"How long can the current stock in the fortress last?"
Archibald rubbed his head, feeling an intense headache coming on.
Lavinia Montague carefully reviewed the data she had just organized, her expression growing increasingly serious.
"We don't have much wood left, and black iron ore is even scarcer. Most critically, I checked the borax needed for weapon forging, and our borax stores are at zero."
"We could potentially mass-produce various recovery potions, but there's also not much stock of medicinal herbs. If we use them freely, they won't even last a day. With less than three days until the monsters attack the city, there's just too much we need to prepare."
The mission assigned by the academy's senior management was proving to be a headache.
Coordinating on multiple fronts was indeed the most challenging aspect.
Fortunately, they had John, a formidable enforcer, in the First Fortress.
Even if some were reluctant to follow orders, they couldn't resist.
After all, his word was law in the fortress.
If anyone angered him, being thrown out of the fortress or directly eliminated were real possibilities.
"The logistics team has already gone out to gather supplies under the protection of the combat squads, but it's uncertain how much they'll be able to bring back."
Even if items could be stacked, each person's capacity to bring back resources was extremely limited.
Moreover, they needed to make an effort to produce the items to prevent a shortage of materials later on.
Leopold paused for a moment before addressing Archibald.
"Our second squad can join the gathering efforts. Let the first squad clear the surrounding area and collect resources, and the third squad protect the production team. This division of labor might speed up the process."
After a brief consideration, Archibald decided, "Alright, I've already given you level two access. When the materials are brought back, if you have time, try to sort them out a bit. I'll have the logistics team organize them later."
If it was just about gathering materials, that wouldn't be too complex.
The real challenge was transforming those materials into usable resources.
They had just taken stock and realized that outside of the logistics team, the ratio of priests to combat roles in the three combat squads was dismally low.
Essentially, among every twenty people, there was only one priest.
A 1:20 ratio couldn't ensure that everyone received visible healing.
Thus, HP recovery potions and MP recovery potions were essential.
They needed to be prepared in large quantities to ensure they were sufficient for use.
But this then involved the need for large amounts of materials, while the city walls' energy cannons also required energy stones or black iron ore for ammunition.
Even though they currently had three tons of black iron ore, it would only power the cannons for three shots...
Yet, this same amount of black iron ore could produce nearly twenty thousand arrows, ten thousand spears, and shields.
Thus, using black iron ore to power the energy cannons was absolutely impractical.
They must continue searching for the legendary energy stones.
Leopold thought for a moment before speaking to Archibald.
"Our second squad can join in the gathering efforts, the first squad will clear the surrounding area and collect resources, and the third squad will protect the production team. This way, our division of labor might speed up the progress."
But the very next second, a barrage of rocks hurtled towards him!
"Wind Shield!"
John deftly lifted his staff, and suddenly, a fierce wind swept through the forest, hurling the rocks back from whence they came.
12369!
A flurry of damage numbers appeared amidst the dense trees.
And John could now see the names of these creatures.
[Name: Treemonkey (Normal)]
[Level: lv25]
[HP: 150,000]
[Strength: 1771]
[Stamina: 1315]
[Defense: 1057]
[Speed: 2405] discover-stories-MVLeMpYr
[Skills: Toss, Rage Roar, Bite, Summon.]
Just ordinary monkeys, but John furrowed his brow slightly when he saw their skills.
Ordinary creatures with four skills, and the last one, Summon, particularly puzzled him.
Summon? What could these monkeys possibly summon?
But soon he had no more time to ponder these thoughts.
Countless monkeys peeked out from the surrounding trees!
At a glance, there were nearly hundreds of them! Each monkey was hurling rocks furiously at John!
If they were just ordinary rocks, it would be one thing, but these rocks exploded upon contact, causing considerable damage.
That's when he understood why these minerals were so openly placed here yet remained unclaimed.
It was because of these monkeys.
The damage was significant, and it added up.
Without significant health or a priest, they were unbeatable!
Bang, bang, bang!
Countless rocks were hurled at John, who leapt back to retreat.
Though these monkeys were not highly defensive, they were incredibly fast.
Only the initial Wind Shield caught them off guard, allowing him to kill a few.
But later, when John launched his Wind Shield, they consciously dodged it.
They even became angrier, baring their teeth and howling incessantly.
It seemed they harbored deep resentment towards this intruder who dared enter their territory!