Tower Defense: Public Enemy

Chapter 97 SpongeHero

"This reward is quite interesting!"

Lei Chi collected 800 gold coins from the claims chest, used 100 gold coins to buy invasion insurance, and put the remaining 700 gold coins into the gold mine chest.

A moment later, he used the [Password Chest Upgrade Scroll] to upgrade a gold mine chest into a password chest.

The password-protected treasure chest differs slightly in appearance from the gold mine treasure chest. It has a small megaphone on its lid, and the password for opening it can be a maximum of six characters. For example, the password for Thunder Pool is set to: "Greetings, Thunder Pool Emperor!"

He tested it himself and found that the password treasure chest worked very well. As soon as he said the password, the treasure chest lid automatically popped open, and the small speaker on the treasure chest lid could also emit prompts such as "Please say the password" or "Incorrect password".

"Interesting, but this password-protected treasure chest is both a good thing and a bad thing. If Zisinger comes to invade again, I'll have to tell him the password to open it..."

The password to open the password treasure chest can be changed at any time. Lei Chi studied it for a while, and after a moment, he came to the militia training camp and used the [Arsenal Construction Blueprint] there.

Quickly, a square building appeared right next to the militia training camp.

The building is very similar in appearance to a militia training camp. From the outside, it looks like a tower with an archway. Once inside, you will see a field about the size of a football field.

As soon as Lei Chi entered, he immediately received a system notification.

"Ding, camp information detected. The armory has activated the automated production line for the [Berret]. Once more equipment manufacturing technology is mastered, the armory can activate automated production lines for more equipment."

"Ding! The production materials for berets are various types of leather. Automatic production is now enabled. Each beret requires 10 copper coins to produce. Production time varies depending on the materials used. The final product will be stored in the equipment chest. Please explore for details."

Lei Chi looked up and saw that the arsenal was divided into two areas, which he began to study slowly.

The first area is the [Production Workshop], which is a large hall with the words "Production Workshop" floating above it. Inside, there is a material treasure chest, a gold coin treasure chest, and an equipment treasure chest.

Three treasure chests constitute one production line.

The Material Chest contains the crafting materials for the [Beret], the Gold Chest contains gold coins as "production costs," and the Equipment Chest is where finished berets are stored.

The second area is the [Research and Development Center], which is also a large hall. There is a treasure chest in it, called the [Funding Chest], which can be used to store gold coins as research funds.

This [Research and Development Center] is a place for creating and upgrading equipment independently, but to activate its functions, at least one [Researcher] is required to be stationed there.

The researcher position can only be filled by NPCs, and currently only SpongeBob SquarePants and the clever elf Amei are available for appointment.

The camp leader can post tasks for researching or upgrading equipment at the Research and Development Center. NPC researchers can be assigned to these tasks. However, researchers need to spend research funds to research equipment, and there is a possibility that the research will fail.

"This seems to be a place where you burn through money..."

After a moment's thought, Lei Chi set SpongeBob and Camp Elf as researchers.

"Ding! Your camp assistant SpongeBob's abilities are average. He has gained a new title: Researcher at the Armory Research Center (Rank D). He can gain experience by completing research tasks and upgrade his title level to Rank C, Rank B, Rank A, etc. As his title level increases, his research capabilities will also increase. Please explore the details yourself."

"Ding! Your camp assistant, Amei, has demonstrated exceptional abilities and has earned a new title: Researcher at the Armory Research Center (S-rank). She can gain experience by completing research tasks, potentially advancing her title to SS-rank, SSS-rank, and so on..."

"Ding! The R&D center currently has no research tasks and zero research funding, so research work cannot commence!"

Upon hearing the system notification, Lei Chi thought to himself that the intelligent elf Amei was indeed amazing, directly becoming an S-level researcher, and her research capabilities probably far surpassed SpongeBob's.

After further research, he issued a research and development task: [Develop a long-range weapon].

He planned to assign this task to the intelligent elf Amei after she unlocked the [Faith Totem] technology.

As for SpongeBob, a D-level researcher, Lei Chi reckons he won't be assigned any research tasks.

After all, its research capabilities are too poor.

"I'll save up one gold coin for research funding first, and we'll talk about it when I have more money... I'm still short of gold coins. I hope the system can give me more next time."

Lei Chi put a gold coin into the research funding chest, and a moment later left the armory, leisurely farming in the defense tower arena.

With his signature move "Beast Tower Lurking," Lei Chi is virtually unbeatable in the Tower Defense Arena. He has been on a winning streak and is almost at the expert level in the Arena.

As time passed, and the protection period for the secret camp at Leichi ended, Qixinger arrived as promised.

Leichi prepared 30 human militiamen and 5 berets for him.

Zisinger easily killed the 30 human militiamen, not even bothering to take off his beret, simply kicking it away, and then headed for the gold mine.

Lei Chi, dressed in a silver tiger robe and riding a mesmerizing mechanical warhorse, said, "There is a treasure chest in the gold mine. You must bow to it and say 'Homage to Emperor Lei Chi' before it will open. Remember, remember..."

"A password-protected treasure chest? A greeting to Emperor Leichi?" Qixinger chuckled. "How could I possibly use such a ridiculous password!"

"The password-protected treasure chest contains over 700 gold coins!"

"Do you think I'd give in for such a small amount of gold coins...?"

A moment later, Zisinger left with 751 gold coins, beaming with satisfaction.

Lei Chi's losses this time amounted to 30 militiamen and 751 gold coins. The system compensated him with a compensation chest worth 7194 gold coins.

From this treasure chest, Lei Chi obtained one [Tier 1 Defense Tower Construction Blueprint], two [Password Treasure Chest Upgrade Scrolls], one [Defense Tower Mutation Scroll], 10 human slaves, and a total of 3500 gold coins.

"3500 gold coins, I'm rich!"

Lei Chi quickly collected the gold coins from the compensation chest, then found SpongeBob polishing a mechanical warhorse and pulled him into the Heroic Altar in the militia training ground.

A moment later, Lei Chi consumed a thousand gold coins. SpongeBob SquarePants, who was standing on the altar, flashed with light and suddenly became a hero. He grew much larger, almost as tall as Lei Chi, with a red cloth tied around his forehead and a small yellow cape on his back.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Name: SpongeBob SquarePants (Rare and Magical Creature)

Occupations: Cleaning Elf, Camp Assistant, Hero, Armory Researcher (Rank C)

Level: LV4 (Level cap increased to LV20)

Health Points: 4000 (Bronze Boss Level)

Attack: 40

Armor: 0

Magic resistance: 0

Equipment slots: None, None, None, None, None, None

Skill: [Jellyfish Impact], SpongeBob can spit out a large number of small jellyfish from his mouth, making them attack enemy targets like cannonballs, with a maximum attack range of 30 meters.

Note 1: SpongeBob is an undead creature with a minimum health of 1 point.

Note 2: SpongeBob is a hardworking cleaning sprite with a simple personality...

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"It has attack power now! And it has an extra skill? Was it worth spending those thousand gold coins?"

As Lei Chi was saying this, SpongeBob seemed to suddenly remember something, and happily ran down from the altar. Before long, he picked up six berets and put them all into his inventory.

SpongeBob's appearance remains unchanged, but he is now equipped with six berets, which adds a total of 6 points to his armor and 6 points to his magic resistance.