Arrival at Territory

Leaving Elizabeth's warship, Roland couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. At the same time, he cursed Leslie to the high heavens in his heart. He showed up wanting to poach my people, is this what you call good reputation?

"Apothecary Roland, for the next few days, have your merchant ships follow behind me. I will take you to tour the various powers around your territory, letting them know that your territory is protected by us, the Black Knight Pirates." After receiving a warning from Elizabeth, Scarface Henry's attitude improved significantly.

"Then I'll trouble you, Captain Henry." After Roland finished speaking, he returned directly to his merchant ship.

He didn't want to have too much contact with an enemy, as it would affect his speed in drawing his sword in the future.

After successfully leaving White Whale Island, the following days were smooth sailing under the escort of the Black Knight Pirates' three warships. Even when they encountered some large pirate groups, the other parties quickly avoided them, for fear of attracting the attention of the Black Knight Pirates.

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 about ten square kilometers, narrow at the north and south ends and wide at the east and west, resembling an oval shape with higher terrain in the west and lower in the east.

Roland looked out from the deck of the merchant ship and saw a small, protruding mountain on the western side of the island. Due to the season, the mountain was covered in snow, appearing sacred and serene. The eastern side of the mountain was flat and extremely suitable for cultivating farmland.

Overall, Roland was very satisfied with this small island. According to the information provided by the Black Knight Pirates over the past few days, although the island's resources were not abundant, fresh water was extremely plentiful. Affected by the northern Frozen Realm, the island received considerable rainfall. Combined with an underground aquifer that could store a large amount of fresh water, Roland had no concerns about water supply.

In fact, this was also an invisible benefit of the Black Knight Pirates' protection. After all, they couldn't provide their protected subject with an island without fresh water.

Upon arriving at the island, Scarface Henry did not linger. It seemed he could sense that Roland had not truly forgiven him. After signaling with a few flags, he led his three warships away.

After the Black Knight Pirates left, Roland finally relaxed completely. After all, having someone who could pose a threat to his life constantly by his side was not a pleasant feeling.

"Captain Fili, lower the small boat and land on the island." As Roland set foot on the first piece of land truly belonging to him in this world, he couldn't help but feel impatient and immediately ordered Fili.

"Yes, Apothecary Roland."

Since the island currently lacked a dock for three-masted merchant ships, Roland had to take Alice, O'Neal, and others ashore via a small boat from the east side.

After landing on the island, an excited Roland, along with Alice, O'Neal, Artur, and other professionals, began the first survey of the island.

However, due to time constraints, Roland only planned to explore the plain on the eastern side of the island.

"Nuwa, estimate how many mu of farmland can be developed in this plain." Standing on a high slope, Roland looked at the flat terrain before him and secretly asked Nuwa.

"Beep! Calculation complete. Under the condition of ample fresh water resources, this plain can be developed into approximately 1200 to 1300 mu of farmland."

"Based on the farmland yield of this world, calculate the daily harvest."

"Beep! Calculation complete. The yield of rye per mu is about 180 catties, while the yield of wheat and barley per mu is about 120 catties."

"So low?" Roland was taken aback. He knew that this world lacked fertilizers and hybrid technology, leading to very low farmland yields, but this was too low.

"Master, the data shows that there is a profession called Druid in this world. They can accelerate plant growth and significantly increase yield."

"So it's through magical means." Roland was not surprised.

After all, this was the Saint Nor Continent, a high-magic world where magic and combat qi flourished. There were even supreme gods. How could there be no way to increase food production?

However, this method was of little use to Roland. He had no Druids under his command, nor did he have the meditation techniques to become a Druid. He couldn't cultivate them even if he wanted to.

"Nuwa, based on our island's location, how many harvests per year can these farmlands achieve?"

"Beep. Analysis indicates that due to the influence of the northern Frozen Realm, this island will enter winter at the end of October and last for about five months. It can barely achieve two harvests per year, but the yield will be affected."

"This means that even if I plant the highest-yielding rye on all the land here, I can only harvest about 150 to 160 tons of grain per year?"

"Accurate analysis: approximately 180 tons."

"180 tons? Leslie was right. With such meager returns, it wouldn't even cover a fraction of the cost of hiring the Loyal Lion Mercenary Group," Roland said with some frustration.

According to the latest grain prices in Highland City, one copper coin can buy one catty of rye. This means one ton of rye is only worth twenty gold coins, and 180 tons of rye would be worth only 3,600 gold coins.

And this was not pure profit. The territory currently had over a hundred slaves and over a hundred mercenaries that Roland needed to support. With so many mouths to feed, almost half of the annual harvest would be consumed by them.

Of course, Roland had only scouted the eastern plain of this island so far. Other areas could also be developed into farmland, but even so, the annual profit from grain cultivation on this island would not exceed two thousand gold coins.

This was based on Roland's current manpower. To develop so much farmland, a hundred slaves would not be enough. More manpower would definitely be needed, but increasing manpower would also mean increasing expenses.

Only now did Roland finally understand why the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands was so chaotic.

With such meager resources, he couldn't even support himself. How could he expand his territory? This led countless small forces to throw themselves into war, obtaining resources through plunder.

This was perhaps their most desperate choice: either become powerful through war, or perish in war.

However, for Roland, war was not the only path. He was an apothecary, and a very skilled one at that, with an abnormally high success rate in potion refinement.

With Roland alone, the actual annual income was tens of thousands of gold coins. He could completely develop and expand his territory through his own efforts.

Thinking of this, Roland felt much more relaxed and no longer dwelled on the issue of farmland yield.

As night fell, to avoid any unknown magical beasts on the island, Roland directly led everyone back to the merchant ship.

Since there wasn't enough time today to build houses, Roland did not disembark the slaves and planned to continue living on the merchant ship.

However, after arriving at the territory, Roland generously provided the slaves and mercenaries with an extra meal of meat soup.

This made the over a hundred slaves exclaim their master's benevolence, and the mercenaries repeatedly praised their employer's generosity.

The next day, at dawn.

As soon as the sky began to lighten, Roland immediately had all the slaves and mercenaries disembark and began the construction work on his territory.

Today's main task was to establish a small settlement. Although the merchant ship also provided temporary living quarters, the space was too cramped. Even with Roland's status, he only managed to secure a few square meters of private bedroom. Not to mention the slaves and mercenaries, they had been crammed together like sardines for the past few days, and problems were bound to arise over time.

Based on yesterday's survey, Nuwa had formulated a general plan for the territory overnight.

At the current stage, the focus would definitely be on the eastern plain of the island. Therefore, Roland chose the location for the small settlement to be near the sea on the eastern plain.

"Commander O'Neal, take your mercenaries and chop down all the trees in that area and bring them back," Roland said, pointing to the jungle right by the sea.

"Understood, Apothecary Roland." O'Neal had no objections. Although their main mission was to protect the territory and Roland's safety, the more developed the territory became, the easier their mission would be. Besides, as mercenaries, they didn't hold such high status.

"Steward James, take the slaves and level the land," Roland commanded again.

Under Roland's orders, James didn't dare to delay. With a wave of his hand, one hundred slaves, led by him, began to level the land for the small settlement.

"Captain Fili, please help me find a suitable place to build a dock nearby."

"As you wish." Fili bowed slightly and immediately left with a few sailors.

In the blink of an eye, only Artur's squad, Alice, and Old Nob remained by Roland's side.

Just then, Old Nob suddenly spoke, "Young Master Roland, is there anything this old servant can do to help you?"

With Alice's appearance, and the increasing number of people around Roland during this time, his own presence had become less and less significant. He hadn't even interacted with Roland in the past few days, which made Old Nob feel a bit sad. Seeing everyone else engrossed in their busy work, he became restless.

"Grandpa Nob, you're getting old, so don't do this heavy work. Just stay here and keep an eye out for anyone slacking off. If you find anyone, quietly tell me later," Roland said with a smile.

"Don't worry, Young Master, this old servant will definitely keep a close watch on them," Old Nob declared, puffing out his chest to assure Roland.

After arranging the initial construction of the territory, Roland, along with Alice and Artur's squad, headed deeper into the island to explore.

Roland's first target was the small mountain on the western side of the island. After all, unknown Magical Beasts might live there, and such potential threats needed to be eliminated first.

They moved swiftly, and in just half an hour, they arrived at the foot of the small mountain on the island.

Because the island was close to the Frozen Realm, the entire mountain was now almost entirely buried in snow. Pure snowflakes sparkled brilliantly under the sun. Occasionally, a cold wind would blow, stirring up waves of snow that swirled into the air, transforming the surroundings into a brief world of ice and snow.

"Young Master, it's so beautiful here." Seeing this scene, a ripple of wonder flashed through Alice's bright eyes.

Hearing this, Roland turned and looked at the Elf maiden with a hint of indulgence.

Since leaving Highland City, Alice's personality had gradually changed, becoming more lively. She even made some harmless jokes with Roland sometimes.

Although this change might help Alice gradually break free from the control of the Fantasy Guild, Roland did not stop it. In fact, he even encouraged Alice to completely escape her past nightmares.

Roland didn't know if Alice, having completely escaped her past nightmares, 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 see," Roland said, taking the maiden's fair hand and heading towards the mountaintop.

Looking at Roland taking her left hand, a blush spread across Alice's face. But immediately, a bright, innocent, and pure smile appeared.