He only needed to manage the overall direction; he naturally didn't need to deal with these details in person–he wasn't that idle.

After inspecting the factory and returning to City Hall, Lide seemed to remember something and asked Harrison, frowning slightly.

“Harrison, is our current steel production able to meet our needs?”

Due to the citywide construction, a large amount of steel was needed, coupled with Lide having used up all the inventory to forge hundreds of large pieces of equipment for the Centaurs.

Thus, the already tight steel supply had once again fallen into an awkward spot.

Harrison shook his head with a wry smile.

“Because of the cold weather, human production efficiency has drastically decreased, and Giant Valley only relies on the production of the One-eyed Giants.

And because Dwarf Valley has only just restarted the mines, many old facilities need to be rebuilt. Even with the abundance of Beastmen, the current output of ore is still pitifully little.

We can expect our steel production to be scarce throughout the Frost Month.”

Lide nodded slightly; the problem of low steel production had always troubled him, and not only him–there was no power on this world that did not lack steel, a strategic metal.

It was simply a matter of the degree of shortage.

The fledgling Dawn City was evidently still at the bottom rung, with the shortage of supplies and the sparse population both hindering the city's rapid development.

But this problem wasn't easy to solve; to acquire ore in large quantities, production personnel needed to be increased or production efficiency improved, but right now…

Thinking it over, Lide's eyes lit up, and he turned to look at the petite Nicole beside him.

“Nicole, how many alchemy bombs are the goblins producing now?” This young girl had been keeping track of the progress with the alchemy bombs and the Alchemy Factory.

“Over the past few days, we have stored more than 600 of them.”

Nicole's large black eyes twinkled with curiosity as she seemed to think of something, “Are you planning to use Alchemy Bombs for mining?”

Lide looked at the girl appreciatively, “Exactly, it doesn't matter if the ore is hard, we can use bombs. Some of the harder spots can be blasted right open…”

Blast mining was not anything unusual on Earth, but conducting it in Glory would require further research.

The power of Alchemy Bombs was not small, they could very well blow the mine to bits.

“Nicole, you follow up on this. Have Moer take a few goblins to Giant Valley to test the Alchemy Bombs on ore extraction.

It's best to bring along a few dwarves with a wealth of mining experience as well.

If Alchemy Bombs are used well, they will undoubtedly greatly improve the efficiency of mining.”

Nicole was very interested in this kind of novel idea, her beautiful large eyes shone brightly, nodding excitedly.

“No problem, I'll go right away~”
After the girl left, Lide shook his head with a slight chuckle and turned to look at Harrison.

“Has there been any news from Craig?”

Since the fall of Risier City, Craig, the Level 16 Werewolf, went quiet, and so did Emi, who had attracted the city guard's fire and slipped into the dark.

The two of them had vanished without a trace.

The small bats lost their lifeforce upon entering Risier City, and the Beastman Army's Shaman Army had magically isolated the city, making multiple attempts by the intelligence department to contact them ineffective.

After breeching into Risier City, the Beastman Army also stopped making any further moves, as if Risier City was their final destination.

“No, information out of Risier City has been completely sealed off. Even if we send out a large number of Magic Language Bats to survey the area, we still can't get any more information…”

“Just keep an eye out, for now, we can partially shift our focus away from the Beastmen.”

Lide waved his hand dismissively, uninterested in communicating with Craig through soul marks. Now that he knew the Beastmen were not going to attack Green City, he had lost interest in their fierce army.

Whatever the Beastmen were doing now didn't affect him much; his focus was temporarily on the development of Dawn City.

He even deliberately instructed the City Hall to slow down the abduction of the population in these few days. The influx of a vast number of people indeed had a significant impact on this city with a shallow foundation.

He needed to stretch out the timeline to accommodate these new residents.

“Yes, Clan Leader.”

Harrison nodded, saying no more. This second-generation Bloodline behaved this way when communicating with Lide–listening to his commands, only asking questions when he was unclear on Lide's specific intentions.

This was why Lide relied so heavily on Harrison. This second-generation Bloodline could perfectly execute his will, and their tacit cooperation was also a guarantee for the rapid development of Dawn City.

“Also, make sure to prepare for the upcoming Dawn Festival. It is an opportunity to unite people's hearts, as the old residents can't assimilate the influx of new residents several times their number in such a short amount of time.

We need to give all the residents confidence and courage.”

Lide's gaze was deep. The population was potential but also pressure; he needed to further unleash that potential.

Just as Lide was about to continue assigning tasks, his expression tightened slightly,
because a sudden system notification rang in his ear.

“Ding~ Player 'Broken Sword's Knight' has become the first to break through to Level 5, becoming the first Intermediate professional. This beta test will close in three minutes.

The next time 'Glory' will open is the official test time announced on the official website. Please prepare for disconnection.”

The beta test is closing?

Lide looked puzzled.

Since the players' current strength was weak and they lacked presence, he had almost forgotten about these players still being in the beta test.

After this beta test closes, the next one would be the real game public test…

Lide seemed to see the scene of tens of millions of players rushing into Glory.

This time, he no longer had the fear he first felt when he learned the players were arriving; instead, there was… slight anticipation.

He was very curious to see how these guys would be taught a lesson by Glory's natives.

Moreover, his backup plan–the Crimson Moon–would officially join the game during the public test.

Then he would play the role of both athlete and referee, issuing tasks to his own people.

With his support, the Crimson Moon would undoubtedly become another sharp blade in his hand.

Dawn City, Crimson Mage Tower, Dark Contract, Lion Tribe, plus the soon-to-arrive Undead of the Crimson Moon–his direct control had reached five forces.

And each force was formidable.

Dawn City had Bloodline, Dwarves, Goblins, and One-eyed Giants,
the Crimson Mage Tower had a Magic Factory and Spark,
the Dark Contract had the title of Lord Ilo and the reputation of one of the three major forces acquired over decades,
the Lion Tribe had a Secret Silver Vein and thousands of Beastman Warriors,
the Crimson Moon had players who could resurrect continuously.

A super-sized boss that spans players, Beastmen, human Nobles, and the dark world was about to log on.

Chapter end