<h4>Chapter 121: Bombs that Grow on Trees</h4>


    Trantor: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio


    Yang Ling had not been sitting down for long when a few elders with dog heads and human bodies walked in. The fox elder began to exin that the Dogmen and Foxmen each ounted for half of the three thousand five hundred members in the tribe, with each race having their own elder. The two elders would discuss ande to a consensus whenever there was an important decision to be made.


    “Sir Leader, might I ask if you could supply us with weapons and armor!” The impatient dog elder directly stated the tribe’s difficulties after a few formalities.


    The Beastmen had umted a good amount of rations after a long time of preparation. They wouldn’t have any problemssting through the winter.


    But both the Foxmen and Dogmen were not adept in forging weapons, and thus the tribe had a perpetual shortage of weapons and armor. They often felt that they were powerless when facing against the surrounding aborigines who piged for a living. That was also the reason for their exceptionally strong defenses.


    “I have a group of dwarves and human steelsmiths under me. Unfortunately, I have expended much of my steel ore in recent times. I might not be able to supply you with much in the way of weapons and armor for the time being!” After a pause, Yang Ling continued, “The problem would be much simpler if you could supply me with arge amount of steel ore!”


    Seeing that the Beastmen had been the first to state a request, Yang Ling knew that he was one step closer to his n. The Foxmen had slender and weak frames, but they had the highest proportion of priests amongst all of the Beastmen. The Dogmen were not suitable to charge in the vanguard, but they were as fast as lightning and had keen senses, making them the most suitable scouts and hunters.


    It would definitely be beneficial in the long term development of Wissen Town if he could sessfully subdue arge group of Foxmen and Dogmen. Taking a step back, even if he were unable to subdue them, it was still a decent choice if he could obtain arge amount of cheapbor through cooperation.


    Supply arge amount of steel ore?


    The expression of the dog elder became worried. He had never seen any steel mines around the area, despite having lived here for dozens of years. The tribe had never possessed many weapons or pieces of armor, and ack of steel ore was part of the reason for that shortage.


    “Sir leader, there are no steel mines around our tribe!” Seeing the worry on the dog elder’s face, the fox elder deliberated for a moment before continuing, “But there is arge sulfur mine about ten miles to the east!”


    Yang Ling shook his head after a moment’s surprise. Arge sulfur mine would definitely have great value and attract many investment firms on Earth, but in this foreign world, Yang Ling could not think of any uses for sulfur in such a short span of time.


    “Sulfur might not have too much use to an average person. But a few years ago, we unintentionally discovered a secret!” The fox elder carefully took out a ck fruit the size of a pineapple from a bag.


    A secret?


    The ck fruit had a vile stench, its scent simr to wet paint or petroleum. Yang Ling could not understand what secrets the Beastmen might have discovered. Could they be trying to stink their enemies to death with this vile stench?


    Seeing Yang Ling’s confusion, the fox elder slowly began his exnation.


    The ck thing was called a ck Pulp Melon. It not only had a vile stench, it would also explode when touched after it became mature. It would split into countless fragments, and it was incredibly rare.


    A few years ago, one of the members of the n unintentionally brought back some sulfur from outside. The fox elder deemed it useless and threw it casually under a ck Pulp Melon tree. No one noticed anything strange at the start, but something surprising happened after the ck Pulp Melons matured.


    A few yful kids had been ying under the ck Pulp Melon tree. One of the kids picked a ck Pulp Melon and threw it at their friend. When itnded, the fruit sted the kid’s leg off!


    After his shock, the fox elder realized that this was all caused by the sulfur. After the ck Pulp Melon tree absorbed the sulfur on the ground, the fruit it grew becamerger and smelled worse. It also became more explosive when it matured. The more sulfur it absorbed, the more powerful the explosions became. If the sts were concentrated, they could even be used to st openrge rocks.


    Bombs?


    Yang Ling was rather surprised as he looked at the dark, smelly ck Pulp Melon. He never expected that the ck Pulp Melon would be this powerful. He quickly estimated their value after he came to his senses.


    With arge number of ck Pulp Melons, he could rapidly open and pave roads with much less manpower. Perhaps he might even be able to expand the merchant route from Wissen Town to the A Mountain Pass in just a month.


    He could also start to conductrge-scale developments on the resources in the Terras Forest. He could open mines and gather ore, quickly obtaining arge amount of resources. Perhaps it would not take too long for him to build up the fortress at the A Mountain Pass and the port in Wissen Town.


    These melons would also allow him to set up hidden mines underground. He could even allow his flying Magical Beasts to attack targets on the ground from high up in the air, building a tactical bombing unit. Then, the defenses of his territory would reach unprecedented levels. The Banto people might find it hard to attack the A Mountain Pass even if they sent out an army of a hundred thousand ck Armor Guards.


    “Sir, we can test the power of the ck Pulp Melon outside!”


    Seeing Yang Ling deliberating for a long time, the fox elder had thought that Yang Ling did not believe him, so he was prepared to show Yang Ling the power of the ck Pulp Melons. For the prosperity of the tribe, for the future of his nsmen, it was all worth it.


    Coming to a vast field, the fox elder signalled for a guard to throw out the ck Pulp Melon. The melon sted a tall tree into two sections. This proved that the power of the ck Pulp Melon was even more terrifying than Yang Ling had imagined. It was much more powerful than the bombs made by terrorists back on Earth.


    “Elder, give me a hundred ck Pulp Trees and two thousand ck Pulp Melons, and I’ll supply you with a thousand weapons and sets of armor!”


    How could Yang Ling bear to miss the opportunity after understanding the power of the ck Pulp Melon? The fruit were absolutely necessary, but he definitely had to have the ck Pulp Trees. With the ck Pulp Trees, he would naturally be able to obtain arge number of powerful ck Pulp Melons without being forced to depend on others in the future.


    A hundred ck Pulp Trees and two thousand ck Pulp Melons?


    The fox elder let out a bitterugh as he shook his head. There were only ten ck Pulp Trees in the entire tribe, and only around twenty ck Pulp Melons left. They would not have to live constantly in worry of their tribe being attacked by other tribes if they had arge quantity of powerful ck Pulp Melons.


    “Sir, a two-hundred-year-old ck Pulp Tree can only bear a few dozen ck Pulp Melons a year under normal circumstances. We might not even be able to satisfy your request in a few years, much less in such a short span of time.” After hesitating for a moment, the fox elder gritted his teeth and continued, “Unless we obtained arge amount of sulfur to greatly boost the growth of the ck Pulp Trees.”


    Yang Ling quickly understood what was going on after the fox elder’s exnation.


    The Beastmen tribe only had a single mature ck Pulp Tree. The other nine trees were saplings that were only a few years old, their growth was incredibly slow. ording to the historical records, a ck Pulp Tree could not reach full maturity unless given a few thousand years. Only at full maturity could it bear arge number of ck Pulp Melons.


    After long periods of research, the Beastmen had realized that sulfur could not only boost the power of the ck Pulp Melon, it could also boost the growth of ck Pulp Tree saplings. Unfortunately, thend in a thousand mile radius of the sulfur mine was dead and barren, with monsters crawling at every corner. As such, the tribe had been unable to do arge scale development with their current abilities.


    After turning past a small forest, the fox elder led Yang Ling to one of the rare ck Pulp Trees standing on a hill. There were many Dogmen defending the hill, in case any enemies infiltrated the tribe to harm the tree.


    Simr to the ck Pulp Melon, the ck Pulp Tree also had a vile stench. Yang Ling felt like vomiting despite being a few dozen steps away from the tree. He felt nothing but awe for the Dogmen warriors who stood near the tree, unfazed.


    Yang Ling fought back the urge to retch and walked forward, pretending to be casual as he stroked a sapling that was half the height of a person, secretly injecting a shred of life force into the nt. Indeed, the ck Pulp Tree had an immediate reaction, releasing a strange ripple. It was not too different from the Sapling of the Tree of Life that the elf tribe had gifted him.


    Setting up a Spirit Gathering Spell Formation and injecting life force from time to time would definitely speed up the growth of the nt by a few multiples!


    Yang Ling soon had an idea after making his way around the ck Pulp Trees a few times.


    “Sir, if you could supply us with two thousand sets of weapons and armor, we will gift you two saplings. How about that?” Seeing Yang Ling nod in satisfaction, the fox elder took the opportunity and voiced his request.


    “Elder, to tell you the truth, our steel ore is all imported from the distant Livenza Alliance. The cost is very high!” Yang Ling pretended to shake his head in frustration. “If you could give us the required steel ore, even three thousand sets would not be a problem, much less two thousand. Unfortunately...”


    After sighing and looking at the disappointed Beastmen, Yang Ling continued, “But if you could gift us the two-hundred-year-old ck Pulp Tree, I will sell the warhorses of my warriors and try my best to purchase enough steel ore to forge weapons for you!”


    Gift him the two-hundred-year-old ck Pulp Tree?


    Looking at each other, the dog elder and fox elder shook their heads in unison, rejecting Yang Ling’s request with determination. The ck Pulp Melons were their greatest weapon and secret. If not for the fact that they were severelycking weapons, they would have been unwilling to even reveal this secret, much less offer to give Yang Ling the saplings of the ck Pulp Tree.


    “Three saplings, Sir. We cannot give you any more!”


    “I’ll take all nine of the saplings in exchange for two thousand weapons and sets of armor. In addition to that, I can give your tribe protection and support of various kinds. On my territory, Beastmen and humans have the same status and rights. I will protect your interests!”


    Seeing that there was no way that he could get the two-hundred-year-old ck Pulp Tree, Yang Ling asked for all nine of the saplings. Yang Ling believed that the saplings would grow quickly as long as he nurtured them with the Spirit Gathering Spell Formation. Perhaps he would be able to close the gap of two hundred years in just the short span of one month.


    Beastmen and humans will have the same status and rights?


    Yang Ling had just said this when the fox elder became excited. The Beastmen had always been discriminated against, either bing ves in big cities or hiding in the deep wilderness without status or dignity. If Yang Ling could give the Beastmen a fair status and rights, then it would be a huge blessing for all of the Beastmen.