Chapter 248 - Upgrade Path of Towers

Time crawled by as Han Wu steadily accumulated more Energy. So far, four enemy races had invaded his territory: goblins, Wind Sparrows, Abyss Demons, and Armor Crackers.

The goblins and Abyss Demons served mainly as cannon fodder, used for scouting. Neither posed a real threat to Han Wu’s towers; at worst, they temporarily slowed his Energy gain per second.

The Wind Sparrows and Armor Crackers presented greater challenges.

The Wind Sparrows moved fast and focused exclusively on his Locust Towers. Since they ignored all other defenses, Han Wu had no choice but to build only Skeleton Towers in the direction they always came from.

The Armor Crackers were the opposite—slow-moving but packed with high HP and Defense. Skeleton Towers struggled to damage them, and even when they did, it took too long. Every encounter cost Han Wu significant territory.

Fortunately, Han Wu had Merge on his side, which gave him an edge in this wargame. He gathered Sacred Objects, merged them into more powerful ones, equipped them on his towers, and watched them take down enemies faster and more efficiently.

Han Wu also used the lull between waves to accumulate more Energy. HOnce he reached 10,000, he rapidly built a large number of Locust Towers at once. He wasn’t reckless; he intended to test his Merge.

He knew he could merge Sacred Objects, but what about towers? To find out, he built 100 Locust Towers and started merging them. First, he merged 100 into ten towers. After that, a notification popped up.

[Locust Tower can be upgraded. Please choose the upgrade path.]

[1: Heavenly Demon Insect Tower. Details can be seen after confirming.]

[2: Abyss Bug Tower. Details can be seen after confirming.]

[3: Dark Cursed Bug Tower. Details can be seen after confirming.]

[4: Primal Locust Tower. Details can be seen after confirming.]

The four upgrade options mirrored the Evolution Paths of his locusts. He studied the ten towers in his hand, uncertain which path to take for all of them. To make a more informed decision, he chose one of each upgrade to compare their stats before committing the remaining six.

[

Heavenly Demon Insect Tower (Unique)

Armor: 300

Attack: 20

Defense: 10

Attack Method: Horn Stab

Range: 5 km

Attack Rate: 0.5 seconds

Skills: Consecutive Thrust. Stabs a single target three times in one second. Each stab deals 80% damage.

Sacred Object Slot: 4

Abyss Bug Tower (Unique)

Armor: 300

Attack: 15

Defense: 15

Attack Method: Acid Spit

Range: 10 km

Attack Rate: 1.5 seconds

Skills: Abyss Defense. Halves all elemental damage for 100 seconds.

Sacred Object Slot: 4

Dark Cursed Bug Tower (Unique)

Armor: 200

Attack: 10

Defense: 10

Attack Method: Shadow Nail

Range: 20 km

Attack Rate: 0.1 second

Skills: Passive: Shadow Stun. 10% chance to immobilize enemies for 1 second.

Sacred Object Slot: 4

Primal Locust Tower (Unique)

Armor: 300

Attack: 20

Defense:15

Attack Method: Acid Spit

Range: 15 km

Attack Rate: 1 second

Skills: None

Sacred Object Slot: 4]

Each tower’s upgrade path and attack style differed greatly.

The Heavenly Demon Insect Tower prioritized Attack, sacrificing Range for a rapid, powerful assault. The Abyss Bug Tower leaned on Defense, trading Attack Rate for durability. The Dark Cursed Bug Tower offered support with a high Attack Rate but weaker Attack and Defense, relying on luck to immobilize foes. Finally, the Primal Locust Tower lacked Skills but boasted balanced improvements across all stats.

Han Wu weighed the strengths and weaknesses of each tower before settling on a strategy. He wanted tighter control over his territory and chose the Dark Cursed Bug Tower for its wide area of effect.

Each of these towers could cover 1,256 square kilometers. With just seven of them, he could guard over 8,000 square kilometers. The remaining section could be secured using his three other towers and a few Skeleton Towers, completing coverage of all 10,000 square kilometers under his territory.

He had just finished building his towers when the data floating above him changed again.

[Current Land Size: 10,005 square kilometers]

[Current Energy: 3]

His Energy generation remained steady at 1 per second.

“I can expand my territory? That’s good news!” Han Wu remarked as the Locust Tower he had placed at the edge slowly enlarged the border. The neighboring white tile showed a section bitten away, evidence of this expansion.

His actions seemed to provoke his neighbor, who responded by sending more goblins to reclaim their territory.

At first, Han Wu ignored them. The goblins were too weak to pose a real threat, and their only fate was death upon entering his territory. However, Han Wu failed to notice a single Elite goblin hidden among the thousands.

[Goblin Slinger (Elite)

HP: 150

Attack: 20

Defense: 8

Attack Method: Slingshot

Range: 200 meters

Attack Rate: 1 second

Movement Speed: 30 km/h

Skills: Consecutive Slingshot. Fires three stones in rapid succession, each dealing 80% of base damage.]

The Goblin Slinger advanced under the cover of its fellow goblins, sneaking up on one of the Dark Cursed Bug Towers. Once it came within 200 meters, it opened fire with a flurry of shots.

Each hit stripped 10 Armor from the tower. When the Goblin Slinger used its Skill, it tore away 18 Armor in a single burst. The tower had only 200 Armor to begin with, and under the relentless assault, its protective layers cracked and began to fall apart.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Han Wu noticed just in time and equipped four Beast Hides—Sacred Objects dropped by the Armor Cracker—which boosted the tower’s Armor by 200 and its Defense by 8. He barely saved the tower from collapse.

The Dark Cursed Bug Tower responded with a fierce volley of Shadow Nails, wiping out the goblin forces just as the tower’s Armor hit a critical low.

Han Wu exhaled in relief when the last goblin fell. The battle had been dangerously close. Without the timely use of the Sacred Objects, he would have lost the tower.

To build a single Dark Cursed Bug Tower, he had to merge ten Common Locust Towers, spending a total of 1,000 Energy. Losing it now would have been a devastating blow. Thankfully, the Dark Cursed Bug Tower had emerged victorious.

Defeating the stronger enemies brought even greater rewards. Among the spoils were six Common Sacred Objects known as Goblin Arm Bones, each increasing a tower’s Attack Rate by 1%.

They looked unimpressive, but Han Wu had plans for them. As long as he gathered enough duplicates, he could merge them into something far more valuable. He tucked the Sacred Objects away, then turned his attention to the loot dropped by the Elite Goblin Slinger.

[Slinging Manual (Elite): Increases Attack Rate by 20% when equipped.]

He also obtained another treasure, the Upgrade Stone.

[Upgrade Stone (Elite): Upgrades Common Tower. Can be combined into a Unique Upgrade Stone using 5 Elite Upgrade Stones.]

Han Wu reviewed his haul, then glanced at the Skeleton Towers on his territory. These items were made for them!