Terra Tinkers Construct is fine.

"Master Milan!"

The enemy is numerous.

Even though the Yeti warriors present were brave and skilled in battle, relying on their home ground, they couldn't stop all the enemies in one go.

With the high-value target surrounded, and most of the Yeti squad members being warriors, the remaining secondary targets were naturally obvious—for a moment, Milan, the "mage," seemed to become the target of hatred. Upon seeing this, some of the Yetis, who had become familiar with each other over the past few days, immediately shouted out.

Milan raised his hand axe.

Chapter 18 - First Battle

One thing is actually different from what Milan expected.

When using Tinkers' Construct to process stone... perhaps it's because its basic unit is a "block," or perhaps it's because it produces a typical "sawtooth" sound during processing.

The mass of the "rock" component does not fully match its total material weight—probably because it was not designed to be a fully "synthesized" component, but rather a product of breaking down and polishing excessively large "rock blocks," resulting in a significant reduction in the total quantity of the finished product.

It's roughly the same ratio as most materials that require nine materials to create a "block". A rock material component made from a single "block" of rock weighs only one-ninth of the materials used.

This was something Milan hadn't expected.

Therefore, considering his early-game equipment needs under the laws of physics: it's hard to say what the value of damage numbers is, but at least the actual kinetic energy can be guaranteed as a minimum—the weapon he prepared for self-defense was not a Tinker's Construct Hand Axe, but a weapon crafted from 2 sticks and 3 cobblestones at a crafting table, which relied entirely on the mass of the materials to maintain the weapon's weight...

Stone ax.

按照标准材料密度来算：1木棍87.5公斤，1圆石2吨，单手总重6175公斤。

A hero among equipment.

So Milan, after a series of mental turmoil, gathering information from all sides to muster courage for his first battle, and convincing himself that "conflict is inevitable on this land, and fighting is unavoidable—especially if you want to do something in the future, fighting is even more unavoidable," raised his seemingly unremarkable, gray, rocky hand axe.

"what!"

The charging Ursus pikemen let out undisguised sneers—Milan could guess with his knees what they were laughing at.

But Milan didn't care; he remained silent and just kept swinging his axe.

"Snapped!"

This is the sound of quickening the pace, pressing forward with the momentum of a charge, a long spear striking the suddenly appearing shield, and then being bounced off without even a tremor.

[Traveler's Shield: Recipe from Tinkers' Construct, material requirements: 2 wooden molds + 2 leather + 1 plank, theoretical weight: 525 kg]

Incidentally, the weight of the leather is basically negligible in this data; and incidentally, the leather was taken from the Yeti Squad's warehouse.

Although all sorts of thoughts flooded Milan's mind before facing the battle, when the weapon, gleaming with a cold, fierce light, and the user's menacing face were almost touching him, Milan felt nothing at all: a simple, round shield covered with leather appeared unexpectedly in his left hand [secondary hand position], and the spear blade, carrying the force of the charge, bounced off the shield surface as weakly as raindrops falling on an umbrella.

The charging enemy's expression changed instantly: in a flash, he didn't know where the shield came from, why his charge seemed to have no effect, or even why the feedback felt so heavy, so heavy that it was as if he hadn't crashed into a human being who, by Ursus standards, was not even a human.

He assumed that the sorcerer dared to step forward and face their blades only because of some ridiculous camaraderie among infected, and that he was willing to give up his spellcasting advantage to stop them for the sake of those damned bastards behind him who deserved to go to hell—which was also their original purpose.

They did succeed.

However—when the round shield deftly parted, revealing the vision he had lost for just a moment…

He no longer saw Milan wearing a white Yeti-themed fur cloak.

Instead, it was a statue-like, solemn and heavy figure, completely encased in thick rock from helmet to greaves.

Stone-Inlaid Armor Set

[Helmet + Chest Armor + Leggings + Boots]

[Material Attribute: Stone Solid (Gains additional damage reduction at high durability, but the damage reduction rate decreases further as durability decreases)]

[The complete set consumes 24 cobblestone materials, equivalent to 5.3 tons of weight, and provides 9 armor points.]

Although his [Asymmetric Matter Drive] ability has not yet covered all equipment and is currently only effective on the main hand equipment, it does not prevent him from bearing the weight of the armor while wearing a full set of armor, and the quality of the armor still objectively exists.

The rock knight, weighing twelve tons, swung his six-ton ​​axe, raising it above his head with a simple and unadorned motion, without any dazzling sound and light effects or exquisite martial arts skills; it was as crude as splitting firewood on a tree stump.

——Click!

Then the Ursus soldier, along with his spear, was unevenly smothered by the axe blow that only had his stats.

"..."

The first effective attack and the first effective hit likely triggered some kind of cheat-like notification mechanism, causing a series of messages to flash through Milan's mind; however, he didn't pay attention to those messages for the moment—the Ursus spearmen charging forward were a squad, and they were unable to stop at this moment. When they saw the fate of their leader, their expressions changed drastically, but their bodies simply couldn't support changing direction under these circumstances.

There is only one choice left for them.

They gritted their teeth and gripped their spears with every ounce of strength they might not even use during training, stomping their feet and charging towards Milan with blood-curdling roars. The sounds of spears breaking and falling under the strain were incessant, the charge so brutal that it seemed as if Milan were the villain.

……tread.

Their efforts were not entirely fruitless.

Milan took a step back.

"...Is it still too late to surrender now?"

A series of people collapsed on the ground as Milan's heavy body crashed into them. Looking at Milan's shadow, which flickered in the firelight like a statue, someone blurted out this sentence.

But the answer they received was not from Milan, but from the other Yetis who had not yet been able to support the main battlefield and were still here cooperating in the defense.

"At this moment?"

You must be joking!

The sudden encounter in the rear was quickly suppressed without any casualties.

But taking someone's life... Milan is still somewhat unaccustomed to this.

This is a life-or-death battle, a battlefield where the other side never intended to spare his life from the very beginning. Stepping onto the battlefield means becoming an enemy, and an enemy only deserves to die—Milan is well aware of this, but perhaps he is being a bit sentimental in peacetime. He doesn't mind launching a silent counter-charge against the enemy, easily ramming those wrestling with the Yeti warriors into the ground with his axe, or smashing them, along with their equipment, defensive stances, and even formations, to pieces.

Even if the guy is already lying on the ground, he will retaliate physically if you dare to verbally attack him; but because his existence is so surreal, he hesitates when faced with a guy who has mentally collapsed and is crying and begging for mercy.

Fortunately, there were still people present who did not hesitate.

The shadow cast by his helmet obscured his face, so no one could see his expression, but he could see the expressions of the Yeti members: he knew what kind of people the Yetis he had gotten to know so well over the past few days were—they were all honest, simple, ordinary people who would never have embarked on the path of becoming warriors if they could simply survive.

And it was precisely these kinds of people—Milan could see—who, after a brief moment of hesitation, hurled such sharp, sarcastic, and contemptuous insults at them, as if they didn't consider themselves and the Yeti Squad as the same kind of beings, let alone people of the same nation and people.

The Yeti's response was nothing but blades—they didn't continue their cacophony for long, and no matter what foul language they hurled, the Yetis showed no emotional outburst; they simply eliminated the enemies in a manner that could be described as execution, and then turned and headed back to the main battlefield.

No matter how well Milan understood what kind of cesspool Ursus was in the game, he could hardly elevate his dislike to hatred with the characters in the game; but they were different. Milan could see that they had anger and hatred, but there was no twisted killing intent caused by revenge, only a harsh silence and awareness that seemed to have become accustomed to it.

He sighed.

“Petrova, you stay here and organize the others to gather inside the walls and hold their positions. I’ll go open an entrance for you.”

"Vasha, you stay here and support Petrova. Vasily, you take me to the front."

After a brief arrangement, Milan turned and left. The Yetis looked at each other in bewilderment. Petrova nodded, and Vasily immediately ran to catch up with Milan. The heavy equipment did not affect Milan, who had the equipment privileges. He quickly checked his equipment and calmed himself down.

—This was brand new equipment, its first time in battle, so there was little damage, and it's not worth mentioning.

"Master Milan, Master Milan!"

After a few short steps, Vasily caught up and asked, "You can walk these few steps with the others, right?"

"My outfit is so distinctly different from the Yeti's, aren't you afraid that if you enter from the back without a guide, Frostnova will be the first to attack me?"

"Well, it seems so."

After thinking about how he and his men were fighting to the death on the defensive line, and then a stranger suddenly appeared at his home, Vasily felt embarrassed and coughed awkwardly.

He looked at Milan's gear, and said with a mixture of envy and curiosity, "Milan, what are you wearing...?"

"When you're out and about, you always need some means to protect yourself. Do the non-combatants of the Yeti have absolutely no fighting ability?"

Milan rolled her eyes under her helmet, already seeing the front line of the battlefield: relying on the original camp fence and the set-up Originium ice crystals, the Yetis had turned a large area into a quiet and harsh low-temperature zone, and built a defensive line to fight against overwhelming odds; Frostnova's Originium Arts swayed in this low-temperature zone, accompanied by her Ursus Lullaby, making it impossible for the enemy to attack without success.

At a glance, one could see Meng Shuang's corpse lying on the ground, all dressed in the dark and somber uniforms of Ursus.

Even so, the other party still doesn't seem to have any intention of backing down...

"Who goes there! Wait... Vasily?"

One of the Yeti warriors, who had retreated to the line to catch his breath during a battle break, suddenly noticed this area. He sat up abruptly and shouted, startling the others who were resting. Immediately, several Yeti crossbowmen and Yeti sorcerers prepared to take aim.

But when they saw a familiar figure next to the unfamiliar stone statue, they were momentarily unsure.

"Wait! Don't do it! This is Master Milan!"

Even Froststar twitched her long ears and turned to look at them. Vasily quickly stepped forward, waving and shouting; and their confusion turned into astonishment.

"Who do you think it is, kid?"

"Master Milan?"

The Yetis were speechless for a moment: The only person in the camp capable of creating such a strange thing was indeed Milan, but if it really was Milan who made it…

Isn’t this too handsome?

"it's me."

Milan removed his helmet, revealing his face amidst the astonished gasps of the Yetis, and asked, "A raiding team just appeared behind us, but we've dealt with it. There were no losses in logistics personnel or resources."

What's the situation up ahead?

"do not know."

Given the unusual circumstances, the Yetis didn't dwell on his cool, heavy armor for the time being. Frostnova shook her head and said simply, "It looks like a group of Ursus soldiers. They had been in battle before encountering us and suffered some losses. Their morale and spirits aren't very good."

"And they attacked us on their own initiative... I don't understand. The Yeti should have some reputation in the Northern Plains. Even so, they chose to attack us instead of running away in circles. It's very strange."

"Unless there's some reason why they think it makes more sense to do so."

Milan, whose vision surpasses that of Frostnova, took over the conversation, pondered for a moment, and said, "First of all, setting aside the factor of self-interest, the Yeti are not juicy meat but a tough nut to crack. Unless there is a military order, I don't think they have any reason to attack."

"Then the value of the Yeti squad as an attack target should only be the significance of the Yeti itself; considering that they have already experienced battle, and more likely did not win, they should be considered a defeated force."

Milan paused here, and Frostnova's eyes showed a hint of surprise. She nodded to indicate that Milan should continue, while Milan looked around at the people around her... Unsurprisingly, the expressions on the faces of the Ursus people were all "So what? How do we fight?"

"...So think about it, if they really defeat the Yeti, what will they gain?"

"At least be able to report the results of the battle to the higher-ups?"

"Or, it's for explaining things to others..."

His gaze met Frostnova's eyes, and the woman from Carter's thought for a moment, then understood.

"The Yeti Squad has a limited number of members. We are not good at holding out for long periods of time, and there are no conditions for holding out for long periods of time here. We cannot continue to delay."

She didn't explain, but made a decision directly; so Milan thought for a moment and said:

"Then I have a suggestion... Speaking of which, are you good at coordinating with heavily armored units?"

Chapter 19 - The Plan

Are you skilled at coordinating with heavily armored units?

To be honest, Milan was pretending to be ignorant about 90% of what she said: as mentioned before, a considerable amount of information about this land was only transparent to Milan, who had been a player before, including the origins of the Yeti Squad; and the Yeti Squad came from the Ursus Infected Guerrilla, whose core member was the Shield Guard.

When the Yeti Squad was first established, they were the auxiliary units of the Shield Guards. They even had an aesthetic sense that leaned towards heavy shields and heavy armor. How could they not be familiar with heavy armor units?

As for why the Yeti doesn't have heavily armored units... well, why is that? That's a difficult question to answer. First, let's rule out not wanting to.

Before Frostnova could answer Milan's question, several Yeti members around her burst out laughing.

"...You don't need to worry about that, we have plenty of experience."

She glanced lightly at the few Yetis, her expression not particularly stern, but the Yetis who had been laughing quieted down on their own. Milan quickly calculated the data in her mind and said, "You can't use my equipment, your access is not high enough and you can't withstand the attacks by relying solely on your physical strength. Moreover, the Yetis don't have enough manpower, there's no way to rotate them, and there's no way to pursue them."

Several strong, burly icebreakers with expectant eyes immediately showed disappointment: these Yetis had been raised by the Shield Guards since they were young, and in their eyes, heavy armor was the coolest thing, bar none.

"Really, Master Milan?"

Sure enough, someone muttered defiantly, "You've been in our camp for a while now, we're not kidding; everyone recognizes your skills, no one has any complaints."

"But if you're talking about physique and strength, I don't believe that you can wear any equipment that I can't."

This guy sounds quite young. He's tall and strong, and under the Yeti cloak is the light armor of an Icebreaker. He wields an Ursus military knife and is the team's specialized melee attacker.

Even among the Yeti squad, which is predominantly composed of Ursus, this is an exceptionally robust type.

Upon hearing this statement that resonated with everyone, the other Yetis didn't immediately start jeering... but they didn't immediately stop them either; they just all turned to look at each other.

Milan didn't argue; he simply placed his helmet on the ground and said, "Come on, raise one."

"what?"

The young man from Ursus with round bear ears blushed, but his eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, "Really? Master Milan, do you mean if I can lift it, you'll make me a full set of heavy armor too? Is that what you mean?"

"Stop talking nonsense and give me your example first. Whether or not it can be done will be discussed later."

Although it was only a little angry and a little amused, Milan still felt a bit angry and amused: Do you know how heavy my helmet is? And you're just spouting nonsense at me?