Crouching Dragon Ravine's Rapid Development

Three days later, outside the Flower Territory, a massive caravan stretched for at least two kilometers. The atmosphere was chaotic and noisy, filled with a mix of rough-looking mercenaries and Kingdom soldiers.

A bearded man from the Hungry Wolf Mercenary Group complained to a skinny man dressed in the same mercenary attire beside him.

"Why haven't we set off yet? Everyone has been waiting here for over half an hour. The flowers are practically wilting from the wait, and there's still no word on when we're moving. Skinny, do you think the caravan owner changed his mind and decided not to go?"

"Just wait a little longer. Look at the scale of this operation; you don't see a caravan this large very often. They wouldn't waste time playing games with us. I heard the Ferocious Tiger Mercenary Group and the Black Cat Mercenary Group also accepted this contract, which shows just how deep their pockets are."

The bearded man glanced around and lowered his voice. "I heard from the brothers that the owner of this caravan is just a baron from some remote area. With this much cargo, do you think our captain might team up with the other two groups and pull a 'black-on-black' heist?"

Mercenaries turning on their employers was a major taboo. Once discovered, they would face sanctions from the entire Kingdom and hunts by bounty hunters. However, if the profit was high enough, they wouldn't mind taking the risk to moonlight as bandits.

Profit—it was a truly magical thing.

"Shh, are you crazy? Don't you know the Flower Territory sent soldiers to guard this shipment? If something goes wrong and the Flower Territory investigates, none of our three mercenary groups will be able to escape. You'd better put that crooked thought away."

The skinny mercenary hurriedly cut him off. After being scolded, the bearded man wilted and stopped talking.

"It's about time. Let's move out."

Lin Lei looked at the secured cargo and gave the order to his people.

Following his command, the entire caravan slowly began to move, like a giant python waking from hibernation, winding its way along the road.

The caravan's progress was agonizingly slow—even slower than when Lin Lei had brought back the thousand people he'd purchased last time. Every so often, a minor incident would occur: either a wagon wheel would sink into the mud, or a magical beast would get spooked and crash into the line.

Luo Ji and Lin Yu were kept busy running from one problem to the next, rushing back and forth until they were drenched in sweat and exhausted to the bone.

As a baron, Lin Lei naturally didn't need to do this manual labor. Most trivial matters were handled by his subordinates, and he only stepped in when something truly unmanageable arose, such as encountering a Gold-rank magical beast.

The rest of the time, he rode Red Hare, leisurely traveling in the middle of the procession.

The next day.

Lin Lei and his group arrived at Crouching Dragon Ravine without incident.

Perhaps Lin Lei's force was simply too large, as no bandits dared to attempt an attack, nor did any high-ranking magical beasts come to harass them; after all, high-rank magical beasts generally possessed the ability to sense danger.

"My heavens."

The residents of Crouching Dragon Ravine were shocked to see their lord return with so many goods and so many people. Those who weren't out working gathered to gossip, pointing and whispering at the procession.

Fortunately, they were all former slaves themselves, so they didn't harbor the exclusion Lin Lei had feared. Instead, having grown accustomed to life in Crouching Dragon Ravine, everyone enthusiastically helped the newcomers settle in.

Lin Lei left the scene to Luo Ji and rode Red Hare, swaggering back to his Lord's Mansion.

"My dear, look at this."

After embracing Aierlan, Lin Lei took some high-quality rouge and powder from his pack and handed them to her.

"Wow, is this for me?"

Aierlan took the items from Lin Lei's hands in disbelief. As the granddaughter of a viscount, she had naturally used such things long ago, but because this was a gift from Lin Lei, it held a special commemorative significance for her.

"Mm, do you like it?"

"I love it."

Aierlan leaned in and kissed Lin Lei on the lips—the most intimate contact the two had ever shared.

As a noble lady, Aierlan was naturally very reserved, and Lin Lei was not a man of base impulses; he was very cautious regarding his feelings. Their relationship had progressed slowly, making this a very bold act for them.

Lin Lei spent a short while with Aierlan before leaving. He knew he had been away from the territory for several days and had many matters to attend to. Furthermore, she needed to prepare for her lessons for her five students—the soon-to-be magic apprentices who would possess mana.

"Allen, how is the territory developing?"

Upon arriving at the council hall, Allen and a group of officials were already waiting there.

"Lord Baron, per your instructions, we haven't stopped the housing construction project. We have basically transitioned from four people per room to one person per room. In addition to those already completed, there are five hundred houses currently under construction, expected to be finished in ten days."

Lin Lei nodded, taking a gentle sip of his steaming tea.

"Very good. This time, our territory will increase by another five thousand people. Regarding their accommodation, you must have the Department of Agriculture work through the night to build them a place to stay. The progress on other buildings can be put on hold; housing for these people is more important."

Allen nodded in agreement, while the recording official behind him scribbled furiously.

"Furell, how is the development of Green Goblin Town?"

Lin Lei then asked the two-meter-tall Bugbear leader, Furell.

"Lord, the logging base in Green Goblin Town has been built. We can now harvest timber continuously. We expect production to stabilize in five days, reaching a rate of one tree per day. The sanitation in Green Goblin Town has also improved significantly."

Furell requested, "However, Green Goblin Town lacks food. We spent a lot of time on the construction of the logging camp, and the town itself didn't have much of a food reserve. We expect a famine in ten days, and I hope the Lord can allocate grain for relief."

"No problem. This trip to the Flower Territory was specifically for grain and supplies. Our grain reserves in Crouching Dragon Ravine are very abundant. I approve your request; go find the Minister of the Department of Agriculture later and collect one ton of grain."

Lin Lei didn't hesitate, waving his hand to give away over a hundred thousand units of grain. Upon hearing Lin Lei's words, tears blurred Furell's vision. As a goblin leader, he had seen his people starve to death more than anything else. At this moment, Lin Lei gave him a reason to follow him.

"Minister of Education, Tarik, how is the situation with the school you are organizing?"

Lin Lei asked the old man standing on his left.

This old man was not tall, but he was full of scholarly air. Wearing reading glasses, he was the most learned person in the entire territory.

He was also a slave bought back by Lin Lei, originally one of the scholars of the Undercity of Lordaeron. He once had hundreds of students under his tutelage and was highly respected in the Undercity.

Later, he questioned the legal privileges of the Lordaeron nobility and demanded the abolition of noble privileges, only to be expelled by the united nobles.

As a beneficiary of noble privilege, opposing the interests of his own class was the greatest reason for his failure.

After his expulsion, because he had not threatened the foundations of the nobility and had the help of many students who adored him, including Prince Arthas, no one took his life.

Yet this incident dealt him a heavy blow. Although he did not lose his life, it was more painful than death, until he was sold as a slave by bandits and arrived at Lin Lei's territory.

He became curious about this territory, which was so out of place with others. Under Lin Lei's vigorous search for talent, he once again became a teacher.

However, this time was different from before. Previously he was a private tutor, but now he was educating many more people at once, and he felt he had found a sense of belonging.

"Lord Baron, the soldiers' studies are basically complete. Everyone can recognize at least three thousand characters, and literacy campaigns for other residents have already begun. We have established three schools for different age groups, each with a Department of Culture, Department of Martial Arts, and Department of Magic. The progress is significant.

However, there are still many areas that need to be addressed, such as the scarcity of teaching resources. The teacher situation for the Department of Martial Arts is not a major issue, but teachers for the Department of Culture and Department of Magic are extremely rare. Students in the Department of Culture can only attend one cultural class every two days, and the Department of Magic only has Aierlan, a water mage."

Tarik spoke with clear and precise articulation, every sentence ringing with strength.

Lin Lei was delighted to hear that educational development was progressing quickly, but upon hearing about the scarcity of teachers, he could not help but frown.

The importance of education was well known, and Lin Lei naturally could not slow down progress because of a lack of teachers; doing so would be no different from giving up eating for fear of choking.

His fingers tapped incessantly on the chair, creating "tick," "tick" echoes in the spacious hall.

After thinking it over, Lin Lei said.

"The development of education cannot be abandoned. We must increase investment in educational facilities. As for the lack of teachers, first look for learned individuals among the people I brought back, and then send people to surrounding territories to hire mages and scholars at high prices."

Lin Lei set the tone for the task and turned the page.

"Old Man Ma, how is the progress of your Department of Agriculture?"

The old man standing behind Tarik was the Minister of the Department of Agriculture, Old Man Ma, an experienced old farmer.

"Lord Baron, nearly one thousand plots of wasteland have been reclaimed around Crouching Dragon Ravine. Based on my years of experience in seed cultivation, and the fact that the soil here is near the forest and river, it is very fertile. I estimate that we can harvest ten tons of grain in the autumn, enough for tens of thousands of people to live on for a year. We basically no longer need to purchase grain from the outside world.

As for the Lord's two hundred private fields, they have all adopted the organic fertilizer cultivation you mentioned, and the growth is very gratifying. Other farmers have also begun to believe in your organic fertilizer theory and have started to use fertilizer for cultivation consciously."

"Good, with grain, there is no panic. Old Man Ma has done well. Reward him with one hundred gold coins. As long as your Department of Agriculture can increase grain production in the future, there will be rewards."

Upon hearing the good news from the Department of Agriculture, Lin Lei finally revealed a happy smile.

Since building the territory, Lin Lei had been working as ten people, often staying up all night thinking about the development of the territory, and his cultivation of his techniques had slowed down, with almost no progress in several months.