Ambition for Livestock Farming

After enjoying a period of ease, Lin Lei returned to his rather spacious study and sat down in a soft chair.

"The territory's food and clothing issues are essentially resolved. As long as no major problems arise or I don't commit any acts that invite the wrath of heaven and man, Crouching Dragon Ravine should develop rapidly for at least three years. Only when the land can no longer support the population will a grain shortage occur."

Lin Lei's slender fingers tapped gently against the tabletop—a small habit he always adopted when thinking, allowing him to focus entirely on the problem at hand and ignore the distractions of the outside world.

Kingdom of Kul Tiras is situated on a large island. Influenced by the Endless Sea, Crouching Dragon Ravine, which is not far from the coast, is often buffeted by strong winds. The candlelight in the study flickered as a result, making one worry it might suddenly extinguish.

However, if Lin Lei were to see this, he wouldn't feel any concern. The candles in his study were not ordinary goods but magic candles, which were safer and more reliable than magic lamps that provided continuous light.

"Should I start large-scale livestock farming?"

From the crops he saw today, Lin Lei associated the lack of meat in the territory. Crouching Dragon Ravine did have some small-scale farming, but most of it was for Lin Lei and his people to consume, with a small portion supplied to restaurants or sold to the territory's residents.

Except for the great sweep of the entire territory ten days ago where they had a hearty meal of meat, very few people had actually eaten meat at other times.

"Raising livestock is very important. Meat is rich in protein and can effectively enhance a person's strength. Soldiers cannot do without it during their daily training. Nowadays, all the meat obtained from hunting in the Gloomy Forest enters their mouths, and very little flows into the market.

This has caused most of the residents to be thin and physically weak, which greatly affects the aptitude of the next generation. For a territory that wants to develop healthily, this is a very significant impact."

Lin Lei could recite the importance of meat with his eyes closed. Previously, he hadn't considered it because he was focused on ensuring everyone had enough grain, but now that the grain supply was sufficient, the territory should raise more livestock.

"The most popular livestock on the market now are Short-haired Brocade Chicken and Eurasian Pig. I can appropriately buy some young ones from other nobles and let the residents raise them.

Both Short-haired Brocade Chicken and Eurasian Pig are non-ranked common beasts. However, Short-haired Brocade Chicken grows quickly, costs little to raise, and the meat is quite delicious. If these guys are fed some magic plants, they might even evolve into Variegated Brocade Chicken and Five-colored Brocade Chicken.

As for the Eurasian Pig, it was originally called Eurasian Wild Boar. It is the largest of the wild boars, but this pig is relatively docile, unlike other wild boars that are highly aggressive, and it has a high yield, so it gradually became favored by the nobles of the Kingdom of Kul Tiras. As for the possibility of this guy evolving, it is very small, as its body is too large and requires too much magic."

After careful consideration, Lin Lei wrote down his orders on the prepared parchment and called for Cress, who was waiting outside the door, to convey the instructions.

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

Moreover, it was currently the transition from autumn to winter. Buying young animals at this time meant they wouldn't gain much weight, and many might die due to the weather.

As for buying cows and sheep, that was something Lin Lei didn't dare to think about. Because the Kingdom of Kul Tiras is located on an island, there simply wasn't enough space to raise them. The cost of raising cows and sheep was enough to ship several of them from the mainland across the sea.

Therefore, he hadn't included cows and sheep in his plan from the start; they were priced at astronomical levels, and Lin Lei would have to be out of his mind to buy them.

After planning the direction and goals for the territory's progress, Lin Lei basically had no other matters to attend to. Trivial affairs had already been handed over to the Internal Affairs Department, and Lin Lei only handled what they couldn't resolve.

The next day, before dawn, Lin Lei was awakened by Cress. Only four hours had passed since he went to sleep the night before.

However, four hours of sleep was enough for Lin Lei. Thinking that Cress wouldn't disturb his sleep unless something important had happened, Lin Lei quickly cleared his mind.

"Has something happened?"

Lin Lei asked gently, though the weariness flashing in his eyes betrayed that he was not in the best state.

"My Lord, news has come from Blackwater Wharf. The letter says that Murlocs have indeed been spotted nearby, and they even assaulted their camp yesterday."

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

"This was sent by a sentry from Blackwater Wharf. He encountered beasts on the road and only managed to reach Crouching Dragon Ravine after being chased."

"How is the sentry?"

Lin Lei asked with concern.

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

Cress replied calmly.

"That's good."

Lin Lei nodded with relief and shifted his gaze from Cress to the note.

"The Murlocs attacking Blackwater Wharf number nearly two hundred. There are many Silver-tier and Bronze-tier ones, and there are spellcasters. As for a Murloc leader, none have been spotted yet."

Lin Lei summarized the gist of the note, lowering his head with a heavy expression.

"These Murlocs are coming on fiercely. Judging from Furell's words, if the Murlocs maintain this number, he can certainly hold Blackwater Wharf. But if the number of Murlocs increases, or if a Gold-tier leader appears, their situation will be very difficult.

Furell only took a little over a hundred soldiers to Blackwater Wharf. If you add the civilians and the advantage of the city walls, they might be safe for a while, but I cannot pin my hopes on the Murlocs remaining idle."

Lin Lei muttered to himself, every word filled with worry and pessimism regarding Blackwater Wharf. Even if Furell were Gold-tier, he would still be outnumbered, and there was a possibility of capsizing in the gutter.

"Let's do this: Cress, notify Allen and Luo Ji to assemble the troops and rush to Blackstone Wharf. Have Lin Yu guard the territory, and I will take the guard squad and head to Blackstone Wharf first."

Lin Lei made a prompt decision and gave the order to Cress. He then packed his gear and weapons, mounted Red Hare, and led the entire guard squad toward Blackwater Wharf without a moment's rest.

The Red Hare that Lin Lei rode was a Silver-tier mount, and the guard squad rode Bronze-tier warhorses. At full speed, they were like a speeding vehicle, racing along the road.

Red Hare was faster than the other Bronze-tier horses, and with Lin Lei's urgent mood, he gradually pulled away from the guard squad.

By the time Lin Lei reached the vicinity of Blackstone Wharf, the guard squad was still twenty miles behind, struggling to catch up to his figure.

At this moment, Blackwater Wharf had already turned into a battlefield, with dense swarms of Murlocs surrounding it.

Lin Lei looked on and saw Murloc Raider, Murloc Nightstalker, Mugol Carnivore, Murloc Blood Witch, and Murloc Hunter everywhere. Except for the top-tier mutated Murlocs and Murloc Shadow Mage, the rest of the force represented the full strength of a small clan.

Lin Lei also spotted the leader of the Murlocs: a Murloc Raider surrounded by a large group of spellcasters in the center of the battlefield.

This Murloc Raider leader was twice the size of the other Murloc Raiders. Below the Diamond tier, a larger body meant higher strength—take Furell or the Granite Golem as examples.

The battle was intense. Neither Furell nor the Murloc leader had made a move yet, both wary of the other's presence, while the other soldiers and Murlocs were fighting desperately.

Every moment, a Murloc, a human soldier, or a Goblin soldier fell. Due to the disparity in numbers, the situation was very unfavorable for Furell and his men. If not for the protection of the city walls, their defense would have already collapsed.

However, the area beneath the city walls was now piled high with corpses of all kinds, accumulating layer by layer. The original six-meter-high wall was now less than two meters tall; the murlocs could easily leap onto the ramparts, and the advantage of the wall was slowly vanishing.

"Wala wala!"

Lin Lei saw that the murloc leader in the center was furious that the small fortress had not yet been taken. It stomped two deep craters into the flat ground, and more than half of the spellcasters at its side were dispatched to reinforce the murlocs attacking the walls.

"Damn it."

Lin Lei felt anxious; if this fresh force charged up, the already difficult defense would collapse before long, and there would be no way to wait for reinforcements from Crouching Dragon Ravine.

"No matter, I'm going in."

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

Charging an army alone is extremely dangerous. Even a Platinum-ranked powerhouse could fall if they were careless while charging through a Bronze Legion. Even someone as mighty as Zhao Zilong of Changshan could only achieve his legendary fame at Changban Slope by charging in and out seven times after Cao Cao had issued his orders.

Lin Lei was unwilling to take such risks. Even if he couldn't wait for Allen and Luo Ji's Silver Legion, having his own twenty-plus silver guards would have been better, reducing the danger by at least half.

But there was no choice; he could not stand by and watch everyone die bit by bit under the murlocs' blades, and those spellcasters were the final straw that would break the camel's back.

"Ah..."

Lin Lei let out a roar, charging toward the center where the murlocs were thickest like a demon king descended from the heavens. He knew that in a one-on-one fight, he could easily handle the murloc leader, but with so many murloc spellcasters guarding it, Lin Lei could do nothing to it. It was better to spend that effort thinning out the murlocs' living force.

Red Hare was fast, smashing the first few murlocs into pulp, but its speed slowed down as it was surrounded by a swarm of murlocs.

Lin Lei flicked his wrist, and the Green Dragon Crescent Blade moved like an extension of his arm, severing the heads of the nearest murlocs. With a bend of his waist, the great blade sliced through the air behind him, clearing away the murlocs that had surrounded him.

Yet this was also the most dangerous moment for Lin Lei. The murlocs had reacted, and numerous spellcasters were already quietly clutching spells in their hands, ready to restrain Lin Lei to death without a word.