Bear Cub

"Lord, this is a Medium Iron Vein. The Orcs only dug out a small portion of it, and the Iron Ore has a very high iron content.

"Especially most of the Iron Ore I saw—it seemed to contain nearly thirty percent iron. That is already exceptionally good for a Medium Iron Vein!" An Elven Ranger hurried over, holding several chunks of Iron Ore as he spoke excitedly.

The other Warriors who heard the news could not help but slowly smile.

That was right.

A Medium Iron Vein contained at least several million tons of Iron Ore, along with plenty of Iron Essence. Since the vein was large enough, more mining shafts could be dug. As long as they had enough workers, they could extract at least 300,000 tons of Iron Ore every year. Refining it into iron themselves would result in less output, but it would sell for more.

However, with such a high iron content, the selling price could also rise considerably.

At a normal mining pace, barring accidents, it could last for decades.

To others, this was just a game. Iron was worthless to ordinary players, but to an NPC Lord like him, it was exceedingly precious.

The Iron Ore Vein alone could earn him roughly ten to twenty thousand Gold Coins a year.

1 Gold Coin = 100 Silver Coins = 10,000 copper coins.

It was not much Gold.

But sustainable production was important, and his territory needed a great deal of iron.

Besides.

He was poor. In his previous life, he could have spent tens of thousands of Gold Coins with a wave of his hand, though it still would have pained him...

But now, he had too many people to support. If he wanted to expand his territory and build a larger Neutral Faction city, even several hundred thousand Gold Coins would not be enough. A Lord and a lone player could not be compared.

"Now that the territory finally has a profitable vein, go back, select the right people, and begin work immediately. Each of you will also receive five Silver Coins as a reward!" William did not hesitate. A single Iron Ore Vein was not a big deal even if the news leaked. The two neighboring Duchies had no reason to send armies to wipe out Border Town over ten or twenty thousand Gold Coins a year.

Border Town had remained in the Neutral Faction for so long because his father had once been there, and now he was here, along with so many Pure-Blood Elves from Blackleaf Forest. As long as he did not readily involve himself in the struggles between the two Duchies or expose some great treasure, the enemy would naturally not make a move lightly.

After all, no one wanted to anger the Elves of Blackleaf Forest!

They might not know William Blackleaf's background, but they understood that someone with five hundred Elven Royal Guards had to be important to the Black Leaf Elves...

"Thank you, Lord!" The many Elven Warriors shouted joyfully.

Lotner smiled slightly and pointed at the huge creature in the trap. "What should we do with this Mid-Level Monster? We cannot sell its pelt. Otherwise, a complete Frenzied Giant Bear pelt, especially from such a large one, would fetch at least a thousand Gold Coins. If we sell the meat, it would still bring in over eight hundred Gold Coins!"

William considered it briefly. "Forget it. This Frenzied Giant Bear weighs over four thousand kilograms, and its flesh is rich in Mana. We'll keep it for ourselves. Every Warrior who came with me gets five jin of meat, while every Warrior guarding the town gets two jin."

"Thank you, Lord! The glory of the World Tree will bless you forever!" This time, their gratitude was entirely different. The Elven Warriors' favor toward William instantly surged.

Such things that could increase one's strength were difficult to obtain. Five jin of Magical Beast meat was nearly equivalent to ten Silver Coins, but in reality, even fifty Silver Coins could hardly buy precious Magical Beast meat.

Such a reward was generous for any Lord.

What was more, they had not suffered even the slightest injury, and even the soldiers left behind to guard the town had not been forgotten. It was enough to show that their Lord had truly changed. At the very least, his character was quite good!

However, William kept the largest share. Of course, he did not intend to gorge himself on it. No matter how delicious a Mid-Level Monster was, one would eventually grow sick of it.

As someone who combined the qualities of both an NPC and a player, he did not have the players' limit on how many times they could eat meat. The bear meat he kept could be used as future rewards.

For Professionals, rewarding them with such things was far more valuable than Gold Coins and much more cost-effective.

After all, William could level up through quests, while other NPCs could only increase their strength through eating, combat, training, and other methods.

"My Lord, these little fellows must be hungry, right?" Norton was now holding three bear cubs in his arms. They had only a thin layer of white fur, so he had taken off his undershirt and wrapped them in it, terrified that they might catch cold and fall ill through some careless mishap. If that happened, his sin would be... unimaginable.

"We'll head back immediately. Leave a ten-man Ranger squad here to keep watch and see whether anyone else discovers this vein. Once we return, we'll immediately send miners and troops to replace you!" William picked up one of the cubs. It really did seem hungry, and they had to get back at once to find milk for it.

As soon as he finished speaking.

William Blackleaf hurried back with his men. The Iron Ore Vein was around seven or eight li of mountain road from Border Town. It was not close, but neither was it too far.

The main problem was that the mountain path was difficult to traverse. To empty this Iron Ore Vein, they would need to build a road; otherwise, they would have no way to transport the Iron Ore.

Thinking of that along the way, William could not help but feel a headache coming on.

Cutting down trees cost money, and building roads also cost money.

But Border Town had plenty of oddballs and paupers. As long as there was money to be made, those people would do anything.

It could not be helped.

Neutral Faction.

There were too few decent citizens. Nearly everyone who could survive here was a thug—either burdened by a blood feud or wanted with a bounty on their head. They dared not appear within the Light Faction and could only scrape by in the Neutral Faction.

When his father was still around, he had been able to make many Criminals work quietly for him, labor for him, and even serve as soldiers through his own strength alone.

But once he disappeared, those soldiers had been the quickest to return to their true nature...

Still, thugs had their advantages. They were strong, had high combat ability, and many were even Professionals. As long as there was sufficient strength and the lure of money, getting them to work was easy.

Two hours later.

The group, their armor stained with blood, finally emerged from the forest. When they returned to Border Town.

Many Commoners with nothing better to do stared over in shock. They began discussing what kind of Magical Beast this giant bear, nearly five meters tall, could be.

It had to be a Magical Beast. No ordinary animal could grow to such a size.

"That is a Frenzied Giant Bear, a Mid-Level Monster. It might even be a High-Level Monster!" someone suddenly said, a flash of fervor passing through his eyes.

After all, it was a Mid-Level Monster. Its meat was delicious, and it could greatly increase one's strength.

"My god, there are bear cubs too—three of them, even. Could it be..." When the crowd saw the cubs in William's arms, even greater envy rose in their hearts. The little cubs had not yet opened their eyes.

The first person they saw after opening their eyes would become their master!

If those three cubs grew up successfully, they would be terrifying weapons on the battlefield.

William strode down the road with an arrogant expression, ignoring those unruly Commoners. The reason it had taken him two hours to leave the mountains was that he did not want to butcher the giant bear. He wanted them to see this huge creature and, incidentally, display the strength of his Personal Guards so they would not try anything foolish.

"Milk! Bring me milk, quickly! I need to feed the bears!"

"My apologies, Lord, but we only have goat's milk at present!"

"...Goat's milk it is, then!"

"We do not have much goat's milk either. For future feeding, we will need to... purchase some from the Steel Duchy!"

"...Buy it!"