The 29th of Volume 4: The Great Oathmaster Riding a Cockroach

  "Great, very powerful!"

  Charlotte's face turned pale, her eyes rolled back as she stared at the crowd rushing past the command department entrance, her eyes twitching and stuttering, unsure of what to say.

  "No choice, just get used to it after seeing more."

  Ferris looked at him with a sympathetic face, patted his shoulder to comfort him, and said, but his eyes kept glancing into the crowd.

  The square in front of the headquarters of the raccoon army was filled with smoke and dust, dozens of disheveled female soldiers holding brooms, mops, kitchen knives and other miscellaneous items, muttering to themselves as they ran forward, throwing things. Most of these female soldiers had only hastily thrown on a jacket, and when they started running, their clothes were naturally blown open, revealing their underwear and socks, and even their shoes were not worn, with their two legs exposed in the scorching sun, shouting and jumping, making the sentry at the entrance of the headquarters stare, without even noticing the saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth.

  However, these female soldiers did not intentionally want to run naked, they were out to hunt down perverts.

  "Death to the traitor!"

  "Shameless old pervert!"

  "Old pervert, return my underwear!"

  "Smash his camera! He was sneaking a shot from the bathroom window just now."

  ……

  In the midst of a female soldier's angry roars, a strangely-shaped octopus... no, a strangely-shaped great wizard was proudly strolling around the square with an air of triumph, effortlessly dodging towels, soap, and small knives flying from behind him, and enticing a group of female soldiers to run around naked. His plump body, resembling a ball, wore only one underpants, and his ten or so tentacles swayed like Christmas trees in the wind - which gave rise to this illusion because they were mostly hung with women's underwear, lingerie, and necklaces, among which one even had a stylish new camera hanging from it, similar to a Christmas tree laden with gifts. The great wizard was such an honorable person that he wouldn't run away on two legs. Looking down from his buttocks, which almost burst through his underpants, you could clearly see that his mount was... a large cockroach?

  "I'm not surprised that Ovo would stoop to stealing and taking lewd photos, after all, this old man even dared to publish nude pictures of Lord Elrond. What I find strange is how he chose such a disgusting creature as his mount. Where did he get such a huge beetle from? I've never heard of any place near Emon or the entire New Netherland colony having such creatures!"

  "That was me." Fili replied with a laugh and tears in his eyes.

  "What?"

  "Take a closer look, it's not a living creature at all, but an iron puppet I made!"

  Charlotte's eyes widened in surprise as she turned back to look at the great wizard's mount: pure black, oval body, six short legs, two antennae - what else could it be but a cockroach?

  "What have you done with this weird thing? Or does Owo have some strange hobby?"

  "It's not just one, actually. I've made at least thirty of these recently, intending for the mages and priests on the battlefield to use them. Owo may have a weird personality, but his aesthetic sense is still normal. In fact, everyone thinks this design is tacky. But what can you do?!" Fili shrugged and spread her hands, revealing a helpless expression, "Since there's no good material or craftsmanship here, we just have to make do with this!"

  Mages have always been known for their slow reaction, weak physique and poor agility. Although they can exert great combat power when used properly, they are also the best targets for thieves or surprise troops. Especially after the invention of long-range sniper rifles, many famous battle mages were shot dead by snipers during marches. After all, high-level mages who can ignore bullets are in the minority, and most mages on the battlefield have to rack their brains to come up with various tricks to save their lives.

  Learning from the Saint Warriors to wear iron-plated armor is a pretty good choice. However, for magicians with weak bodies, it's generally impossible to wear heavy armor. If they force themselves to put it on, they'll probably need others to carry them around. On the ever-changing battlefield, this would be an obviously foolish and suicidal act.

  Preparing a pile of protective magic or unexpected amulets is a more traditional approach (mages naturally rely on magic for protection). Unexpected amulets can release pre-stored magic at the moment when the body is attacked (usually stone skin technique). However, this is generally only suitable for solo battles. In real battlefield situations, a few protective magics are not enough and will also occupy one's own stored attack magic slots. Many defensive measures in the cold weapon era are not practical against firearms. For example, spells like "defensive arrow" and "stone skin technique" can easily deal with arrows, but they have little use against high-speed, strong-penetrating bullets - powerful sniper rifles can even penetrate steel plates, and a thin layer of stone on the skin is no match. Even if you withstand one or two shots, what about when they come at you with multiple rounds?

  Generally, the sneak attack on mages often occurs during camping and marching. The military camp has strong defenses and can set up magic traps. However, it's different when marching, as the army's defense is at its weakest. Even if the mage can ride in an armored carriage with iron plates, they can still be killed by shooting their horse, not to mention that on the battlefield, there aren't always roads for vehicles to drive on, and complex terrain makes it impossible for four wheels to move.

  Therefore, a wizard's vehicle must simultaneously meet the three basic requirements of defense, mobility and comfort - sounds like a tank. However, in the world of magic, there is a better choice, that is, magical puppet.

  The so-called magical puppet is simply a earth element as the power core

  Inside the massive artificial body, and let it act according to the creator's will, there are two major categories of golems: stone golem and metal golem. They must be used by a wizard. If a cockpit is buried inside, it would be equivalent to a Gundam. Of course, golems cannot fly or use magic, nor can they use guns. Installing cannons on golems is not difficult, but the problem lies in how to operate weapons in the cockpit - there is no computer system in the golem, and the earth element that replaces the computer has low intelligence, can only execute simple commands such as "advance", "retreat", "stop", at most let them go up and fight hand-to-hand.

  Although the level of artificial intelligence is relatively low, the law enforcers only need a means of transportation, not a combat machine. As long as they meet the three basic requirements of defense, mobility and comfort, that's enough. The stone golem has poor defensive capabilities, so the iron golem with enhanced defenses became the favorite ride of combat mages, basically similar to an armored transport vehicle. Fili had ridden one of these things during the first expedition north. However, those were all discarded by the regular army as scrap metal and given to the civilian corps, because they were old and outdated. Their performance has to be discounted. Moreover, even these old relics were all lost in Glorious City, so the entire New Radiel didn't have a single military golem (the New Continental Army's golems were all lost at Northport).

  "Because of the lack of catalysts, the steel produced by the steel mill is of poor quality. At the same time, the factories on the new continent also have no experience in producing large metal parts." Phil explained to Charlotte why he made the iron beetle, "The assembled iron puppet is always unstable, unable to maintain balance during movement, and can't even walk with two legs. Moreover, the steel used to make the body is too brittle, just like glass. After falling, there are often cracks all over it. I really had no choice but to let it crawl on the ground instead."

  "What's with the six legs? Earth ponies don't have two more legs than unicorns!" Charlotte still found it a bit hard to understand.

  "Oh, the two extra ones are spares. Because the material strength is not enough, Iron Puppet's four legs often break, so I had to hang two more, just in case they break and can be replaced on the spot."

  "Besides this shape... even if it's crawling, shouldn't it be a humanoid one?!"

  "Isn't the manned mech supposed to have bulletproof functionality? But the steel quality of this thing is too poor. It's easy to get smashed. I had no choice but to put a layer of smooth, lightweight armor plating on it as external armor, so that's how it ended up like this."

  "What's with the antennae on its head?" Charlotte felt like she was going to faint.

  "That's actually two shock-absorbing springs, this iron monster reacts slowly, all day it's either crashing into walls or colliding with each other. So I installed two springs on it to prevent traffic accidents."

  "Why isn't there a backup on the butt? Won't it bump into things when reversing?"

  "Because it's unnecessary."

  "Huh?"

  "The leg joints of this puppet are not well-made and can only move forward or stop, but cannot retreat backwards, so there's no need to install a spring on its butt." Phil gave an answer that was quite disappointing. "However, this also has a good side, which is that you don't have to worry about them retreating in the heat of battle."

  "What a humiliating thing to do!" Charlotte covered her forehead with one hand, revealing an extremely painful expression. "Fortunately, I'm not a wizard, if I were asked to ride a cockroach on a date..." He shook his head, "I'm afraid even the prettiest girls would run away!"

  "You've already got a pair of dark elf mother and daughter wrapped around your finger, yet you're still not satisfied! Do I really need to take the place of heaven to punish you?"

  "See, Phil, stop pretending to hit. Charlotte hurriedly waved her hand, "Alright, alright, no more joking around. That tentacle monster is still causing trouble outside!" He pointed at Owo, who was still teasing the female soldier, "This guy is now considered your subordinate, you'd better think of a way to deal with him."

  After a chase that lasted for an hour, the frail female soldiers finally couldn't hold on any longer, each one leaning against the wall or under the tree, panting with their tongues out. Ovo proudly circled around the small square several times, feeling somewhat bored and tasteless, just thinking of leaving, but the iron beetle under his butt suddenly stalled and wouldn't start no matter what.

  He was just about to go down and check, but suddenly felt that he had been cut off from the connection between Mo and the web. In the midst of surprise, a familiar voice suddenly sounded not far away.

  "Close the door and release the dogs!" Phil shouted, and Charlotte's pack of black-backed wolves immediately rushed out of the command center under their master's signal, ferociously pouncing on Owo. The great wizard who had suddenly lost his magic hadn't even had time to react before being knocked down by the dog pack... The thrilling battle between the tentacle monster and the group of dogs began, and the female soldiers who had rested enough also joined in with their kitchen knives and brooms, creating a chaotic scene with flashing blades and continuous screams. Underwear was scattered all over the ground. It seems that being a pervert is indeed a high-risk profession!

  "Alright, I should get going too." Seeing the Touch Hand Monster was powerless, Fili patted her hands and walked towards the camp entrance under Charlotte's surprised gaze. "Fortunately, I was afraid he would cause trouble, so I installed a one-time anti-magic array on this magic puppet beforehand. After these women finish venting their anger, you'd better arrange for a few strong guys to tie him up and bring him back to me, remember to put him in a cage with an anti-magic array!"

  "Hey, wait a minute, what's going on with this old clunker?"

  "You can have that thing, go find some third-rate wizard to be your charioteer! Although it's a bit chilly, it's still pretty good as a command vehicle on the battlefield." "...Who wants this disgusting thing?!"