Chapter Seventy-Three: The Power of the Catapult

From February 14th to February 17th, the blizzard raged for four full days before finally receding. During that time, Mo Fangyuan tried several times to test the performance of the catapults, but each attempt was thwarted by the brutal weather. Only after repeatedly confirming that no more blizzards would come over the next few days did Mo Fangyuan muster the courage to try again.

Every attempt to test the catapults seemed to summon another storm, burying him in snow and leaving him nearly traumatized by his string of failures. Now, gazing at the warm sun hanging in the sky, Mo Fangyuan was moved beyond words. "Praise the sun!" he cried.

"Alright, let's clear the site first, then begin the tests!" Days of snow had buried everything except the roads, which were swept daily—the rest was blocked by thick, impassable drifts. The ground Mo Fangyuan had originally chosen was now buried under layers of snow.

After instructing Lin Ye to arrange a team for clearing the site, Mo Fangyuan reached out to touch the five catapults before him. "This is the symbol of strength... Only true men can handle it!" But, he thought, there was something missing—it lacked the unique properties of the block world. In his previous life, in "Minecraft," all kinds of vehicles and massive weapons could be dismantled and stored as items. But these catapults wouldn’t allow that. Not only were they immovable, dismantling them required considerable effort, and once taken apart, they simply turned into a pile of wood and planks, as if destroyed. In battle, you could only drag them along.

"Your Majesty, the testing crew is in place, but the site still needs some time to clear..." Lin Ye informed him. Originally, Zhang Lingyun had been Mo Fangyuan’s secretary, but due to arrangements for the "Break the Lock Operation," she was required to scout and train in the Black Forest every day. Mo Fangyuan, unwilling to hire a male secretary, had no choice but to turn to Lin Ye. The kingdom’s defense forces were temporarily sufficient, so Lin Ye was free from her warrior duties. She herself declared her desire to switch from martial pursuits to literary ones, so Mo Fangyuan, though reluctant, agreed. Mostly, though, it was her long legs that won him over—the allure was undeniable. After all, as the saying goes: when there's work, the secretary handles it; when there's none... cough, cough.

"Mm, keep arranging things..." Mo Fangyuan replied absentmindedly, his attention fixed on the catapults. He fiddled with the basket atop the lever, pondering the mechanics. In sieges of his previous life, attackers would load the catapults with firebombs to burn enemy structures and sow chaos. Though the block kingdom lacked recipes for firebombs, they had TNT. Activating TNT and launching it with the catapults seemed like an excellent alternative.

If possible, one could even use the catapults to launch people into the enemy ranks for sabotage or assassination, provided they landed safely in water. Otherwise, it would be instant death. "Launching iron golems is also a good idea..." he mused. "And potions, those could be worth testing too..."

At that moment, Mo Fangyuan's mind was ablaze with mad but strangely logical ideas, like a grand strategy gamer plotting in bursts of inspiration.

"Your Majesty, the site is cleared!" Lin Ye called. Mo Fangyuan felt both regret and satisfaction about appointing Lin Ye as his secretary—perhaps because every time he looked at her, his gaze was involuntarily drawn to her nearly perfect, long legs, encased in black stockings. His mind would shout wildly: "She used to be a man! A man! Remember what she looked like before—maybe she's even bigger than you... Beast! What are you thinking!" This self-reprimand usually worked, stopping his indecent thoughts, but this time it failed.

He could only recall the black mare from the day before, passionately ridden by her stallion, and realized, at last, he’d grown up. "Ahem, let's begin!" Mo Fangyuan gulped down milk, hoping its restorative qualities would clear away the debuff of lust clouding his mind. After a good shake—a physical reset—he returned to normal.

"Alright! Let's begin!" He exhaled deeply, smiling at Lin Ye. "The weather today is splendid! Heaven is smiling upon us!"

"Your Majesty, according to past patterns, this good weather should last another two days," Lin Ye replied seriously, not noticing anything amiss with Mo Fangyuan. "From nearly a month of observation, blizzards are preceded by clear signs—temperatures drop, and a persistent breeze arises..." Lin Ye explained earnestly, as if the two were on entirely different wavelengths.

"Your Majesty! Defense Company Commander Li Jianqiang and all the soldiers salute you!" With his right hand on his left chest, Li Jianqiang stared fervently at Mo Fangyuan. Influenced by the traditional military parades of Huaxia, Mo Fangyuan modeled the training of his freemen after modern Huaxia armies. Yet the training was incomplete—drills, close combat, tactics, fitness—most were mere frameworks, for Mo Fangyuan had never served, nor studied such things, making him blind to proper methods. But marching and reporting numbers—those superficial aspects—were handled perfectly.

"One day, I will build an army of steel!" Looking at his twenty-strong "army," Mo Fangyuan felt his blood surge, itching to leap into battle.

"Comrades, well done! You’ve worked hard!" "Commander, we’re not tired—serving our country brings glory!"

"Ah... That's the spirit!" Mo Fangyuan was pleased. "Fellow citizens, you are the elite of the Block Kingdom! You are the final force to defend the kingdom and its people! You are the pride of the people—and my pride! Now is the time to contribute your strength! Use your skills to take the first step in bringing glory to the kingdom!"

Mo Fangyuan had grown adept at public speaking—where once he stammered, now his words flowed, stirring strong resonance among his listeners. He had experienced much, and matured accordingly.

"Your objective is to use the catapults to attack the snowmen in the distance. Now... begin!"

"Spread out and take your positions!" At Mo Fangyuan’s word, Commander Li Jianqiang swiftly issued commands. The freemen, once lined up in rectangles, immediately dispersed, each finding their assigned post.

"Adjust position, east, seventy degrees."
"Load stones!"
"Launch!"

Ten stones soared into the sky, turning into black dots overhead. Moments later, the snowfield where snowmen stood erupted in deep craters. The impacted snow shattered into balls, and the stones continued, burrowing into the earth beneath and spraying dirt everywhere. The destructive power was clearly impressive.

"Good, it works! Let's try TNT..."

"Change ammunition! Switch to TNT!" At Mo Fangyuan’s instruction, Li Jianqiang relayed the order.

"Activate TNT!"
"Launch!"

Unlike the stones, the TNT glimmered white as it sailed through the air.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The explosions echoed faintly, though the distance was considerable. The TNT detonated, its destructive force little different from manual detonation, but the range was vastly superior.

Mo Fangyuan could only throw TNT twenty blocks at best, and even then, only from a high vantage. But the catapults could hurl TNT a hundred blocks away in one go.

What did this mean? Within range, truth reigns supreme.