Damn, He's Not Dead, Is He?

The emancipation of the serfs was complete, and next came the vigorous construction plan. Compared to their initial gloom, every face now showed excitement and anticipation for the future. At this moment, they had hope once more. Though they were still slaves, those who had been freed from slavery clearly showed them that as long as they worked hard enough, they would surely be able to cast off their slave status and become free citizens of Eagle Ridge.

Such temptation outweighed everything else.

Under these circumstances, Thor's policies were swiftly implemented one by one.

Thor's construction plans were nothing like those of most lords in this era.

Instead, he drew upon memories from his previous life to plan and coordinate everything.

Unlike the disorderly layout of other territories, Eagle Ridge was exceptionally well-organized.

At the same time, the many latrines he built, along with his order that everyone had to use them for their bodily needs, made Eagle Ridge far cleaner than before.

Of course, cleanliness was not Thor's only goal. More importantly, the collected human and animal waste was the best organic fertilizer.

As a transmigrator, Thor understood this well.

Back when he lived in the countryside in his previous life, he had even helped his grandparents fertilize the fields.

Naturally, he would not let such an advantage go to waste now.

Although everyone found it somewhat difficult to understand, as the lord, his authority was absolute. No one would raise any objections.

Even those who had become free citizens were no exception.

As for the members of the Knight Order, it was even more impossible for them to object.

Under this plan, the entire territory rapidly underwent construction.

Fields were reclaimed one after another, while large numbers of houses rose from the ground, standing throughout the territory.

Even Thor's castle.

By the end of the first month, its outer structure had already been completed.

Only the interior remained. It was expected to be finished within three months at most.

By then, Eagle Ridge would truly begin to take shape.

After all, the key indicator of whether a territory's construction had been completed was its castle.

Only with a castle could a territory be considered to have completed its initial construction.

Among Pioneer Knights, it often took three to five years to reach this stage. Some Pioneer Lords might not even manage it in ten years.

Building a castle was no simple task. Relying on slaves alone, it was virtually impossible to complete without several thousand workers.

And acquiring several thousand people was no easy feat for Pioneer Knights.

Five hundred slaves cost fifty gold coins. Several thousand would cost hundreds, perhaps even over a thousand gold coins. Adding the cost of all kinds of supplies, the expenditure would only grow greater. Not everyone could afford such an expense. Only Pioneer Knights from Viscount families or above had that kind of capital.

Yet there were not many Pioneer Knights from Viscount families or above in the entire Northern Province.

Most were merely Wandering Knights, or simply knights from Baron families.

Naturally, construction was incredibly difficult under such circumstances.

Thor was different. Not only did he have his father's strong support.

Because he had promised every knight an opportunity to learn the Falcon Breathing Technique.

Even though he had not yet offered any further details.

He had already truly succeeded in fully motivating the knights.

With knights participating, the work was naturally beyond comparison to what ordinary slaves could accomplish.

The pace of construction naturally accelerated by countless times.

And that was exactly what Thor needed.

His goal was not to remain focused solely on building his territory.

His plan was to complete the territory's construction as quickly as possible, finish the pioneering mission, and become a noble.

The kingdom conducted an evaluation once every ten years.

There were now only three years left until the next evaluation.

His goal was to complete the pioneering mission within those three years and become an official noble of the kingdom.

Night gradually fell.

Another day slipped away.

The next day, as sunlight spilled over the land.

Eagle Ridge once again plunged into bustling construction.

On one hand, Thor inspected his territory. On the other, he considered its future development.

But while he was taking a walk.

Ryan hurried over.

"My lord!"

Ryan looked somewhat anxious.

"What is it?"

Seeing Ryan approach, Thor was a little curious and stopped.

"My lord, that old man you brought back before... he, he seems to have gotten worse!"

Ryan quickly explained.

"Worse?"

Thor froze for a moment, and his expression changed.

"Come on, let's go take a look!"

He spoke hurriedly, then immediately headed toward the place where the old man had been settled.

This was no joke. He had spent a Divine Wood Fruit on the man. A few days ago, the man's condition had worsened again, forcing him to use another Intermediate Life Potion. If the old man died now, all of Thor's investment would go down the drain.

The two moved quickly.

Before long, they arrived at the room where the old man was staying.

But when Thor saw the old man's condition, his expression immediately changed.

The brown discoloration that had previously faded from the old man's face was now showing signs of spreading once again.

"Ryan, hurry and get another Life Potion!"

"No, bring both of them!"

Thor hesitated slightly, but ultimately gritted his teeth and gave the order.

"Yes!"

Ryan was somewhat shocked, but he quickly responded.

His figure soon ran off.

A moment later, he returned with a wooden box.

"Give him both Life Potions!"

Thor's heart ached. These were his last two Life Potions, and both were Intermediate Life Potions. But things had reached this point, so this was no time to be stingy.

"Yes!"

Ryan quickly nodded, then opened the wooden box and took out the two Life Potions.

He then went to the old man's bedside and slowly fed him the Life Potions.

After the Intermediate Life Potion was administered, the poison on the old man's face was visibly restrained and stopped spreading.

"My lord?"

Ryan instinctively looked toward Thor.

"Use it."

Thor sighed. At this point, he could only hope the old man would survive. Otherwise, he would truly suffer a huge loss.

Seeing Thor nod again, Ryan no longer hesitated.

He fed the old man the final Intermediate Life Potion.

After the two Life Potions were administered, there was an obvious change. Not only was the poison stabilized, it had begun to slowly recede.

Even ripples of Life Source Power began to emerge from the old man's body once more.

"Whew!"

Seeing this, Thor finally let out a breath of relief.

Those were three Life Potions. He had originally intended to use one himself to advance to knighthood, while saving the other two to nurture his subordinates.

Now they were all gone.

If they still could not cure the old man before him, he would truly be taking an enormous loss.

"Make sure someone takes good care of him!"

"If anything happens, contact me immediately!"

Thor gave the order, then stood up.

"Yes!"

Ryan hurriedly nodded.

(I revised an earlier part: the three Intermediate Life Potions were not distributed, but kept in reserve.)