Chương 24: The Waterwheel

Li Qinwu spread his parchment and began sketching a primitive yet ambitious urban plan: a road system, a nascent sewage network, farming zones, livestock pens, and even a designated commercial district. He had made up his mind: he would use Hardship Hamlet as a foundation to develop a massive township. The humans had been wise to settle here. The terrain was flat and the soil loamy; as long as the massive trees were cleared, they would have vast tracts of arable land.

Furthermore, the site was only about 200 meters from the great river—eventually, it could be developed into a port city with excellent geography. Most importantly, the humans had already cleared a ring of farmland around the wooden fort. The grain produced by these fields meant Li Qinwu's forces wouldn't have to spend all their time hunting, allowing the labor force to focus entirely on construction. After finishing the rough sketches, Li Qinwu stepped out of his cabin.

Holding a wooden spear, he led a goblin construction crew—clutching axes and hoes—who followed him in a bustling crowd. Li Qinwu began drawing lines in the dirt. Wherever he drew, the goblins started digging. Where he drew a square, they built a house; where he drew a line, they dug a sewer. Fueled by a steady diet of cooked meat and soup, the goblins worked at a breakneck pace. To Li Qinwu's delight, the first "local" batch of nearly 200 goblin cubs was born.

He assigned ten goblins to manage the nursery, where each cub received a thick, nutritious broth made of boiled meat and vegetables. With such rich nutrition, the cubs' growth rate accelerated further—often, they could be pulled out of the nursery to join production and construction in just ten days. With a fresh influx of manpower, Li Qinwu launched a major project. He noticed that his [Engineering] proficiency was skyrocketing after overseeing so many cabins. He was fast approaching 25 points.

The first dual-choice perk at Engineering Level 25— Cement —was something Li Qinwu desperately wanted. To grind the remaining points, he initiated a special project: an Automated Irrigation Waterwheel. He first sent a team to dig irrigation channels in the fields. Then, he had the goblins fell a massive amount of timber, drilling holes and pre-setting joints for riveting. Though the wooden components were crude, they were functional.

Once the parts were ready, Li Qinwu led his team down to the river for installation. The nearby waters were infested with Crocodiles, which seemed to dominate the riverbanks and made construction difficult. However, Li Qinwu had a workaround. He sent the Hobgoblins wearing Crocodile Leather Armor to do the heavy lifting. The scent of the armor confused the real crocodiles, making them think the goblins were their own kind. The project proceeded without a hitch. Massive support beams were hammered into the riverbed.

Li Qinwu then supervised the assembly as the wooden components were stacked and fitted, until a wooden behemoth slowly took shape. The project lasted nearly fifteen days. By then, the first wave of goblin cubs had fully matured—out of 237 births, 218 had survived, a remarkably high rate. Li Qinwu paired the veterans with the newcomers, assigning them to workgroups. This fresh strength further increased his construction speed. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Up on the walls, the humans watched in a daze as the forest edge receded further each day. More land was being tilled, more cabins sat alongside the fields, and a sea of goblins worked and lived in organized chaos. Has the world been sped up? they wondered. How could a pack of monsters complete such a massive amount of engineering in such a short time? But what truly baffled them was the recent activity in the river. At first, they couldn't tell what the Hobgoblins were installing.

But as the structure rose, an old farmer with a hoe let out a cry: "By the Light God! A waterwheel! They're building a waterwheel!" The idea was absurd. A waterwheel was a complex machine; how could goblins build one? And a massive one at that—nearly five meters tall, capable of lifting water directly to the bank.

"Impossible. They are just monsters. How could they build a waterwheel? Impossible, impossible!" Hana shook her head frantically, cursing the absurdity in her heart. They are goblins, not humans! Just brainless monsters! Being trapped for over a month, haunted by fear and scarcity, had already strained the garrison's sanity. Now, seeing goblins complete projects that only humans were supposed to master made their hearts flutter with panic. Their pride as humans was crumbling.

If even goblins could do what humans did, what were they? Driven by a strange, desperate competitive spirit, Hana began pacing between the walls and her cabin ten times a day, secretly hoping the project would fail. By the time the second wave of 300 goblin cubs reached maturity, the waterwheel was finished. The massive wooden wheel stood tall in the current. Driven by the river's force, the wheel rotated, carrying buckets of water to the top and dumping them into a wooden flume.

The flume, held high by wooden scaffolding, stretched 200 meters to the fields, funneling water into a grid of irrigation ditches. The old farmer gasped again.

"With irrigation channels, we can water the land whenever we want! The crop yield will increase by at least twenty percent!" The old man trembled, his eyes filled with—of all things—envy. A human was envying goblins. Hana, meanwhile, stood despondent.

"Impossible... they're just goblins... just goblins..." On the other side, with the waterwheel and irrigation system complete, Li Qinwu gave the goblins a day off to feast. He found these goblins incredibly simple-hearted; as long as they were fed and he maintained discipline through his "one-in-three" executions, they worked at 100% capacity without a hint of laziness. Li Qinwu opened his character sheet. With the waterwheel done, his Engineering had reached 23. Just two more points until he unlocked a new perk.

He looked toward the wooden fort, his eyes flashing with a cold chill. With two waves of cubs born, his military strength had reached 600. Even after losing 100 to his brutal discipline, he had a formidable force. It was time to take what was rightfully his. Li Qinwu immediately launched a new project. He split the goblins into three teams: one to watch the humans, one to fell trees, and one to dig foundations. Once the foundations were deep enough, tall beams were hammered into the earth.

Using riveted structures, the goblins built upward. Li Qinwu was constructing Siege Watchtowers —tall enough to fire directly over the walls and into the settlement's interior! Four watchtowers were erected at the four corners of the fort. Once finished, they could strike any target inside the walls without exception. The people inside were sick with worry, but there was nothing they could do. The goblins below now outnumbered them six to one. They could only watch as the wooden towers grew taller day by day.

Finally, after the third wave of cubs was born, the 9-meter-tall towers were completed. Li Qinwu climbed the highest tower with his masterwork longbow. He had a brazier of coals brought to the top. He picked up a specialized wooden arrow—the tip wrapped in dried grass soaked in animal fat and flammable resin. He touched the tip to the coals. Whoosh! The arrow flared into a ball of fire. Li Qinwu looked down at the chaotic, panicked fort, drew his bow to its limit, and let fly.