Chapter 87: Terraforming

That night, after their discussion was over, Axel let the delegates of Witcheria use the Villa as they pleased. It had more than enough space to hold all of them, after all.

Of course, for their electricity to power the lights and air conditioning units, he quickly patched the main wiring of the villa to the HVAC system of the nearby laboratory. It was a simple workaround, but it worked quite well.

After being freed, the girls then went on with their tasks.

As it was nighttime, it was time for them to clear the zombie waves.

But since Axel had extended the walls, they had to move a few hundred meters before reaching the tall walls and climbing to the top, five meters high.

“What tough walls…”

Arianne couldn’t help but gasp as she watched a Giant Zombie pound it with both fists, yet the wall barely even shook. Instead, it was the zombie’s hands that were slowly getting beaten up, crushed by the impacts.

Not even a crack was left on the wall’s surface!

Seeing the strength of the wall, Arianne just cleared a few zombies before retreating.

There was a limit to what they could do with crossbows, after all. And in the first place, they didn’t need to fight them off, for as soon as the sun arrived, all zombies would disappear.

And just like that, a peaceful night passed.

The next day, Axel prepared for a busy day.

“Today, I’ll be making the river across the walled-off section!”

His itinerary—which should’ve been his task yesterday if not for Queen Wisteria arriving—was to create the river, the moat, and the drainage system for the entire one-square-kilometer area they had walled off.

“If there’s anything we could help with, just ask, Sir Hexel,” Queen Wisteria added.

The Witcheria delegates decided to stay for a few days, observing Axel and his small camp before returning. At the same time, she planned to help them out for the entire duration of their stay.

However…

“Oh, what I’m about to do is something only I can do, so Queen Mother and the rest can just watch if you like.” Axel politely declined.

Not only because of what he said, but also because he couldn’t really ask them to work. The glares the Elite Witches were sending his way were harsh enough that they already pisses him off.

He wouldn’t want to make it worse by ordering them around. He might not be able to hold back if their attitudes got worse!

Anyway, Axel began his work.

He stood at the eastern section of the inner wall—the “old” wall—and stared at the System’s menu panel. Weirdly, the entire one-square-kilometer area was considered a single building by the system, so he could modify it without needing to roam around.

The first thing he did was create the river.

Over the zoomed-out map, he tapped the “Terraforming” button and selected the “River” option.

As soon as he did, a small “U” shape was made on the side of the river, both ends connected to the main river. This option was added only after he unlocked the River Terrain.

With the branched-off river selected, he then started to move the points and draw a line, branching off from the Miles River upstream and toward the camp.

The new river crossed the wall from about 300 meters east of the east-west center line, then continued a few kilometers more before rounding back to Miles River further downstream.

Of course, he just assumed as much since he couldn’t confirm it.

The map section where the river branched off and merged was covered with a fog-of-war-like effect, after all.

“T-This is…!”

“No way…”

“Impossible?! What witchcraft is this?!”

“Hmm?”

Hearing the witches cry in shock, Axel couldn’t help but raise his head and look.

“Ohh…”

To his surprise, the river he designed was already there. He thought it would take time to flow through, but instead, it just appeared instantly, as if by magic.

Looking left and right, he confirmed that the river had passed under the walls and continued onward.

“That could be a weakness for the walls’ defenses,” he figured.

As such, he quickly modified it.

The river was about five meters deep and roughly ten meters wide, so he added thick metal bars extending from the bottom of the wall to the bottom of the newly formed river.

The gaps between the bars were narrow enough to prevent zombies or humans from slipping through, though still large enough for fish, if any existed.

“If we can widen and deepen the river later, and maybe add arches over it at the walls, maybe we can have a navy too,” Axel pondered out loud.

Of course, he wasn’t worried about the metal bars rusting away. After all, the new function he got today was related to his Repair ability.

Before, he could only use it on items inside his inventory, but now, all items he could touch could be repaired as is. With the wall itself being considered a single entity, he could fix the entire thing with a single action if needed.

“Alright, next!”

Of course, he was far from done.

Axel moved to the outer edge of the walls next and began to dig a five-meter-deep, five-meter-wide moat around the wall, adding another layer of protection. Zombies couldn’t swim, after all.

After the moat, it was time to set up the wastewater pipes underground.

Axel figured that keeping them at the same level as the river could be bad, so he set the sewers 20 meters deep into the ground.

From a single point at the eastern section, he set up large sewer pipes radially, spacing them evenly across the entire land.

The design was simple: just a large, four-meter-tall, square concrete sewer. It had raised walkways on either side, allowing entry for maintenance later, if needed.

It followed the standard 2% sloped elevation, allowing the drainage water to flow down to the common point, the cesspool to the east, the spot where Axel planned to build a water treatment facility later on.

Apart from that, he also added several manholes with covers, allowing rainwater to flow into them during heavy rain. This way, they should be able to avoid getting flooded like before.

Overall, he spent about 300 million on all the materials he bought. And just like that, not even half a day later, his entire itinerary was done.

It ended way faster than he expected!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep