‘So the entry point for the lava will be initially set as three to four meters deep, as for the depth and width of the zone itself…hmmm…I guess we can make a decision when the situation arises. Sheltering all the worms clearly isn’t possible but it’s still worth a shot maximising the number we can squeeze in.’
‘After all, the more worms we protect, the more meat we have…’
“If I were to have you start work on the recruitment point and the safe zone simultaneously, you would still be able to handle them both right, No.6?”
“Master, if this lowly one were to work on both tasks at once…this lowly one feels that…the manpower would probably be insufficient for that…” His brows knitted together at that, most likely due to the sheer difficulty of what I was expecting, or perhaps he was just worried that I might just start doubting his abilities.
A while later, he finally came clean with the situation: “Honestly, it wouldn’t be hard for this lowly one to juggle between the two sides, but our manpower…even constructing the recruitment point alone is tough, let alone this massive task of digging a safe zone…it’s just too big. Furthermore, this lowly one still has no idea as where the royal capital is after all this time.”
“The royal capital, huh… Hmm, that was an error on my part, forgetting to tell you where the capital actually is, it’s that way.” I pointed in the direction of the capital. “If you were to travel in a straight line, this planned zone would probably span 300 miles or so…as for the diggers…what do you think of those Abyssal Golems?”
Having said that, I signaled in the direction of the seven meter tall Winged Abyssal Golem standing not too far away from us.
“Those giant…golems…” No.6 gulped at the point, his face showing what had to be the most expressive look he had shown thus far. Even at this distance, just a mere look was enough for the pressure of the golem to overwhelm his body. “Your lordship is sure about using those giants to dig out the safety zone? But if they are merely ten…there just doesn’t seem to be enough.”
“I never ever said that I had only ten Abyssal Golems.” My lips curled into a mysterious smile before diverting the subject in another direction. “The manpower required for the safety zone isn’t something you need to worry about. Just make sure the construction of the recruitment point doesn’t fall behind either, we can’t have any delay on that front either.
“For now, I’ll hand over the management of our new captives to you. No.3 will stay behind to aid you as well. As for the control rights of the Abyssal Golems…I’ll give you temporary rights over them. However, you’ll have to follow me back to the royal capital first.”
My plan right now was to have the golems dig up the safe zone while my new subordinates would be given the task of building a recruitment point. The reasoning behind that was that constructing a recruitment point required more finesse than just digging up a manmade lake. With how large the golems were, how strong they were and also how clumsy they were, there was just no way we could use them to construct buildings. On the flip side, these qualities made them perfect for digging the safe zone; that task merely required brute force after all.
Up till this point, I could safely say that the initial skeleton of the safe zone had been ironed out. Before Nola left however, I needed to conduct a test on this plan of mine.
I commanded five Winged Abyssal Golems to dig out a pit measuring twenty meters deep and spanning ten meters wide. Having done that, I planned to have two openings for this newly dug up hole, one being the exit point and the other being an entry point, both connecting to the lava lake. Once done, the two bodies of lava would form a U-shape together.
For now however, we only had the entry point dug out.
In the final plan, the guards would be my Abyssal Golems. But with how precious my Winged Abyssal Golems, numbering only 127 as of right now, only my ordinary Abyssal Golems would be expended for this task. These golems were five meters tall so, with that in mind, I ran some estimations and had the entry point set as 3.5 meters deep. That was the depth that could maximize lava flow while ensuring that these golems wouldn’t sink.
As for whether or not these bodyguard-like golems would malfunction under lava…they came with my guarantee of being waterproof, fireproof and also seniorproof, hah.
(TL: Just a reference to a Chinese couplet/joke on the internet. Goes something like this:
Love your country, love your family, love your junior sister,
Watch out for fire, watch out for thieves, watch out for your senior brother.
With the way Chinese translates into English, the phrase can be fireproof or watch out for fire. Since watch out for water/fire didn’t make sense there, proof would be better. There are multiple versions of this couplet’s starting. )
……
I had to admit, the speed at which those Abyssal Golems dug out the pit shattered even my greatest expectations. Their hands might as well have been giant excavators with how fast they dug out a huge chunk of blackened earth…honestly, with how efficient they were at building…they could probably build a hundred walls, without funding too.
(TL: Didn’t want to waste more time on this section… Original text was about a technical university and how people made fun of them for the ads they put out. The joke was the golems were as efficient as 100 graduates from that university…not going to waste time on this section any further.)
“Over here, here and here…You go dig up that spot too…as for you, get here and toss those darn rocks away, they are in the way…”
Because my little sweetie was intrigued by my whole plan, she bravely volunteered herself to be the commander of five Winged Abyssal golems as they dug up the hole.
Faced with their breathtaking efficiency, No.6 was just that, out of breath and with nothing to say. Even if it was just five golems digging, the speed at which they dug this hole could outmatch the mightiest of authors, HAH…
All in all, the planned hole only took half an hour to complete. All that was left was to dig out the entry point. With just 3.5 meters of depth to dig out, that was a lot easier to finish. As for the width, it was set as ten meters while the distance between the lava lake and the hole was set as twenty meters. Because this was just a test, I only had one entry point dug out.
Having finished that as well, the lava immediately rushed in like a bubbling red tsunami into the dugout channel. The Demon Fire Worms, whom had been summoned beforehand by Nola to take up positions near the proposed channel entry point, started flowing into the dug out pit. Like a giant school of fish, they would swarm through the entry point as a couple of temporarily stationed Winged Abyssal Golems stood over them and the entry point like sentinels.
As time passed, both the lava and the worms continued filling up the prepared pit, in other words, the test safe zone. Soon, the pit filled and the number of worms within that pit had ballooned, all as I had expected. However, just as I thinking about digging out an exit point, something that I did not expect happened.
Suddenly, and without any warning whatsoever, the worms waiting to enter the tunnel leading to the safe zone started acting up. Seemingly scared out of their wits, they furiously struggled to crawl up to shore, frantic wriggle by frantic wriggle.
Still new to this environment, No.6 was a little perplexed and asked: “What’s wrong with them?”
“The Flame Devouring Fishes have come.”
As she said, Nola’s eyes sharpened into a pointed gaze directed at the entry point. That spot was packed to the brim with Demon Fire Worms, resulting in all the panicked worms being unable to crawl up to shore. Because the entry point’s tunnel was limited in width, not all of them were to able squeeze in either. If we chose not to do anything now, all they could do was quietly wait outside for the fishes to devour them…
“Don’t worry, didn’t we already predict this would happen…”
I placated the slightly anxious Nola beside me. Even without me sending out another command, the two golems I had stationed there started lumbering towards the entry point. Because of how huge they were and the lack of control they had over their strength, each step they took managed to push aside a great deal of lava and worms, causing the two to jump in the process. Being golems, these guardsmen didn’t know the meaning of the word gentle, all they had on their minds was their mission.
Thankfully, the worms had a special body makeup that prevented the shock from these golems from killing them. At the very most, the resulting force only managed to shove them aside like the lava.
By the time the two of them reached the entry point, the place had turned into a veritable paradise for the Flame Devouring Fishes. Dozens of fishes, all with varying levels, were busy slaughtering the worms still trapped in that tiny spot. As they ravenously dug into the feast before them, sounds of teeth gnashing pierced the ears of those of us present.
The number of injured and dead continued rising. As it did so, I soon began to detect a distinct scent of blood in the air, one that left me slightly nauseous.
Turning to the golems, I found that they were functioning perfectly as I had expected. While it might have been hard for them to operate in the lake, standing within the confines of the entry point was still manageable.
One of the golems immediately reached out to try and grab one of the offending fishes but just as it did so, a Flame Devouring Fish, with a body that was at least half a meter long and with teeth even more terrifying than a bloody hacksaw, clamped down on the hand of said golem. Yet for all that, while it might have managed to bite down on one of the golem’s fingers, it found that it wasn’t even able to bite through the golem at all. In fact, its teeth might just break first…
A Winged Abyssal Golem possessed the strength of a Seven Stars and thus had a terrifying level of defense that would leave any lower level opponent in despair. How could a mere fish ever hope to bite through its armor? Let alone a bite, even if it was given an entire hour to saw through that golem, there was no hope of it ever leaving a scratch on the golem.
As for the golem, it merely closed down with its open palm and, amidst that unfortunate fish’s belated attempt at escape, blocked said fish from our sights. By the time it had opened its palm once more, there was nothing but a pile of fish meat leftover…
The killing speed of the two golems was anything but slow. The difference in strength between the two of them was simply too great to overcome. Without the previous worry of them falling into an endless lake of lava, the golems were free to do their job by simply reaching out and squishing a nearby fish.
By now, even if those fishes weren’t all that bright, their one-tracked minds should have had all the time they needed to realize that they couldn’t harm the golems. In spite of that, should they decide to continue throwing themselves at the golems, I had only this to say to them: you asked for it.
It was a one-sided slaughter for our side. In just the span of a few minutes, the entire fish army had basically been wiped out, or at least it would have been had it not been for the few bright sparks who were at least smart enough to run when things started to go wrong…
Because the golems weren’t able to enter the lava lake, they could only watch as the fishes swam away from the battlefield.
“You think you can leave just like that? Fat hope.” Came Nola’s furious roar just as I had thought that this whole saga was about to end. With a rumble, her mammoth body dove into the lava lake…even without guessing, I knew that she had gone hunting for those fishes.
‘Was she planning to chase them down to the ends of the earth?’
With her strength, Nola was basically able to run rampant throughout this zone so I wasn’t worried at all as I commanded those two golems to resume their duty.
Now that the fishes were all defeated, the scattered worms started swimming over to the entry point once more. So began the mad squeeze towards the pit…
