Chapter 12: The Lord of Heaven Building a Fortified City in One Night

　　Xiao Fan: (^_^)

　　Glancing at his desk, Xiao Fan noticed the materials left from his college days, remnants of his graduation project in civil engineering. With a specialization in architectural design, the architectural style of the Tang Dynasty in China was a walk in the park for him.

　　Unable to protect the little people in the ecological box at all times, Xiao Fan decided to build a strong city, arming the little people to defend themselves!

　　Ready to get started, but first, he needed to eat! After the little people of Shule Town finished their tasks, they each returned to their own homes. Xiao Fan envied the little people in the ecological box, cooking for themselves, even if it was just plain porridge and pickled vegetables. The warmth of being together as a family was something Xiao Fan deeply longed for.

　　Xiao Fan: o(︶︿︶)o

　　Living alone in Beiqing City, Xiao Fan's meals were all delivered from mobile app. He couldn't even remember the last time he cooked. Looking at the straw hut in the ecological box, a very dilapidated one with a hole in the roof, which belonged to Yao Xi, who lived alone. Xiao Fan empathized with her, silently cooking alone. Although villagers occasionally came to thank her, she was still alone. Xiao Fan suddenly felt a sense of mutual understanding.

　　Maybe I should just order takeout. Xiao Fan thought helplessly, but one thing was constantly reminding him – his bank balance was less than 200 yuan, and he still hadn't sorted out this month's rent. Thinking about it, Xiao Fan couldn't help but worry. In another week, he might end up homeless.

　　Setting aside those concerns for now, where there's a will, there's a way. With a university degree, Xiao Fan was confident he wouldn't starve to death.

　　After dinner, Xiao Fan began constructing the fortified city. However, before starting, he informed Yao Xi in advance. He instructed the villagers of Shule Town to return to their homes. Regardless of any sounds they might hear at night, they were not allowed to come out.

　　Though the villagers of Shule Town were a bit puzzled by Yao Xi's words, it was a divine decree from the Lord of Heaven. They dared not disobey, even the straightforward Lu Yang obediently followed the arrangements of the Lord of Heaven.

　　Xiao Fan did this primarily to avoid startling the little people with the sudden appearance of a city wall.

　　"Lord of Heaven, I've made the arrangements, but... could you tell Yao Xi what you are doing?" Yao Xi remained alone in the open space of Shule Town. The sky was turning red, the sun setting in the west. She didn't quite understand the intentions of the Lord of Heaven.

　　This was because the Lord of Heaven had erected a wooden stick in the open space, comparing Yao Xi's height and marking measurements on a piece of wood as tall as the sky. Xiao Fan handled this task cautiously, afraid to accidentally touch Yao Xi and hurt the young girl.

　　"It's nothing. I'm just confirming the scale. Yao Xi, your height is approximately 1.6 meters?" Xiao Fan asked as he measured Yao Xi's height.

　　"1.6 meters?" Yao Xi asked in confusion.

　　"I got it right. The Tang Dynasty didn't have the concept of meters. 1.6 meters is approximately 5 feet 3 inches. Yao Xi, you're about 5 feet 3 inches tall?" Xiao Fan converted the measurements in his mind.

　　"Yes, around 5 feet 2 to 5 feet 3." Yao Xi affirmed.

　　That's perfect. Xiao Fan took out a small stick and measured its length. It turned out that the scale of the world inside the ecological box was in a 1:200 ratio to the real world.

　　Next, he delved into some historical knowledge about the Tang Dynasty. During the Tang Dynasty, the most commonly used siege equipment was the cloud ladder. However, due to technological and material limitations, the longest cloud ladder that could be manufactured was ten meters. Beyond ten meters, even if it were made, the cloud ladder would not stand up.

　　Since that's the case, let's create an exact replica based on the grandest city of the Tang Dynasty. Yes, that would be Chang'an!

　　Xiao Fan decided to build a replica of Chang'an in Shule Town!

　　The walls of this city would be fifteen meters high, with the city gate and corner towers reaching a height of twenty meters.

　　Considering the population of Shule Town couldn't match that of Chang'an at its zenith—over three million people according to historical records, while Shule Town had only around a hundred inhabitants—Xiao Fan planned to design the city to accommodate up to one hundred thousand people initially.

　　"Well, let's build it according to the capacity for a hundred thousand people, and expand it later when the population grows," Xiao Fan thought as he finalized the design on a blank sheet.

　　With the design completed, it was time to get to work!

　　"Yao Xi, do you want to go back to your house first? I'm about to start working." Xiao Fan suggested, aware that every small action he took would cause a tremendous upheaval in the world inside the ecological box.

　　"It's okay. Yao Xi likes to accompany the Lord of Heaven." Yao Xi smiled and replied. The girl's smile was so beautiful that it made Xiao Fan feel a bit embarrassed.

　　Nevertheless, with Yao Xi as a supervisor, Xiao Fan's motivation soared. As the saying goes, men and women working together make the job easier!

　　Xiao Fan began by constructing the framework of the city walls, city gates, and corner towers around Shule Town using wooden boards. He then mixed cement in a cup, adding sand and stones to enhance the strength of the walls.

　　From Yao Xi's perspective, in the dark night, countless towering wooden mountains seemed to descend from the boundless sky. As these wooden mountains touched the ground, they produced thunderous roars and flashes of lightning. In the next instant, a gray-black molten lava dragon descended from the sky, coiling around Shule Town. Accompanied by the appearance of the gray-black dragon, countless boulders and stone fragments fell, merging into one with the colossal creature.

　　This scene was truly awe-inspiring!

　　As the cement solidified, Xiao Fan removed the wooden boards and, using toothpicks, outlined the texture of bricks on the city walls. Subsequently, he constructed city gates on the east and west sides, setting up corner towers at the four corners. The gates and towers were built in the style of the Tang Dynasty, using wood, and for added strength, Xiao Fan used iron sheets as the framework, with cement forming the wall surfaces. As for windows and interior facilities, due to their intricate nature, Xiao Fan couldn't manage them and left the openings empty, allowing the interior space to remain vacant. He crafted simple stairs and entrances from cement, leaving the finer details for the little people to handle, providing them with the necessary materials.

　　In this step, Yao Xi was even more astonished. She had initially thought that the presence of the dragon surrounding Shule Town was already a divine gift from the Lord of Heaven. However, after some time, another divine miracle occurred. Two city gates descended like heavenly guardians, falling into the pass guarded by the dragon. At the four corners, four tall towers rose like guardians protecting the people within. Gradually, patterns were etched onto the dragon's body, outlining the details of the city walls, as if the Lord of Heaven had descended to safeguard the people.

　　Yao Xi was on the verge of tears. Never in her life had she seen such a magnificent city. She had visited Kucha with her father, the capital of the Anxi Protectorate of the Great Tang, and it was the most magnificent city she had seen. However, compared to the current Shule Town, it paled in comparison.

　　In just one night, Xiao Fan had erected a city of unparalleled grandeur on this desert!

　　Xiao Fan: (*ˉ︶ˉ*)

　　Xiao Fan gazed at the fruits of his labor throughout the night, revealing a satisfied expression.

　　"Thanks to the Lord of Heaven!" The girl Yao Xi had accompanied Xiao Fan throughout the night. Now that it was already bright, she was still overwhelmed with excitement, thanking the Lord of Heaven for the bestowed blessings.

　　Wait a minute, there was still one more thing missing.

　　Xiao Fan had another gift for Yao Xi. It was a mansion he had designed as part of a university assignment, following the standards of Suzhou gardens. The scale was precisely one to two hundred, making it a perfect fit for the ecological box.

　　Thinking about it, Xiao Fan picked up the mansion and placed it in the center of the new Shule Town.

　　"Yao Xi, this is your home!" Xiao Fan pointed to the recently placed mansion.

　　"What? I... we're already very grateful to the Lord of Heaven. How can Yao Xi accept another gift from the Lord of Heaven?" Yao Xi exclaimed, taken aback.

　　"This is my gift to you. Just accept it."

　　"Well..." Yao Xi felt a bit embarrassed, but she couldn't disobey the divine oracle of the Lord of Heaven. "Then consider it Yao Xi looking after the home for the Lord of Heaven." She said so.

　　Looking after my home, it sounds like I'll actually live in the mansion I built. And there's such a beautiful and shy girl waiting for me in the house I constructed. Just thinking about it feels exhilarating.

　　I am a proper Lord of Heaven, not some demonic deity. Xiao Fan scolded himself for his wavering thoughts.

　　"Cough, well then. Let's go with what you said," Xiao Fan felt his face burning and hastily responded.

　　At that moment, there was a knocking sound behind Xiao Fan, accompanied by shouting. The voice was incredibly familiar!

　　Xiao Fan: (´･_･`)