Second World
chapter-1602

Jack read the description of the new tech in the military path. This special tech appeared due to the blessing from the Blacksmith Circle.

"Mobile Fortress… Is this name literal…?" Jack asked.

John nodded.

Peniel explained, "After learning this tech, you can build one. A mobile fortress was slightly smaller than a small-sized fort. It can house around 20,000 soldiers, or 25,000 if they don't mind cramped conditions. What's special about this fortress is it can move."

"Uh, move like you mean, with legs…?" Jack asked.

John nodded again.

Peniel answered, "It is even faster than the average siege weapon. Its movement speed is roughly the speed of an uncommon steed. Most armies still have soldiers using common steeds, especially if it is a large army. So, marching with this mobile fortress won't slow down your army speed."

"How does it move? Does it have two legs, like a mech?" Jack asked. "No, no, wait! Don't tell me. It has a hover engine. It can hover over the land…!"

"Hover your head! Haven't I already confirmed that it moved with legs?" John derided. "It has eight legs like a spider, allowing it to maneuver through rough terrains while keeping its heavy fort-body upright. Most importantly, we can attach multiple siege weapons to this mobile fortress, like the mana cannon we are still researching. This will turn the fortress into heavy artillery that can be sent to the front line. It has a shield capability to protect the ranged soldiers and siege weapons on it. We can also carry a lot of supplies inside it, reducing our reliance on supply lines. This is the ultimate thing to have if we are going on an abroad campaign."

"You are right. We should learn this first," Jack said. "Just as we are about to head out, this tech comes at the right time!"

The military campaign had the mana cannon still in research. It has 19 days left. Jack spent 2 ruling powers and completed it. He then went to the city overview and had multiple settlements start producing the mana cannons. Unfortunately, siege weapon production couldn't be hastened with ruling powers, so they just had to wait.

Fort construction, however, could be hastened. Once the military research path was free, Jack chose mobile fortress tech to be learned. The tech required 80 days. Jack spent another 8 ruling powers and the tech was instantly learned.

"Hooray for the magic of gaming!" Jack celebrated.

"Leave your hooray for later. Start building the fortress. I don't think your ruling power will be enough for everything we want to build," John poured cold water at him.

Jack went to the interface to build the fort. The normal procedure was for him to first choose a spot for the fort. He chose the spot directly next to Therimdell. The second city closest to Hydrurond aside from Alsvelg. Alsvelg was the autonomous city for the draconian refugees, so he had less control over it.

Jack could have chosen to construct the fort right next to his country's border, but doing that meant he had to wait for the builders to travel to the chosen spot, which might take days. He couldn't start using the hasten function of his ruling power before the workers arrived there. Constructing directly next to the city was the same as building inside the city, he could use his ruling powers to hasten its construction straight away.

The mobile fortress cost 200,000 gold coins and required 100 days to construct.

"It is smaller than the small-sized fort but its cost is doubled from even the large-sized fort!" Jack exclaimed with surprise.

"Its benefit is well worth the cost," John said.

Luckily, they still have enough funds to spare. Jack began the fortress' construction. Its construction time was also longer than the large-sized fort despite being much smaller. Jack used 10 ruling powers and completed the mobile fortress. He was itching to teleport to Therimdell to take a look at this mobile fortress, but he still had lots of things to do.

Following John's instruction, Jack used the monarch system to issue commands to every settlement to transport their spare siege weapons to this new fortress. John also called Thaergood over to ask him to send an order to Emris to arrange for 5,000 soldiers to move into this fort, prioritizing ranged units and those with mechanic skills. The extra space was to be filled with supplies.

Jack had the urge to build more mobile fortresses, but that would drain their coin reserve and he might not have enough for another round of heavy recruiting when it was time to draft recruits. He also didn't have enough ruling powers for the new wonders and techs.

So, he went to the three techs he had seen earlier. Nutritional Values, Arcane Support, and Resurrection Potion. He learned them all. The three techs required different research timing but they ranged between 60 to 70 days. Jack spent 20 ruling powers to learn them. He had 17 ruling powers left.

John called Thaergood again and had him relay instructions to the kingdom alchemists to start working on the resurrection potions. They might not be able to produce much but even some would be helpful.

While John laid out his instructions, Jack used the Monarch System to cast the Arcane Support. The kingdom had a total of four enchantments in effect now.

Jack wanted to start building Nourishment Centers in the settlements but John said to leave that to him. They would need the building spot for the new wonders so they should deal with that first. Jack returned to the building list, where the five new wonder buildings were listed.

Peniel briefly explained the function of the five wonder buildings.

Legion Hall from the League of Champions let them train new special units. It was the same for the Killer Abode from the Assassins Guild. Soul-securing Shrine and Revival Pool had the same function. The Seven-race Trading Foundation could increase the kingdom's coin income.

Jack checked their building time. They required around 50 to 60 days to build. He only had enough ruling powers to instantly build three out of the five wonders. The remaining two would have to wait their normal construction time.