Chapter Twenty-Four: Friends of the Animals

Beneath the towering pines, several small, grayish-white heads darted in and out of view—it was a group of plateau voles foraging for food.

With a sudden whoosh, a flash of green-blue shot into the woods about a meter away from the voles.

“Damn it…” Sun Licheng cursed under his breath at the missed shot.

“Idiot…” The two deities in his mind scolded him in unison.

Ever since Sun Licheng had mastered the art of refining bronze, he had crafted not only bronze knives, axes, and spears, but also a batch of arrowheads for his bow and arrows.

To speak of his bow—it, too, had seen numerous upgrades. In the beginning, when resources were scarce, he had bent long branches over a fire to make the bow limbs, fashioned the string from hempen vine, and tipped his arrows with animal teeth. The range and power were only enough to harass prey at best.

But with the advent of bronze smelting, Sun Licheng began incorporating bronze parts into his bows and arrows, increasing the limbs’ resilience and flexibility, and fashioned a composite bow. The string was now made from the sinew of a magical beast, full of springy strength. The arrowheads, though not as sharp as the teeth of certain magical beasts, were forged from tempered bronze and far more aerodynamic, vastly improving flight distance and stability. The entire bow’s design borrowed from modern archery, and its killing power was astonishing. In his tests, arrows fired from this bow at thirty meters could sink nearly halfway into a massive tree—truly formidable.

For some time now, Sun Licheng had been exploring outward with enthusiasm. Upon spotting the voles today, he estimated the distance was less than thirty meters and decided to test his marksmanship.

Yet, brimming with confidence, he missed at such close range and startled the voles into scattering. Sun Licheng walked over, picked up his arrow, and sighed, “It’s really not easy being an archer!”

The Fragment of the God of Magma was exasperated and turned to the Lord of the Stars: “Do you think this guy is really capable of reviving us?”

The Lord of the Stars seemed a bit embarrassed by the question, coughed twice, and replied, “Don’t worry, just look at that bow of his—pretty good, eh? Believe it or not, I actually believe in him.” And without waiting for the Magma God’s response, he promptly fell into slumber.

The Fragment of the God of Magma glanced between the Lord of the Stars and Sun Licheng, utterly speechless.

With the voles gone, Sun Licheng continued on his way, gathering a variety of edible plants and, through trial and error, discovered a few new food sources.

As he trekked through the mountains, he looked up to see white mist rising between snow-capped peaks, the endless mountain ridges blocking his view, surrounded on all sides by sparse pine forests and low shrubs—a monotonous, dreary landscape.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of river water crashing against rocks up ahead and hurried toward it, clutching his gear. Upon reaching the hilltop, a great river appeared before him.

Across the wilderness, a river nearly twenty meters wide meandered from left to right. From what Sun Licheng knew, there was only one such river in the area—if he was right, it was the same river he’d seen before. He was delighted: he’d returned to familiar ground, and by following the river, he could find his way back to his old camp where many supplies were stored.

Being in a familiar place or among familiar faces brings a sense of security—“to meet an old friend in a foreign land,” as the saying goes. Even in another world, this holds true. Sun Licheng headed upstream, soon glimpsing the well-known snowy mountain, the giant waterfall likely at its foot. He quickened his pace.

After walking for half a day, the vast meadow spread before him. In the distance, plump rabbits roamed the grass, foraging.

The sight of the rabbits made Sun Licheng’s mouth water; he recalled the delicious flavor of wolf-rabbit meat.

Desire clouded his judgment, and he decided to give it a try. He singled out a relatively isolated wolf-rabbit and crept toward it. With his improved skills, he managed to get within twenty meters, hiding in a clump of shrubs without alarming the animal. He drew his bow, nocked an arrow, took aim at the fat rabbit, and then—

He missed again. Startled, the rabbit leaped forward, then quickly spun around, soon locking eyes on the would-be ambusher. Its red eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

Immediately, the wolf-rabbit let out a piercing howl, and a horde of rabbits burst from all corners of the meadow.

Having missed, Sun Licheng was already prepared. He loosed several arrows at the charging wolf-rabbits and sent out a few blazing fire arrows. Of course, these did little real harm but threw the rabbit formation into disarray.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Sun Licheng made a swift escape.

The Fragment of the God of Magma, who had been discussing wolf-rabbits with the Lord of the Stars, was momentarily dumbfounded by Sun Licheng’s decisive and calm flight. The Lord of the Stars, however, was unconcerned: “With escape skills like his, trust me, he’ll get the job done.”

Familiar with the terrain, Sun Licheng knew there was a small cave nearby—easy to defend, hard to attack, and a perfect refuge from a mob of wolf-rabbits. The rabbits wouldn’t stray far from their lair for long, so as long as he could hold out, he’d be free soon enough.

With greatly improved speed, Sun Licheng reached the cave in no time. The cave lay halfway up the mountainside, with only a narrow path leading to it; the rest was blocked by man-high boulders. Soon the wolf-rabbits surrounded the base of the hill, trying to charge up several times but were beaten back by Sun Licheng’s arrows and fire bolts—he even managed to wound a few. For the moment, they were powerless against him.

Frustrated by their failed assaults, the wolf-rabbits grew increasingly agitated, their cries mingling into a chaotic din. Suddenly, a tremendous tiger’s roar echoed through the valley—a gigantic saber-toothed tiger nearly two meters tall strode into view. The beast had come to drink at a nearby pond, only to stumble upon Sun Licheng’s standoff with the rabbits. The saber-tooth, feeling its territory challenged, roared at the wolf-rabbits, the sound making even human ears ache.

But the fierce wolf-rabbits were unshaken. Over forty rabbits quickly took up advantageous positions, and under the command of a massive gray rabbit, formed up to confront the saber-tooth—soon, the valley was filled with their clamor.

Sun Licheng sensed, by instinct, that the two species were communicating.

The Lord of the Stars said to the Magma God’s fragment, “The magical beast armies of the Goblin Empire truly are formidable—even after ten thousand years, they remain so fierce.”

The Magma God’s fragment nodded, “These rabbits are indeed tough. Just like the goblins themselves, they’re impossible to wipe out. All we could do was use divine power to keep them penned in and let them naturally devolve. After all these millennia, their fighting ability’s dropped a lot, but there are just too many of them. When they form up, even most magical beasts can’t beat them.”

As the two gods discussed wolf-rabbits, a beam of golden light flashed through Sun Licheng’s mind. The Magma God’s fragment was momentarily surprised. “A new ability awakening?”

To Sun Licheng’s delight, he suddenly found himself able to understand most of the roars exchanged between the two beasts.

“The prey in the cave above is ours,” the wolf-rabbits told the saber-tooth.

The saber-tooth’s reply was a single word: “Out.”

It turned out that a power called “Friend of Animals” had awakened within Sun Licheng. With this ability, he could communicate with animals, and as it grew stronger, the communication would become smoother. At a high enough level, he could even command animals, making them his loyal followers in battle.

In fact, this ability belonged to druids. But due to the unique nature of his divinely-forged body and the complex knowledge granted by the Magma God, many things, once filtered through Sun Licheng’s Earthly mindset, had mutated into something new.

Seeing this, both deities were bewildered, unable to determine the cause. But with all the strange occurrences surrounding Sun Licheng, they soon regained their composure and returned to their own discussions.

After over an hour of mutual intimidation, the big gray rabbit finally led the wolf-rabbits away.

Sun Licheng poked his head out of the cave and greeted the saber-tooth tiger.

The well-fed saber-tooth clearly had no interest in Sun Licheng and answered with a thunderous roar: “Leave!”

...

The camp before Sun Licheng was a scene of devastation, bearing the marks of many wild beasts—clearly, it had been visited by predators more than once. Fortunately, his earlier preparations had paid off, and most of his hidden supplies remained intact.

Now that he had a new home, the original camp would be abandoned. He packed up everything portable, and as for the larger pottery vessels, he simply smashed them to pieces. Pottery shards, after all, were valuable—adding them to clay improved the quality of new ceramics in firing.

After sorting things out, Sun Licheng kept only the most essential supplies, hoisted his bundles, and headed downriver toward his valley.

Back in the cave, he began to craft a crossbow.

Long-range attacks were indispensable, yet poor marksmanship had rendered his fine bow and arrow little more than ornaments. It wasn’t his fault—in ancient times, it took years, even decades, to train an archer. Realizing this, Sun Licheng decided to give up on archery and make a different ranged weapon: the crossbow.

The crossbow's greatest advantage was its ability to store kinetic energy, allowing for more accurate shots. But the rate of fire was far lower than a bow—usually only one bolt per minute. As an inveterate homebody, Sun Licheng possessed a wealth of modern crossbow knowledge, and using a crossbow took only a short time to master.

The area was blanketed in primeval forest, with towering trees thirty or forty meters high—hardwood of immense economic value. If only he could bring these trees back to Earth, he’d make a fortune in no time. But daydreaming was pointless.

Sun Licheng felled a hardwood tree and carved it into the shape of a modern crossbow. The wood was tough, but with his formidable strength and refined bronze tools, the crossbow body was soon finished.

The most crucial parts of a crossbow are the bow and the trigger mechanism. Bronze, being tough and resilient, combined with Sun Licheng’s mastery of flame and elemental manipulation, plus his great strength, meant he could shape anything to his liking—a bit of fire here, a thought there, a tweak by hand, and it was done.

To boost the crossbow's power, he reinforced the bow with three bronze strips bent into a recurve shape. Lacking the skill to make cams, he simply increased the bow's strength to improve velocity.

He crafted the string from prime magical beast sinew, with bronze fittings reinforcing key points. The hide, bone, and sinew of magical beasts were vastly superior to those of ordinary animals—especially the giant bull's sinew, whose toughness and elasticity were extraordinary. Previously strung on his bow, it was now repurposed for the crossbow, making it even more powerful.

He tried drawing the string and, even with his strength, found it strenuous. Using all his might, he fully drew the bow, held it, then relaxed, inspecting the mechanism—no deformation at all, proof of its excellent strength.

There are clever devices for stringing a crossbow: stirrups, levers, and windlasses. Considering his own strength, Sun Licheng opted for the stirrup—using his foot to brace the bow while stringing it. He fashioned a stirrup and attached it to the front of the stock, making it easy to cock the crossbow by foot.

To improve accuracy, he added a sight to the crossbow. To boost rate of fire, he mounted a quiver on top of the stock; after each cocking, a bolt would automatically roll into the groove, making it semi-automatic.

For the bolts, he used cast bronze. First, he cast a batch of short bolts, then refined them with flame and mind, ensuring uniform specifications for precise shooting and tremendous power. He fitted the bolts with angled tail fins to spin in flight, giving them a stable trajectory and greater lethality. With bronze’s malleability, he could recover and reuse spent bolts, repairing any that were damaged, saving time and materials.

With the powerful crossbow complete, Sun Licheng conducted a test shot. At forty meters, t