Chapter 581

Chapter 581: A Forceful Shift of Blame

Opening the Elephantman tribe’s panel, he found that he had only upgraded the Elephantman Totem Pole by one level so far; everything else remained untouched.

Luo Ji’s gaze quickly fell upon the unit branch.

In his view, since the beastmen were a war-oriented civilization, unlocking special units on their panels usually offered the highest cost-performance ratio.

Unlike the Wolfman panel, the Elephantman unit branch had two items available for upgrade right from the start: one ranged and one melee.

They were the Elephantman Slingers and the Elephant Warriors.

[Elephantman Slingers (Special Unit) (Level 0): A special long-range unit of the Elephantman tribe. They can deal powerful damage to various buildings and machinery by throwing giant boulders. Even when empty-handed, they possess excellent combat capabilities. This unit gains a 15% damage increase against buildings and machinery and a 5% increase in accuracy.]

[Elephant Warriors (Special Unit) (Level 0): A special unit of the Elephantman tribe equipped with giant melee weapons. This unit gains a 10% increase in combat power and a 10% increase in defense against all types of attacks.]

Luo Ji had already acquired the Elephantman Slingers before even upgrading this item.

However, only by upgrading it could he obtain the specific damage bonus against “buildings and machinery.”

If the Elephantman Slingers were a special unit tailored for siege and demolition, then the Elephant Warriors were undoubtedly the specialized unit for crushing enemy armies.

To be honest, the Elephant Warriors were highly tempting to Luo Ji.

Aside from the lack of siege bonuses, they were clearly designed to be both “tanks” and “damage dealers.”

The value of such a unit on the battlefield was immense.

However, there was a headache-inducing problem: How was he supposed to produce giant melee weapons that matched the massive size of an Elephantman?

At the very least, the Myriad World Civilization currently lacked the spare capacity to forge such things.

This requirement made Luo Ji hesitate to commit to the Elephant Warriors for the time being.

In the end, he put one level into the Elephantman Slingers, triggering the damage bonus against buildings and machinery and the accuracy buff.

Simultaneously, as the “Elephantman Slingers” project reached Level 1, the blueprints for the massive baskets worn on the backs of the Elephantmen appeared before his eyes.

He only just realized that those giant baskets weren’t as simple as they looked; otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to hold so many heavy boulders.

The baskets Luo Ji had been using previously were essentially relics left behind by Li Yuanjie.

Without this blueprint, it would have been difficult to increase the number of Elephantman Slingers.

However, considering the merit the Elephantmen earned in this battle, rewarding them with nothing but money and a “Large Basket Blueprint” felt like he was being a bit too stingy.

Therefore, Luo Ji shifted his focus to the construction branch.

He figured that giving them a special building would be a sufficiently generous reward.

In the construction branch, aside from the “Elephantman Totem Pole,” there was only one special building waiting to be upgraded: the Calf Rearing House.

[Calf Rearing House (Special Building) (Level 0): A special building used by the Elephantman tribe for giving birth to and raising offspring. The birth success rate for the Elephantman tribe is increased by 20%, and the growth speed of immature Elephantmen is increased by 5%.]

Looking at the effects of this special building, Luo Ji’s brows twitched slightly.

‘This is good.‘

The birth rate of the Elephantman tribe had always been a major concern.

To put it bluntly, among the five beastman tribes, the Elephantmen had the smallest population—and it was pitifully small.

The entire tribe, including the elderly, the weak, women, and children, totaled only sixteen members.

They reproduced very slowly, and the growth cycle for young Elephantmen was relatively long.

Moreover, there were inherent risks; mortality rates during birth and growth were high.

This Calf Rearing House, which could increase the success rate of births and the growth speed of the young, was undoubtedly a treasure for the Elephantman tribe.

Luo Ji himself certainly wanted a few more of these giant war units.

He decisively upgraded the Calf Rearing House by one level.

Along with the “Calf Rearing House Blueprints,” the system also issued him a guide on Elephantman delivery care and rearing…

In short, the blueprints were handed to the Goblin Engineers, and as for the guide, he would turn it over to the Elephantman tribal chief, Xiang Yan, later.

But for now, he was clearly busy.

He still had to look over the Minotaur panel.

To demonstrate fairness, Luo Ji decided to unlock one special unit and one special building for the Minotaurs as well.

[Minotaur Axemen (Special Unit) (Level 0): A special unit of the Minotaur tribe wielding battle-axes. They possess powerful killing intent and excellent defensive capabilities on the battlefield. This unit gains a 15% increase in combat power and a 10% increase in defense.]

[Minotaur Training Ground (Special Building) (Level 0): A dedicated training ground for Minotaur soldiers. Training efficiency for Minotaur soldiers is increased by 10%, and training effectiveness is increased by 5%.]

This wave of rewards should be sufficient.

As for the Kobolds and Foxmen, their contributions in this battle were relatively average with no standout achievements.

Perhaps it was due to their racial nature, but they weren’t as dedicated on the battlefield as the Elephantmen and Minotaurs.

Their performance could only be described as “mediocre.”

Since their performance was mediocre, they received mediocre rewards: a Totem Pole and some money.

They likely understood why.

The rewards for the beastman tribes were settled.

Just as Luo Ji was about to draft an official order to have the rewards delivered, a rapid “beep-beep-beep” notification sound rang out.

One didn’t even need to think to know it was definitely Long Taojia.

Luo Ji calmly opened the message, and sure enough, it was him.

At this moment, Long Taojia, having discovered that both Oasis City and Yellow Sand City had vanished into thin air, obviously suspected Luo Ji.

His first words were, “Where are my Oasis City and Yellow Sand City?! What did you do to my cities?!!”

Facing such a question, Luo Ji naturally wouldn’t tell the truth and reveal his secrets.

He replied with a straight face.

“I razed them to the ground.”

“!!!”

Long Taojia responded with three exclamation marks.

Luo Ji could perfectly imagine the other man’s frantic face and blank mind.

Luo Ji decisively continued to mislead him.

“Didn’t you know? One of the traits of the beastman civilization is that you get more resources if you raze a city to the ground.”

“…”

Long Taojia’s mood plummeted as he sent a string of ellipses.

‘How the hell was I supposed to know that?!‘

As a hardcore veteran of various grand strategy games, Luo Ji was an expert at making up lies that sounded plausible.

The “razing” trait fit the beastman civilization surprisingly well, and Long Taojia clearly believed most of it.

However, a sliver of doubt remained in his heart.

“But what about my oasis?! You razed the city, but why is the entire oasis gone? And the ruins of the city—I can’t even find a single brick!”

Facing the completely frantic Long Taojia, Luo Ji’s next answer nearly drove him insane with rage.

“How should I know? That’s a system effect. Go ask the system.”

System: “…”