Bei Bei said, "The third soul engineer legion will be named the Fort Soul Engineer Legion. It'll be composed of a thousand five hundred soul masters. Comparatively speaking, this batch of soul masters will be of lower cultivations, and they'll only be equipped with one type of soul tool - our modified all-terrain self-driving fort. Every fort can only carry five people. As a result, this soul engineer legion will be equipped with three hundred such forts."
After hearing such a number, Huo Yuhao was astonished. He first thought of the sheer amount of rare metals they needed to produce so many self-driving forts and Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannons!
Bei Bei instantly saw through what he was thinking and took the initiative to answer his doubts before he even posed his question, "To conserve resources and increase the speed of manufacture, we've hired blacksmiths from the Heavenly Soul, Dou Ling and Star Luo Empires on high payrolls. They'll proceed with the manufacturing of the outer shells of the cannons and forts. All the metal outer shells will be built using fine iron. Although this can greatly reduce the defensive tenacity and durability of these cannons and forts, it's the only way to manufacture so many soul tools as quickly as possible. According to our estimates, the three soul engineer legions should be fully equipped within a year's time."
Relentless! This was Huo Yuhao's immediate reaction after he heard Bei Bei's words.
The academy is really going all-out this time! These three soul engineer legions consist of a total of two thousand seven hundred soul masters, including more than ten Titled Douluo. This is indeed the strength of Shrek Academy.
The Sun Moon Empire would never expect them to manufacture the outer shells of such large-scale soul tools using fine iron. After all, soul tools were precious in the sense that they were durable. How could fine iron compare to rare metals?
At least, it was unlikely that the Sun Moon Empire would use fine iron to manufacture soul tools. However, the Tang Sect was going to do just that. The only advantage that the Tang Sect had over the Sun Moon Empire was the mechanical blueprints for the Tang Sect's Hidden Weapons that originated from the ancient Tang Sect.
Huo Yuhao could guess without even asking. Apart from the most critical parts, all of the soul tools they were going to manufacture were likely going to be using fine iron, fine steel, and other ordinary metals. Even though they were also very strong, their strength could only be realized by the Tang Sect using those mechanical blueprints.
Teacher Xuan, you've really tapped into the full potential of the Tang Sect!
Bei Bei said, "Now that the first batch of soul tools for the three soul engineer legions has been completed, we've been conducting training every day. Perhaps our three soul engineer legions aren't strong enough to change the entire situation of the war, but they'll be a force to be reckoned with. When needed, we can attack and defend."
Huo Yuhao said, "Eldest senior, I have a suggestion."
Bei Bei nodded and answered, "Go on."
Huo Yuhao continued, "I suggest that we specially divide some people to specialize in manufacturing stationary soul cannon shells. A stationary soul cannon's greatest advantage lies in its effective range. Since we can use fine iron to create the main structure of our soul tools, we can also manufacture cannon shells. As long as we reduce their strength below a certain standard, fine iron and steel should be able to handle them."
Bei Bei furrowed his brow and said, "We'll only be able to manufacture Class 3 stationary soul cannon shells then. Wouldn't that be too weak?"
Huo Yuhao's eyes flashed and he replied, "It might not be. If we thicken the layer of fine iron and steel on the outer shell, we should be able to increase the soul cannons to at least a Class 4 standard. Furthermore, these outer shells can be manufactured by ordinary blacksmiths. We can add a very thin layer of rare metals as the innermost layer. In that case, we should be able to create Class 4 stationary soul cannon shells. Although the destructiveness of a Class 4 stationary soul cannon shell is only roughly at the standard of a Class 5 soul cannon, we'll still be able to gain a very huge advantage in long-range attacks if we have enough of them. They'll be especially useful for aerial soul tools. Given my spirit power, we can specialize in using stationary soul cannons to attack the Sun Moon Empire's aerial surveillance soul tools that within a ten-kilometer radius. Destroying aerial surveillance soul tools doesn't require too much power either."
After hearing Huo Yuhao's words, Bei Bei nodded repeatedly and said, "Alright. If you think this is plausible, I'll arrange for you to find Teacher Xuan when this meeting is over. After that, you can quickly perform tests and come up with a proposition before we commit to anything. We don't have many soul engineers in the Douluo Continent, but we have many blacksmiths. Hire another batch of them."
"Alright."
After this, Bei Bei introduced all the details relating to the Tang Sect to everyone. There were simply too many matters to deal with in the Tang Sect right now. Bei Bei was also very relieved now that Huo Yuhao and the rest had returned. At least there would now a bunch of them helping him with all the work. Otherwise, he would have died from fatigue. He wouldn't even have enough time to search for the Bluesilver Emperor.
After the meeting was over, Huo Yuhao left the room and was prepared to find Xuan Ziwen. After seeing the Death God and learning about some soul tools on the battlefield, he wanted to discuss all of it with him.
"Hey, wait a minute." Someone called to Huo Yuhao, causing him to turn around perplexedly. He only saw Nan Qiuqiu chasing after him with a grin on her face.
"What's wrong, Qiuqiu? You're still gloating?" Huo Yuhao laughed.
Nan Qiuqiu snorted and replied, "Am I that sort of person? I'm here to help you."
Huo Yuhao was curious as he asked, "Help me? Help me with what?"
Nan Qiuqiu chuckled and said, "Do you want to go out and play? I have an idea that will let eldest senior agree to let you go out."
"What?" Huo Yuhao appeared delighted. He didn't really want to leave, but he might have a chance to bump into Wang Dong'er if he left Shrek City.
Huo Yuhao was doubtful as he asked, "What idea could you have?"
Nan Qiuqiu snorted and said, "You just need to agree to one of my conditions before I'll bring you along."
"What's the condition? Tell me." Huo Yuhao asked.
Nan Qiuqiu paused for a moment and she turned slightly red. After that, she answered, "I want you to be my boyfriend for a few days."
"What?" Huo Yuhao was stunned for a moment. He was a little embarrassed as he looked at her and shook his head helplessly before turning around and leaving.
"Hey!" Nan Qiuqiu stomped her foot in anger. "Am I that annoying? Can't you even pretend to be my boyfriend?"
Huo Yuhao shook his head and replied, "I'm sorry, Qiuqiu. We can negotiate other things, but I can't accede to this request of yours. You should know my feelings for Dong'er. If I agree to your request, I'll be hurting you. That won't be good for either of us. I'm really sorry. You're a nice lady, and I'm sure you'll find your prince charming in the future. I'll go and find Teacher Xuan first." After he finished speaking, he turned around and left.
Of course, Huo Yuhao could sense the feelings that Ye Guyi and Nan Qiuqiu had for him. It was just that he was overly sad because of what had happened to Wang Dong'er and Wang Qiu'er, and really didn't wish to associate himself with anyone else. If he were more determined when Wang Qiu'er got close to him, the tragedy might not have happened. This was why he was now very disciplined with regards to matters of the heart. Even though Tang Wutong looked almost identical to Wang Dong'er, he still decided to immediately steer clear from her after verifying that she wasn't Wang Dong'er. He didn't want to give her and himself the wrong impression. She had her own feelings. When a guy and a girl stayed around each other too much, it was inevitable that feelings would grow between them. Huo Yuhao didn't wish for such a situation to happen. This was why he rejected Nan Qiuqiu so readily. Perhaps this might hurt her in the short-term, but it was better than hurting her after she was even more emotionally involved.
"Hmph! Guys are all so heartless. I don't want any prince charming. Don't leave. Let me finish talking first." Nan Qiuqiu was fuming as she pursued Huo Yuhao, stopping him in his tracks.
Huo Yuhao sighed slightly and asked, "Qiuqiu, what else do you want?"
She snorted and said, "It's a good thing for you. I still have to chase you for this. But you're so unwilling."
Huo Yuhao was apologetic, "I'm sorry, Qiuqiu. Ever since Qiu'er left and Dong'er felt into a coma, I've not been feeling very good. If there's anything that I've done to offend you, please forgive me."
Nan Qiuqiu glared at Huo Yuhao and said, "Do you know how much I hate you? It's always like this - acting so kind and treating others as outsiders. Even if you can't be my boyfriend, can't you at least be an ordinary friend?" As she spoke, her eyes had already turned red.
Huo Yuhao's heart softened and he said, "We've always been friends! We're even partners, even closer than ordinary friends."
Nan Qiuqiu's expression became milder and she said, "That's more acceptable. Alright, I shall not delay you. I'll get straight to the point. Do you remember my mom mentioning that there's a mysterious place where the Earthdragon Sect is that she wishes to give to the Tang Sect?"
Huo Yuhao was moved and he said, "Yes, Elder Nan did mention it before. Why? Haven't we gone to retrieve it yet?"
Nan Qiuqiu said, "One look and I can tell that you didn't fully understand her words. My mom was telling you that the place is likely to be accessible only to you. As the temperature inside is extremely low, ordinary soul masters can't possibly survive inside, much less venture deep into it. According to the information that our ancestors left behind, there's likely to be a mine inside. This mine is also very strange - it's extremely cold inside. We can only predict that there's some kind of rare metal inside, but we can't tell how rare it is. If you're interested, you can go and take a look since you've nothing much to do now and the war situation has more or less stabilized. If you retrieve rare metals, you can bring some of them back."