The tyrannical father was so intimidated when his own daughter was found during the raid.

Outside the city, war drums thundered and yellow sand obscured the sun.

The 100,000 elite troops of the Great Yan Dynasty, like a vast, endless black ocean, surrounded the headquarters of the Netherworld God Cult.

The dark, dense formation stretched for miles.

Swords, spears, and halberds gleamed coldly in the sunlight, their murderous aura soaring to the heavens.

The Regent of Great Yan rode on a tall, magnificent Akhal-Teke horse.

Although he had recently been so angry that he vomited blood and his face was still somewhat pale, his expression at this moment was extremely ferocious.

He was holding a large, rough-looking tin megaphone.

He ordered his craftsmen to work through the night to make this, just so that he could effectively dampen the spirits of the Divine Cult on the battlefield.

"Ye Honglian! Su Zhen! You bunch of lunatics pretending to be gods, listen up!"

The regent used a tin megaphone to project his voice far and wide toward the city walls.

"I admit you've used some underhanded tactics, but so what?"

"An army of 100,000 has surrounded this place like an iron barrel! Not even a fly can escape!"

The regent paused, a cruel sneer curling at the corner of his lips.

"I have ordered that all water sources for the cult be completely cut off!"

"The supply route leading down the mountain is also heavily guarded by my troops!"

"Listen up, you people inside! You don't have a single grain of rice, and you can't even get a drop of water!"

His voice, amplified by the loudspeaker, resounded throughout the entire mountain.

"I will give you three days!"

"Either open the door and surrender, or kneel on the ground and die!"

"Or, I'll trap and starve you all inside! I'll turn you into a pile of bones!"

The arrogant shouts echoed through the valley.

Below the city wall, inside the main altar of the cult, the atmosphere was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

Ordinary believers had never seen such a desperate scene of an army of 100,000 besieging a city.

Many people were trembling with fear, their faces pale.

Several elderly hall masters gathered together, sighing with worried expressions.

The kitchen manager stumbled over to report, his voice trembling with obvious sobs.

"It's over...it's all over!"

"We steamed all the remaining flour and grains in our warehouse into cornbread overnight."

"At most, we only have less than a thousand cold, hardened grains left!"

"Even if everyone only eats half a piece a day, it definitely won't last three days!"

Despair spread like a plague among the people.

Some people have even silently torn off a piece of their clothing, preparing to bite their fingers to write their wills.

To everyone else, this was a hopeless siege with no chance of survival.

However, it was in this gloomy and desolate atmosphere that...

From the center of the inner courtyard came the sound of someone scratching their head in frustration.

Su Yaoyao squatted on the ground without any regard for her image.

She was holding a charcoal pencil and sketching on a pile of drawings spread out on the floor.

The little girl's delicate eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and her face was filled with sorrow.

As she drew, she scratched her hair in frustration, muttering something under her breath.

Several church members who were passing by couldn't help but tear up when they saw this scene.

"Her Highness the Crown Princess must be worried about our food supplies!"

"Yes, she's just a young girl, she must have been terrified facing an army of 100,000."

"His Highness has worried himself sick over us..."

Just as the believers were moved to tears.

Su Yaoyao suddenly threw down the charcoal pencil in her hand and let out a frustrated howl.

"It's all over! This is impossible to do!"

She stared at the blueprints on the ground, her face filled with utter despair.

This is not a breakout roadmap at all; it is clearly an extremely complex heavy machinery design blueprint!

At the very top of the drawing, a line of large characters was prominently displayed.

Gatling gun version of Zhuge Repeating Crossbow.

Su Yaoyao frowned and poked at the data on the drawing.

"The blueprints have been drawn up, and the assembly line can be barely set up."

"But this thing consumes a lot of iron!"

"I've calculated it. To build ten repeating crossbows capable of covering the entire battlefield, we'll need at least three tons of pig iron!"

The more she calculated, the more distraught she became, and she couldn't help but look up to the sky and sigh.

"Not only are we short of pig iron, but we also need at least two thousand kilograms of high-purity black powder to make explosive bombs!"

"But I just checked the main warehouse."

"Forget three tons of pig iron, those warehouse managers even pried the nails off the doors and melted them down!"

Su Yaoyao collapsed to the ground, tears welling up in her eyes.

Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice.

"Without the materials, how am I supposed to build a Gatling gun to shoot those chickens and dogs outside?"

"I'm so worried, I can't live like this anymore!"

"Honey, what are you worrying about all by yourself sitting here?"

A deep and resonant voice suddenly came from behind.

Su Zhen walked over with his hands behind his back, taking leisurely steps.

He was wearing a brocade robe that he had taken from an enemy scout, and he walked with a powerful stride.

Seeing her father approach, Su Yaoyao felt like she had seen a savior.

She immediately pointed to the blueprints on the ground and began to complain bitterly.

"Dad! I'm worried about the materials!"

"There are 100,000 troops outside. I want to build ten super weapons to clean up their mess."

"But we're so poor. Where am I supposed to get three tons of pig iron and two thousand catties of gunpowder?"

I thought my dad would also be worried after hearing this.

After all, an army of 100,000 was at the city gates, and now they were facing a dead end due to a severe shortage of supplies.

To everyone's surprise, Su Zhen not only wasn't worried, but instead burst into laughter.

"Snapped!"

He slapped Su Yaoyao hard on the shoulder, so hard that he almost knocked her over.

"Is this trivial matter really worth my precious daughter sighing about?"

Su Zhen curled his lip indifferently.

He strode to the edge of the courtyard and pointed domineeringly towards the outside of the city.

Following the direction of his finger, there was a ten-mile-long enemy camp, with banners obscuring the sun, a magnificent sight.

"Honey, are you confused about the math?"

"Look outside, is that a military camp?"

The tyrant father's lips curled into a bandit-like arrogant smile.

"Those are clearly a hundred thousand fat sheep, lined up to deliver building materials to us!"

"An army of one hundred thousand! The swords, spears, and halberds they wield, the armor and breastplates they wear—every single one is made of the finest pig iron!"

"Since they are going to attack the city, they must have brought countless gunpowder, supplies, and powerful cannons."

Su Zhen became more and more excited as he spoke, his eyes even gleaming with greed.

"These living bodhisattvas from the Great Yan Kingdom have gone to great lengths to deliver the materials to our doorstep."

"You're actually worried about not having enough materials?"

"What are you missing? We'll just go get it!"

Su Yaoyao was stunned when she heard her father's shocking remarks.

My initial thought was that I could only obtain the materials by defeating the opponent.

But who said you have to defeat your opponent to use their things?

She followed her father's finger and looked again at the army outside the city.

The 100,000 enemy troops that she had previously perceived as a dark and oppressive force now seemed to have completely changed.

Those soldiers in armor were no longer the enemy.

Instead, they were moving iron ingots!

Su Yaoyao's eyes lit up.

"yes!"

She slapped her thigh and jumped up excitedly.

"Father, you're absolutely right! How could I have forgotten about that!"

"They brought so much equipment, that must be tons of iron!"

Su Yaoyao rubbed her hands excitedly, a kind smile just like her father's appeared on her lips.

"We absolutely have to accept this free delivery offer; it would be a disservice to the Regent's good intentions if we didn't!"

The tyrant father nodded in satisfaction and waved his hand.

"Don't worry, honey, Daddy will take you shopping tonight!"

"You need as much iron as you want, and I'll get you that much iron. I guarantee your assembly line will be running at full capacity by tomorrow morning!"

Just as the father and daughter were drooling over the army of 100,000.

Suddenly, two equally excited voices came from the archway in the inner courtyard.

"Stocking up? How could you not invite me to such a great opportunity?"

"They dare to threaten to starve us? Tonight, I'll strip them naked!"

Ye Honglian, dressed in red, strode in, toying with two poisoned short blades in her hands.

Following behind her was Su Jin.

They had clearly overheard the conversation between the father and daughter.

At this moment, both Ye Honglian and Su Jin's eyes were flashing with a ghostly green light, like that of hungry wolves.

When a hunter sees his prey, he is overcome with an uncontrollable, utter frenzy.

"I just looked from the city wall."

Su Jin's tone carried a hint of morbid pleasure.

"The enemy's supply depot is located in the southwest corner. Although the defenses there are tight, it has the most valuable loot."

"I saw at least a dozen heavy siege engines. If you take off the metal plates, they should be enough for several days."

Ye Honglian sneered and twirled the short blade in her hand in a beautiful flourish.

"Didn't that grandson of a regent say we had no food?"

"I saw a lot of rice, flour, and cooking oil piled up next to their central command tent; let them take it all tonight!"

"Let him know what true crop failure really means!"

The family of four huddled together, exchanging smiles.

No need for any unnecessary words; the tacit understanding that flows in our bones needs no such words.

Su Yaoyao swiftly gathered up the mechanical blueprints on the ground.

He turned around and took out a sketch of the enemy camp from his personal space, which he didn't know when he had drawn it.

This sketch is very detailed, clearly marking even the enemy's visible and hidden sentries, as well as the locations where supplies are stored.

The four people sat around the stone table in the center of the courtyard.

Su Yaoyao spread the sketch out neatly on the stone table.

The atmosphere around them changed; there was no longer any despair, but rather a sense of excitement and anticipation.

Su Zhen picked up a pebble and placed it in the southwest corner of the drawing.

"We'll move at midnight tonight, sneaking down this mountain path to avoid their main patrol."

Ye Honglian pointed in the direction of the central command tent.

"I'll go upwind and put out some calming incense to help them sleep."

Su Jin smiled and replied.

"If you encounter someone who's not paying attention and hasn't fallen asleep, leave it to me to handle."

Night is about to fall.

The family of four lowered their voices and, looking at the enemy's sketch, began to discuss their free shopping route for the evening with great interest.