167: Gran people, building fortresses

【Gran: Hardworking and enduring, Price: 1 Gold Coin】

【Highland Warrior: Mighty build, immense strength, Price: 10 Gold Coins】

【Forest Elf: Possesses precise archery skills, Price: 20 Gold Coins】

【Druid: Can transform into an animal form and communicate with animals, Price: 30 Gold Coins】

【...】

"To think there are actually slaves?"

Li Feng was surprised.

Logically, since there were already Troops, slaves shouldn't have much significance.

Yet, this Bearded Merchant was selling slaves anyway.

"Let's buy one Gran to test it out." It was only one Gold Coin, a cost Li Feng could afford to experiment with.

After paying the fee, the Bearded Merchant's face broke into a smile.

With a wave of his hand, a burly figure wearing a collar around its neck appeared.

Li Feng was one meter eighty centimeters tall, already at the ceiling among ordinary people.

This Gran was a head taller than him, likely reaching two meters in height.

"Greetings, great Lord." Upon seeing Li Feng, the Gran immediately prostrated itself respectfully.

Li Feng was startled.

Although human-type Troops could also speak, they did not possess independent thought.

Complex actions like kneeling and bowing would not be executed by human-type Troops on their own without someone teaching them.

"Get up." Li Feng gestured for it to rise.

Upon receiving the order, the Gran immediately stood up and moved respectfully behind Li Feng.

Li Feng had a flash of inspiration; he handed the detector in his hand to the Gran and asked, "Can you use this?"

Although the detector was not a complex item, mindless Troops could not use it; they only executed the simplest commands.

For example, cutting down all visible trees, attacking enemies, or protecting the Lord.

Once the number of commands reached more than one, even just two, it was beyond what the Troops could handle.

"I can." The Gran took the detector and nodded.

"Oh no!" Li Feng's expression changed, and he quickly looked at the Bearded Merchant, saying, "Can I return this? I haven't used this small ore vein detector yet."

"Of course, a buyback price of 100 Gold Coins." The Bearded Merchant smiled, his expression incredibly cunning.

Li Feng twitched his lips; only a fool would sell it back.

He checked his remaining Gold Coins; there were 499 left.

Thinking of this, he purchased four more Grans and four miniature ore vein detectors.

At this point, he had only 95 Gold Coins left.

The Bearded Merchant had many other items, but he couldn't afford most of them, so he simply stopped looking.

Li Feng ordered the five Grans to cross the insect-infested area he had just passed to survey for ore veins, telling them to return and notify him of any discoveries.

To ensure their safety, he also dispatched 500 Beedrill to provide close protection for the five Grans.

As for himself, since there was someone who could execute his orders, he couldn't be bothered to explore on his own.

Clearing land carried a certain degree of danger.

He opened the building technology interface, where he could construct some basic buildings.

For example, one unit of wood could be crafted into a wooden plank, and one unit of stone could be crafted into ten stone bricks.

Li Feng decided to use the wood and stone he had on hand to build a simple fortress.

He first took out a stone shovel; with one dig, a large chunk of dirt instantly vanished.

【You have obtained Dirt * 1】

A notification sound rang in his ears.

After dozens of shovel strikes, a massive foundation was formed.

He laid down stone bricks, erected stone pillars around the perimeter to form supports, and then laid down wooden planks.

As Li Feng busied himself, the resources in his possession began to disappear rapidly.

In their place stood a crude three-story fortress.

Li Feng returned to the Bearded Merchant and purchased 45 Grans.

Each one was given a wooden shovel, and they frantically dug trenches around the fortress while burying long wooden spikes.

He didn't know what the danger of the assessment was, but he guessed it would likely be a monster invasion.

As long as they weren't flying monsters, this trench, ten meters wide and three meters deep, would be enough to give the monsters a hard time.

Not to mention, he had buried a large number of wooden spikes; once they fell in, they could basically forget about climbing back out.

Everything Li Feng did was observed by the two water and fire figures, who nodded repeatedly.

Even if Li Feng didn't have any Troops, this trench alone would be enough to easily withstand the dangers of the first day.

Afterward, they looked at the other three.

"Truly three pieces of trash. Despite having such good backgrounds and such high starting points, they can't even build the simplest wooden house."

There is no harm without comparison.

Watching the process of the other three building houses, Waterman Bengka couldn't help but lash out angrily.

"You can't blame them. Their backgrounds are too noble; how would they ever learn the knowledge of such low-level Lords?" Fireman Laka shook his head.

He felt his companion's subjective consciousness was too strong.

Even though his heart leaned toward Li Feng, on the surface, he remained neutral.

As the highest controller of this dungeon, he possessed a high degree of control. If he wanted to, he could even lower the difficulty for Li Feng, allowing him to pass easily.

However, Fireman Laka took no action at all, simply adhering to the orders left by the master.

"If you ask me, there's no need for this assessment to continue. Just declare Li Feng as having passed and the other three as having failed." Waterman Bengka urged in Fireman Laka's ear.

Although he possessed certain rights, such as using the dungeon's power to kill the examinees.

The highest control, however, remained in the hands of Fireman Laka.

Such a direct decision on passing or failing the assessment was not something he could decide.

Upon hearing this, Fireman Laka remained unmoved and simply said calmly, "This is why the master was unwilling to give you the core authority. As examiners, we must discard personal emotions and provide the greatest fairness to all participants."

Seeing that his persuasion didn't work, Waterman Bengka could only give up and continue watching the screen.

On the screen, under Li Feng's command, the trench had been completely dug.

He also pieced together a crude ten-meter-long wooden bridge using wooden planks, which could be destroyed at any time if combat broke out.

After finishing all this, just as Li Feng was preparing to rest for a while, he saw one of the Grans running back from the distance.

"Lord, an ore vein has been discovered." The Gran shouted excitedly.

...