Li De already had a rough draft of Dawn City’s second phase of construction in his mind, but for now, he wasn’t planning to launch a new round of development.
He needed to give Dawn City some breathing room after such high-intensity construction. At the same time, he needed to prepare for the upcoming population raids.
It was no exaggeration to say that most of what Dawn City had done this year was to prepare for population raids during the Months of Deep Winter.
The many empty houses in the Southern District had no occupants, large tracts of land on the Moonlight Plains were uncultivated, and the growth of believers in the Dawn Order had reached a bottleneck.
It could be said that without sufficient population, Dawn City could only maintain its current scale. To continue expanding, more humans would need to join.
After thinking for a while, Li De shook his head with a smile and reined in his wandering thoughts.
Just as he was about to speak to the silent Harrison, he caught sight out of the corner of his eye of the silhouette of a Cyclops passing by the window.
The question he originally wanted to ask changed instantly. "Harrison, how are our current iron ore reserves?"
After the mining at Giant Valley began, it greatly eased Dawn City’s demand for steel. Thanks to the Cyclops’ efficiency, there was even a slight surplus of ore.
"Patriarch, the smithy currently has thirty tons of steel in reserve, ready for use at any time."
Thirty tons of steel for an entire city?
Li De shook his head with amusement. If this were on Earth, it would be a joke.
But with the current level of productivity, being able to accumulate several dozen tons of steel after supplying the needs of a whole city was already quite good.
"Thirty tons. It’s not much, but it will do.
Can this steel reserve be used to build a running water system?"
Li De still longed for a running water system. Although, as the city’s ruler, he was attended to in everything, lacking such basic infrastructure made life inconvenient.
He couldn’t even turn on a tap for a bath in the sweltering heat.
But laying water pipes across the whole city would require far more steel, investing these dozens of tons might barely make a dent.
Without plastic in this world, sturdy and durable meant using steel pipes.
"Patriarch, at present, running water isn’t urgent for Dawn City. Once the Months of Deep Winter arrive and more people join Dawn City, it would be more effective to build it then.
Besides, this steel might serve a more useful purpose."
Upon hearing this, Li De nodded slightly. Building it now did seem a bit premature. Running water wasn’t like a weapons factory, starting it earlier or later wouldn’t affect the bigger picture.
He shook his head and temporarily gave up the idea of building the water system, though he was curious about what Harrison had left unsaid.
"A more useful purpose?"
"Of course," Harrison’s eyes gleamed with excitement. "We have an elite army that needs better heavy armor.
I’ve heard the smithy recently developed a new alchemical formula. The strength of the smelted steel has tripled compared to before!
If we use these dozens of tons of steel to forge armor, we might create an incredibly powerful ground force."
"Elite army?" Li De raised his eyebrows. The only force in Dawn City that could wear heavy armor was just one.
"The Cyclops?"
"Yes, exactly," Harrison confirmed with a nod.
The Cyclops, as the overlord of ground forces, had never caused Li De to doubt their combat power. These towering giants, standing 6 to 7 blades tall, were even more imposing than heavy tanks.
With their exaggerated physiques, Cyclops had an absolutely overwhelming advantage when facing ordinary human soldiers.
Their powerful physical constitution, massive bodies, and tremendous strength.
Even cavalry charges could not shake these behemoths.
"Patriarch, back when we ambushed the Northern warriors, the armor on the Cyclops was hastily forged and of low quality.
Even so, they still crushed those high-level professionals.
If we protect them with the sturdiest armor, they may unleash combat power beyond anyone’s imagination."
Hearing this, Li De stroked his chin and nodded thoughtfully.
The Cyclops' greatest gift was their immense bodies and mountain-toppling strength, but their large size made them inflexible and easy to target.
If they were truly equipped with sturdier armor, it would allow them to maximize their advantages. These towering giants, 6 to 7 blades tall, would become invincible on the battlefield.
Back when Grote leaped from the sky and severely wounded Kosso, the Level 15 Cyclops Lord, splitting his armor in two, it was partially due to Grote's immense strength and sharp greatsword, but also likely because of the poor quality of Kosso’s armor.
Dawn City had already performed a miracle by crafting such massive armor for over a dozen Cyclops in a short time. As for the quality of the armor, it probably relied entirely on thickness for defense, and the results were easy to imagine.
Fortunately, the Cyclops possessed the bloodline of the Ancient Giants, giving them monstrous physical durability; otherwise, this plan wouldn’t have been feasible at all.
"But now it’s different. Kosso has the stronger Bronze Cyclops bloodline. If we can truly arm him and turn him into a humanoid war machine..."
Just imagining Kosso in heavy armor, wielding a massive spiked club taller than a building, charging through enemy ranks thrilled Li De.
The Cyclops' armored combat strength had already been displayed during Grote’s ambush. Without Kosso’s presence, that hard-fought battle might not have been won.
Now, with sturdier armor and Kosso having evolved into a Bronze Cyclops, how much stronger would his combat power become?
Thinking of this, Li De instinctively reached out and touched the small, warm bat on his chest.
Then he slapped his forehead and chuckled. He had almost forgotten about his personal bodyguard.