240,000 players flocked to the quarry at Houfeng Pass, along with 60,000 soldiers responsible for quarrying.
After a few experienced veterans worked quickly, a standard city wall brick, measuring 1.5 meters long, 0.75 meters wide, and 0.75 meters high, was completed.
Looking at the excited and energetic players around him, the veteran pointed.
"Alright, who wants the first piece?"
The players were completely dumbfounded.
What? You call this thing a brick?
This must be at least 1 ton, right?
"A big...big...big brick?"
The monk standing at the very front couldn't even speak properly.
"Yes, these are the bricks. The general said it's 17 bricks per person, and once you've moved them all, that's it. Stop dawdling, hurry up and move them."
Seeing that no one was coming forward, the veterans got impatient and turned around to pick a piece.
The crowd stood around the stone brick for a long time before a burly soldier squeezed out from the crowd.
"Let me try."
Everyone looked at the ID above the man's head, which read, "Everyone in my village calls me Dazhuang."
Dazhuang walked to the stone, spread his right leg, and squatted into a standard horse stance. Then he stretched out his arms to lift the stone brick. Fortunately, there were many small stones on the ground in the quarry, which allowed him to easily insert his fingers into the bottom of the brick.
Hey~
Da Zhuang tensed all his muscles and began to exert force upwards, but to his surprise, the stone did not budge.
"Ptooey!"
Da Zhuang straightened up, spat on his hand, and bent down to lift it again. Everyone saw that his face turned bright red, as if he were suffering from severe constipation.
"Drink~ Drink~ Ptooey~ Ptooey~"
Dazhuang, unconvinced, straightened up again, spat twice on his hands, and bent down to lift them once more. His muscles bulged, like an Olympic weightlifter. Then, he suddenly straightened up!
With a crack, everyone heard the sound of his bones breaking. However, Dazhuang remained motionless, and no one knew what had happened to him. Just as they were about to ask, they heard Dazhuang scream like a pig being slaughtered.
"My back, my back, ouch, ouch! Help me up, help me up! I can't move!"
Several players quickly squeezed out from the crowd and carried Dazhuang aside.
The crowd looked at each other, and no one dared to lift the stone anymore.
In just a short while, the veterans had already unearthed another stone brick.
"Hey, what are you dawdling about? Hurry up and carry it over, we still need the ones at Qianfeng Pass."
The veteran urged them on again.
"Stop rushing them! I think these adventurers are just lazy. Rubbing them won't help. Let's just finish this quickly, get some rest, and forget about them!"
Another veteran whispered to his companion, making the surrounding players blush with embarrassment.
"Let me try."
Another soldier approached. The crowd noticed a gleaming, silvery-white broadsword tucked into his waistband. Curious, they cast a detection spell on the sword.
Commander's Blade
Quality: Silver
Weapon: Long sword
Health Points: 900
Strength: 40
Physical Attack: 230
Equipment effect: When a warrior equips this weapon, their physical attack is increased by an additional 200 points.
Equipment requirements: None
Weapon Description: This is a standard weapon personally awarded by Alda, the Jackal King, to outstanding commanders. The blade is engraved with the four characters "To die for righteousness".
Upon seeing this weapon, everyone was immediately stunned. "Wow, a silver-level weapon! This must belong to a top-tier player!" The crowd quickly made way for him.
The man walked to the rock, and like Da Zhuang, assumed a horse stance. He then gripped the bottom of the rock with both hands and began to slowly apply force. The rock finally moved, but only one end was slowly lifted. Before it was fully raised, with a loud crash, the rock fell back to the ground, shattering the smaller stones beneath it. Luckily, the man pulled his hand away in time, avoiding being hit on the fingers; otherwise, his fingers would surely have been flattened like paper.
"This stone probably weighs two tons; anyone with less than 200 strength can't lift it. Let's find a way for several people to lift it together."
With the leader speaking, the surrounding players stopped trying and went to find their teammates. A short while later, a squad of soldiers brought ropes, sticks, and other supplies, piling them up at the quarry entrance. Only after the first five-person team worked together to lift a stone out of the quarry did the work of moving the city bricks officially begin.
"Heave-ho~ Heave-ho~"
Teams of five carried stones, passing through the gate of the rear peak pass, walking ten kilometers, then through the gate of the central peak pass, and another ten kilometers before finally arriving at the site for the construction of the front peak pass. There, soldiers were already preparing to build the city wall, just waiting for the stones to arrive so they could begin construction.
Why is it so slow?
A commander at the front pass asked the soldier leading the way.
"The adventurers are too weak; it takes several people to lift a single brick."
The commander glanced at the adventurers carrying the stones, noticing that they were all exhausted. The stronger warriors fared somewhat better, but the mages and priests, whose clothes were soaked with sweat, were much weaker. Hearing the soldier's blunt report, they showed their displeasure, but none of them dared to utter a word of rebuttal.
"This pace won't work."
The commander raised his hand and beckoned a guard over.
"Go to the Central Pass and find Commander Zhen Nantian. Tell him that the adventurers are too slow. At this rate, it might take ten days to half a month to finish the project."
Upon hearing the commander's words, the players immediately panicked. One by one, they lowered the sticks from their shoulders and placed the stones on the ground.
"I'm going to be gone for ten days or half a month? Am I supposed to carry bricks here for half a month? How am I supposed to level up then?"
"Ten days? I might be level 20 or higher by then. What use would a silver-level treasure chest be to me then?"
"This game is such a rip-off! I just want to kill monsters and level up quickly, please let me go back!"
Before long, all the players arrived at the front pass. After putting down the stones they were holding, they all clamored to the commander for an explanation.
"I know you're anxious, and I'm anxious too."
"I have already reported the situation to the commander. Just wait a moment and the commander will give instructions."
"You guys better put down the bricks and get back to moving bricks."
"We'll have a solution when you come back next time."
"Damn it, are you trying to trick us into doing manual labor at a time like this?"
"What other good idea is there? Give me more money, you bastard! Give me a gold-level treasure chest, and I'll carry all the bricks for you by myself!"
The players and commander were still arguing when they suddenly saw countless skeletons walking towards them from the front pass. The players' anger subsided considerably, and the arguing quieted down.
The skeletons were deathly pale, as if they had just crawled out of their graves, their empty eye sockets staring at them as if they were about to pounce. Although the players could see the information about the skeletons and the green health bars above their heads, their eerie appearance still made them want to back away.
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