"The first choice should be close to a water source, making it convenient to draw water for irrigation. The surrounding land, nourished by the stream, would also be easier to develop."
Looking at this palm-sized territory, Velin had only three possible locations to choose from.
One of them lay seven kilometers north of Boulder Tribe. There was a pool formed by converging streams, covering more than fifteen hundred mu—roughly one square kilometer—enough to meet the initial water needs.
The other two locations were both less favorably situated than this one.
"This is the place. This afternoon, take men there to survey it and select the site."
As for the nearby Goblin tribes, they were no longer worth fearing. Perhaps those green-skinned monsters had already begun migrating.
Near noon, a knight came to report the discovery of a Salt Mine.
After lunch, Velin took several knights to the location of the Salt Mine.
On a low hill, several serf soldiers stood guard at the cave entrance, chewing on Black Bread as they discussed things excitedly.
"Yesterday, I killed two Goblins on the battlefield. Together with the credit for discovering this Salt Mine, I'll definitely be able to shed my serf status and become a Freeman."
"Sigh, I'm not that lucky. Even including the credit for discovering the Salt Mine, I only have two. Who knows when the next battle will be?"
"Don't be discouraged. Since our master is developing this territory, there'll definitely be plenty of battles. Maybe tomorrow, we'll get to follow the knights and wipe out the nearby Goblin tribes."
"I hope so. Once I'm no longer a serf, I'll definitely... Look, it's the master."
One of the serf soldiers stopped halfway through his sentence when he spotted a figure in the distance and shouted loudly.
When Velin approached, one serf stepped forward to take hold of the Red Phosphorus Horse, while the other two immediately reported, "Master, this is the Salt Mine. There's no danger inside."
"Good work. Keep it up."
Velin dismounted and encouraged the three serfs before taking Belder into the cave.
After walking more than a hundred meters, they came upon a cave over a hundred square meters in size, its surrounding walls entirely made of salt ore.
He stepped forward and probed it with his Battle Qi. Within the range of his senses, there was salt ore everywhere, all of it highly pure. With only crude refining, it could be sold as salt of middling quality.
The Rock Salt near the surface, which contained more harmful impurities, accounted for only a very small portion.
"This Salt Mine has considerable reserves. What an unexpected windfall."
Belder was somewhat doubtful, so he probed it as well. His expression changed sharply, and he hurriedly said, "My lord, this is a treasure trove. It must be guarded strictly. I suggest using only those Bandit Slaves who have committed every sort of evil for the mining, while stationing troops around the perimeter for defense."
"That was exactly my thought. But at the beginning, we shouldn't mine too much, lest others discover it and bring trouble upon us for no reason." Velin stroked his chin as he spoke to Belder.
"As you say, my lord."
Before long, the two left the cave and found a huge boulder to seal the entrance. Once the settlement had been successfully established, they could send people here to begin mining.
While there was still time, Velin led Belder and the others to explore the pool twelve kilometers away, intending to finalize the location of the initial settlement.
More than ten minutes later, they arrived at a broad lake, where some animals were drinking water not far away.
The beautiful scenery relaxed both the bodies and minds of those who had come.
"Belder, it's a beautiful place, isn't it?" Velin turned toward Belder, whose expression had barely changed, and smiled from the bottom of his heart.
"My lord, it is indeed beautiful. The land is fertile and suitable for irrigation. There's also a slope in the distance that would be easy to defend and hard to attack, suitable for building a castle. This place is also close to the Salt Mine, allowing us to provide support at any time."
"Perhaps that wasn't what I meant, but it doesn't matter." Velin shrugged helplessly.
"Come on, let's look around. For quite a long time to come, this may be our Future home." Velin spoke to the knights behind him, then rode toward the distant slope.
Seeing this, Belder quietly followed behind him with the others.
After more than two hours, Velin had circled the lake once and recorded some rough plans on paper: where a castle should be built, where farmland could be reclaimed, where a military camp could be set up, and where waste could be stored to avoid contaminating the lake water.
Although the lake's water was flowing and capable of purifying itself, Velin had no desire to drink water contaminated with waste.
Seeing that it was getting late, Velin ended this surveying trip and led his men back to Boulder Tribe to make the final preparations before development began.
News of the destruction of Boulder Tribe and the six surrounding tribes spread through the surviving Goblins.
Just as Velin had expected, the remaining Goblin tribal chiefs did not think of resisting when they received the news. Instead, they prepared to migrate, leave this place, and head farther west.
This was how they had survived for more than a hundred years. They were merely repeating what had happened before.
They would rather fight Gnolls and Kobolds for living space than contend with human pioneers.
When fighting other races, even if they lost, they could still become slaves and barely cling to life.
But if they resisted human pioneers and lost, it meant death and the extinction of their entire tribe. There had been far too many such examples over the past century, and the Goblins of the Gray Mang Wasteland had carved that memory into their bones.
Over the next few days, migrating Goblins could be seen everywhere along the edges of Toxik.
More than a thousand green-skinned monsters traveled by night and hid by day, leaving behind the barren land where they had lived for over thirty years.
After Goblin tribes in other areas heard that human pioneers had appeared once again, they too began preparing to move their entire tribes away.
They could not be sure whether this signaled another large-scale human expansion, so it was better to leave early.
Thus, through his efforts alone, Velin forced more than a hundred Goblin tribes and over ten thousand Goblins on the fringes of the Yellow Stone Area to migrate.
To the monster tribes farther within, this was nothing short of a feast. They could gain large numbers of slave tribes from it, increasing their own tribes' fighting strength and food reserves.
But none of that had anything to do with Velin.
What he needed to do now was establish his first village, his first field, and his first castle; expand his territory; complete the assessment four years from now; rise to become a Baron; and become a true noble of this world.
After returning to Boulder Tribe, they held a meeting that consisted mainly of Velin explaining things while everyone else nodded, with Belder occasionally offering his own opinions.
Lying on the carpet and looking at the planned construction drawings, Velin felt exhausted.
This meeting made Velin desire an administrative talent even more.
A group of knights with nothing but muscles for brains made him feel immense pressure.
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