The next morning, people sent by the slave-market dealer gathered outside the City Defense Department.
After Lin Lei's men had carefully checked them and confirmed there were no impostors or elderly people in their sixties or seventies, Lin Lei nodded to the dealer, handed over the remaining gold coins, and completed the transfer of all the slaves.
Lin Lei looked at the slaves he had just bought and furrowed his brows. Most of them had vacant eyes and no spirit at all.
"This won't do. If we make them keep going like this, they'll die in droves just from walking, without any bandits or monsters attacking us."
Lin Lei made up his mind. He had to give these people something to work toward.
He cleared his throat and stepped in front of them.
"I'm sure none of you know who I am. Let me introduce myself: my name is Lin Lei. I am Thunder Roar, the person who bought you, and from now on, I will be your lord.
"I imagine you're all curious why I bought you. I'll tell you plainly: I'm a pioneer lord, and I need subjects. If you work hard, it's not impossible that I'll free you.
"Then your descendants will be free people, too, instead of remaining slaves for generations."
Lin Lei's casual words made the people, who had kept their heads down until now, look up at him for the first time. His words sent a shock through the crowd.
"Move out."
Seeing the crowd stir, Lin Lei knew his words had worked. He didn't waste any more time and ordered the group to set off.
Lin Lei donned his Ice-Sealed Armor and led a guard of more than twenty soldiers, with Allen at their head, around the group.
All along the way, Lin Lei made no attempt to conceal his aura, openly displaying his Gold-ranked strength.
This drove away the bandits and thieves lurking in the shadows, as well as the ferocious monsters that approached.
A day later, Crouching Dragon Ravine, ravaged by a long ordeal, welcomed a new group of visitors. The scene must have been truly horrific.
"Phew!"
Lin Lei let out a long breath as he surveyed the place, which looked as if it had been through a forest fire.
"We've finally reached Crouching Dragon Ravine. The soldiers who returned with the lord said it took them half a day just to burn the Undead corpses. These scorched marks everywhere show how horrific the battle must have been."
Lin Lei ordered the group to stop and rest, then climbed alone to the highest point of Crouching Dragon Peak.
"From the top of the peak, you can see that a beach lies west of Crouching Dragon Ravine, connecting to the Endless Sea. With a large enough ship, you could even cross the sea to the Western Continent, where the Night Elves and the World Tree are.
"To the north of the ravine lies the Gloomy Forest. Farther north are the Kingdom of Lordaeron and the Kingdom of Dalaran, the mage kingdom to the northwest. Many talented High Elf mages live there. The Winter Northlands lie at the farthest northern edge. That's where Ner'zhul, the first Lich King, resides with his evil army of Undead.
"To the east of Crouching Dragon Ravine lies Iron Hearth Fortress, the Dwarves' territory. The Mother of Red Dragons hasn't attacked them yet, and the Orcs' Blackrock Clan hasn't invaded them either.
"To the south is the direction I came from: Kul Tiras, a kingdom surrounded by small islands and ruled by Lord Admiral Daelin Proudmoore."
Nearly all of Crouching Dragon Ravine had been burned to ash. Rather than feel sad, Lin Lei was pleased; it saved them the trouble of clearing away the weeds.
"Allen, take half the soldiers hunting. The other half will guard the camp. We bought enough food for a month, but we can't live off our reserves forever. It's best to stock up on some game, too."
Lin Lei returned to the caravan and spoke to Aier.
"All of you, listen up. The men will haul stones, cut trees, and build houses. The women will get the fires going and start cooking. You can collect tools from the first wagon. The lady standing beside me will hand them out."
Lin Lei pointed to Aierlan, who was standing beside him. At his instruction, everyone got to work.
Lin Lei then split the men and women into groups, with five people in each group and 120 groups in total. Each group would build one house. He divided the children into groups of ten, making forty groups.
It was already the eleventh day of the month, so there was no way they could build houses today. Everyone would have to sleep in the open for the next few days. Apart from Aierlan, who could stay in a wagon, Lin Lei would be out in the open as well. He had to watch over the entire camp at night, so he could hardly sleep.
After helping haul some stones and spending a little time with Aierlan, Lin Lei heard the rustle of nightfall settling in. Allen and the others returned from hunting, each carrying a game animal—enough to feed everyone for a day.
Lin Lei gave most of the meat to the slaves. They would become the foundation of his territory, and he wouldn't begrudge them a little food.
By the light of the moon, the meat sizzled over the campfire. Bathed in its glow, everyone happily ate roast meat, and the slaves wore smiles they hadn't shown in a long time.
Even when they had been commoners in the kingdom, eating meat had been difficult. It was even harder after they became slaves. That single meal was enough to make them feel they belonged with Lin Lei.
Half a month later, Lin Lei's territory had begun to take shape. Almost everyone had a home, and the people Lin Lei had bought were settling into life in the territory.
With Lin Lei encouraging production, those with a trade opened small shops, while those without special skills were assigned to farming.
Lin Lei had allotted each of them a plot of land, and he had bought the seeds in Flower Territory and given them out for free. He wouldn't tax these free people for the first three years, encouraging them to reclaim as much wasteland as possible.
Over the past half month, Lin Lei had gradually gotten to know the thousand or so people of all walks of life in his territory. Hoping to discover hidden talent, he had gone looking—and had indeed found several capable people.
One was Old Man Ma, a veteran farmer who had spent twenty years growing crops and was skilled at cultivating wheat. The fields he planted yielded fifty or sixty percent more than those of other people. Lin Lei appointed him head of the Department of Agriculture and asked him to find a few assistants and get the department up and running.
His main responsibility was to research ways to increase grain yields and teach them to the other residents.
Another was Leighton, a mage's steward from Dalaran. He had served a mage for over a decade when bandits ambushed him during a trip, captured him, and sold him into slavery.
After confirming Leighton's abilities, Lin Lei didn't hesitate for a moment. He entrusted all his household affairs to him and hired him as his personal steward.
Leighton didn't disappoint Lin Lei after taking the position. He selected ten boys and girls from among the children to serve as house attendants, keeping the house and grounds in perfect order.
Even Red Fire and Red Hare had attendants of their own, who brought them food and bathed them every day.
"Should I find a battle-qi manual and learn it, too?"
Lin Lei stood in front of his door, deep in thought.
The system had raised Lin Lei's strength to Gold rank, making it seem as though he was easily invincible. But after experiencing it for a while, he felt that relying on the system alone wouldn't be enough to handle the dangers ahead.
He needed a method of cultivation that started from the basics. Only then could he steadily improve his strength, rather than relying on luck and killing to earn draws for a chance at summoning heroes.
For Lin Lei, finding a hundred opponents at his own level was already difficult, let alone earning enough draws—and there was no guarantee they would give him a hero.
Killing enemies a rank above him earned draws faster, but that raised the same question: could he beat someone stronger than himself? Lin Lei wasn't sure.
That was why a battle-qi method that allowed him to advance step by step was so important.
With that in mind, Lin Lei went to Aierlan. As someone from the Viscount Mansion, she was sure to have access to a method.
"Darling, I study magic. My father never let me read anything about a warrior's battle qi," Aierlan answered in surprise. Lin Lei looked a little disappointed and was about to leave when she continued, "But you can ask my brother Allen. He's a true battle-qi warrior."
"Of course! Why didn't I think of that?"
Lin Lei exclaimed in delight.
"Messenger, go summon Captain Allen from training."
As the soldier's footsteps faded into the distance, Lin Lei waited quietly in the study, chatting with Aierlan and enjoying the rare time they had together.
Ten minutes later, the messenger brought Allen, who was drenched in sweat, to Lin Lei.
Over the past half month, Lin Lei had selected dozens of able-bodied commoners from among the refugees and added them to Allen's unit, increasing the territory's guards to fifty.
The ratio of soldiers to residents in Crouching Dragon Ravine was now about 1:20. One soldier for every twenty residents was a dangerous number for a small territory that had only just begun to develop. Fortunately, Lin Lei could often get game to supplement the territory's food supplies.
"How is the training going? These soldiers will be the backbone of the army someday. Thanks for all your hard work..."
Lin Lei spoke to Allen, who listened to the praise and smiled bashfully.
"Your sister told me that your family's battle-qi manual is with you. Could I study it?"
Lin Lei glanced at Aierlan and asked bluntly.
At Lin Lei's request, Allen immediately took a book marked "Heavenly Thunder Battle Qi Technique" from his chest and handed it to him.
Lin Lei marveled at how easily he had obtained the battle-qi method. It was good to be strong.
For commoners with little or no strength, even the simplest battle-qi manual was an unattainable dream. But for someone like Lin Lei, a Gold-ranked warrior, a family heirloom was his for the asking.
It reminded Lin Lei of a short video from his previous life. A billionaire had tried to start from nothing, without relying on outside help, and challenged himself to earn a hundred thousand in a month. He had succeeded in the end, leaving Lin Lei, who had barely earned three thousand a month, consumed by envy and resentment.
Now that he thought about it, weren't the principles behind both situations the same?
Shaking his head, Lin Lei returned from his memories and looked at the battle-qi manual in his hands. Following its written instructions and spoken guidance, he tried to gather the first wisp of battle qi in his body.
"Huh..."
Lin Lei was confused. He had followed the book's instructions exactly, but no matter what he did, he couldn't find that mysterious battle qi.
According to Allen, the stronger a person's body was, the faster they could gather battle qi. An ordinary person could manage it within an hour, and Allen himself had gathered his first wisp in less than ten minutes.
But more than an hour had passed for Lin Lei, and he still hadn't found the feeling.
"Ding dong!"
Just then, the system's notification sounded in Lin Lei's mind.
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