Chapter 666.5: We Love "Inventions"
Yaya's "approval" was always genuine and on point!
With Bay Territory's food culture, dried snacks and treats would sell like crazy.
At least, with this jumbo dryer and its future improved versions, there would be no loss.
Orianna pondered whether the jumbo dryer could be applied to the production and storage of various medicinal herbs.
After all, compared to the shelf life of potions and medicines, dried herbs lasted significantly longer.
Bay Territory was actively researching this technology to increase its reserves of strategic supplies.
"Ah! Did you see that? This thing is really special!"
Yaya's exclamation reached Orianna's ears, drawing her attention.
Agile as ever, Yaya had already climbed up a large rack and was gleefully tinkering with an oversized backpack.
Orianna examined the backpack made from special materials and immediately recognized its purpose.
It resembled the flame-jet backpacks previously made by Morduncan.
However, this one was smaller and looked much more agile.
Orianna noticed the array patterns on the pack in Yaya's hands and quickly identified their basic function.
"It adds Levitation and Featherfall to reduce weight and burden."
"And it uses Mana Stabilization and Energy Transfer Arrays to ensure stable operation..."
Her eyes gleamed brighter. Orianna nodded approvingly at the inventor's cautious design.
Compared to the flame-jet backpacks used by Dragon Warriors and Thunder Warriors, this low-power, lightweight jetpack was clearly superior and easier to control.
The lower the threshold to use something, the easier it was to popularize.
Orianna had learned that well by now.
For example, her father's favorite mechanical prosthetics—the high-end golem limbs with the most features and best functionality—weren't exactly hot sellers.
Only crafters seeking higher stability and precision would want them.
In contrast, simpler golem arms that only provided strength and flexibility were well-loved and widely accepted.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
"Yay! What a great toy!"
A powerful air stream burst from the jetpack, sending Yaya flying joyfully through the air.
Orianna noticed how Yaya steered and boosted using her quick reflexes and smacked her lips regretfully.
"As expected, relying solely on air propulsion makes fine control difficult."
"Anyone else would probably only be able to perform broad maneuvers..."
Even so, Orianna still saw the invention as highly practical.
Miniaturization, mass production, and safety—these were clearly the future of jetpack development.
But many technical hurdles and improvements still remained.
While Yaya and Orianna played around, picking out gadgets for fun—
The commanders and officers were seriously selecting inventions they could use right away with clear results.
The flamethrower Jifan had picked earlier had earned everyone's approval.
After engineering enhancements and some minor tweaks—
Its range had increased from just over 30 meters to 50 meters.
That was a huge upgrade.
In the perilous Catachan jungle, the farther you stayed from dangerous plants and animals, the better.
Fuel supplies were now plentiful too.
The research team from Morduncan's lab, after discussing with Mayoufu, even considered adding a small spatial storage feature.
It would greatly increase fuel capacity and allow swapping fuel types for different targets.
The most notable upgrade, of course, was the specially reinforced and modified nozzle.
With a bit of mithril and fine gold added, the price soared above 3,000 gold coins—
But its durability skyrocketed. It could withstand high-temp flames for extended periods without deforming or breaking.
These improvements weren't final, of course.
Field use would continue to gather data and feedback.
The research team would refine it over and over in terms of cost, performance, lethality, and specs.
For now, the commanders had unanimously demanded ramped-up production—they wanted to see it shine in battle within three days.
Besides the popular flamethrower, another invention won their favor.
A magical shotgun developed by military engineers after half a year of battlefield testing and combat needs.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Hundreds of metal pellets blasted out, sweeping clean targets over 20 meters away.
The metal shields on the targets looked like they'd taken a brutal pounding, riddled with dents.
As she squeezed the trigger rhythmically, feeling the impact slam her shoulder, Feili raised an intrigued brow.
She normally disliked mechanical weapons, mainly because of their poor precision.
But this magical shotgun was different.
It wasn't just powerful—it also had a wide, fan-shaped spread.
Accuracy didn't matter as much when the attack range was that broad.
Just imagine it—
A row of magical shotguns firing in unison.
Every enemy within 20 or 30 meters would be battered by a storm of metal.
Feili, always quick to adapt, knew full well that practical weapons were the most popular.
Especially with the shotgun's simple structure and relatively cheap materials and energy requirements, production costs could be kept low.
This meant Bay Territory soldiers could be quickly outfitted en masse and gain combat strength fast.
Just a few more rounds of real combat—
Gather more data and feedback—
Refine it with precision production and tweaks—
And it would become another powerful weapon for Bay Territory's troops.
Aside from these two well-received inventions, the rest didn't quite please everyone.
Still, some commanders with unique plans and arrangements found niche inventions they believed would be useful in the coming battles.
Beyond choosing complementary inventions, the commanders prioritized training Bay Territory's troops.
Not ordinary drills, but special jungle training tailored for the Catachan environment.
Even though soldiers had already undergone Bay Territory's standard jungle combat prep—
Even with help from Catachan soldiers—
It was still no match for the real thing.
So Bay Territory walled off a massive section of Catachan jungle and turned it into tiered jungle training camps.
Divided into three levels of difficulty, they helped troops quickly adapt to jungle threats.
And the training method? Simple:
Let the soldiers "die"—a lot!
Soldiers met many fates:
Bitten by inconspicuous venomous bugs due to loosely worn protective gear.
Stepping on some deadly poison spike.
Grabbed by strange plants hiding in the shadows and drained of blood.
Killed by shrapnel from exploding rare Karak floaters.
Or, the unluckiest—paralyzed by a Miler catcher disguised as dead leaves, then dragged off and eaten.
The most annoying of all, though, were the innocent-looking suction trees.
They disguised themselves as ordinary trees and ambushed passing soldiers.
Brute strength and venom made short work of their victims.
Even well-trained troops often fell prey to environmental threats in the heat of battle.
The training camp made sure they learned their lessons the hard way.
One group after another was sent in—
Only to emerge screaming, dragged out by Catachan instructors.
Amid their howls of pain, they were told exactly why they died.
Even powerful low-ranking officers took the training willingly.
They knew most battles wouldn't take place deep in Catachan jungle—
But that wasn't an excuse to avoid or give up the training.
Elona couldn't help but blink, watching her druids and medics work busily. She turned curiously to Annie and asked:
"Even elven warriors can't avoid the jungle's dangers?"
Annie casually shook her head, pointing to the equally miserable-looking Ail Elf soldiers.
"Totally normal. Only through training can they avoid these threats."
"Compared to Bay Territory's well-trained troops, the Cole Elf soldiers still have a long way to go."
Elona could sense the hint of disapproval in Annie's voice and felt a surge of emotion.
Bay Territory truly was a magical place—
Even proud elves felt inferior!
Watching another group of soldiers fall screaming, with only a few pressing forward, Elona frowned and asked softly:
"Will training with illusion and psychic formations really not affect the soldiers?"
Knowing Elona focused on teaching and research, Annie patiently explained:
"Every soldier entering the Catachan demi-plane—including the Ail Elves—has undergone long-term mental and illusion resistance training."
"Most have also mastered relevant feats and skills."
"The training strongly stimulates their senses, creating vivid impressions without causing real harm."
Elona, clearly impressed, nodded thoughtfully.
In just a short time, Bay Territory's military growth rivaled even the Professional Training Academy.
As they chatted, they arrived at the higher-level training camp.
Annie, watching the druids and Catachan soldiers handling strange plants, asked with interest:
"Can these plants be controlled too?"
"What kind of experience can druids have in a world like this?"
Elona looked up at the sky, sensing the twisted, eerie atmosphere, and instinctively shook her head.
"Something's off about this world. Nature's will... seems deranged..."
"And these plants are nearly impossible to communicate with."
"But using new spells and methods, we've forced control over them."
"Next, we'll study them further and aim to influence entire regions of plant life..."
Hearing Elona's passionate tone, Annie glanced at her pointed ears and felt hopeful and excited for Bay Territory's talent development.
The stronger Bay Territory became, the safer the Silverleaf Family would be.
Yet, Annie couldn't help but softly ask about one thing Elona mentioned:
"What could've caused the deranged will of nature?"
Elona shook her head. With her current strength and knowledge, she couldn't explore such dangerous secrets yet.
Her top priority now was to help Bay Territory quickly train its soldiers.
Though most soldiers were being tortured half to death by the training camp—
A group of strong, fast-learning elites successfully passed all three training levels.
They would become the first wave of Bay Territory's strike force.
This was their honor—and their great opportunity for rewards.
While the army trained in force—
Matthew, as lord, was leading the majority of Bay Territory in transforming every area outside the camps.
He had built six fire-element energy pools.
With the massive energy they provided, over ten thousand engineering golems were deployed.
Over 80% of Bay Territory's construction teams were now at work in this vast land.
Huge trees were uprooted and cleared away, roots and all.
Shrubbery was burned to cinders.
Piles of fallen leaves—and the very soil beneath them—were scooped up to be used as raw materials for magic cement.
Bay Territory's approach to developing the jungle's value was ruthless and direct.
Even so, the materials and gains they collected were considerable.
Especially the magical components from strange plants and twisted creatures, which supercharged the production lines of Bay Territory's factories and research labs.
The vast resources invested by Bay Territory were beginning to pay off.
"Some of the outer Catachan tribes are close to collapse—we need to act fast."
Angela browsed through intel and documents, turning to look at the resolute Yaya and Orianna.
The two nodded eagerly, reaffirming the accuracy of their information.
Especially the gung-ho Yaya, who waved her little fists and declared:
"There's not only a major Catachan demon nest over there—it's also rich in fine gold and mithril!"
"I can smell the metal from miles away!"
"Mmm, the delicious scent of gold!"