Chapter 008: Sound Wave Attack

As he walked, Du Fan soon sensed a faint sour smell. In a low-lying area, there was a pile of dark-colored substances.
“Finally found it!” The dwarf craftsman rushed over to those dark substances, picked up a clump, and examined it closely.
Although Xiao Jin couldn’t see, through sound waves, all objects and movements were transformed into images that appeared in his mind.
Turning to Du Fan, Xiao Jin wore a strange expression, as if struggling to hold back laughter, with his puffed cheeks moving continuously.
Then, the dwarf craftsman began to act immediately, stuffing those dark substances into his storage ring.
“Ahem, Master, these things don’t seem to belong to you, do they?” Du Fan spoke up, watching the craftsman in a flurry.
“These? Whose are they?” The craftsman from the Bilu tribe looked puzzled. Those were surely the excreta of the Iron-Eating Beasts—could those beasts possibly want them back?
“Master, look over there. Xiao Jin is now under my command, and all these Iron-Eating Beasts are also under his control. Anyway, I should be the one to deal with these, right?” Du Fan said to the craftsman.
“Well, Duke Du Fan, it seems they belong to you,” the craftsman replied sheepishly after hearing Du Fan’s words.
The craftsman had been too excited and forgot to determine whose property these things were.
“Hmm, Master, how much Iron-Eating Metal can be refined from these?” Du Fan asked, frowning as he looked at the craftsman and the pile of dark substances.
It was clear that these contained Iron-Eating Metal, but not only was Du Fan unwilling to refine it himself, he wouldn’t even let Ling Yin do it.
“Approximately one percent of Iron-Eating Metal can be extracted,” the craftsman replied directly.
“One percent? So little!” Du Fan was surprised.
With eyes that seemed to be staring at a monster, the craftsman exclaimed, “Don’t be greedy, Duke Du Fan! You should know that with these raw materials, we can refine about thirty pounds of Iron-Eating Metal. Just one or two ounces of it can greatly enhance the sharpness of a weapon!”

Hearing what the craftsman said, Du Fan also came to a realization. Anything that required the use of Iron Devourer must surely be at least master-level works. Crafting such weapons demanded a great deal of effort and time. Dozens of pounds of Iron Devourer would likely take many craftsmen a lifetime to use up.

“Master, how about this? I’ll leave the Iron Devourer to you for processing, but I want two-thirds of what you produce,” Du Fan said seriously.

“Okay, no problem at all,” the dwarf craftsman replied happily upon hearing Du Fan’s words.

Ten pounds of Iron Devourer would already be extremely satisfying for this craftsman!

After all, if it weren’t for Du Fan, facing over a thousand Iron Devourer beasts, including even an Iron Devourer King, even if everyone from the Bilu tribe were sent to deal with them, it would still not be enough to deal with such a group.

“Look for his,” Du Fan said, pointing at Xiao Jin.

Hearing Du Fan’s words, Xiao Jin suddenly shuddered.

“I’ll go over there for a moment,” Xiao Jin said abruptly to Du Fan before darting away.

Having one’s excrement searched for in front of one’s eyes was indeed a distressing experience. It was no wonder Xiao Jin couldn’t stay there anymore.

“I found it! I found it!” the craftsman exclaimed excitedly.

From a distance, in front of the craftsman, a pile of golden-yellow objects with a slight red tint lay quietly in a corner.

Fortunately, these Iron Devourer beasts survived by devouring iron ore, so their feces only had a faint sour smell. Moreover, what was excreted resembled burned coal slag and didn’t cause any sense of disgust.

Still, since it was after all excrement, Du Fan still felt a chill in his heart upon seeing it.

“How much Red Gold can be crafted from this?” Du Fan asked, pointing at the pile of waste excreted by Xiao Jin.

“Approximately ten usable pieces of Red Gold can be made,” the craftsman replied immediately.

“Is this Red Gold used in chunks?” Du Fan asked in confusion.

“That’s right. After being crafted, this Red Gold exists in a state between metal and gemstone. It’s precisely because it has some characteristics of a gemstone that it can store energy,” the craftsman explained.

Combining the advantages of both gems and metals, I’m afraid only this red gold can possess such merits.
“Alright, I’ll take six, and you take four—let you get a better deal,” Du Fan said immediately.
“Very good, that’s settled,” the dwarf craftsman repeated after hearing Du Fan’s words.
“Duke Du Fan, this?” The leader hesitated upon hearing Du Fan’s proposal.
Noticing the leader’s reaction, Du Fan suddenly realized he had given all the advantages to the craftsman, leaving the entire Bilu tribe at a loss.
“Ahaha,” Du Fan suddenly laughed. “Leader Li, how about this? Since these Iron Devourers excrete waste every day, let’s divide the Iron and red gold produced this way: you dwarves are responsible for processing it, and we’ll split the results 30-70—three parts for you, seven for us!” Du Fan said.
“Very good, I agree,” the leader replied with a smile.
Soon, Du Fan’s thoughts communicated with Xiao Jin.
“Xiao Jin, how much waste can you produce in a day?” Du Fan asked.
“Well, it depends on our mood,” came Xiao Jin’s lazy reply.
“What do you mean?” Du Fan pressed.
“As you can see, we’re mostly fully grown, so we only need a small amount of iron ore per day to survive. When we’re unhappy, we might only excrete once a year. But if we’re happy, haha, we eat tons of iron ore and can excrete once a day,” Xiao Jin explained.
“Fine, I won’t demand more! You Iron Devourers must excrete at least once a week!” Du Fan demanded firmly.
Earlier, Du Fan had seen that a pile of the Iron Devourers’ waste weighed about half a pound. With over 1,200 of them, in about two weeks—half a month—he could obtain around twelve pounds of iron.
“Boss, do you think iron ore tastes good?” Xiao Jin suddenly cried out in anguish at Du Fan’s words.
“I don’t care! Just handle this task!” Du Fan snapped. “Oh, and by the way, you should excrete once every three days!”
“Ugh!” This time, Xiao Jin expressed his anger through a roar.
Hearing Xiao Jin’s cry, all the Iron Devourers roared in unison, their cries filled with deep sorrow.

Du Fan broke into a cold sweat.
“Xiao Jin, I won’t take you out either. You’d better stay here with your companions,” Du Fan said quickly, then led the dwarves who had gathered the materials and fled at top speed.
“Awoo!” A roar behind them made Du Fan sweat even more.
…
Back at the Bilu Tribe’s residence, in Chief Li’s room—built early on as the leader of the Bilu Tribe and a warrior of level eight—Chief Li appeared very pleased.
With those Iron Devourers and Red Golds, the Bilu Tribe could soon forge a batch of master-level weapons. Such weapons could be exchanged for large sums of money, which in turn could solve many problems.
Of course, what the Bilu Tribe lacked most now were food and clothing. With enough food, the women of the tribe could raise offspring with peace of mind, and those offspring were the guarantee of the tribe’s future prosperity.
“Duke Du Fan, thank you so much! If not for you, if those Iron Devourers suddenly broke free, it would have been a disaster for our Bilu Tribe!” Chief Li said gratefully.
The mine had been dug to just over ten meters away from the Iron Devourers. If they suddenly all rushed out, the entire Bilu Tribe might suffer a great calamity. Fortunately, Du Fan was there and single-handedly tamed the entire herd of Iron Devourers.
“What are you saying, Chief? Since you, the Bilu Tribe, have followed me, Du Fan, it’s only natural that I should take responsibility for you!” Du Fan replied firmly upon hearing Chief Li’s words.
“Hmm, it seems we, the Bilu Tribe, haven’t made any mistakes this time,” Chief Li said, filled with gratitude.
During the internal strife among the dwarves, most of the Bilu Tribe’s able-bodied men had died. Now, among every ten dwarves in the tribe, only one could be considered young.
It could be said that this time, the entire Bilu Tribe followed Du Fan in a last-ditch effort. Among the dwarves, the Bilu Tribe had deep grudges with the Bashan and Dodge tribes. Therefore, for the sake of the tribe’s future, Chief Li resolutely agreed to Du Fan’s request.

After entering Du Fan’s territory, it could be said that in the eyes of Leader Li, the days of the Bilu tribe were getting better by the day. With ample supplies along the way, the journey from the Siluo Province to the Lituo ore veins turned into a true pleasure. Upon arriving at the Lituo ore veins, the dwarves immediately realized that it was an extremely large ore vein, on par with the four major ore veins of their people. Soon after, they discovered a large group of Iron Devourers. Normally, these beasts would force the Bilu tribe to flee in panic, but with Du Fan’s presence, they were quickly tamed. From then on, the entire Bilu tribe had a steady supply of iron and red gold. Although the quantities were not large, Leader Li felt it was more than enough for now. “Haha, let’s not discuss that for now. Leader Li, how long will it take you to start producing weapons and armor?” Du Fan shifted away from the topic of Leader Li and directly asked about what concerned him most. “Duke Du Fan, rest assured. As long as our Bilu tribe can quickly extract iron ore, we’ll be able to start manufacturing weapons and armor right away,” Leader Li replied politely, seeing Du Fan’s serious tone. “What about those mines that have already been developed? Can work start there immediately?” Du Fan asked again.