The Ambition of Livestock Farming

After enjoying himself for a while, Lin Lei returned to his fairly spacious study and settled into a comfortable chair.

"The territory's food problem has more or less been solved. As long as nothing major goes wrong and we don't do anything that brings disaster and public outrage, Crouching Dragon Ravine can develop rapidly for at least three years. The land won't be unable to support the population until then, so we shouldn't have any food shortages."

Lin Lei's long fingers tapped lightly on the desktop. It was a small habit of his whenever he was thinking, helping him focus entirely on the problem and ignore the distractions around him.

Kul Tiras lay on a large island, and the influence of the Endless Sea meant that Crouching Dragon Ravine, which was some distance from the coast, was often swept by strong winds. The candlelight in the study flickered, making anyone watching it worry that it might suddenly go out.

But if Lin Lei had seen it, he wouldn't have worried at all. The candles in his study weren't ordinary ones but magical candles, even safer and more reliable than the ever-burning magic lamps.

"Should I start raising livestock on a large scale?"

The crops he had seen that day had reminded Lin Lei of the meat his territory still sorely lacked. Crouching Dragon Ravine already had a few small-scale farms, but most of their animals were raised for Lin Lei and the others to eat. A small portion went to the restaurants or was sold to the residents.

Aside from the great feast of meat they'd enjoyed after sweeping through the entire territory more than ten days ago, very few people had eaten meat since.

"Raising livestock is very important. Meat is rich in protein and can effectively increase a person's strength. Soldiers can't go without it in their daily training. These days, all the meat we get from hunting in the Dark Forest goes straight into their mouths, with very little making it to the market.

"As a result, most of the residents are thin and frail, which affects the aptitude of the next generation. That's a serious obstacle to the healthy development of a territory."

Lin Lei could recite the importance of meat with his eyes closed. Before, they'd been focused on getting enough food to eat, so he hadn't considered it. Now that they had a plentiful food supply, the territory should start raising more livestock for meat.

"The most popular livestock on the market right now are Short-haired Brocade Chickens and Eurasian Pigs. I can buy some young animals from other nobles and have the residents raise them.

"Short-haired Brocade Chickens and Eurasian Pigs are both ordinary beasts with no rank. The chickens grow quickly, cost little to raise, and have delicious meat. If they eat some magical plants, they might even evolve into Variegated Brocade Chickens or Five-colored Brocade Chickens.

"Eurasian Pigs were originally called Eurasian Wild Boars, the largest wild boars around. They're docile, unlike other aggressive wild boars, and they produce plenty of offspring. That's why the nobles of the Kingdom of Kul Tiras gradually came to favor them. As for the chance of these creatures evolving, it's very small. Their bodies are so large that they need too much magic power."

After careful consideration, Lin Lei took a piece of parchment from the neatly arranged stack and wrote down his orders. Then he called Cress, who was waiting outside, and told him to carry them out.

Since this was his first time buying livestock, Lin Lei didn't dare to purchase too many. As a former white-collar worker from a city, he had no idea how to raise chickens or pigs. To be safe, he bought only five hundred Short-haired Brocade Chicken chicks and a hundred Eurasian Pig piglets. Even if they all died, he wouldn't lose too much.

Besides, autumn was just turning to winter. Young animals bought at this time wouldn't put on much weight, and some might die because of the weather.

As for buying cattle or sheep, Lin Lei didn't even dare consider it. Kul Tiras was on an island, with nowhere near enough land to raise them. The cost of keeping cattle or sheep would be enough to ship several of them over from the continent across the sea.

So he hadn't included cattle or sheep in his plans to begin with. They were exorbitantly expensive, and Lin Lei would have to be out of his mind to buy them.

With the territory's direction and goals planned out, Lin Lei had little else to deal with. The Internal Affairs Department handled all the trivial matters, and Lin Lei only stepped in when they couldn't resolve something.

The next day, before dawn, Cress woke Lin Lei. Only four hours had passed since he'd gone to bed the night before.

But four hours of sleep was enough for Lin Lei. He knew Cress wouldn't disturb him unless something important had happened, so he quickly cleared his head.

"Has something happened?"

Lin Lei asked gently. Only the brief flicker of weariness in his eyes betrayed how poorly he felt.

"My lord, a message came from Blackwater Wharf. The letter says that murlocs have indeed been spotted nearby, and yesterday they attacked the camp."

As he spoke, Cress handed Lin Lei a battered piece of paper.

"A sentry from Blackwater Wharf brought this. He ran into beasts on the way and only just managed to get it to Crouching Dragon Ravine while being pursued."

"How is the sentry?"

Lin Lei asked with concern.

"He lost a lot of blood. His intestines were hanging out. But we sent the best doctor in the territory, and fortunately, he survived."

Cress replied calmly.

"That's good."

Lin Lei nodded in relief, then shifted his gaze from Cress to the note.

"Nearly two hundred of the murlocs attacking Blackwater Wharf have been spotted so far. There are quite a few Silver- and Bronze-rank ones, as well as spellcasters. We haven't found the murloc leader yet."

Lin Lei summed up the note's contents, his head lowered with a grave expression.

"These murlocs are coming on strong. From what Furell wrote, he can hold Blackwater Wharf if the murlocs keep their numbers as they are. But if more arrive, or a Gold-rank leader appears, they'll be in serious trouble.

"Furell took only a little over a hundred soldiers to Blackwater Wharf. The civilians and the advantage of the walls should keep them safe for the time being, but I can't pin my hopes on the murlocs doing nothing."

Lin Lei murmured to himself, every word filled with worry and doubt about Blackwater Wharf's prospects. Even though Furell was Gold-rank, he could still be overwhelmed by numbers. There was always a chance of being caught off guard.

"All right, Cress. Notify Allen and Luo Ji to gather their troops and head for Blackstone Wharf. Have Lin Yu guard the territory. I'll take the guards and set out for Blackstone Wharf first."

Lin Lei gave Cress his orders without hesitation. Then he gathered his gear and weapons, mounted Red Hare, and led the entire guard unit toward Blackwater Wharf without stopping.

Red Hare, the mount Lin Lei rode, was Silver-rank. The guard unit's horses were Bronze-rank. At full gallop, they sped down the road like a fleet of Wuling Hongguangs.

Red Hare was faster than the other Bronze-rank horses, and Lin Lei was in a hurry, so he gradually pulled away from the guards.

By the time he reached the area around Blackstone Wharf, the guards were still more than twenty li behind, racing to catch up with him.

Blackwater Wharf had become a battlefield. Murlocs packed the area around Blackstone Wharf.

At a glance, Lin Lei saw Murloc Raiders, Murloc Nightstalkers, Mugol Carnivores, Murloc Blood Witches, and Murloc Hunters. The only ones missing were the murlocs' top-tier troops, the mutated murlocs and the Murloc Shadow Mages. Aside from them, the attackers made up the full strength of a small tribe.

Lin Lei also spotted the murloc leader. At the very center of the battlefield, a Murloc Raider surrounded by a large group of spellcasters was directing them.

This Murloc Raider leader was twice the size of the other Murloc Raiders. For anyone below Diamond rank, a larger body meant greater strength. Furell and the Granite Golem were examples of this.

The battle was at a stalemate. Neither Furell nor the murloc leader had made a move. They watched each other warily while their soldiers fought desperately.

Every moment, a murloc, a human soldier, or a Goblin soldier fell. The numbers favored the murlocs, putting Furell and his men at a disadvantage. Without the protection of the walls, their defenses would have been breached long ago.

But now corpses of all kinds were piled beneath the walls, building up higher and higher. The walls, originally six meters tall, were now less than two meters high. The murlocs could easily jump onto them, and the defenders' advantage was slowly disappearing.

"Wala, wala!"

Lin Lei saw the murloc leader stamping out two deep holes in the flat ground, furious that they still hadn't taken the small fort. It sent more than half of the spellcasters at its side to reinforce the murlocs attacking the walls.

"Damn it."

Lin Lei was frantic. If this fresh wave of troops joined the attack, the already desperate defense would collapse before long. They wouldn't be able to hold out for reinforcements from Crouching Dragon Ravine.

"Forget it. I'm going in."

Lin Lei gritted his teeth and charged out, riding Red Hare toward the thickest mass of murlocs.

A lone rider charging into an enemy formation was extremely dangerous. Even a Platinum-rank powerhouse could fall in a Bronze Legion if he made the slightest mistake. Even Zhao Zilong of Changshan, mighty as he was, only managed to fight his way in and out seven times after Cao Cao gave the order, earning his fame at Changban Slope.

Lin Lei hadn't wanted to take the risk. Even if Allen and Luo Ji's Silver Legion didn't arrive in time, he had more than twenty Silver-rank guards of his own. That would at least cut the danger in half.

But he had no choice. He couldn't stand by and watch everyone die one by one beneath the murlocs' blades. Those spellcasters were the last straw that would break the defenders' backs.

"Ah..."

Lin Lei shouted and charged toward the thickest knot of murlocs in the center, like a demon king descending from the heavens. He knew he could easily take down the murloc leader in a one-on-one fight, but with so many murloc spellcasters guarding it, he couldn't get close. He might as well use his time to cut down as many of the murlocs' fighting forces as possible.

Red Hare was fast, slamming into the first few murlocs and crushing them into a pulp. But its speed slowed, and a crowd of murlocs surrounded them.

Lin Lei flicked his wrist, wielding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade as naturally as his own arm to sever the heads of the murlocs in front. He bent low, and the blade sliced through the air behind him, sweeping away the murlocs that had surrounded him.

That was when Lin Lei was in the greatest danger. The murlocs had reacted, and numerous spellcasters were already quietly gathering spells in their hands. Without a word, they could pin Lin Lei down and kill him.