After leaving Elizabeth's warship, Roland could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. At the same time, he cursed Leslie bloody in his heart. Trying to poach someone the moment they met—was this what he called a good reputation?
"Apothecary Roland, have your merchant ship follow behind mine for the next few days. I will take you around the various forces surrounding your territory and let them know that your land is protected by the Black Knight Pirates." After Elizabeth's warning, Scarface Henry's attitude had noticeably improved.
"Then I'll trouble you, Captain Henry." After speaking, Roland returned directly to his merchant ship.
He did not want too much contact with an enemy. It would affect how quickly he could draw his blade in the future.
After successfully leaving White Whale Island, the next few days passed without obstruction under the guidance of the Black Knight Pirates' three warships. Even when they encountered some rather large pirate crews, those parties hurriedly moved aside, afraid of drawing the Black Knight Pirates' attention.
Finally, on the afternoon of the tenth day after leaving Highland City, Roland arrived at an island located on the westernmost edge of the Azure Sea Region.
The entire island was only around a dozen square kilometers in size. It was narrow at the north and south ends, broad on the eastern and western sides, somewhat like an oval, while the terrain was higher in the west and lower in the east.
Looking out from the deck of the merchant ship, Roland saw a small protruding mountain on the western side of the island. Due to the season, it was covered in pristine snow, sacred and tranquil. The land east of the mountain was flat and exceptionally suitable for opening farmland.
Overall, Roland was very satisfied with the island. According to the information provided by the Black Knight Pirates over the past few days, the island did not have many resources, but its freshwater supply was extremely abundant. Influenced by the northern Frozen Realm, the island received considerable rainfall. In addition, it had underground aquifers capable of storing a large amount of freshwater, so Roland did not need to worry about water.
In truth, this was also a subtle kindness from the Black Knights in offering protection. After all, they could hardly give the person under their protection an island without freshwater.
After arriving at the island, Scarface Henry did not linger for long. Perhaps he could also sense that Roland had not truly let go of his grudge against him. After signaling with several flags, he immediately led the three warships away.
Once the Black Knight Pirates had left, Roland finally relaxed completely. Having someone beside him at all times who could threaten his life was not a pleasant feeling.
"Captain Feli, lower the boats. We're going ashore." Having arrived at the first piece of land that truly belonged to him since coming to this world, Roland could barely contain himself and immediately gave Fili the order.
"Yes, Apothecary Roland."
Since the island did not yet have a dock capable of berthing a three-masted merchant ship, Roland could only take Alice, O'Neal, and the others ashore from the eastern side in small boats.
After landing on the island, the excited Roland immediately took Alice, O'Neal, Artur, and several other professionals on their first survey of the island.
However, due to the time, Roland only intended to make one circuit around the plain on the eastern side of the island.
"Nuwa, estimate how much farmland can be opened on this plain." Standing atop a small slope, Roland looked at the flat terrain before him and silently asked Nuwa.
"Ding! According to calculations, assuming sufficient freshwater resources, this plain can be developed into approximately 1,200 to 1,300 mu of farmland."
"Based on the crop yields in this world, calculate the harvest per year."
"Ding! According to calculations, rye yields approximately 180 jin per mu, while wheat and barley yield approximately 120 jin per mu."
"So low?" Roland was stunned upon hearing this. He knew that this world had no chemical fertilizers or hybridization techniques, and that farmland yields were very low, but this was far too low.
"Master, the records show that this world has a profession known as druids. They can accelerate plant growth and greatly increase yields."
"So it still relies on magic." Roland was not surprised in the slightest.
After all, this was the Saint Nor Continent, a high-magic world where magic and battle aura flourished, and there were even supreme gods. How could there be no way to increase food production?
It was simply that this method was of little use to Roland. He did not have any druids under his command, nor did he possess a Meditation Method for becoming a druid. He had no way to train one even if he wanted to.
"Nuwa, based on the location of our island, how many harvests a year can these fields support?"
"Ding! According to analysis, due to the influence of the northern Frozen Realm, this island will enter winter at the end of October, which will last around five months. It can barely support two harvests a year, though yields will be affected."
"So even if I plant all this land with the highest-yielding rye, I can only harvest around 150 to 160 tons of grain a year?"
"More accurate analysis puts it at approximately 180 tons."
"One hundred and eighty tons? Leslie was right after all. With such meager returns, I can't even earn the down payment for hiring the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group." Roland spoke gloomily.
According to the latest grain prices in Highland City, one Copper Coin could buy one jin of rye. In other words, one ton of rye was worth only twenty gold coins, and 180 tons of rye would be worth merely 3,600 gold coins.
And that was not pure profit. The territory already had more than a hundred slaves and more than a hundred mercenaries for Roland to feed. With so many mouths to feed, they could consume nearly half a year's production on their own.
Of course, Roland had only surveyed the eastern plain of the island so far. There should be quite a bit of farmland that could be opened elsewhere, but even so, relying solely on grain cultivation, the island's annual income would not exceed two thousand gold coins.
This was still calculated based on Roland's current manpower. A hundred slaves were nowhere near enough to open so much farmland, so he would certainly need to add more hands. But increasing manpower also meant increasing expenses.
Only now did Roland finally understand why the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands was so chaotic.
With resources this barren, they could not even feed themselves. How could they develop their territories? That was why countless small forces had thrown themselves into war, acquiring resources through plunder.
Perhaps it was also their most helpless choice. Either they grew strong through war, or they perished in it.
But for Roland, war was not the only path, because he was an apothecary—an apothecary with an absurdly high success rate in brewing potions.
Roland alone could earn tens of thousands of gold coins a year. He could fully rely on his own strength to develop and strengthen his territory.
Thinking of this, Roland felt much more at ease and stopped dwelling on the issue of farmland output.
As night fell, Roland led everyone back to the merchant ship to avoid any unknown magical beasts that might still exist on the island.
Since there was not enough time today to build housing, Roland did not unload the slaves and instead planned to continue staying on the merchant ship.
However, after arriving in his territory, Roland was still quite generous and added an extra serving of meat soup for the slaves and mercenaries.
This made the more than one hundred slaves cry out that their master was benevolent, while the mercenaries repeatedly praised their employer's generosity.
The next day, at dawn.
When the sky had only just begun to brighten, Roland immediately sent all the slaves and mercenaries ashore and began construction on his territory.
The main task for the day was to establish a small settlement. Although the merchant ship could temporarily provide accommodation, its space was far too cramped. Even with Roland's status, he had only a private bedroom of a few square meters, let alone the slaves and mercenaries. For the past few days, people had been crammed together with people, and cargo with cargo. Problems would inevitably arise if this continued for long.
Based on yesterday's survey, Nuwa had drawn up a general plan for the territory overnight.
At this stage, they would naturally focus on the eastern plain of the island, so Roland chose a site near the sea on the eastern plain for the small settlement.
"Commander O'Neal, take your mercenaries and cut down all the trees in that area. Bring them back." Roland pointed toward a stretch of forest close to the shore.
"Very well, Apothecary Roland." O'Neal had no objections. Though their main task was to protect the territory and Roland's safety,
the more complete the territory's construction became, the easier their task would be. Besides, as mercenaries, they did not have such high status.
"Steward James, take the slaves and level the ground." Roland gave another order.
Under Roland's command, James did not dare delay. With a wave of his hand, he led one hundred slaves to begin leveling the land for the small settlement.
"Captain Feli, help me find a suitable place nearby to build a dock."
"As you wish." Fili gave a slight bow before immediately leaving with several sailors.
In the blink of an eye, only Artur's team, Alice, and Old Nob remained by Roland's side.
At that moment, Old Nob suddenly asked, "Young Master Roland, what can this old servant do to help you?"
With Alice's arrival and the growing number of people around Roland during this period, Old Nob's presence had become weaker and weaker. Roland had not even interacted with him over the past few days. This made Old Nob feel somewhat saddened, so when he saw everyone else busy at work, he could no longer sit still.
"Grandpa Nob, you're getting old. Don't do this sort of heavy work. Stay here and keep an eye on things for me. See if anyone is slacking off. If you find anyone, quietly tell me afterward." Roland said with a smile.
"Rest assured, Young Master. This old servant will watch them closely." Old Nob puffed out his chest and promised Roland.
After arranging the territory's initial construction, Roland once again led Alice and Artur's team deeper into the island to explore.
The first place Roland inspected was the small mountain on the western side of the island. Unknown magical beasts might live there, and such a potential threat had to be eliminated first.
The group hurried along and reached the foot of the island's mountain in just half an hour.
Because the island was close to the Frozen Realm, the entire mountain was now almost completely buried under snow. Pure snowflakes gleamed with crystal-clear radiance beneath the sunlight. From time to time, a cold wind swept past, stirring waves of snow into the air. They drifted down in a flutter, briefly turning the surroundings into a world of ice and snow.
"Young Master, it's so beautiful here." When Alice saw the sight before her, a ripple immediately passed through her bright eyes.
Roland could not help turning back and looking at the young elf girl with indulgence.
Ever since leaving Highland City, Alice's personality had gradually changed. She had become livelier and even occasionally made harmless jokes with Roland.
Though this change might allow Alice to gradually break free from the Fantasy Guild's control, Roland did not stop her. He even encouraged her to completely escape the nightmare of her past.
Roland did not know whether Alice, once she had completely escaped her former nightmare, would leave his side. But he was human, after all, and he had his own bottom line.
"Come on. I'll take you up to have a look." Roland took the girl's fair, tender hand and headed toward the mountaintop.
Looking at Roland holding her left hand, a faint blush immediately crossed Alice's face. But it was soon replaced by a brilliant smile, innocent and pure.
Before you continue