Ethan’s eyes dropped to the emblem gleaming on NoPaperOnTheBigOne’s chest, and everything clicked. A faint chill ran down his spine as he realized he had underestimated just how far the engineer could push a single advantage.
[Blessed Seal of Crafting (Unique)]
All Profession Skill Levels: 2 (Max level cap: Grandmaster)
Profession Skill Proficiency Gain: Increased
Profession Skill Success Rate: 20%
Profession Skill Efficiency: 50%
He’d snatched that thing back in Blackridge. Even when he first got it, he knew it was a ga-changer—a bona fide Legendary-tier item. He’d handed it over to this very engineer, and now he was seeing the terrifying, and expensive, results. This Siege Engine was supposed to be a unique, one-of-a-kind mobile fortress. He rembered seeing one in his past life; it had seed even larger than this. Did that an this thing could be continuously upgraded and reinforced?
"How much?" Ethan asked, his voice calm. He knew if this beast could be deployed for the Fortress Wars, it would be an absolute ga-breaker.
"Wahhhhh!" At his question, the engineer in front of him burst into tears.
Ethan was speechless. ’What the hell? Is he crying now?’
He instinctively leaned back, unsure if he was about to be hugged, tackled, or drowned in the man’s misery. Ethan briefly wondered if the man had finally snapped under the mountain of stress he’d obviously been carrying, he looked like soone who hadn’t slept in days.
"Boss... you’re the best, boss!" NoPaper sobbed, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "You have no idea! I went to your Honorary Leader, that woman, so many tis! When she found out I’d drained the shop funds and asked for a loan... she blocked ! Permanently! All I spent was like... forty-thousand gold! Was that so bad? She even... she even told my girlfriend not to see anymore! Called a financial liability!"
He was a ss of snot and tears, all his pent-up emotion flooding out now that Ethan hadn’t imdiately exploded. He’d been terrified facing Ethan, afraid of getting chewed out. After all, only he truly understood this machine’s potential. Talk was cheap without a live demonstration, and he’d just burned through forty-thousand gold—over forty million Dollars.
Ethan’s eye twitched at the ntion of forty-thousand gold. His gaze returned to the half-built Demonic Siege Engine, a new intensity in his eyes.
"Stop crying," Ethan said, clapping a hand on the engineer’s shoulder. "I just need to know one thing. When can it be operational?"
"If the funding is there? Three days... no... two! I can have it moving in two days!" NoPaper’s eyes shone with sudden, fervent excitent.
"How much is left?" Ethan’s interest was now fully piqued. The Fortress Wars wouldn’t be over in a day or two. If this thing could join the fight in three or four days, even a week, it would be worth it.
"Conservative estimate?" NoPaper held up a single finger. "This much."
"Ten thousand gold?" Ethan ventured.
"Uh... more like one hundred thousand," NoPaper said carefully, watching Ethan’s face.
"What?" Ethan’s eyebrows shot up. One hundred thousand gold was over a hundred million Dollars.
"Boss, wait, hear out!" NoPaper pleaded as Ethan took a steadying breath.
"Go on," Ethan said, forcing himself to remain calm. He knew the Siege Engine’s potential. The initial forty-thousand gold investnt was staggering, and adding another hundred thousand on top was insane. But the returns could be equally insane. He’d witnessed a Siege Engine in his past life single-handedly steamroll an entire fortress. The mory of that colossal machine rolling through stone and fla alike rose unbidden, as vivid as if it were happening in front of him again.
The machine was incredibly durable, vulnerable only to super-heavy stationary defenses like massive catapults. But those were immobile. The Siege Engine’s greatest weapon was supposed to be the Demonic Elental Magethrower—a weapon with a range that could obliterate those defenses before the Engine even entered their firing arc. Its main weakness was that it was useless against walls but devastating against other structures and siege weapons. Paired together, the Siege Engine would be nearly unstoppable.
In his past life, the Magethrower was actually invented before the Siege Engine. He wondered about its current status. But even without it, in this era of manual city defense, the re appearance of the Demonic Siege Engine would be a nightmare for any defender. Its frontal impact ram could breach any city wall. Once inside, it could disgorge a small army of players directly into the enemy’s heart, creating chaos for the main force outside to exploit.
As these thoughts raced through Ethan’s mind, NoPaper continued his pitch. "The hundred thousand gold... that just gets the chassis moving. The weapon systems are a separate budget. I’ve got a prototype Magethrower in R&D that needs funding. And the frontal impact ram is designed, but not paid for. Then, I want to mount 360-degree automated rotary cannons on it—you know, like those ’BRRRRT’ guns that spew blue fire? And on the undercarriage, a ring-shaped incendiary projector and a frost-jet system. One for attack, one for defense—crispy enemies up close, and slowed-down pursuers. We’ll add a few turrets for launching firebombs on top. And the rear... we’ll install a couple dozen instant-thrust boosters for rapid repositioning..."
NoPaper was getting more and more animated, but Ethan felt a headache coming on. He hadn’t seen any of these additions in his previous life. Now he understood why the original Siege Engine only had the basic ram and boosters. This guy’s vision was magnificent, audacious, and astronomically expensive.
It wasn’t just the initial cost. The operational costs would be a money pit. The incendiary projector would burn through high-pressure fuel oil, which the system sold for a gold per liter—every burst would be literal coins going up in flas. The frost-jets wouldn’t be cheap either. The firebombs were consumables. And those "BRRRRT" guns? The ammunition cost for a single sustained burst would be staggering.
"Whoa, stop right there," Ethan cut him off, raising a hand.
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