Zhang Dashan, in high spirits, continued to issue orders.
"Zhang Lengzi! You have the chopping knife. Take your wife and a few other women to the woods to cut down trees and gather firewood. Look sharp, no slacking!"
"Don't you worry, Captain!"
"Hu Zi!"
Zhang Dashan shouted again.
Zhang Xiaohu jumped up in surprise. Looking at his father's stern face, he said, "Dad… No! Captain, what are your orders!"
"I'm making you the Foraged Greens Sub-captain! You take Xiaobao and the others to dig for wild vegetables! You'd better bring me at least one basketful by noon, or you'll bend over for a paddling!"
"As you command!"
Zhang Xiaohu accepted his orders and scurried away eagerly with a few other pre-teens in tow.
"Brother-in-law, what about me?"
A slender, pretty young woman walked up to Zhang Dashan and asked quietly.
Zhang Dashan said, "Don't call me brother-in-law. Call me Captain. The Lord himself said I'm now the Production Team Captain of Stone Village!"
"Fine, Captain! Can you find some work for me, too? I want some of that roast chicken!"
"You can work with your sister to tidy up the area. The Lord is a man of refined tastes. If you get this place cleaned up, I'll try to get you a chicken leg!"
"You got it!"
The young woman, Yang Qingxiu, immediately cheered with delight.
Her older sister, who was also Zhang Dashan's wife, was named Yang Qinggu. The two sisters huddled together, chatting in low voices as they worked.
"Sis, what's a 'Lord'?"
"How should I know? All I know is that man doesn't lie. He really gave us roast chicken."
"Maybe a Lord is a high-ranking official."
"If he's a high-ranking official, he must be more important than the County Magistrate, right? By the way, Qingxiu, Dad and Big Brother went to the county seat to buy grain. When do you think they'll be back? They're really missing out by not being here."
"When Dad left, he said it would be three to four days at the earliest, or five to six days at the latest. It's been over five days now, so I reckon they should be back soon!"
"The Lord is looking this way! Quick, get back to work!"
...
Wang Yi drove the Crossbow Machine Carriage with Man Datou standing behind the driver's seat.
He made a brief patrol. Although the villagers were frail, they were all well-behaved. No one dared to cause any trouble.
However, they were essentially working with their bare hands.
After speaking with them, Wang Yi quickly learned just how low the productivity of Stone Village was. The entire village didn't even have a handful of Iron Pots, he had only seen a single chopping knife, and tools like saws and axes were completely absent. Farming implements were pitifully scarce, and even something as simple as hemp rope was a rare sight.
Without tools, trying to reclaim land or chop wood with just their bare hands was a complete joke!
In contrast, the Crossbow Machine Carriage Wang Yi drove seemed to be from another era entirely.
'This Crossbow Machine Carriage of mine has infinite power, black-box technology, and 200 horsepower—I can't let it go to waste. If I could just attach a cargo bed, it would be a tractor, more or less… I wonder if I can use Flying Light Arrows for logging? It shouldn't be too hard to just blast the tree trunks in half…'
Wang Yi mulled it over, but a moment later, he drove the Crossbow Machine Carriage out of his territory.
He wasn't going to experiment with logging by Flying Light Arrow, however. He was going to scout the map!
'I'll scout the map, get familiar with the surroundings, check the water quality and figure out the best route to get to it. I'll also look for any potential threats and valuable resources. With the Crossbow Machine Carriage and Man Datou acting as a guard, safety shouldn't be an issue. As for the Gourmet Processing Plant and Chaos Warehouse back in my territory… surely no one can destroy those, right…?'
Wang Yi turned to look back at his territory. It had a radius of only ten meters, small enough to be taken in at a single glance. Within it stood only two structures: the Chaos Warehouse and the Gourmet Processing Plant.
The buildings couldn't run away, and any damage they sustained could affect their function. Fortunately, they could be repaired with Chaos Energy.
Wang Yi decided that stockpiling some Chaos Energy was essential.
The Crossbow Machine Carriage's performance was excellent, and Wang Yi drove it like an all-terrain vehicle. He first explored to the south and, about a kilometer away, soon discovered the Jade River.
The wide river flowed down from the mountains. It was about seven meters across, with a gentle current and water so clear you could see the bottom.
'Such beautiful mountains, water, and scenery!'
Wang Yi's spirits lifted as he admired the mountain scenery. He drove the Crossbow Machine Carriage east along the river for another half a kilometer, eventually reaching a stretch of sand flats where the terrain opened up.
Suddenly, Wang Yi received a system notification: "Ding! A Level 1 Resource Point has been discovered."
"Ding! Reminder: Only Lord Players or exploration-type units can discover resource points while exploring the world. Activating a resource point will immediately spawn its guardians. After the guardians are defeated, a resource-generating structure will typically appear automatically. Please explore the specifics for yourself."
"Ding! Do you wish to activate the current resource point? Once activated, fifty brutal and bloodthirsty Sand River Giant Crabs will immediately spawn here."
Wang Yi froze for a second, then his face lit up with joy!
'A trigger-activated wild resource point, huh? Interesting. What the hell are brutal and bloodthirsty Sand River Giant Crabs? Are they tough?'
Wang Yi immediately asked Man Datou, "Big Head, ever seen a Sand River Giant Crab? Think you can take them?"
Man Datou shook his head. "Never seen one!"
"Well, you're about to!"
Wang Yi had already made his decision. He immediately drove the Crossbow Machine Carriage onto high ground, gave the handlebars a little shake, and considered his "turret" ready.
Then, Wang Yi accessed the system and chose to activate the resource point.
The next moment, the surface of the river in the distance erupted in a spray of muddy water, and fifty enormous crabs crawled out from the mire.
The carapaces of these crustaceans had a rusty, bronze sheen. They were about a meter wide, with asymmetrical pincers. The left claw was broad and flat like a spade, while the right was sharp like a pair of needle-nose pliers. Their other six legs were long and slender.
They moved with incredible speed, not scuttling sideways but crawling straight forward, somewhat like spiders.
"Those are some huge crabs! They're practically monsters! Big Head, get ready to fight!"
Wang Yi was not without a trace of tension. Even as he spoke, he squeezed the firing lever. The Crossbow Machine Carriage immediately activated, and shafts of light—Flying Light Arrows—shot out from the front of the vehicle like laser beams.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH...
The Flying Light Arrows tore through the air, creating a hum like a passing swarm of bees. The single carriage produced the effect of a machine gun's wild spray, laying down a blanket of fire. The carapaces of the front-row crabs shattered on impact, splattering blue-green blood across the sand.
The penetrating power of the Flying Light Arrows was astounding; the shells of the Sand River Giant Crabs were no match for them. Each shot punched a clean hole through.
Man Datou also leaped from the Crossbow Machine Carriage. He charged forward, hoisted a millstone-sized boulder, and slammed it down on one of the Sand River Giant Crabs, crushing it so hard its belly was pressed flat against the ground and its carapace shattered to pieces.
However, the Sand River Giant Crab's Life Force was astonishingly high. Even so, it wasn't dead, and it tried to attack Man Datou with its pincers.
Man Datou spat, then hefted another boulder and brought it crashing down. Only then did the Sand River Giant Crab finally die and stop moving.
But there wasn't much opportunity for Man Datou to show off. The Crossbow Machine Carriage unleashed its might, and the fifty Sand River Giant Crabs were swiftly eliminated. Not a single one made it within ten meters of Wang Yi, leaving the riverbank pockmarked with a honeycomb of arrow holes.
It was a completely one-sided victory.
A system prompt rang out: "Ding! Congratulations on defeating the resource point guardians. The resource point is activating. Calculating…"
"Ding! A Level 1 River Sand Resource Point has appeared. This is a permanent resource point that produces high-quality river sand. It refreshes automatically after being harvested, with a maximum daily output of 100 tons!"