Orderly Arrangements

The Half-Elf first mate returned with his men, and the camp suddenly had a much larger manpower pool.

Soren went out to inspect the goods he had brought back, and then issued a series of orders, instructing his men to supervise the Slave' work. After finishing these matters, he returned to his room and sat down. Soren closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then began to pick up a quill pen and start drawing. As a Rogue, his fingers were remarkably steady; even without any tools, the straight lines he drew were as precise as if he were using them. About thirty minutes later, Soren completed his first drawing, which was immediately recognizable as an architectural plan.

The drawing depicts the basic structure of the entire camp, including its internal and external layouts, such as drainage ditches, building distribution maps, camp area statistics, walls, fences, and watchtowers. After completing this, Soren began writing the other parts, which consisted of building arrangements and precautions. He meticulously detailed the strict requirements, such as drainage ditches, toilet distribution and sanitation, and road construction. The Overseas Islands were prone to flooding during the rainy season, and if towns were built according to his requirements without properly designed drainage ditches, they would be prepared for potential flooding.

Drainage ditches are actually quite simple to build. As long as they are distributed reasonably and dug to a good depth, there shouldn't be any problems.

They had considerable expertise in this area during the Rome period.

But ironically, this simple point is something that even many cities in this world don't really care about.

Therefore, many cities were filthy, chaotic, and foul-smelling. While Soren wasn't particularly fastidious about cleanliness, he absolutely didn't want his territory to become like that, especially since pirates were the type to urinate and defecate anywhere when drunk. So he had high standards for hygiene; even urinating in public was forbidden, and they might even have their tools of the trade cut off. This was Overseas Islands. The environment was even more primitive and desolate than the mainland, and diseases could easily spread if not carefully managed. The pirates were somewhat better off, as they were Constitution robust from years at sea, but the Slave were not. An outbreak of infectious diseases would be a huge loss. [Note: Doctors and medicine are currently lacking.]

After finishing the camp's architectural plans, Soren began drawing the houses.

It wasn't a fancy house, nor was it his own mansion. It was a very simple brick and tile house, the kind commonly seen in rural areas. Each house was about fifty square meters, with a very simple beam structure, a single-story building. In front of the house was a drainage ditch and a road running in all directions. He ordered the construction of over three hundred such houses, arranged in three rows of about one hundred each. These houses were mainly built near the West Gate and South Gate. The north gate was used as a wooden enclosure for imprisoning Slave. Space was reserved for these buildings, and the wooden houses that were initially constructed didn't need to be demolished immediately.

After Soren finished drawing the structural diagrams of the houses, the next step was to draw the road layout.

Not only the main road within the camp, but also the roads outside the camp, he needed his men to build a road directly connecting to the natural harbor. This road would be about five kilometers long. Given the current circumstances, the length couldn't be too demanding; as long as the road was smooth and free of potholes, it would be fine. Later, when there were sufficient manpower and resources, they could be repaired. Soren had drawn up the route, avoiding areas where potentially dangerous creatures might be active.

Next is a new sheet of paper.

This time, Soren didn't draw anything. Instead, he wrote a letter, a letter to the Drow Priest.

The contents of the letter need no further explanation. After writing it, Soren summoned Dark Blade Andri and gave him the letter to arrange for it to be taken back. Also being taken back was a shipment of supplies, mainly daily necessities; the Half-Elf first mate had brought three ships full of supplies, enough to sustain them for more than six months. In fact, Soren's calculations were precise; deducting the time needed for the immediate arrangements, he would return in about a month.

By this time, it would be around the beginning of February, and they could begin directing the Slave to cultivate the land and sow Wheat to achieve self-sufficiency.

That's when the camp truly gained a foothold.

As the leader of a faction, Soren could no longer come and go as freely as before. He took out the blueprints he had prepared at the beginning, giving one copy to the Half-Elf first mate to be in charge of the construction planning of the entire camp, and another copy to the One-Eyed to supervise the Slave' work. Finally, Soren went to another place where Slave were imprisoned to see the Eastern Slave who had been transported there. These people were all skilled craftsmen.

Bump!

Soren pushed open the door. The room where the Slave were imprisoned smelled terrible, with a distinct stench.

He waved for his men to open the doors for ventilation, then slowly walked up to the group of Eastern artisan Slave and asked in a deep voice, "Who speaks the Common?"

Many of the Eastern Slave looked at each other in bewilderment.

As a Wizard, Soren was undeniably somewhat of a failure because he possessed far too few languages.

The Eastern Slave before me didn't seem to Common. They mostly used Desert Language and Eastern Dialect. Theoretically, people who speak multiple languages are well-informed, especially in an era where many Commoner couldn't even write their own names. Literacy was a status symbol in this time, allowing them to find relatively easy jobs in the city that could support them. Even though most of the Slave were craftsmen, their written and spoken language was limited to the East, and they knew little about the Common here.

Simply put, it means there's a language barrier between the two sides!

"Does nobody speak Common?"

Soren frowned, then asked his men, "Does anyone speak an Eastern language? I seem to remember someone having sailed the Eastern ocean routes!"

A brief silence.

Then, among the Eastern Slave, a man who appeared to be quite old, nearing forty, stood up. He glanced at Soren with some fear, then lowered his head and said, "Sir, I speak Common."

"Hmm?" Soren glanced at him and immediately said, "Very good. From today onwards, you will be their foreman. According to the customs of the continent, you have fallen into my hands as Slave, so you are my private property. However, I am a very generous and kind person. As long as you work hard for me, I will give you the corresponding freedom."

"From now on, I will gather people to build a brick kiln for you. Your task from now on is to fire bricks, the more the better!"

"Once I have burned a million bricks, I will grant some of you your freedom."

Soren paused, glanced at the somewhat surprised middle-aged man before him, and said in a deep voice, "Translate these words to them, and then you will be their foreman. I will allocate a group of men to you. If I don't see satisfactory progress when I return, your head will be hanging on the flagpole outside!"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man's face first lit up with surprise, then turned to fear, and he quickly nodded.

These people are all skilled craftsmen.

In this world, skilled people are all valuable, so Soren treated them with much more leniency. After the middle-aged man in front of him translated, he summoned a minor leader, gave him a few instructions, and left. Then other Slave were brought in, along with a group of capable pirates to supervise the work. Perhaps because Soren was very Lawful, his henchmen gradually became more disciplined. Although they weren't exactly Discipline, they were much better than before.

Those who were too outrageous got punished!

After settling things over there, Soren went to check on the captured native Slave. About thirty had died recently, not from escape, but from the Drow' methods of controlling the Slave. It was a very complex process, involving punishment, psychological manipulation, and enslavement, among other things. Some things were best left unsaid, but the general effect was quite obvious: the native Slave were no longer so resistant to their daily hard work in exchange for food.

They weren't particularly hardworking, but they didn't slack off either, because they knew the terrible consequences of being lazy!

The day passed quickly.

Soren issued numerous orders and made many arrangements that day. Any pirate captain who saw the plans could sense that Soren's intentions went beyond simply establishing an overseas base. However, they showed no dissatisfaction; on the contrary, they seemed somewhat excited. After all, not everyone liked the nomadic life of pirates. Having a foothold and a sense of security meant they could at least leave something for their children and families in the future.

Even if someone is all alone, they wouldn't always enjoy a life of uncertainty.

Recently, there's been discussion in the camp that Throat Cutter Slitter's plan seems to be to expand into Overseas Islands. If this area can truly be developed, and if any Throat Cutter might reward them with some Farmland. In this way, even if they grow old and weak, they'll have a foundation to support themselves, and perhaps even become small landowners. Many pirates are forced into this profession; while there are quite a few vicious, Blood Frenzy, and murderous individuals among them, there are also many who yearn for a stable life.

Soren is quietly changing everything.

Perhaps this change isn't very obvious yet, but everything seems to be proceeding in an orderly manner, and one day this change will amaze the whole world!

Because a new force is rising!

...(To be continued~^~)