Lord: Starting with Biological Modification

Chapter 70: Chapter 66: Weapon Test

On the other side of the Wailing Hills, Ola’s camp looked like a filthy patch sewn onto the wilderness.

The black tents that had once belonged to the Rock Breaker Knight Order were now surrounded by an even greater number of tattered linen tents, all pitched askew and in complete disarray.

These were the conscripts from Valley Village and another, smaller territory called Gray Stone Watch.

Their eyes held no fighting spirit, only a dazed uncertainty about the future and a deep fear of the Rock Breakers around them.

Ola Stonebeard, the Baron of Shiyan Town, was striding purposefully as he inspected his ’grand army’.

He was bare-chested, his bronze muscles gleaming under the sun. Two thick braids in his beard swung forcefully with every stride.

His gaze first fell upon two newly assembled trebuchets.

They were deadly weapons of war, which he had ’persuaded’ the two pitiful Knights to ’offer as tribute’ using the last of Valley Village’s iron and all of Gray Stone Watch’s hardwood.

Crude and cumbersome, but brimming with destructive power.

"My lord, the provisions have all been tallied."

Glenn followed behind him. The dent in his breastplate had been hammered out, but the humiliation was still etched on his face.

"Enough to besiege the town for half a month."

"Besiege?" Ola scoffed.

He patted the trebuchet’s cold wooden arm as if caressing a lover’s skin.

"I don’t do sieges. I crush."

He turned and faced the hundreds of soldiers in the camp.

The Rock Breaker Knights stood in the front rank like silent iron towers.

And behind them, the ragged conscripts looked like stalks of wheat, swaying precariously in the wind.

Ola’s voice boomed over the camp like a great bell.

"Only cowards hide behind walls and resort to petty tricks!"

"Real Warriors speak with fire and steel!"

"In three days, the walls of Newly Town will fall! Its houses will burn! Their wine will be ours to drink, and their bread will be ours to eat!"

"RAAAGH!"

The Rock Breaker Knights banged their battle-axes against their shields, unleashing a deafening din.

Even the conscripts, driven by fear, let out a few sparse, half-hearted cheers.

Ola was satisfied. He believed that in the face of absolute power, any and all schemes were nothing more than a clown’s sideshow.

「Newly Town heard the footsteps of war.」

The news brought back by the scouts spread through the townsfolk like a plague.

Ola Stonebeard had assembled a force of over three hundred men and brought with him war machines capable of hurling boulders and pots of flaming oil.

A pall of panic hung over the town.

In a small tavern, a young carpenter clutched his wooden cup, his hand trembling with tension.

"Three hundred men... and trebuchets... Our walls are made of vines; one spark and they’ll go up in flames! What on earth is our lord doing? The enemy is just a few miles away sharpening their axes, and we’re here digging latrines?"

"Shut your mouth!" The bearded vice-captain, Rego, slammed a hand on the table, sending ale splashing everywhere.

His bloodshot eyes swept over the crowd. "Are the lord’s plans something you’re allowed to question? Have you all forgotten the Month of Wailing? Even if you have, you can’t have forgotten how Glenn and his lot tucked their tails between their legs and ran last time, can you? Now, follow your orders!"

But for all his bravado, the nervous bob of his Adam’s apple betrayed his anxiety as he gulped down a large mouthful of cheap ale.

He didn’t understand complex tactics, but he knew what three hundred enemies and two trebuchets meant.

Just as panic was setting in and rumors were flying, Velin appeared on the bastion ramparts.

He wore no armor, only a set of clean scholar’s robes. He was as calm as ever, as if merely admiring the afternoon scenery of his domain.

His appearance made everyone stop what they were doing and look his way.

"People of Newly Town," Velin’s voice rang out, firm and clear. "I know what you are worried about."

"A neighbor, blinded by rage, is marching on us with a hastily assembled, ragtag army."

Velin’s gaze swept over the anxious faces below.

"However, I require you all to return to your posts. Blacksmiths, keep forging. Farmers, keep tending your fields."

He smiled. "And the women... please prepare bread for our victory feast, and food for our captives."

"Because before they even arrive—by dawn tomorrow—the war will already be over."

His words held no fiery, passionate incitement, only the same calm commands they were used to hearing from him.

It was this "Plan-Propose-Execute" methodology, which the townsfolk were gradually growing accustomed to, that doused the flames of panic in many hearts.

Those who had witnessed the miracle of the Stone Skin Soft Vines were the first to trust him, and they turned and left in silence.

But a small portion of the people, still filled with anxiety, dispersed while whispering amongst themselves.

「In the laboratory of the Lord’s Mansion.」

Master Valerius was beside himself with anxiety.

"Velin! I swear by the very truth of Alchemy, you are gambling with everyone’s lives!" The old scholar’s voice trembled with agitation.

"Ola has trebuchets! Do you know what that means? Jars of flaming oil! Your vine walls will go from being our protectors to our executioners!"

"We must at least prepare something!" He pointed to a rough sketch covered in Runes. "Look, a basic ’Arrow Deflection’ Array. Five standard units of casting materials would be enough to cover the entire wall. It could deflect at least half of all projectiles!"

"Or, we could make some ’Frost Potions’ to at least put out the fires!"

"When the time comes, I can intervene myself. I can handle at least fifteen fully-equipped Knights."

Velin set down a list, walked over to Valerius, and looked directly into the old man’s anxious eyes.

"Master, I am not questioning your alchemical prowess. Both the arrow deflection array and the frost potions are ingenious creations."

Then his tone sharpened. "But we are not window dressing, Master. We are in a slaughterhouse. The enemy has come bearing a butcher’s cleaver, yet you are contemplating how to forge a sturdier collar for the pig."

The metaphor left Valerius speechless.

"Your thinking is ’defensive’," Velin continued. "You’re focused on how to survive the enemy’s attack. My thinking is ’annihilation’—how to make sure the enemy and his cleaver are rotting in the ground before he can even strike."

"Master, you should never worry about what the enemy has."

He looked at Valerius, the corners of his mouth curling into a faint, confident smile.

"You should be anticipating what I have prepared for them."

Just then, Master Valerius suddenly felt an extremely faint, yet unmistakably clear, tremor run through the stone floor beneath his feet.

It was as if, deep underground, massive living things were awakening all at once.

He thought of *those things*, and his eyes widened in horror.

"Your research... it succeeded?"

Velin’s voice was like a demon’s whisper, adding the final footnote to the tremor.

"Yes, Master."

"There will be no battle tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, there will only be a weapons test."