Chapter 998: Black Marsh Catapult (1/2)

Creak… creak…

The turning of the wheels made shrill noises as tall, pitch black catapults about 4 meters tall appeared at the distance. I counted about a hundred of them. Each catapult had four rows or 16 wheels in total, and they required at least 20 foot soldiers to move. It had taken them almost an hour to prepare, but they were here in the end.

The catapults were made of refined steel; black steel that gleamed coldly under the light. The ammo they used was a kind of black rock that would probably explode on contact. How did I know that? That’s because I could smell the gunpowder even from where we were. The front of the catapult was a huge, ugly shield that was shaped like a serpent’s head. The purpose of the ornament was to protect the catapult from arrow fire. Without good enough aim, most archers wouldn’t be able to harm it.

Everyone s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep breath when they saw the catapults.

”F.u.c.k!”

Eyes Like Water tightened her fists and shivered a little. She bit her lips and said, ”I… I think that’s the rumored unique siege weapon of Purple Gr.a.p.e City, Black Marsh Catapult.”

”Black Marsh Catapult?” Xu Yang voiced his puzzlement. ”What’s that?”

I answered for her, ”I read in the database that Purple Gr.a.p.e City’s unique siege weapon is the Black Marsh Catapult. According to the in-game background, ‘Black Marsh’ or ‘Hei Ze’ is a sacred beast of Japan with the ability to spit flames. It is the opposite entity of our sacred beast, ‘White Marsh’ or ‘Bai Ze’. The ‘Bai Ze’ brings blessings, whereas the ‘Hei Ze’ brings slaughter.”

Eyes Like Water nodded. ”Lu Chen is correct. The Hei Ze’s vile soul is said to possess the Black Marsh Catapult and give it a kind of AoE attack. If the rumors aren’t exaggerated, it deals extra damage to buildings, and it is even deadlier than the Northern Alliance’s Fire Catapults.”

Purple Wind Chime clenched her fists again. ”Purple Gr.a.p.e City sure is rich. I heard that it takes over five thousand gold to make 1 Black Marsh Catapult, and they just brought a hundred over like it was nothing!”

Gui Guzi smiled at that. ”The more expensive, the better!”

Heaven’s Rain looked at me for orders. ”Big brother Lu Chen, they’re going to attack the city soon. What do we do?”

Chiang!

”Yes, vice leader!”

All Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls players unsheathed their weapons with fear and excitement. After all the waiting, everyone was eager to get a piece of the action!

……

”Xu Yang?” I asked.

”Hmm? What is it?” Xu Yang looked at me.

”You and Chaos Moon are the ones who manage our logistics, right? How many high-level siege weapons do we have right now? You know, White Marsh Catapults or Black Tortoise Catapults?”

He smiled. ”Those cost a lot of money, you know. That being said, boss is not a stingy person, so yes, we have a lot of catapults in stock. We have at least 50 White Marsh Catapults and 100 Black Tortoise Catapults in Dark Moon City. Do you want to deploy them now? We need to ask boss first though. Not even I can use those precious machines without her permission.”

I nodded affirmatively. ”There’s no time to hesitate. I want Li Chengfeng or Chaos Moon to escort 20 White Marsh Catapults and 50 Black Tortoise Catapults over personally. Without them, we won’t have a range advantage over the enemy!”

”Got it. I’ll contact boss right away!”

A few minutes later, Xu Yang said with a smile, ”Alright, it’s all done. Chaos Moon and 10000 riders from the subguilds will be escorting the engineers over. The idea is to have the engineers dismantle the siege weapons and rebuild them after they’ve arrived at the fortress. Also, you got more than what you bargained for. Besides the 20 White Marsh Catapults and 50 Black Tortoise Catapults, boss is also sending you 500 Catapults and 1000 Ballistae!”

Feeling a lot more confident than before, I turned around and ordered, ”Little Gui, Heaven’s Rain, Diamond Dust, take command of our 4000 Dragonlight Cavalrymen and ride with me! We will take out as many Black Marsh Catapults as possible before reinforcements arrive! Xu Yang, I leave the defense of the fortress to you. All the Dragonlight Archers are yours to command!”

”Gotcha. Don’t worry about us, and be careful!”

”Mn!”

However, just as I set foot on the ground, Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun suddenly appeared from the western street and rode toward me. ”I have a new report, vice leader!”

I gritted my teeth. ”Let me guess, Red Maple and God’s Domain have reappeared from the forest, am I right?”

Eighteen Steeds of You and Yun looked surprised. ”Er, that’s correct. How did you know?”